An organ recital with Anna Lapwood
Before we start, let’s just make this clear: This has nothing to do with anatomical dissections. The organs involved in this concert might be bigger than a muscle vehicle owned by someone said to have a small organ, but they refer to different things. Are we clear about this? This concert is totally G rated.
Forgive me, but this organism didn’t know who Anna Lapwood was before he booked his ticket to this concert. Oh, he knew she was an organist because he is organised and read the Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s guide when he was searching for concerts to subscribe to so he could book his precious film music concerts targets. There were a couple of film music pieces in her concert list, so that would do to fill up another spot. Anyway, the organ is an interesting instrument in itself, right?
It turns out that Anna Lapwood is a big star on the socials.
A damn fine pipe organist, musician and communicator.
And a huge fan of film music.
When I received an email from the orchestra telling me that four of the other pieces listed were dumped and replaced with a suite from Lord of the Rings I was suddenly really looking forward to this concert. Film music. Pipe organ. Wow!
And it was sold out too. Except for the empty seat next to me. Sorry whoever booked that. You missed out.
This wasn’t quite my first pipe organ concert. I once had the pleasure of hearing a short, but very impressive, performance at the Melbourne Town Hall prior to an orchestral concert of film music by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra a decade or two ago.
I also have a little bit of family history with the pipe organ. One of my uncles rebuilt a small organ in the basement of his previous home in Adelaide and served as a consultant for the instrument on the set of the Australian movie Sweet Country.
I don’t think he appreciates film music though.
For a star of the socials there seemed to be quite a few in the audience approaching my uncle’s advanced age. There were plenty on the other side of the spectrum too. Even the rear stalls were filled with an excited crowd. The only empty spot was the stage, for most of the action takes place high above.
A magnificent pipe organ towers over the concert hall with pipes of shining chrome, the organist’s keyboard located on a small balcony overlooking the stage. The organ is believed to be the world’s largest mechanical tracker-action organ, meaning that the keys and the valves allowing the air to flow into the 10,244 individual pipes are mechanically linked rather than by triggering an electrical motor. However, more recently electric motors have been added to allow for the organ to be remotely controlled.
Lapwood runs out on to the empty orchestral stage in a dazzling coat that sparkles with the amazing lighting from above. She is full of energy and excitement at performing and is greeted with enthusiasm by the crowd. Then she bounds up three flights of steps and out to the balcony of the organ to begin the concert with Hans Zimmer’s Chevaliers de Sangreal from The Da Vinci Code, telling us how she transcribed the music when she was eight years old.
Prior to each piece, Lapwood not only describes the music itself and what it is about, but also what it means to her, personalising it, dedicating it to someone in the audience or elsewhere. She is plays her own arrangements, for most music is not written for a solo organ. But it is a versatile instrument with an incredible range, capable of gentle flute tones to a thunderous cacophony that even an entire orchestra cannot match.
The concert continues with Rachel Portman’s Flight and Olivia Belli’s Limina Luminis, the latter presented as describing the perspective of an astronaut from before their launch to the view of Earth from space. Both are concert pieces rather than film music, but would easily belong in the cinema.
Then we come to a suite of music from Lord of the Rings, excerpts from an organ symphony adaptation that Lapwood is writing. She attempts to describe the nature of the music and the sequence of events portrayed by the 9 individual pieces in under the 5 minutes she took in Melbourne, asking the audience to time her.
Instead we get the 6 minute extended edition.
Now, the Art of the Score are hosting a Lord of the Rings concert with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra later this year and good luck achieving better than that.
The translation of the Howard Shore’s multi-instrumental score to the organ is absolutely incredible. I especially love the Hobbit’s themes, but there is opportunity to explore the full dynamic and tonal range of the pipe organ in the suite. At certain points Lapwood sings in Elvish with a beautiful clear voice, demonstrating her many talents.
We then break for a twenty minute interval, before returning with some John Williams and Dual of the Fates from Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. With its battle between different sections of the orchestra and overall drama, Dual of the Fates works well with the organ. Following on is another movie set mostly in space, though not in a galaxy far, far away, and that is Interstellar, with the Cornfield Chase. Hans Zimmer heavily utilised the pipe organ in his score to Interstellar and perhaps the minimalist nature of his music is better suited to the instrument than John Williams’ classical orchestral complexity. It would be interesting to explore this further.
Luduvico Einaudi’s Experience is another minimalistic piece and it sounds wonderful, as is Lapwood’s story about performing with the composer. Eugene Gigout’s Toccata from his 10 Pieces for Organ is the oldest and most classical of the music performed tonight and it does stand out. I appreciate it for it complexity and skill, but like it the least out of all I hear tonight.
The last item on program for the night is a suite from Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End by Hans Zimmer. Lapwood describes it as her favourite music, the one that gives her energy, and that can certainly be heard here. I too would have picked At World’s End from that series. It is a wonderful arrangement for the organ, encompassing the playful music of Jack Sparrow, the diegetic organ playing of Davy Jones and the longing of One Day. She gets the audience to sing along the words to Hoist the Colours at the beginning, then somehow plays four separate melodies simultaneously with each hand, feet and thumbs in Drink Up Me Hearties.
But of course that’s not all. Lapwood offers the audience a choice of Test Drive from John Powell’s score to How To Train Your Dragon or No Time For Caution from Interstellar. We get both and it is perfect way to end.
Lapwood then returns to the stage for a standing ovation. And she tells us that, though many come to concert halls and recitals expecting to hear the great classical composers, it is film music that resonates most with her. I cannot help but agree with her. It is music that goes beyond decoration and technique, instead incorporating fantasy and reality. Listening to her play Lord of the Rings I am not just on a quest in Middle Earth, I’m driving through the South Island of New Zealand on our first holiday there, the music on the car CD player. Or I’m 39,000 feet in the air watching Interstellar on a flight back from Japan. Those are my stories. Others have theirs. It was a privilege to hear Anna Lapwood’s tonight, both in her words and her music.
I really enjoyed An Organ Recital With Anna Lapwood. It was a very different way to listen to the music that I love and a wonderful experience. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to hang around and purchase a signed CD, but I will definitely be adding her performances to my collection. Organic is supposed to be good for you!
When I reach home my 17 year old kid tells me that he is familiar with Anna Lapwood online and in an amazing coincidence, I switch on the television and Sweet Country is showing on the ABC! I can’t see a pipe organ in it, maybe that’s a task for another day. I shall certainly be paying more attention now.
#AnnaLapwood #Concert #HansZimmer #HowardShore #Interstellar #JohnWilliams #LordOfTheRings #Organ #PipeOrgan #PiratesOfTheCaribbean #RachelPortman #StarWars #SydneyOperaHouse
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