“Organ Classics and Christmas Carols”
Traditional organ music and inspiring arrangements of Christmas music will be performed at “Organ Classics and Christmas Carols” Sunday, December 11, at 2:30 p.m. at the Memorial Presbyterian Church, 200 North 10th Street, Marysville.
The concert will feature Dr. David Pickering, Manhattan, playing the church’s pipe organ.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, one of the most influential composers of the Classical period, referred to the organ as the king of instruments.
Pickering, too, finds the sound of the organ regal and majestic.
“The organ is really an orchestra that is under the control of one person,” he explained. “Each stop represents a different pitch and different sound. There are various ways in which these stops can be combined which yields a wide variety of combinations that an organist can use.”
Pickering was inspired by his father and maternal grandfather to play the organ.
“My father bought an electronic organ from Holland when I was in the eighth grade and I was hooked,” he said. “I started playing for church services when I was 14 and studying privately when I was 16.”
Pickering is a professor of music and chair of the keyboard division at Kansas State University. He is an active recitalist, recording artist and author.
His concert will feature music from standard organ literature. He will play pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach, Cesar Franck and Felix Mendelssohn.
Three Christmas carol arrangements by American composer, Alice Jordan, will be included, too: “Angels We Have Heard On High,” “Still, Still, Still” and “Good Christian Men Rejoice.”
The audience will be invited to sing along to two beloved Christmas carols, “O Come, All Ye Faithful” and “Silent Night.”
“The Christmas carol singing and the Christmas arrangements will definitely help people get in the Christmas spirit,” he said. “The non-Christmas works are very uplifting and beautiful music and will help lift people’s spirits during this special time of year.”
A reception will follow the concert; a freewill donation will be accepted.
The concert is presented by the Marshall County Arts Cooperative and the Memorial Presbyterian Church.
