The Bermuda Festival has decided this year to showcase the pipe organ with four separate organ performances. I went to the first because I wanted to hear the Bermuda Chamber Choir, and ended up enchanted by local Lloyd Matthews and the Wesley Methodist Church organ. I was so impressed, I decided to attend the Festival’s Friday night offering of John Scott at St John’s Church.

Dr Scott, presently organist and director of music and of the renowned men and boys choir at St Thomas Church, Fifth Avenue, New York, has a truly impressive list of accomplishments, as reported in the programme. His recital engagements have included the Notre Dame in Paris, Disney Hall in Los Angeles, Westminster Abbey and Westminster Cathedral, the Royal Albert Hall, St Paul’s Cathedral and King’s College in Cambridge, among a host of other international venues. He has published a number of choral compositions and arrangements, has multiple recordings, been a member of a number of international competition juries, was nominated International Performer of the Year in 1998 by the New York Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, and in 2004 was awarded the LVO (Lieutenant of the Victorian Order) as a personal gift from HM Queen Elizabeth II, in recognition of his work at St Paul’s Cathedral, with which he was associated for 26 years. Kudos to the Bermuda Festival for bringing an organist of his calibre to Bermuda.

Though it was disappointing that the configuration of the church did not allow the audience to fully appreciate the visual beauty of the organ, nor to see the organist himself with any clarity, the Festival organisers made the brilliant decision to set up a video screen by which the audience was afforded live camera feeds of both left and right sides of the keyboards and left and right sides of the foot pedals. I have only the highest praise for that decision. Dr Scott’s virtuosity on the multiple keyboards was only eclipsed by the dexterity and elegance of his feet. I was mesmerised. It was like watching River Dance with beautiful melodies being produced instead of tapping sounds. Pure enchantment.

The first selection, “Praeludium in A minor” by D. Buxtehude had an “improvisational style” that seemed designed to display the multiple ‘colours’ of the various registers of the organ. Buxtehude, we were informed, was a major influence on Johann Sebastian Bach, who, in his youth, once walked 200 miles from his home to where Buxtehude was located in order to sit at the feet of this master musician. This piece was followed by “Fantasia Chromatica” by J.P. Sweelinck, known as the ‘Orpheus of Amsterdam.’ This selection of contrapuntal brilliance allowed us to appreciate the technical agility of this master organist. Intricate fingering and the cleanest of hand changes made up for the late camera views of the pedals, so that we could hear but not see the footwork.

The next piece, “Toccata Chromatica (Echoes of Sweelinck)” was composed by contemporary artist, Ad Wammes, who briefly had a career as a rock musician during which he composed the theme for the Dutch version of Sesame Street, before returning to classical musicianship. As the name suggests, this variation was inspired by the previous selection, but much more tuneful and lighter in feeling with a tango rhythm and much use of the pedals — which we were able to view in sync this time. The music was so modern-day, it could easily have been the soundtrack from a movie.

The final pieces of the first half were from two classical masters, J.S. Bach and W.A. Mozart. The Bach selection, “Trio super: Allein Gott in der Hoh sei Her” passed the intricate melodies and themes from hand to hand then from left to right feet. Dr Scott shared that it was Mozart who coined the name “King of Instruments” for the organ. His “Andante in C” and “Fantasia in F minor” demonstrated a fine appreciation, even a joy in the versatility and majesty of this finest and most complicated of instruments. First ethereal, then a contrapuntal contrast, with the melody and harmony resolving in another movement change to more reverential, and then again a change to more playful — and all the while, a ballet taking place on the foot pedals. Sheer magic to watch and hear.

The second half opened with J. Bonnet’s “Variations de Concert” which Dr Scott informed us had been aptly described as “trying to catch a fly.” Reminiscent of Mendelssohn, with much of the melody carried in the left hand, this piece was a tour de force of the feet. Swift chromatic scales on the pedals culminating in a chord of four notes — that is, the heel and toe of each foot each hitting separate pedals. Dr Scott claimed he was shaking in his boots in anticipation of the difficulty of accomplishing this accurately, but from the audience’s point of view, it looked effortless.

The quintessentially British composer, Elgar’s “Chanson de Matin” followed. Written originally for piano and violin, it was arranged for organ by Herbert Brewer. Sweet and pastoral in tone, evocative of green fields and peaceful meadows, it inspired nostalgia for an England of yesteryear.

The finale consisted of three compositions by Vierne, the blind organist of Notre Dame de Paris — “Impromptu,” “Etoile du Soir,” and “Carillon de Westminster.” The first two movements were reminiscent of Debussy, a contemporary of Vierne — Impromptu being light, airy, occasionally discordant, while Etoile du Soir brought visions of mists rising over water. We were told that the third movement was meant to be an improvisation based on the chimes of Big Ben when Vierne was invited to play the new organ at Westminster. Vierne was unfamiliar with the melody, so Henry Miller, the organ builder, who was NOT musical, whistled it for him. The resultant piece, while technically brilliant, was described by the irreverent comedian, Eric Morecombe as “it appears that Mr Willis whistled all the right notes but not in the right order.” Enough said.

Dr Scott was persuaded to play an encore, for which he chose the “Hornpipe Humeresque,” by Noel Rawsthorne. He stated that this was a piece he did not dare play in St Thomas Church. We understood why as the music unfolded. It was delightfully impish combining the theme from Popeye with Rule Britannia, quite fitting as the Governor was in the audience. The evening ended in laughter. Even my daughter was glad she came. High praise indeed.