Max Kenworthy & Nicholas Grigsby (Organ Duet)
on the organs of the Great Upper Church:
G F HANDEL (1685 – 1759)
Arrival of the Queen of Sheba
Arrival of the Queen of Sheba
Samuel WESLEY (1766 – 1837)
Fugue from Sonata for Two Organists
Fugue from Sonata for Two Organists
J S BACH (1685 – 1750)
Aria in D major, Orchestral Suite III BWV 1068
Badinerie, Orchestral Suite II BWV 1067
Aria in D major, Orchestral Suite III BWV 1068
Badinerie, Orchestral Suite II BWV 1067
Gustav MERKEL (1827 – 1885)
Psalm Sonata for Two Organists
Allegro – Adagio – Finale/Fugue
Psalm Sonata for Two Organists
Allegro – Adagio – Finale/Fugue
Gabriel FAURÉ (1845 – 1924)
Pièce de Concert
Kenneth ALFORD (1881 – 1945)
Military March: Colonel Bogey
(theme to Bridge over the River Kwai)
Gerald FINZI (1901 – 1956)
Carol (Five Bagatelles)
Carol (Five Bagatelles)
Johann STRAUSS (1825 – 1899)
Tritsch-Tratsch Polka
Tritsch-Tratsch Polka
Richard WAGNER (1813 – 1883)
Ride of the Valkyries
Ride of the Valkyries
Four hands/Four feet
Max and Nicholas gave their first organ duet recital together at the Wellington Cathedral of St. Paul, New Zealand, in May 2004. Initially an experiment, the success of this recital led to numerous further performances and a greatly expanded repertoire encompassing the sphere of organ duets, including transcriptions and works specifically conceived for the idiom. They have toured extensively, and their 2008 international tour took them to New Zealand, Australia, Hong Kong, France, Germany and the UK including concerts at Melbourne Town Hall, The Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Lincoln Cathedral and Westminster Abbey. This recital is one of six concerts on this visit to the USA and in December Max and Nicholas play in Japan. In 2007 they released a CD entitled four hands / four feet recorded live in Dunedin Town Hall, which spent six weeks in the Radio New Zealand Classical Chart Top Ten, and has also featured on the BBC’s The Organist Entertains programme and Pipedreams on public radio throughout the USA. For further information, full tour itinerary details, more reviews and CD purchasing, please visit the performers’ respective websites.
Max Kenworthy
A native of Yorkshire, England, Max Kenworthy is a freelance organist, pianist, singer and choral conductor based in London. He began his musical career as a chorister at St. Paul’s Cathedral, London and later studied music at Brasenose College, Oxford, where he was also organ scholar. In 2002 Max was appointed Assistant Director of Music at Wellington Cathedral, a post he held for five years before going freelance. During this time he rekindled his interest in jazz by forming a jazz trio who specialised in jazz arrangements of the music of J.S. Bach. Max has made several recordings and has also worked as a concert reviewer and contributor for Radio New Zealand, most recently writing and presenting a programme on the organ works of Messiaen.
Nicholas Grigsby
Nicholas Grigsby is a New Zealand based concert organist, harpsichordist, broadcaster and academic. He is currently completing a PhD thesis on the earliest aspects of the life of Johann Sebastian Bach, for which in 2008, he was awarded a Visiting Fellowship by Harvard University. During 2009, he will present recitals and lectures in the USA, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. For the past six years he has regularly presented a range of work on the National Radio network Concert programme in New Zealand. This year, projects have included profiles on composers Roxanna Panufnik and Thomas Adès, as well as an upcoming sequence of interviews with a range of contemporary New Zealand musical personalities. He and his wife Fenella manage a small farm in South Taranaki, on New Zealand’s North Island.
… this was a recital that was as unusual as it was entertaining — duets on an organ is something I cannot recall ever reviewing before. Two players can make an overwhelming sonic impression. I have heard a lot of organ performances over the years, but this was something especially memorable. (Canberra Times)
… a thrilling evening of music full of dash and showmanship. I have heard the organ played ‘flat out’ many a time, but with four hands and four feet, the load is doubled up and it turned up trumps, particularly in the Merkel Sonata for Two Organists. (Taranaki Daily News)
