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Concert Review

David von Behren performed an organ recital as part of his Master's degree, playing works by Maurice Duruflé. The performance took place at Woolsey Hall and included two preludes, a fugue, a scherzo, and a three-movement suite. The audience gave von Behren a standing ovation, recognizing the technical skill and musicality in his performances of the complex and varied pieces. Von Behren impressed the audience not only with his organ playing but also with his singing during one piece. The reviewer recommends seeing one of von Behren's performances based on the quality of music and his skill as a performer.

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28 views3 pages

Concert Review

David von Behren performed an organ recital as part of his Master's degree, playing works by Maurice Duruflé. The performance took place at Woolsey Hall and included two preludes, a fugue, a scherzo, and a three-movement suite. The audience gave von Behren a standing ovation, recognizing the technical skill and musicality in his performances of the complex and varied pieces. Von Behren impressed the audience not only with his organ playing but also with his singing during one piece. The reviewer recommends seeing one of von Behren's performances based on the quality of music and his skill as a performer.

Uploaded by

Jeronimo
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Jorge Jeronimo Fueyo Gonzalez

Profesor Marissa Moore

MUSI 175: Listening to Music

May 5, 2019

Incredible Sound by David von Behren and the Great Organ of Woolsey Hall

As part of his Master of Music degree in the School of Music of Yale University, David

von Behren did an organ recital in which he performed a series of organ works by Maurice

Duruflé. The performance, which took place in Woolsey Hall on May 5, 2019, was brilliant and

superb, and the audience did not fail in recognizing the quality of von Behren’s work. The first

half of the concert consisted of two preludes, a fugue and a scherzo, and the second half

consisted of a three-movement suite. All of the pieces were grandiously performed and inspired

the audience to recognize the artist’s performance with a standing ovation.

The concert started with Duruflé’s Prelude sur l’introit de l’Epiphanie, Op. 13, and his

Fugue sur le Carillon de Soissons, Op. 12. The prelude started with melody in the higher register

and then the lower register of the organ served as accompaniment. There was a lot of polyphony

and counterpoint between the two voices throughout the piece, and the prelude consisted of a

development of the initial melody and an extension of the melodic path resolving in a very

notorious final chord. After that, the fugue started with a quicker tempo with a lot of notes being

played. The melody goes up and down following a specific type of scale that I don’t recognize.

The higher register scales are accompanied by a slower and easily distinguishable melody in the

background. This piece is also characterized by the dynamics in which there is crescendo until

the room is completely filled with sonorous chords. At the end there is a clear transition in which
the fugue ends with very tense and dissonant chords that are finally resolved into a very long and

sonorous chord.

The second piece played was Duruflé’s Scherzo, Op. 2. This piece has a mystical start,

very similar to Debussy’s works, specifically his Prelude to an Afternoon of a Faun. At the

beginning there is no clear melody, just a collection of sounds and arpeggios that sound as if the

whole organ is singing and presenting the setting. This whole piece is more piano than the last

two pieces that had a lot of crescend. Also there is a clear motive in the higher register that

repeats itself throughout the piece. After some time, there are some transition chords, and the

music intensifies. The piece is in the typical ABACA form of the Scherzos, and in the end the

first part repeats itself with some variations. The transition chords appear again and it ends with a

calmer setting and the music slowly diffuses.

The third piece played was the Prélude, Adagio et Choral Varié sur le theme du ‘Veni

Creator’, Op. 4. This is a liturgy that starts with very quick notes that go up and down the scale

in the higher register. The melody then switches to the lower register with the quick notes still in

the background. There is a transition with long chords, and then returns to the first theme. After

some time it comes to a complete stop and there is a more mystical theme playing after. All of a

sudden, the performer stopped playing and started chanting the Chorale with great sound. I did

not expect this part, and it sounded amazing. The chorale’s melody was then developed with 4

variations in between the verses. First it was a poco meno lento variation, then an allegretto, then

an andante espressivo, and finally an allegro. The chorale had a lot of melisma and all of the

variations followed the original melody of the chorale. Finally the piece ends with a loud, long

chord.
After the intermission von Behren played the three movement Suite, Op. 5. The first

movement, a prélude, had a theme that was repeated three times. Each time the theme was

repeated there was a slight variation. As the theme is repeated in the different expositions, the

music intensified until at the end it ends with a slow quiet theme. The second movement, a

sicilienne, was composed of three statements of a main theme with two episodes. Finally, the

Toccata, third and last movement, has an introduction before a fast-rhythmic theme. A second

theme is presented afterwards, and both the first and second themes are combined. This

movement ends with a reminder of the introduction and a very sonorous and grandiose chord.

The final chord of the concert encapsulates the grandiosity of von Behren’s performance.

His skill with the organ was impressive, not to mention his world class voice presented in the

Choral of ‘Ceni Creator’. There is no doubt that von Behren is a world class musician and that,

based on this performance, his future performances will be just as joyous to watch. I would very

much recommend other people to witness this amazing concert that not only had a great

performer, but also an amazing repertoire of Maurice Duruflé’s Organ Works, and the amazing

sound of Woolsey Hall’s organ. It is with no surprise that the amazing performance of David von

Behren ended with a prolonged standing ovation.

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