Harvard Organ Society

Harvard's newest musical organization presented a recital in Memorial Church Friday night. The Organ society enlisted the services of Richard Reynolds, organist for the Central Congregational church of Jamaica Plain. His attractive, unusual program more than compensated for his minor technical deficiencies.

Mr. Reynolds is a rather young, man, and seemed quite nervous at the beginning of his recital. The opening Bach selections were marred by wrong notes and general muddiness, but the three Chorale-Preludes which followed sounded much clearer and more relaxed.

Essentially a miniaturist, Reynolds was unable to sustain interest in Mozart's long and complicated Fantasy in F minor. The massive sonorities at the beginning and end were impressive but the more subdued middle section suffered from monotonous phrasing and lack of clarity.

Excepts from Haydn's Pieces for Musical Clock came as a refreshing surprise. Originally written for a glorified music box, these bits of whimsy sound excellent can the organ. I especially enjoyed the mock heroism of the march, and the naive little fugue which concluded the group.

Brahms' Chorale Prelude, Herlich that mich verlangen, fared very well. This powerful, brooding work certainly does not deserve its long neglect. Mr. Reynolds duly emphasized its dark, half-dissonant harmonics.

The program ended with a "Concert Study for the Pedal," by one Raphael Manari, a composer so obscure that he is not even mentioned in grove's nearly exhaustive Dictionary of Musicians. All that I know about him is that he was a teacher of the Vatican's present organist. The music is bombastic and superficial. a work by one of the moderns would have been a much more welcome finale.