Bradley Will Have Booming Sounds At His Fingertips

Grand sounds from the king of instruments will arise among Gothic stones this Sunday when Charles C. Bradley Jr. gives an organ recital.

Bradley is the organist and music director at the Cathedral of St. John as well as the artistic director for The Cathedral And The Arts.

The central work on the program will be one of the most famous pieces by Healey Willan. Willan was a Canadian organist and composer who admitted to falling under the influence of Wagnerian opera in his early compositions. His 1916 Introduction, Passacaglia and Fugue makes use of the heavily Romantic, chromatic style of the late 19th century.

A special treat for this concert is the first performance of a piece that Bradley commissioned Stefan Kozinski to arrange for him. The publisher has given limited permission for this arrangement, so it is not to be recorded and Bradley is the only one who is allowed to play it. Live and in person on Sunday may be your only chance to hear it.

The piece is Ralph Vaughan Williams’ String Fantasy on “Dives and Lazarus,” originally written as Five Variants of “Dives and Lazarus” for string and harps to represent British music at the 1939 World Fair.

Kozinski and Bradley excerpted the portions that would work best on the organ. Bradley says the result is not all five variants, but the opening and closing, plus two full ones and part of a third. The best of Vaughan Williams’ folk song style, it is based on a song culled from an 1893 collection.

The concert will also include music by J.S. Bach, Widor and Howells.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Charles C. Bradley Jr. will present an organ recital at 4 p.m. Sunday at St. John’s Cathedral, Grand at 12th. Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and $4 for children 12 and under, available at G&B Select-a-Seat outlets (or call 325-SEAT) and at the door.