Artist Ken Cowan, one of today’s hottest young concert organists, took the recently renovated E.M. Skinner organ at First United Methodist in Oak Park on its maiden voyage July 1. Like a one-man-band, Cowan produced a spectacular survey of the myriad orchestral colors that made Skinner’s instruments so renowned years ago and worth preserving today.
Taking a cue from the orchestra custom of opera overtures for starters, his opening piece was Weber’s “Overture to Oberon.” The opera has sunk into oblivion, but Cowan’s vivid reading brought it back to life. Watching Cowan nail down lightning-fast scales with his feet was enough to whet appetites for the courses to come.
Ever assured and at ease, he continued to delight with a wide variety of moods, from Carmen themes to polkas to tangos. His appealing (dare I say fun?) choice of music could shake up anyone who thought the organ was limited to solemn occasions and Sunday hymns.
Cowan plays with astonishing control, accuracy, and freedom. His feats were all the more fascinating with the organ console placed in full view of the audience. A player of this restored organ operates 44 “stops” (or tone colors), more than 50 control buttons and switches, four manual keyboards, a pedal keyboard, and additional pedals to regulate volume. Cowan executed all the demands of the nearly two-hour program entirely from memory, perfectly managing hundreds of piston changes, together with thousands of notes for hands and feet with an exquisite sense of musical timing.
On one hand, the concert was a memorial to times past, when theatres and churches that couldn’t afford an orchestra opted instead for the orchestra-in-a-box: an organ with thousands of pipes controlled by one player. Skinner’s “American classic” organs were designed to navigate what today may seem overly sentimental waters?#34;whimsies, meditative reflections, delectable musical morsels that would crack a smile, and of course, dramatic opera transcriptions, which were the mainstay of concert organists in the early 20th century.
The organ was in tip-top working order disguising its age of 79 years. The intelligent and historically informed renovation by Spencer Organ Company of Boston with Jeff Weiler Organ Curators of Chicago made the instrument seem fresh. Church organist Michael Shawgo, when he took the position in 2000, said “It is such a gorgeous instrument … if only everything would work.”
The members of First United Methodist, through a two-year, $650,000 process of fundraising and meticulous repairs, have renewed a legacy that speaks with a marvelous presence and tonal variety to rival?#34;and exceed?#34;today’s latest synthesizer. The renovations were funded in large part by the William T. Bradley Foundation of Bryn Mawr, Penn., whose purpose is to encourage the authentic preservation and performances on Skinner’s instruments.
Organists tend to get pretty excited about the lovely tone colors created by E.M. Skinner. Cowan’s use of the regal gamba that opened Healey Willan’s “Passacaglia” and the plaintive salicional solo in Mendelssohn’s F Minor sonata were certainly sounds to savor.
The performance was a warm-up event for the 48th biennial convention, attended by 2,200 members of the American Guild of Organists, held in Chicago July 2-6. Over 400 organists, perhaps a bunch not particularly known for their vigor, jumped to their feet with a noisy ovation before the final chord of Wagner’s Overture to Die Meistersinger faded away. As the carriers of the organ “torch,” this discerning audience should know what is worth standing for.