Despite living and attending school locally, I have never watched one of Worcester Cathedral’s lunchtime recitals, although I did perform in one last February. Having this experience, and others, of Cathedral music, I had generally high expectations of this event. Moreover, by researching Paul using his own websites and others’ reviews, I came to expect something rather spectacular; He is clearly a virtuosic, unique and talented performer who has a passion for his instrument and craft, and a flair for putting together a programme of music in which each piece complements the others, and that keeps the audience engaged and based on reviews, clearly astounded. I was expecting to hear a high-level of musical talent.

Seeing as the concert took place in the middle of the working day, I was unsurprised to see an audience consisting (mostly) of those who do not attend work or school: retirees and a few younger families with toddlers and a baby. I was handed a programme and saw that Paul was performing music from a number of different eras, with the publication dates of his selected pieces ranging from 1714-1949.

Paul’s opening piece, rather appropriately, was Light Cavalry Overture by Franz von Suppé. It was up-tempo, served as an excellent fanfare to the performance. Paul’s performance of it gave me a great sense of familiarity: he played it with ample flair and flourishes, and its complex melodies and scalic sequences certainly showcased his capabilities. On a personal level I enjoyed listening to this piece a great deal – it was mostly up-beat and featured a great section of call-and-response.

Three movements from Bach’s Concerto in D minor ‘after Vivaldi (BWV 596) followed the Overture. The first movement was a good contrast, starting quieter and in a different key. While it had quite an echoey feel, it still featured plenty of ‘big chords’ which contrasted with long, scalic passages, which I quickly came to notice were something of a trademark of Paul’s. I found it interesting that no note in this whole concerto seemed lost – everything was heard and stood out, and everything was played; when playing more complex pieces on the piano myself, I will, at times, omit notes from chords or bars if I deem that it won’t make too much of a sound difference, purely for ease – I always find it rather impressive when somebody doesn’t feel as though they have to do this due to their familiarity with the piece (or their skill as a musician). I particularly enjoyed the dynamic contrast used for repeated passages: if something was played more than once, the second time was quieter, as if to remind the audience that they’ve heard this before, and perhaps to imply that the listeners should not pay it too much heed, as something bigger and better might be coming next. The short pauses which Paul made use of between each movement highlighted the change, and undoubtedly served as a useful break for the organist! At the time of listening, I reflected that the second (I think!) movement sounded rather Christmassy, although I’m not sure whether anybody else in the audience felt the same.

The rather extensive Concerto was followed by Naїdes and Toccata from Vierne’s Piéces de Fantaisie. Naїdes provided a rather pleasant, relaxed interlude between loud and exciting pieces. It reminded me of glockenspiel playing, somewhat magical and gentle, and filled my mind with images of the Harry Potter films; I wouldn’t have struggled to believe that John Williams had composed it to underscore a scene in the Forbidden Forest. Sections of Naїdes frequently featured chords in the left hand, coupled with Paul’s trademark virtuosic, scalic sequences in the right hand. The end slightly caught me by surprise – it was just one, simple, sustained note, which I found to be almost haunting, and quite apart from the other pieces, which ended with cadences or chords. Toccata was possibly the biggest contrast heard in the Quire that day. It was louder, faster and was in a very flat key as opposed to the very sharp key of Naїdes. I was immediately taken by the energy of this piece: it was an excellent choice of material. As ever, any dynamic or tempo changes were done seamlessly and with great flair. I think the Toccata may’ve been my favourite piece from Paul’s repertoire.

The Scherzetto from Sonata in C minor was light and airy. It felt quite different to other pieces that Paul had played and was quite upbeat – while watching the performance I made two notes which I never expected to make while reviewing a professional concert organist: it reminded me somewhat of pieces I had played at Grades 3-5 level on the piano (purely in theme and style, not in complexity), which were generally aimed at children, in order to keep them interested in playing the piano; the second of these notes was that it seemed like something people could dance to. The piece was light from start to finish and felt like a pallet-cleanser from some of the heavier pieces heard in the recital. During the piece, I drew a (rudimentary) graphic of my favourite sequences, which looked like this (after I recreated them on the computer!): 

I also noted that the baby which was in the audience only cried during this piece – perhaps not all the reviewers enjoyed it as much as I did!

Paul closed his recital with a high-spirited rendition of Fête by Langlais. It consolidated my view that he favours playing virtuosic, quick pieces with loud chords and long scales. There was some excellent transition between staccato and legato at times, and it seemed like Paul used almost every note on each keyboard for this final flourish in the performance. I picked up on the fact that the piece began to slow down, which might’ve indicated the end of the event, although it did speed back up. It was full of ornaments, and absolutely fabulous.

On the whole, I was impressed by Paul Carr’s Organ Recital in Worcester Cathedral. I had read fantastic reviews, and the performance lived up to them marvellously. Paul’s style and taste shone through his pieces, and the interesting repertoire he chose was both entertaining and varied. I would highly recommend that people go and listen to Paul play, should the opportunity present itself.