Mention “The trumpet shall sound…” and one’s imagination immediately flies to George Frederic Handel’s bass aria with trumpet from Part III of his oratorio Messiah. In spite of that mental attachment, organist and St. John’s Cathedral music director Jason Overall and Chase Hawkins, principal trumpet of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, had something completely different in mind on their Sunday afternoon recital. Their program of music for trumpet and organ continued St. John’s Cathedral Arts series, but with relatively recent works that were both intriguingly revelatory and an education in the sizable trumpet/organ repertoire.
Personal contributions from Hawkins and Overall opened and closed the concert. Overall’s own Fanfare from 2016 featured a clever and ear-catching use of statement and echo effect. The pair closed the concert with Hawkins’ trumpet/organ arrangement of Astor Piazzola’s Libertango from 1974, a very charming and accessible work that has seen a multitude of adaptations from movie scores to TV commercials.
The featured work on the program was Czech composer Petr Eben’s Okna (Windows) from 1976. The work refers to artist Marc Chagall’s first commission for stained-glass windows for the Abbell Synagogue that was yet to be built on the grounds of the Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem. Chagall created twelve windows, each one representing one of the twelve tribes of Israel. Eben’s work seeks to musically describe four of the windows: Blue Window, Green Window, Red Window, and Golden window. The four movements all have an ebb and flow that takes the instruments in and out of rhythmic synchronicity in which tonal prominence is shifted. Despite admittedly tonally challenging moments, the fourth movement (Golden) uses a Russian Orthodox hymn that is juxtaposed with Jewish synagogue chants.
Perhaps the most challenging tonality of the afternoon—and one that drew the listener into unfamiliar territory—came from Que le jour est beau! , a 1985 work by Ivan Jevtić.
Giving Hawkins a brief respite, Overall also performed two organ only works, a Pastorale and Berceuse from 24 Pieces en style libre by Louis Verne and An American Triptych by David Kelley from 1993. Both works revealed some of the enchanting tonal capabilities of St. John’s new pipe organ.
