Dracula To Descend On Auckland Town Hall

Dracula To Descend On Auckland Town Hall

AUCKLAND, August 23, 2006 – While it is The Phantom of the Opera that is most associated with playing the organ, another shadowy figure – Dracula – will bare his teeth at a free Organ Series concert on Sunday September 10 at the Auckland Town Hall, THE EDGE®.

The programme for the concert – part of THE EDGE® Free Family Concert Series – includes the prelude and fugue from a work by composer Richard Francis called The Transylvanian, described as evoking a “Dracula-esque atmosphere”.

The Francis composition is one of six pieces to be performed by Auckland City Organist, Dr John Wells.

Amongst the other works is Mozart’s Fantasia that he was commissioned to write for a mechanical clock. When originally performed, the work was pinned onto a barrel organ that was activated every hour or half-hour by the clock. Jehan Alain’s stirring Trois Danses will also be performed. (Full programme below.) The work is particularly poignant as the composer was killed during World War II before he was even 30-years-old.

Dr Wells, who is also the University Organist and Visiting Artist-Teacher (Organ) at the University of Auckland, recently returned from a six-concert tour of Australia which included the Australian premiere of his Organ Concerto.

There will be a gold coin collection at the concert for the Friends of the Town Hall Organ.

Organ Series Concert
Great Hall, Auckland Town Hall, THE EDGE®
Sunday September 10, 2.30pm
Free (gold coin collection for Friends of the Town Hall Organ)

Programme

Sergei Mikhailovitch Slonimsky – Toccata
Georgi Alexandrovitch Mushel – Aria & Toccata
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Fantasia in F minor/major KV 594
Jehan Alain – Trois Danses
Johann Sebastian Bach – Toccata, Adagio, Fugue, BWV 564
Richard Francis – Prelude & Fugue in G minor “The Transylvanian”

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