Richard Purvis, Organist of Grace - Softcover

Welch, James

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1481278010 ISBN 13: 9781481278010

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2013

Synopsis

Richard Purvis—organist, choirmaster, and composer at historic Grace Cathedral—became a San Francisco legend and (along with Alexander Schreiner, E. Power Biggs, and Virgil Fox) a national celebrity who made mid-20th century American organ music popular with the masses through records, recitals, and the press. The only book of its kind, Richard Purvis, Organist of Grace is a major contribution to our understanding of the music, culture, and church politics of an era marked as much by social change as by a revolution in musical taste, technology, and compositional technique. Uniquely among his colleagues, Purvis was first and foremost a writer and performer of original music that thrilled church and concert audiences everywhere—a talent that won him more than one invitation to leave Grace to compose for Hollywood. (His closest ally at Grace described Purvis as writing “film music for the Episcopal church.”) Child prodigy, conservatory virtuoso, prisoner of war—Purvis’s early life reads like a movie. Then came his epic rise and fall at Grace, concertizing throughout the United States, and a teaching career that spawned a generation of organists who, like Purvis, were equally adept at playing theatre organs, unafraid to experiment—even with electronic organs—and trained to trust their ear, not just the page. Through scrupulous research and extensive interviews with those who knew Purvis best, James Welch captures the character, career, and legacy of "The Master of Grace" in the book that future scholars and readers will return to, again and again, as the Place Where it All Began in Purvis studies. Richard Purvis, Organist of Grace, 508 pages, is lavishly illustrated with never-before seen photos and a wealth of documents and interviews. It chronicles Purvis's early life in the Bay Area, his years at The Curtis Institute, his military service in World War II, and his tempestuous tenure at Grace Cathedral, where he made the stones sing and crowds cheer. The book includes detailed chapters about Purvis as composer, recitalist, and teacher; complete lists of his published (and unpublished) organ and choral works; the story of his strong interest in the theatre organ; and colorful anecdotes and reminiscences from those who knew him as a friend, teacher, and colleague. His legend continues—clarified, corrected, and completed—in this essential resource for organists, historians, and lovers of music.

About this title

About the Author:

James Welch, Organist, is a member of the Santa Clara Music Department faculty. Previously he taught at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He also serves as organist of St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Palo Alto. He received the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in organ performance from Stanford University, where he studied under Herbert Nanney and served as Assistant University Organist. Further studies have been with John Walker; Alexander Schreiner; Josef Doppelbauer of the Mozarteum Akademie, Salzburg, Austria; and Jean Langlais, Basilique Ste. Clotilde, Paris, France. He has concertized internationally, with performances in such prestigious venues as Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, the Leipzig Gewandhaus, National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., and the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City. He has also performed and taught in Beijing, Taipei, Hong Kong, New Zealand, and Jerusalem. A specialist in Latin American organ music, he received a Fulbright award to perform and conduct research on historic 19th-century Cavaillé-Coll organs in Brazil; since then he has performed in Mexico and edited three volumes of organ music by contemporary Mexican composers. He holds the Associate Certificate of the American Guild of Organists, and he has performed at conventions of the Guild and at the International Congress of Organists. He is the author of a major new biography, Richard Purvis, Organist of Grace. Other articles have appeared in The American Organist and The Diapason, and he has released numerous CDs, recorded on a variety of organs in the United States and Europe. Many of his recorded performances have been aired on American Public Media's "Pipedreams" program. His travels, studies, and performances on historical and modern instruments throughout the world have given him a sure command of many styles of music. Critics in this country and abroad have praised him for his technical facility, solid musicianship, and creative programming. He and his wife Deanne are the parents of two sons, Nicholas and Jameson. www.welchorganist.com

About this edition

• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1481278010
• ISBN 13: 9781481278010
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 508