The nice thing about living in 21st-century California is that people find gods for everything and in every place. Take J.S. Bach, for instance. He’s a god of music if ever there was one and, as every god should, he has a high priest.
At least, that’s what it says in Anthony Newman’s bio. The organist, who played a recital at Grace Cathedral on Saturday, has been dubbed the high priest of Bach by no less a musician than Wynton Marsalis. If this is indeed the case, then Newman’s brand of religion must include some kind of self-induced hypnosis, because I can see no other way to get around his interpretations of the great composer’s works.
Newman’s ferocious rhythmic drive and almost ridiculously swift tempos do not so much invite listeners into his world as draw a line in the sand and challenge them to cross over. Once there, you see Bach in relief, not with the soft clarity of marble but with the cragginess of concrete. While some passages are not entirely clear, others are etched almost too much in the subconscious. This is not Bach for the fainthearted.
This unyielding approach was especially evident in the Prelude and Fugue in E Minor, BWV 548 (affectionately known in the organ world as the “Wedge,” because of the shape of its fugal subject). In the prelude, Newman mostly used a fairly banal registration, only to interrupt it with the edgy sound of loud reeds in one recurring sequence, an effect that reversed my expectations. On the other hand, the fugue’s legendary scale runs were nicely brought out through the use of echo effects, a technique that others who play this piece never employ, even though these passages cry out for it.
John Karl Hirten regularly performs organ recitals in the Bay Area, including monthly programs at the California Palace of the Legion of Honor. He is Director of Music at St. Stephen's Church in Belvedere, an accompanist for the San Francisco Boys Chorus, and a composer.