Robert Morehead

Musical Bits~ Reflections on Sunday’s Music
October 13, 2013
 

5. Celebrating the music of Flor Peeters (1903-1986)

This Sunday’s worship service will feature the music of Belgian organist Flor Peeters, who was a pupil of Dupré and Tournemire, and was the organist at Malines Cathedral.  Peeters managed to compose music that was a synthesis of French and Flemish styles.
The “Prelude and Fugue in F Dorian” demonstrates Peeters’ ability to understand and compose chant and streams of chords outside of western tonality. Most of the prelude contains long chords that explore the facets of harmony within its church mode, however the chords  also provide exciting resolutions and retardations of the dissonance throughout. It is important to listen to the registration selected for both movements as this further clarifies the composer’s compositional style. The prelude requires a mélange of 8’ sound with a 4’ principal in the manuals and pedals. This principal sound is one of the characteristics of Peeters’ style. However, the listener is encouraged to listen to the 2’ principal stop (common in Belgian organs) that is in the pedal. Peeters does certainly write a fugue with most of the rules, however it is the required registration that allows the bleeding of lines to be more audible to the listener.
The “Aria” is Peeters best known organ work and has a plaintive melody set against pulsating chords.
                                                                                    ‘til Sunday-Robert Morehead
Other music selections:
 
Hymn of Praise:                   Greet Thee, Who My Sure Redeemer Art (#457)
Act of Praise:                      Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty! (#138)
Hymn of Response:          He Who Began A Good Work In You
Offertory Music:                  There Is A Redeemer-Arr. R. Morehead
Hymn of Dedication:         Lord Dismiss Us With Your Blessing (#538)
Postlude:                             Hyfrydol-Vaughan Williams