Robert Jones 53

Following a period in Leipzig and Berlin, Mendelssohn felt the need for a more tranquil environment, to concentrate on composing and his wife’s health, and moved to Frankfurt in 1845. After arriving in Frankfurt, he received a commission from the British publisher Charles Coventry to compose a set of organ works suitable to be used within an English Church service. Mendelssohn originally composed seven separate works, which he revisited and reworked them as movements of his six organ sonatas. Although these works are titled sonatas, they do not follow the classical structure of a sonata. Rather they use the structure in the manner of Bach and his contemporaries, a multi-movement work including several genres and styles. His sixth sonata used Luther’s chorale Vater Unser im Himmelreich (a metric adaptation of the Lord’s Prayer) as the theme for the first two movements of the sonata. The first movements starts with the chorale, followed by four variations upon the chorale. The first is a short trio, with the melody soloed in the soprano line. The second, the chorale is accompanied by staccato pedal quavers, which leads to the third variation. This has the melody in the tenor part, accompanied by consecutive thirds and sixths over detached pedal parts. This finishes with the tonic chord (D minor), where the fiery Allegro molto starts. During this section, the melody moves between different voices while being accompanied by rapid broken chords. This concludes with the first and final line of the choral, reharmonised on full organ.

Bach's St. Anne Prelude and Fugue, performed live during my MMus Recital, 28th September 2017. Played on the 1973, Hill, Norman and Beard organ of Prichard-Jones Hall, Bangor University.

Bereceuse composed by Louis Vierne, from his '24 Pièces en style libre, Op.31.' Played by Robert Jones on the Organ of Bangor Cathedral on 12 April 2016.