Alexander Schreiner: Carillon de Westminster - Louis Vierne

It is told that Louis Vierne asked Alexander Schreiner, as he returned to America from Paris, to bring his music to the United States. Schreiner did this with this trademark interpretation of Vierne's piece which became a staple in Schreiner's repertoire.

I recall a Christmas concert I attended in my early teens in the Salt Lake Tabernacle. It featured the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Organ - this name being how the Choir was known and made famous over many decades. Alexander Schreiner performed this Vierne selection at the concert. I was expecting the glorious crescendo in the middle where the main theme is reintroduced in grand fashion. That didn't happen. The ascending scale didn't add any power or resolution. I was so surprised, even felt let down and confused - this grand peak being totally flat. What went wrong? The piece continued without any rise on and on. And then, little by little, hint by hint in the last churning phrases a great flame started to rise. And then it peaked and held, and then after a few bars suddenly rose again, and then held. And then in the last phrases the most legato, pulsing bass and brilliance lifting to the fullest glory - of course complete with Schreiner's hallmark ritardano perfection to the finish. And, mind you, this was Schreiner in that the crowning glory was not blasting trumpets and flapping 32' bass stops but integrated, balanced ensemble. "Like with an orchestra" (as he taught in his lessons).

The anticipation crafted in this performance made me, and the entire building explode to our feet in ovation. Even my father, a simple country farmer seated next me at the concert, burst.

What a mastery of performance and musicianship.