Frederick Grimes to Give Organ Concert Jan. 28

January 24, 1996

by Richard Veit

Frederick Grimes, organist and choirmaster at All Saints' Episcopal Church in Fort Worth, will present the opening concert of Baylor University's 1996 Organ Conference at 4 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 28. He will perform on the McLane Organ of the Mary Gibbs Jones Concert Hall, which is located in Baylor's Glennis McCrary Music Building.
Grimes, who served as director of music at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in New York City for 22 years, is a native of Hillsboro and a 1964 graduate of Baylor University, where he studied under Dr. Robert Markham. He is in great demand as an organ recitalist, conductor, workshop leader, and organ consultant across the country.
The concert will begin with the "Toccata, Villancico y Fuga" of Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera. The fugal section of this 1947 work, centered around the signature theme B-A-C-H (B-flat, A, C, B-natural), is a tribute to the great German master, Johann Sebastian Bach. Later in the program, Frederick Grimes will present a related composition, Franz Liszt's "Fantasia and Fugue on B-A-C-H." There will also be a work by Bach himself, his "Prelude and Fugue in D Major
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "Fantasy in F Minor" was originally commissioned as a piece for organ clock-that is, for a clockwork mechanism designed to "play" an organ by automation. The "Partite sopra la aria della Folia da Espagna" by 17th-century Italian composer Bernardo Pasquini is based on the Spanish/Portuguese theme known as "La folia." Concluding the program will be works by Bruce Simonds (the Prelude on "Iam sol recedit igneus") and Louis Vierne ("Carillon de Westminster").
The concert by Frederick Grimes is free and open to the public. For more information, call the Baylor School of Music at 755-3991.