The Remarkable Norman Kaye
Move Records has gathered material for this CD paying tribute to the wonderful Norman Kaye. The main focus is the musician and organist, without forgetting his acting career.
Cantus Choro choir
Tudor Choristers choir
Alfred Ernest Floyd voice
Melbourne Brass Ensemble ensemble
Louis-Claude Daquin composer
Percy Whitlock composer
Johann Sebastian Bach composer
Louis Vierne composer
Flor Peeters composer
Charles Hubert Hastings Parry composer
Henry Purcell composer
John Bull composer
Richard Alwood composer
Richard Farnaby composer
Giles Farnaby composer
Jean Langlais composer
Alfred Ernest Floyd composer
Henry Baker songwriter
Christina Rossetti songwriter
Ralph Vaughan Williams arranger
Norman Kaye arranger
Move Records has gathered thirty tracks for this CD which pays tribute to the remarkable Norman Kaye. The main focus is the musician and organist, without forgetting his acting career. Norman was born on 17 January 1927 and died on 28 May 2007.
He was not only a well known and highly regarded actor, winning the 1983 AFI Best Actor award, but also an exceptional organist. Having studied under Melbourne’s legendary Dr A. E. Floyd, he went on to study with Pierre Cochereau, organist of Notre Dame de Paris.
The recording draws on a wide variety of historical sources, from a recital on the Melbourne Town Hall organ (with an introduction by Dr Floyd himself) through to 1997, when he gave the final recital on the J. E. Dodd organ which until that year stood in the Trinity College Chapel, Melbourne. It includes compositions by Norman, examples of him as accompanist, and several excellent improvisations.
Produced to celebrate his life, the disc is also a chance to hear several of Melbourne’s organs that have since been lost or dramatically altered: the Melbourne Town Hall organ in its original 1929 form (before the great enlargement of 1999–2000), the Caulfield Grammar Memorial Hall organ (destroyed by fire in 2000), and Scotch College’s Littlejohn Chapel organ, removed in 1993 to make way for an electronic instrument.
Reviews
This CD is a welcome tribute to a remarkable Australian
The playing is just fascinating, technically sound and utterly musical as one would expect . . . Warmly recommended
What a remarkable assortment of vignettes from the late lamented doyen of the world of organ accompaniment and improvisation
Artists
Norman Kaye
Norman Kaye (1927–2007) was an Australian organist, composer and actor. Schooled in the French organ tradition, he brought bold colour, humour and improvisatory flair to the console, and is remembered equally for the quiet depth of his screen performances.
Audio previews
Tracks
- Prelude Norman Kaye :59
- Spoken introduction 1:23
- Noël Melbourne Town Hall Louis-Claude Daquin 5:06
- Scherzo Melbourne Town Hall Percy Whitlock 1:48
- Melbourne Town Hall Improvisation Norman Kaye :53
- O Song of Courage Littlejohn Chapel Norman Kaye 1:24
- A Song of Victory Littlejohn Chapel Norman Kaye 2:53
- Postlude, 1963 Trinity College Chapel Norman Kaye 1:06
- Communion Service Canterbury Fellowship Norman Kaye 4:07
- Improvisation, 1968 Trinity College Chapel Norman Kaye 2:07
- Fantasia super Komm heiliger Geist (Come Holy Ghost) BWV 651 Trinity College Chapel Johann Sebastian Bach 6:40
- Impromptu Archer Memorial organ Louis Vierne 3:26
- Lord Jesus hath a garden St Andrew's, Brighton Flor Peeters 2:52
- O praise ye the Lord Cantus Choro Charles Hubert Hastings Parry Henry Baker 2:52
- Christ is made the sure foundation Cantus Choro Henry Purcell 3:36
- All creatures of our God and King Cantus Choro Arr: Ralph Vaughan Williams 3:42
- In the bleak mid-winter Tudor Choristers Norman Kaye Christina Rossetti 4:01
- O little town of Bethlehem Tudor Choristers Arr: Norman Kaye 4:25
- Postlude Our Lady of Victories' Church Norman Kaye 1:40
- Preludium St Patrick's Cathedral John Bull 1:03
- In Nomine St Patrick's Cathedral Richard Alwood 1:36
- A Duo St Patrick's Cathedral Richard Farnaby 1:44
- Praeludium St Patrick's Cathedral Giles Farnaby :56
- Improvisation, 1989 Trinity College Chapel Norman Kaye 1:42
- Three fanfares St Patrick's Cathedral Norman Kaye 1:37
- Chant de Paix, 1945 Trinity College Chapel Jean Langlais 3:45
- Extemporisation Trinity College Chapel Alfred Ernest Floyd 3:49
- Comment on improvising :31
- Improvisation, 1997 Trinity College Chapel Norman Kaye 5:13
- Lonely Hearts Norman Kaye Arr: Norman Kaye 1:56
Performers
- Norman Kaye · all except track 2
- Cantus Choro · tracks 14–16
- Tudor Choristers · tracks 17 and 18
- Alfred Ernest Floyd · voice · track 2
- Melbourne Brass Ensemble · track 25
Composers
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) was a German composer and organist of the late Baroque. His sacred and secular music for choir, orchestra, organ and solo instruments remains among the foundations of the Western concert and church repertory.
Alfred Ernest Floyd
Alfred Ernest Floyd's sacred writing serves the church year and the organ loft: the carol Cold and Dark is Holy Night, Church Preludes for small instruments, and hymnody from Advent through All Saints.
Jean Langlais
Jean Langlais wrote organ and sacred choral music of rich, complex harmony and overlapping modes, shot through with an earthy Celtic folkiness that sits beside Franck, Tournemire and the mid-century French school.
Charles Hubert Hastings Parry
Hubert Parry's music still fills cathedrals and coronations. Best known for the choral song Jerusalem, the coronation anthem I was glad and the hymn tune Repton, his writing joins ceremonial splendour to a humane, singable warmth.
Henry Purcell
Henry Purcell (c. 1659–1695) was an English organist and composer of the middle Baroque. His sacred music, theatre songs, instrumental works and the opera Dido and Aeneas shaped a distinctly English Baroque style.
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958) was an English composer of nine symphonies, operas, ballets, and a large body of choral and vocal music. Drawing on Tudor polyphony and English folk-song, he helped free British music from its nineteenth-century German models.
Louis Vierne
Louis Vierne’s organ music balances elegant form with romantically rich harmony: six symphonies, fantasy pieces crowned by the Carillon de Westminster, and liturgical scores written for the great French instruments.
John Bull
John Bull (1562/63–1628) was an English composer, organist and virginalist of the late Renaissance. He was a renowned keyboard performer, and most of his surviving music is for the virginal and organ.
Louis-Claude Daquin
Louis-Claude Daquin wrote Baroque and Galant keyboard music built for display: clear textures, brilliant passagework and character pieces that paint a scene. His harpsichord suites and organ Noëls still circulate, above all Le coucou and the Swiss Noël.
Christina Rossetti
Christina Rossetti was a nineteenth-century poet whose verse has long been set as song. Her words appear as song texts across several Move recordings.
Where to listen
The Remarkable Norman Kaye is available for streaming through Spotify and Apple Music. It can also be purchased through the iTunes Music Store.
The Remarkable Norman Kaye is available as a CD. It can be purchased online through Buywell Music or the Australian Music Centre which both offer online ordering.
Product details
- Catalogue number
- MD 3316
- List price
- $25.00 AUD
- Total playing time
- 78 minutes 52 seconds
- Venue
- Archer Memorial organ (track 12)
Canterbury Fellowship (track 9)
Littlejohn Chapel (tracks 6 and 7)
Melbourne Town Hall (tracks 3–5)
Our Lady of Victories' Church (track 19)
St Andrew’s, Brighton (track 13)
St. Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne (tracks 20–23 and 25)
Trinity College Chapel (tracks 8, 10, 11, 24, 26, 27 and 29) - Release date
- 2007
- Musical work
copyright - © 2007 Move Records
- Sound recording
copyright - ℗ 2007 Move Records
- Categories
- Australian, Classical, Organ
- Genres
- Organ, Choral & Sacred
- Barcode
- EAN 9314574331622
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