Furman University Organist and Professor of Music Charles Boyd Tompkins will present a recital Tuesday, Oct. 2, at 8 p.m. in the Charles E. Daniel Memorial Chapel on campus.<\/p>\n
The recital, the first in the 2018-19 Hartness Organ Series, is free and open to the public. The performance features the Hartness Organ, a three-keyboard, 42-stop instrument built in 2003 by C.B. Fisk organ builders of Gloucester, Massachusetts.<\/p>\n
Tompkins will perform works by Johann Sebastian Bach (the organ chorale “Now Thank We All Our God,” and the “Leipzig” Prelude and Fugue in C minor); Sonata No. 4 in B-flat major by Felix Mendelssohn; the lovely and introspective Adagio in E major, by English Romantic composer Frank Bridge; and three movements by the great 20th-century French composer Olivier Messiaen.<\/p>\n
The Messiaen pieces include \u201cJoie et Clart\u00e9 des Corps Glorieux\u201d (\u201cJoy and Brilliance of the Resurrected Ones,\u201d from his 1939 suite \u201cLes Corps Glorieux\u201d); \u201cCommunion (Les Oiseux et Les Sources)\u201d (\u201cThe Birds and the Springs,\u201d a movement to be played during communion, from his 1951 suite \u201cMesse de la Pentecote\u201d); and \u201cDieu Parmi Nous\u201d (\u201cGod Among Us\u201d), a rousing toccata, which concludes Messiaen\u2019s 1935 suite \u201cLa Nativit\u00e9 du Seigneur\u201d (\u201cThe Birth of the Lord\u201d).<\/p>\n
A member of the Furman faculty since 1986, Tompkins also serves as Associate Organist and Artist in Residence at Greenville\u2019s Christ Church (Episcopal). An award-winning recitalist, he performs each year at universities and churches throughout the United States.<\/p>\n
The Hartness Organ Series continues Jan. 15 with a recital by Professor of Organ Kimberly Marshall of Arizona State University, and Feb. 12 with the Chenault Organ Duo featuring Elizabeth and Raymond Chenault. All concerts in the series are free and open to the public.<\/p>\n