On Wednesday 13th November we welcome Alana Brook from one of our sister Cathedrals in Wakefield for the tenth recital of our 2024 autumn season. In this edition of ‘Notes from an Organist’ we discover more about them, and what to expect from their recital including playing some music from Interstellar; exploring a piece about the Wells Cathedral clock; and being part of the Society of Women Organists.
Could you introduce yourself, how you got into music / become an organist and your musical journey to where you are today?
My name is Alana and I am the Assistant Director of Music at Wakefield Cathedral. I have always enjoyed singing, and my grandparents take credit for my musicality! I’m always told stories of singing the alphabet as a child while being pushed on the swings. I started piano lessons at age 7, and tried many other instruments through school but didn’t find another one that stuck. I sung in many choirs through school, and when I started studying a Bachelor of Music Education in Adelaide I started singing as a Lay Clerk at St Peter’s Cathedral. After singing there for a couple of years and my piano studies finishing at university, I was really interested in starting the organ and loved it from there! After finishing my degree I was fortunate to be offered the Organ Scholarship at Milton Abbey School, where I was able to study for my ARCO which opened up further career opportunities at Ripon Cathedral and Lincoln Cathedral.
What can people expect from your recital at Bradford Cathedral?
People can expect to hear some music they have never heard before, as well as an exciting film music transcription by Anna Lapwood!
Why do you enjoy playing the organ?
I enjoy the range of sounds that the organ can produce, from the smallest string sound to full organ. I do enjoy the feeling when I’m playing a particularly loud piece!
Do you have a particular favourite piece out of those you are playing?
Philip Wilby’s Organ Hours is a set of short pieces written about the Wells Cathedral clock, one of the oldest clocks in England. The first movement takes inspiration from the clock mechanism itself, and was built by Brother Peter Lightfoot, one of the monks from Glastonbury Abbey. The middle movement looks at the celestial imagery of the inner clock face, and Wilby uses a short ground bass to provide a musical equivalent to Lightfoot’s vision of the heavens. The final fugue is the most pictorial of the set, with the sound of a ticking clock throughout. It imagines the sound of the clock in the Cathedral at night, moving from the organ’s highest register and gradually descending to its lowest notes, ending with a threefold ‘Chime in the Dark’. I love the imagery captured in all of these pieces, and I am looking forward to performing them for you.
This season’s theme is ‘The Town Hall Organ (Secular and Concert Repertoire)’. How are you reflecting this in your programme?
I have decided to learn a movement from Interstellar, transcribed by Anna Lapwood, and am really looking forward to performing that for you today. I have also picked some less liturgical pieces, such as Whitlock’s Plymouth Suite. This was written after attending an organists’ conference in Plymouth and each movement is dedicated to a different organist who attended this conference. The Chanty has a nautical feel, and the organist it was written about was described as ‘generally the naughty boy at any party’..! The following movement, Salix, is an example of the pastoral style, and Salix means a willow tree.
What are your hopes or plans musically for the rest of 2024 and into 2025?
I am enjoying my second full year as Assistant Director of Music at Wakefield Cathedral, and learning lots of new accompaniments still. I am looking forward to performing Duruflé’s Requiem for the first time in November, and learning other classic cathedral repertoire as well as working on my own solo pieces. You can never learn too much Bach!
You won the Turpin/Durrant prize in 2021 – what was it like to have that success?
I was pleasantly surprised to win the Turpin/Durrant prize! I sat my FRCO during lockdown, so all of the submissions were digital and I was able to do this all from Australia. I enjoyed the opportunity to play my exam pieces on an organ I am very familiar with, and I think this attributed to my success. Through winning this prize I was invited to perform at Belmont Abbey as part of the Three Choirs Festival in Hereford in 2022, which was a fantastic experience.
You are originally from Australia; are there any differences between how organ music is received in the UK to there?
I would say that organ music is somewhat less known in Australia than the UK. I had no idea that playing the organ was an option for me until I started singing at the Cathedral – I had not really had any experience of hearing or seeing the organ before that point. There are not as many cathedrals or churches in Australia that have full time music jobs, which is a big part of the reason I moved to the UK. However visiting organists do get large audiences when they perform in Adelaide, and are given a very warm welcome as it is not often that organists can make the long journey!
You are part of the Society of Women Organists. Could you tell us about what your work there has involved?
I am the co-chair for the research group on women composers. During lockdown, a group of members started working on compiling information on organ and liturgical music by women composers, and since then our work has grown hugely. We now have 262 composers from 40 different countries represented in our work, but there are still over 300 and counting to be added! I really enjoy discovering new composers and talking to contemporary composers about their music and experiences. We also produce lists of seasonal liturgical music by women composers, and we hope that our resources help people discover new music by women composers.
You have been Assistant Director of Music at Wakefield Cathedral now for just over a year – how have those first twelve months been?
I have thoroughly enjoyed my first twelve months at Wakefield Cathedral. My main responsibilities are playing the organ for most services, as well as conducting the junior choir and youth choir. I particularly enjoy working with the youth choir, a group of around 12 teenagers from a mix of backgrounds. They are really capable of some more challenging music, and sing psalms of the day at their fortnightly evensong service!
You used to sing in the Bournemouth Sinfonietta Choir – what was that like to be involved in?
This was a fantastic group to be involved in; a small group of singers who would work on a range of repertoire. One particular highlight was performing movements from Praetorius’s Puericinum one Christmas – these pieces involve 4 soprano parts and were an exciting challenge to learn between the 10 sopranos!
Finally, how would you sum up your upcoming recital at Bradford Cathedral?
My recital at Bradford Cathedral has a mix of sacred and ‘Town Hall’ organ music, and encompasses a range of styles and periods. I hope you enjoy it!
You can join us on Wednesday 13th November at 1pm to hear Alana’s organ recital, with an optional £4 buffet lunch beforehand at 12:30pm. You can find out more about the Society of Women Organists on their website.
You can discover more about our organ recital season on our dedicated page.