Lament (2023)

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Instrumentation: 

Organ and Cello

Duration ca. 6' 00" 

This work was revised in 2025

This work was commissioned by Bernard Kirkpatrick for the 1898 Norman and Beard organ of Saint Patrick's Cathedral Parramatta's 125th anniversary concert. 

A special thanks to Bernard Kirkpatrick for commissioning this work and to Eric Grella and Rena Tang who gave its world premiere on 12.11.2023 at the Cathedral. 

 About the Work: 

Saint Patrick's Cathedral suffered a terrible fire set by an arsonist in 1996, leading to a newly rebuilt Cathedral being opened in late November 2003 (with the original building now serving as an adjoined Chapel). As part of this rebuilding process, the original organ had to be replaced, and so the current Norman and Beard organ was purchased from Saint Saviour's Anglican Church in Walton Place London, before being refit into the rebuilt Cathedral. 

Historical information sourced from documentation by Kelvin Hastie on the Organ Historical Trust of Australia Website (2005). 

This work, written as a lament for the fire suffered by the Cathedral, explores the softer side of the organ, rarely making use of the Great. It starts with solo organ, exploring different soft registrations on the three manuals of the organ with the lower voice containing a Lament bass, so often found in many other laments. Following this is the entry of the Cello against the organ's Voix Celeste and Echo Gamba. A low C is held in the pedals, with semitones gradually added, forming a growing chromatic cluster, representing a growing inferno. This eventually reaches its peak with the addition of the 8' 16' Swell reeds to the pedal cluster. Following this is a retrospective solo cello lament, for the now destroyed cathedral. the following section sees fast birdlike dialogue between the Cello and organ before the organ finally enters with the lament theme from the cello's first entry, now with more resonant harmony. Accompanying this is the cello, with a common celebratory tune used as its motivic basis, leading into a final organ statment of the theme. This grows into an almost tutti Choir and Swell sound, landing on a final long sustained resonant chord, accompanied by a gradual registration diminuendo into the very soft Swell Voix Celeste and Echo Gamba. 

© Adriel Sukumar 2023