By STEVEN JUPITER
PITTSFORD—On Sunday, September 17, Pittsford Congregational Church (PCC) hosted a hymn sing and concert featuring Alastair Stout, a multitalented organist, pianist, and composer who is currently music director at Grace Congregational Church in Rutland. The program was ably led by Pastor Michael Dwyer of PCC and comprised Mr. Stout’s original compositions, contemporary pieces by British composer Peter Maxwell Davies, and classical pieces by Bach and Charpentier. And, of course, favorite hymns chosen by Pastor Dwyer and members of the audience. There was a freewill donation at the door to benefit the Foley Cancer Center.
Mr. Stout began the program with Johann Sebastian Bach’s Arioso, a slow, baroque virtuosic exercise. The mathematical exactness of Bach offers a musician no cover. All hesitations and mistakes are revealed. It requires precision and confidence and Mr. Stout delivered both. The organ, a cherished antique, filled the space beautifully.
The first set of hymns started with perhaps the best-known hymn of all, Amazing Grace. The majority of the audience stood to sing this classic. The combination of the lyrics, the organ, and the voices in that simple New England church was quite poignant.
The other two hymns in the first set were “In the Garden” and “Blessed Assurance,” both chosen by members of the audience from the hymnals that were available in the pews.
ALASTAIR STOUT IS Music Director at Grace Congregational Church in Rutland. Pittsford Congregational Church does not have its own Music Director and welcomes these opportunities to bring music into the church.
Mr. Stout then moved from organ to piano for his next set of compositions: “Farewell to Stromness” and “Yesnaby Ground” by Peter Maxwell Davies and an original composition by Mr. Stout titled “Lillian,” written in honor of a 90-year-old friend Mr. Stout knew in Pittsburgh.
The pieces by Maxwell Davies had a clear Celtic influence, in both spirit and melody, with “Yesnaby” leaning a bit into modernism. They absolutely evoked the British Isles. Mr. Stout’s charming tribute to his friend Lillian was written in waltz time and recalled a bygone era, particularly when the melody reached into the higher octaves and brought to mind a ballerina in a music box.
For the second set of hymns, Mr. Stout remained on piano. These hymns were chosen by the audience and included “In Christ There Is No East or West,” “Holy Spirit, Truth Divine,” and the classic “How Great Thou Art.”
Mr. Stout returned to the organ for “Prière à Notre-Dame” by the 19th-century French composer Léon Boëllmann. Mr. Stout prefaced this piece by drawing the audience’s attention to the composer’s use of unusual stops on the organ. It’s a meditative piece that seemed to envelop the audience in its slow, rapturous sound.
The third set of hymns, again chosen by the audience, included “I Sing a Song of the Saints of God,” “My Life Flows on in Endless Song,” “My Faith, It Is an Oaken Staff,” and “Be Now My Vision.”
A final hymn, chosen by Pastor Dwyer, was “Here I Am, Lord.”
The program ended with Mr. Stout’s performance of “Te Deum” by 17th-century French composer Marc-Antoine Charpentier. It’s a regal, Baroque piece, written as a march, and it was a fitting conclusion to a program that incorporated pieces both grand and humble.
