LLANISHEN HISTORY WALK

"IN THE BEGINNING . . . . . "
A concert by Brenda & John Cheer
at Llanishen Methodist Church on March 20th 2010

See the POSTER

John Cheer gave the opening recital for the new organ in on May 15th 1999 and was the organist for the Church Centenary performance of Stainer's "Daughter of Jairus". He also gave an organ recital in aid of the Rainbow of Hope Charity in 2004. I was intrigued when John suggested that he and Brenda put on a concert in aid of our Building Fund. It would be a programme of songs and organ music and would include some well-known songs from the 1970's as well as organ music by Bach. Some of the music would be written by Brenda and John.

Mark Worwood

Mark Worwood with Brenda and John Cheer

The well known songs included Bacharach's "What the world needs now" and Carole King's "You've got a friend". The songs written by Brenda and John were from a time in the 1970's when they were writing for summer festivals for young people in Essex. All were tuneful and musical and many were on the theme of growing up. "I'm on my own" was especially memorable. Brenda was accompanied on our excellent Yahama piano or on keyboard. Her light and clear voice projected both words and music with great effect.

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The organ music was designed to exploit our small but versatile organ. There were three German chorales with Brenda singing the chorale to organ accompaniment. John then played the corresponding Choral Prelude by Bach.

After the concert,
which was much enjoyed by the audience, Brenda and John remarked on the excellent acoustics of the building.

The evening raised £228
for the building fund.

For organ enthusiasts there was some intriguing use of the instrument's limited resources. In "O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig" the melody was played on the swell organ, trumpet stop coupled to the pedals. For one of the other chorale preludes John played the melody on the 4ft stopped diapason but an octave lower. This produced a very effective solo flute tone. The first half of the programme finished with the very popular "Jesu joy of man's desiring"

After tea and coffee, provided by Barbara Tennant, the programme resumed with more organ music. This included short works by Gabrielli and Frescobaldi. Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor gave us a thrilling full organ and this part of the programme finished with "Three pieces for Musical Clocks" by Haydn. Enjoyment of the organ playing was much enhanced by the video link provided by Graham Tennant - we could both see and hear John's performance. Enjoyment was also enhanced by John's inforasmtive and amusing introductions to the music.

The programme concluded with several more "Brenda and John" songs finishing with "Life goes on" written for the funeral of a young friend who died in a car crash. Despite the context this finished on an optimistic note.
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"IN THE BEGINNING . . . . . " A concert by Brenda & John Cheer at Llanishen Methodist Church on March 20th 2010
See the POSTER John Cheer gave the opening recital for the new organ in on May 15th 1999 and was the organist for the Church Centenary performance of Stainer's "Daughter of Jairus". He also gave an organ recital in aid of the Rainbow of Hope Charity in 2004. I was intrigued when John suggested that he and Brenda put on a concert in aid of our Building Fund. It would be a programme of songs and organ music and would include some well-known songs from the 1970's as well as organ music by Bach. Some of the music would be written by Brenda and John. Mark Worwood	Mark Worwood with Brenda and John Cheer
The well known songs included Bacharach's "What the world needs now" and Carole King's "You've got a friend". The songs written by Brenda and John were from a time in the 1970's when they were writing for summer festivals for young people in Essex. All were tuneful and musical and many were on the theme of growing up. "I'm on my own" was especially memorable. Brenda was accompanied on our excellent Yahama piano or on keyboard. Her light and clear voice projected both words and music with great effect.
. The organ music was designed to exploit our small but versatile organ. There were three German chorales with Brenda singing the chorale to organ accompaniment. John then played the corresponding Choral Prelude by Bach. After the concert, which was much enjoyed by the audience, Brenda and John remarked on the excellent acoustics of the building. The evening raised £228 for the building fund.		. For organ enthusiasts there was some intriguing use of the instrument's limited resources. In "O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig" the melody was played on the swell organ, trumpet stop coupled to the pedals. For one of the other chorale preludes John played the melody on the 4ft stopped diapason but an octave lower. This produced a very effective solo flute tone. The first half of the programme finished with the very popular "Jesu joy of man's desiring" After tea and coffee, provided by Barbara Tennant, the programme resumed with more organ music. This included short works by Gabrielli and Frescobaldi. Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor gave us a thrilling full organ and this part of the programme finished with "Three pieces for Musical Clocks" by Haydn. Enjoyment of the organ playing was much enhanced by the video link provided by Graham Tennant - we could both see and hear John's performance. Enjoyment was also enhanced by John's inforasmtive and amusing introductions to the music. The programme concluded with several more "Brenda and John" songs finishing with "Life goes on" written for the funeral of a young friend who died in a car crash. Despite the context this finished on an optimistic note. .
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