Eastern European music is quite different from that of the West, according to organist Gail Archer who will perform in Springfield Sunday, November 9.
“They're not using the do-re-mi scale in every case at all. They're using Eastern European scales. And so the harmony is so remarkable and very different,” she said. “So it's really a journey to another culture.”
This isn’t the first international album that Archer has released.
“I have recorded a Russian CD, a Ukrainian CD, a Polish CD, and this Bulgarian one is the fourth one because most organists are playing Bach and French Romantic music, which is so very familiar to audiences," she said. "But there is a wealth of remarkable music in Eastern Europe. My mission is to shed light on it, record it, go there, play the music for their own audiences.”
Archer’s Bulgarian CD came about when she reviewed author Pavel Makarov’s book about Bulgarian organs and organ composers. She and Makarov were connected, and he shared with her a collection of pieces. She then learned the pieces and traveled to Bulgaria with grant money from two different universities, allowing her to record and play live in front of a Bulgarian audience.
Along with the differences between scales and harmonies in Eastern Europe vs. the west, Archer said there is a deviation in instruments.
“[Organs may differ based upon who the organ builders are in that part of the world and their sonic universe, what they think is a beautiful sound or what registrations they include or do not include,” Archer said. “Some historic keyboards in Europe are only one tiny keyboard and no pedals at all. And then you might get to a cathedral church, and you'll have an organ with five keyboards and pedals. And so you have to adapt the program you're playing to the instrument that you are visiting.”
Archer's love for choirs, organs and organ music goes back to her childhood. She called those things her passion, "and I've been lucky enough to be able to pursue that,” she said. “I started to sing in the church choir when I was eight years old and started playing the piano about the same time and saw organs from my earliest years. And then when I grew a bit and my legs were long enough at age 13, then I went over to the organ and here I am," she added.
She still directs the choirs at Columbia University and plays about 50 organ recitals in the U.S., Canada and Europe every year. "It’s an interesting life,” she said.
Archer will perform on Sunday, November 9, at 3 p.m. at King's Way United Methodist Church, 2104 S. Lone Pine in Springfield. Admission is free.
For more information about Archer and her past recordings, upcoming tours and new record, visit www.gailarcher.com.
