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10/20/2021 08:30 AMFor Mark Sullivan and the church leadership, a bit of a playful tone threads the program name of his solo public organ recital, “Fall Bach,” coming Sunday, Nov. 7, from 4 to 5 p.m. to Guilford’s Christ Episcopal Church, where Mark is music director.
“It’s an all-Bach program, and since its on Nov. 7, which is the first day of daylight saving and we’ve all turned our clocks back, we are calling the program ‘Fall Bach’!” says Mark, admitting, “I still giggle, every time actually I say that.”
Playful title aside, Mark’s been hard at work to develop a compelling organ recital celebrating many sides of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach.
“For people who are either not very familiar with organ music, or not very familiar with Bach’s music, I think they will be surprised at the range of musical experiences and the range of emotions that is encompassed in the program that I’m presenting,” Mark says. “I think people might have a tendency to think of Bach as this sort of mathematically precise music that’s epitomized by some of his preludes and fugues that are famous. But so much of his music, particularly the choral preludes, have more of a kinship with Bach’s vocal music.”
As a church musician, Bach wrote numerous choral preludes—pieces that served as an introduction to congregational hymn tunes, Mark explains. In the time of the Lutheran Church preludes written by Bach, “the choral preludes had gotten a lot more sophisticated and became pieces in their own right, rather than simply introductions,” says Mark.
Another interesting note on Bach is that, when looking at his body of work, most of Bach’s musical output involves singing, Mark says.
“He wrote hundreds of cantatas for use on Sunday; he wrote Mass settings,” says Mark. “And so there’s all this vocal and choral music. And the choral preludes, and the way Bach chooses to set the various hymn tunes that he’s presenting, really have in many cases a very vocal, a very singing quality about them, which may not be what most people expect when they’re thinking about Bach.”
Mark’s “Fall Bach” program is a blend of Bach’s music that “features several preludes, several fugues, and a number of choral preludes which offer a really wide range of kinds of music,” he says.
The recital is also an incredible opportunity for all to experience the musicality and many voices of Christ Church’s Southfield Organ.
“I think all organists share the sense of the power that is at your fingertips when you’re using some of the bigger combinations on the organ, but what we especially love about this organ here at Christ Church is so many of the wonderful, quiet stops and the lovely, quiet combinations that the organ provides for us,” says Mark.
While all organs produce a general organ sound, each one is very individual, Mark notes.
“The reputation of this type of organ is that it is loud, and it certainly can be loud in this church, but in this recital in particular we’re going to be exploring lots of the different quieter sides of the organ as well. And I think that will be really lovely,” he says.
Built and installed in 2003, the Southfield Organ, Opus 30 is a two-manual instrument that also contains some pipework from Christ Church’s previous M.P. Möller organ, once housed in a large chamber in the left wall of the chancel. Christ Church moved its organ to its current balcony location when the Southfield Organ was installed.
“This organ is partially rebuilt from the pre-existing organ, but it was moved from its spot in the chancel to the rear part of the church, to the balcony in the back. So it speaks directly into the church—there’s a real immediacy about the sound of this organ,” says Mark. “Although it’s a smaller instrument, as organs go, it really has a lovely variety of sounds. It’s also designed so that the individual ranks, i.e. sets of pipes, combine beautifully to create some lovely ensemble sounds.”
Playing the pipe organ is a bit like conducting a choir, and listening to its music is a lot like appreciating a group of vocalists, which is perfect for Mark, who leads Christ Church’s choral programs as well. On Sunday, Oct. 24, Mark welcomes back the adult chorus for its first live performance at a Sunday service since the pandemic curbed choirs back in March 2020.
“We’re very excited to be back. We’ll be singing again, masked and distanced, for the first time this coming Sunday,” says Mark, who has been Christ Church director of music since fall 2013.
An America choral conductor, Mark studied piano with Andrew Klein of the pre-college division at The Julliard School in New York, going on to undergraduate and graduate studies in piano performance, composition, and conducting at the School of Music at Boston University. In addition to overseeing the music programs of Guilford’s Christ Church, in the past Mark has served as music director of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Madison and the United Methodist Church of Clinton.
As a pianist, Mark’s work has involved countless performances as soloist and accompanist, but the Nov. 7 program at Christ Church is Mark’s premiere organ soloist recital.
“This is my very first organ solo recital, and I’m kind of excited about that,” he says. “I’ve been playing the organ for 25 years, but I still consider myself something of a newcomer to the organ.”
In addition to his many years as a church organist, Mark has performed as an organist in concerts with choirs including those at Battell Chapel at Yale and with the Guilford High School orchestra and chorus at Yale’s Woolsey Hall.
Many years ago, as a “very new organist,” Mark was an interim organist/music director at First Congregational Church in Guilford. Today, he counts himself lucky to be working in the company of neighboring church music directors on the green, such as First Church Director of Music Ministries Bill Speed, to help bring the rich history of classical music to Guilford.
“I like to think about, in medieval Europe, for instance, if you were a local and you happened to live by a good-sized town or city, and you went to church, that was your only chance to hear what we now call classical types of music,” says Mark. “I think for a lot of people, that’s equally true today, in what Bill Speed is doing up at First Church, in what we do here at Christ Church, and is hopefully a welcome break from the popular culture that we are otherwise saturated in.”
As a Guilford resident of 30 years, Mark also appreciates that his daily work takes place at one of the town’s notable, historic church buildings beside the Guilford Green. Christ Church built its Gothic-Revival church building at 11 Park Street nearly 100 years after the Guilford church was first founded in 1744 and has been conducting services in the historic stone building since 1838.
“It is wonderful, and it is a privilege to be at this church and to work with our present rector and this congregation,” says Mark. “And to be able to walk out the door and see the beautiful Guilford Green is really special.”
He hopes many will join him on Sunday, Nov. 7, from 4 to 5 p.m. to enjoy “Fall Bach” at Christ Church. The church will gratefully accept free-will donations from those attending the program, which is being offered free and open to the public.
“I’m thrilled to be working at Christ Church, and excited to be able to offer this program,” says Mark.