Organist Richard Townley plays Bach’s Clavier-Übung III: The German Organ Mass
Sunday, August 30 at 3 p.m. at St. Michael’s
Please note: The performance of this substantial work will last about an hour and 45 minutes without intermission.
Bach's monumental Clavier-Übung III ('German Organ Mass’) is a series of chorale preludes book-ended by Bach's Prelude and Fugue in E-Flat Major, BWV 552 (the 'St. Anne’). It includes four chorales that were part of the German Ordinary at the time, as well as six chorales associated with the Leipzig Catechism. Before each chorale prelude is played, the chorale upon which it is based will be sung in German.
Richard Townley is the organist/choirmaster of St. Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral in Memphis, Tennessee. A retired attorney, Richard now devotes his time and energy to making great sacred music. He attended the University of Missouri where he earned the Bachelor of Music degree in 1991 and the Master of Music degree in 1994. He completed graduate study at Duke University where he was awarded the Ph.D. in music in 2000.
Dr. Townley was formerly the organist/choirmaster at the Church of the Nativity in Raleigh and St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Durham, and is a past Dean of the Durham/Chapel Hill Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. Admission is free.
