This recording is no longer in print. This album and individual tracks are available in digital format at online music platforms and streaming services.
Nightwatch
Improvisations pull out all the stops.
Paul Halley creates a dramatic, musical journey on “Nightwatch”.
“Improvisation is perhaps the most direct form of musical communication. It involves the performer and the listener in a relationship as partners on a voyage of the mind. It is an expedition into uncharted territory, neither safe nor predictable, but, hopefully, exciting…” says Paul Halley, in his remarks about the origins of the stunning recording of organ improvisations he created on the Great Organ of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.
“Nightwatch” is a set of improvised themes and spontaneous variations, played on the vast Aeolian-Skinner in the even vaster Cathedral of St. John the Divine. The format of the music, and the idea for this recording, was derived from the improvisational sessions created by Halley for groups of teenagers late on Friday nights at the Cathedral through a program called, not coincidentally, “Nightwatch”. In keeping with the dramatic setting of the world’s largest gothic cathedral at night, Halley would play upon a variety of tonal effects to engage his young listeners on a journey from “dusk” to “dawn”. Employing a broad tonal and dynamic range, from silken string tones to bright and heraldic trumpets, Halley would establish a mystical and highly charged atmosphere.
Capturing the mood of one of these sessions on a recording was not easy. Halley describes the technical problems facing the producer/engineer Chris Brown: “The organ pipes are spread over a distance of 550 feet, and have a dynamic range of at least two symphony orchestras. Owing to a reverberation period of over seven seconds and a constantly changing “climate” in the Cathedral, editing was impossible, and of course, none of the music could be repeated! But thanks to Chris, who insisted on spontaneity at all times, the recording evolved into a suite of improvisations comprising a symphonic whole which I thought of as a night-journey and, in deference to my severest critics, entitled Nightwatch.”
This Pelagos release in compact disc form is, in fact, a reissue of the 1982 Gramavision release, Nightwatch. The original audio recording has been digitally re-mastered by Tom Bates, and the biographical material, cover design and photography have been updated.
Track Listing
-
Sunset / Dusk
08'51"Music: Paul Halley
Improvisation - No sheet music available. -
Moondance
02'21"Music: Paul Halley
Improvisation - No sheet music available. -
Nocturne
06'50"Music: Paul Halley
Improvisation - No sheet music available. -
Nightwatch
08'07"Music: Paul Halley
Improvisation - No sheet music available. -
Dawn / Sunrise
12'10"Music: Paul Halley
Improvisation - No sheet music available.
Composer's notes
'Improvisation is perhaps the most direct form of musical communication. It involves the performer and the listener in a relationship as partners on a voyage of the mind. It is an expedition into uncharted territory, neither safe nor predictable, but, hopefully, exciting.
In the Western “classical” music tradition, improvisation is often found in the domain of the church organists who are, at worst, called upon to fill embarrassing periods of silence in services with background music, or at best, are given free rein to charge the minds and raise the spirits of the congregation.
Here at the Cathedral I am blessed with the latter situation, and am given ample opportunities to exercise my imagination in this vein - from the regular Sunday services to Winter Solstice celebrations and midnight meditations on Good Friday.
For me the most challenging of these is a meditation for the group of teenagers who come to the Cathedral under the auspices of a program entitled Nightwatch. At these times, always late on a Friday night, I find myself confronted with an audience who, I suspect, are about as eager to join me on an organistic odyssey as Columbus’ crew were to undertake a voyage to the edge of the world. However, with the help of a building of mystical proportions, a highly charged atmosphere, and one of the world’s finest pipe organs, I begin the journey. Surprisingly the giggles, coughs, and whispers subside and give way to a silence of complicity that sometimes continues long after the last chord has died away. Then I know the voyage was a success.
Trying to capture the mood and atmosphere of one of these occasions was not easy. It took five consecutive nights of recording in the Cathedral before I was comfortable playing for an invisible audience.
The technical problems alone were enormous. The organ pipes are spread over a distance of 550 feet, and have a dynamic range of at least two symphony orchestras. Owing to a reverberation period of over seven seconds and a constantly changing “climate” in the Cathedral, editing was impossible, and of course, none of the music could be repeated! But thanks to the producer, Chris Brown, who insisted on spontaneity at all times, the recording evolved into a suite of improvisations comprising a symphonic whole which I thought of as a night-journey and in deference to my severest critics entitled Nightwatch.
The suite begins with Sunset/Dusk, a musical fanfare of fiery sunset which blazed through the magnificent rose window every evening during the recording sessions. An evocation of dusk follows in the form of an improvisation on the old French melody Picardy which is sung regularly at the Cathedral during the offertory of the mass. The text is taken from the Liturgy of St. James and seemed very appropriate for that period of twilight: “Let all mortal flesh keep silence, And with fear and trembling stand.”
Moon Dance was the best name I could think of to describe the next improvisation which surprisingly turned into a very English jig, featuring the equally English-sounding tuba register of the organ.
Nocturne is based on an original theme of a rather eerie character. It revolves about itself and weaves through a variety of thick chromatic textures building to a tense climax and ending with an unresolved cadence.
Nightwatch is based on an original theme which I had improvised for a couple of those Friday nights. It opens with the theme simply stated on the French Horn, then builds into a frenzied dance and is abruptly interrupted by the dawning of the first light.
Dawn/Sunrise, the final movement is based on the ancient plainsong melody Adoro Te, Devote which in its metricized version is sung, appropriately, to the words “For the beauty of the earth, sing oh sing today!” The State Trumpet heralds the return of the sun, and the beginning of a new day."
Paul Halley
1982
Organist and Choirmaster
The Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York City
Reviews
from The American Organist Magazine
"For some of us, the most memorable moments in several classic Paul Winter Consort albums are those in which the rich and grounded voice of the great organ at St. John the Divine, in the hands of Paul Halley, begins to simmer at the periphery and then swell to a truly heart-warming grander impossible for any other instrument to achieve. The album at hand is a welcome reissue of sessions taped at the cathedral in 1982, themselves grown out of Friday-night improvisational “happenings” for teenagers (what a wonderful way to be introduced to the organ!). As with Fejko above, Halley also (mostly) eschews sectarian ritual, instead creating a kind of supernatural realm for acoustic and emotional interplay. His dozen years as cathedral music director gave him ample time and reason to know this Aeolian-Skinner intimately, and he uses it brilliantly and subtly in creating panels of universal appeal. While the opening movement unfolds around the hymn ‘Picardy: Let all mortal flesh keep silence’, silence is the last thing on Paul’s mind as he next launches us into the vibrantly joyous celebration of “Moondance”. Energy ebbs and flows. Cornet, Flauto Mirabilis, French horn, and Gamba solos are superseded by thrilling diapason ensembles and Bombarde reed choruses, the swirling mass capped at several points by interjections from the distant west-end State Trumpet. At the time of its first release, “Nightwatch” was the best-sounding modern recording of this landmark instrument in the world’s largest Gothic cathedral. More recent albums (on the Pro Organo label by Paul’s protégée, Dorothy Papadakos, and on Koch International by Marsha Heather Long) have captured the poetry of the place with equal grace and power (and with more minutes of listening pleasure per CD), but “Nightwatch” was and remains a classic to the last reverberation."
- Michael Barone
Nationally-know host of NPR's 'Pipedreams' which has given significant airplay to this album.
from The Living Church
“A re-issue (from LP to CD) of Paul Halley’s “Nightwatch” 1982 (Pelagos 1002) is a welcome delight for those who love to hear what their stereo speakers can deliver. Recorded at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine before the organ began to have noticeable problems, this completely improvised CD is a powerhouse of ingenuity, creativity and soulfulness. Halley’s mastery of styles from French impressionism to jazz and New Age is nothing short of absolute brilliance. Alas, the recording is short (under 40 minutes) but truly astounding in its impact. I would highly recommend this recording to anyone wanting to hear one of the world’s great organs played by one of the world’s creative giants.”
- Jonathan Dimmock
from The Christian Herald
"Halley's improvisations on the Cathedral's great organ dance, float, and sing as he carries us on a journey from dusk into the dawning of a new day. The album is at times joyous, at times meditative, but always uplifting and exciting."
from The Journal of the Association of Anglican Musicians
"During his years (1977-1989) at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, Paul Halley frequently exercised his improvisational talents for the meditations of groups of teenagers who came to the Cathedral under the auspices of a program entitled Nightwatch, recaptured (in the course of five consecutive nights) on this 1982 recording, here remastered (AAD) and reissued in 1998.
The first of the five movements, “Sunset/Dusk”, is an extensive improvisation on the tune ‘Picardy’. The brief, lively “Moondance” must have made the young people sit up and want to move! The “Nocturne” provides a reflective, almost mystical contrast. As the overnight progresses, “Nightwatch” begins with a simple theme on the French horn stop, ‘then builds to a frenzied dance and is abruptly interrupted by the dawning of the first light’. “Dawn/Sunrise”, the longest of the movements, incorporates the ‘Adoro te devote’ and ends with the heralding of the new day on the famous State Trumpet.
This is another of my “armchair discs”, but in a different sense from what is sometimes called “easy listening” – one should settle down in a comfortable chair (though not one that might induce drowsiness!), turn off the lights, and experience this music. It lasts a bit less than 39 minutes, and no price was given with the copy sent to me, but I’d say it’s well worth the cost-per-minute.”
from Rambles, online cultural arts magazine
“In this re-issue of a 1982 recording, Paul Halley reflects on the changing aspects of the night from dusk until dawn. His improvisational meditation is conducted on the Great Organ at New York City's Cathedral of St John the Divine over five nights of recording.
The name “Nightwatch” comes from a late night meditation program for teens for whom Halley would play meditative improvisations. Halley considered the finished recording "a night-journey" and named it “Nightwatch” "in deference to [his] severest critics."
There are five parts to this night journey: "Sunset/Dusk," "Moon Dance," "Nocturne," "Nightwatch" and "Dawn/Sunrise." Each track is singular in its evocation of mood and image. Halley captures the sunset on the first track, introducing gentle themes that gradually build into the majesty and splendor of the setting sun. The nocturnal pageant continues in "Moon Dance" which spins into a lively dance melody. In contrast, "Nocturne" begins with a sweet haunting tune evoking the stillness and serenity of the middle of the night that still hints of the unknown. The music swells dramatically toward the middle of the track, yet retains its centered quality.
"Nightwatch" begins with stately somber notes on the French horn stop which develop into a gentle melody. The tune grows gradually into a whirling joyful noise which cuts off sharply with the arrival of the dawn. According to the liner notes, "Dawn/Sunrise" "is based on the ancient plainsong melody 'Adoro Te, Devote'" and the music evokes the gradual brightening of the sky before the sun bursts above the horizon.
This is a remarkable recording in that it is completely improvised, no small task under ideal conditions -- "do-overs" are not an option. In addition, the album was recorded at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, a gorgeous space but one which can be a challenge in terms of recording acoustics.
“Nightwatch” is relatively short; the five tracks make up a hair over 38 minutes of music. The length is appropriate, though; Halley knows what he wants to say with his music, and he says it directly and well.
Paul Halley's “Nightwatch” will appeal especially to organ music afficionados, but the music is accessible to and evocative for anyone. Those already familiar with Halley's previous work need no introduction at all.”
- Donna Scanlon
Credits
Paul Halley
Pipe organ
Production (Original 1982) by Gramavision
Chris Brown, Recording Engineer
Lynn Ciarlo, Assistant Engineer
Recorded at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York, NY
Production (Re-issue1998) by Pelagos
Tom Bates, Digital re-mastering and re-editing
Margaret Race, Executive Producer
Kerry Gavin Studio, Art Design and Production
Margaret Race, Creative Supervision
Photographs of Paul Halley
by Edward Acker Photography, Great Barrington, MA
Liner notes edited by Elizabeth Martin
Special thanks to James Parks Morton, Dean
and the Trustees and Chapter of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine,
© 1982 Paul Halley
Reissue © 1998 Pelagos Incorporated
All Rights Reserved
Made in USA
Additional information
This album and all tracks are available in digital format at online music providers and retailers.
THE GREAT ORGAN OF THE CATHEDRAL OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE
was built in 1910 by Ernest M. Skinner, as Opus 150, and renovated in 1954 by the Aeolian Skinner Organ Company. The Cathedral’s organ was possibly Ernest Skinner’s greatest achievement. It contained 5,650 pipes organized into 88 speaking registers, playable from a four-manual console. Skinner was deeply inspired by the new space in which the Great Organ would speak. This environment, coupled with electric power still in its infancy, were the raw materials he used to create remarkable new voices. Never before had an opportunity like this been granted to an organ builder. In 1910, while parts of Manhattan still used gas to light homes, the Great Organ used electricity to control the complex of pipe valves, expression boxes, wind chests (where the pipes are located), and a crude but faithful computer that memorized pre-selected combinations of sounds. In describing the Great Organ, Skinner said: “As for completeness in regard to tone color and volume, it will have no superior in the world, and possibly no equal. There are no compromises or abbreviations of any description".
In fact, important colors were designed for this organ exclusively: the Solo Flauto Mirabilis and Tuba Major, the Choir 16’ Sanft Bass, and the 32’ Pedal Contra Violone. These pipes still exist for our pleasure. Robert Hope Jones worked for a time with Ernest Skinner. Jones designed the expression boxes for the Swell, Choir and the Solo divisions on the present Great Organ. He later worked with the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, where he conceived and designed many of the organs that bear the Wurlitzer name.
In 1941, the Cathedral (which had been under continuing but slow construction) had its full length of 601 feet completed. Both because of this increased size and because of the change in tonal taste over a period of fifty years, extensive changes became necessary. Thus, in 1954, G. Donald Harrison, with the help of Joseph Whitford, rebuilt the Cathedral’s organ into the instrument heard on this recording. Harrison, President of the Aeolian-Skinner Organ Company, had been hired by Ernest Skinner in 1927. Edward Flint, of the Organ Historical Society, said of Harrison: “As a student in Dulwitch College, Harrison became acquainted with organ literature and organ playing, and for thirteen years had been schooled in the classic tradition as a friend and assistant to Henry Willis III. He had seen the flower of that tradition in the Liverpool Cathedral instrument, and had studied French tonal design in the work of Cavaille-Coll. In choosing Harrison to assist him, Skinner definitely committed himself to the tradition within which the great builders of England, France, and Germany have developed their characteristic styles.” The great success of the new design is due, in part, to Harrison’s exciting use of the old pipework. The value of the latter is revealed in the following quotation, from an old London publication called “THE ORGAN, a quarterly review for its Makers, its Players & its Lovers”, Volume V, No. 18, October, 1925, in an article by the late Clifford Allbutt, K.C.B., P.C. (Cambridge) on “Reminiscences of Edmund Schulze”:
'THE VALUE OF AGE IN AN ORGAN:
No doubt age is a second condition of quality, but it does not amount to much; fine construction and voicing are almost everything. Still there is something in age. Probably the finest violin by age gains something in quality, and by a certain maturity form and material may be enhanced in value. But I suspect that in the organ the pipes are what they are in youth and age: the gain in mellowness, if any, is in the framework as of the violin in its soundbox...Still it is true that by age the molecular constitution of raw materials settles more and more into uniformity, and as homogeneity is established the framing is better able to respond to the sound waves in which it is immersed, and with which it is gradually tempered into consonance.'
The new instrument is composed almost entirely of a large flute chorus, sufficient to form the backbone of the entire instrument. The Swell is a reed-and-mixture-dominated department of French-English pattern. The third manual division is a Choir Positiv, with a complete set of mutations, and a minor Chorus of mixtures and short-length reeds. A new unenclosed Bombarde organ has been provided with French reeds, and a large Tierce mixture. The Solo organ was not greatly changed, except for revoicing. The Pedal organ has been entirely recast, and given independence in all pitches. Extreme liberties were taken with the scaling of the trebles, due to the unusual acoustical peculiarities in the structure. One of the outstanding features of the organ is the new State Trumpet stop, installed at the west end of the Cathedral under the Rose window. This stop is voiced on 50” pressure, and placed in a horizontal plane."
- Randolph C. Gilberti, 1982, Curator of Organs
The Cathedral of St. John the Divine
THE STOPLIST OF THE GREAT ORGAN, CATHEDRAL OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE
GREAT ORGAN W.P. 53/4”
16’ Montre n
16’ Quintaten
8’ Principal n
8’ Diapason n
8’ Viola
8’ Hohl Flote
8’ Holz Gedeckt
8’ Quintaten
8’ Erzahler
51/3’ Quint n
4’ Principal n
4’ Octave n
4’ Spitzflote n
4’ Flute Couverte n
22/3 Twelfth n
2’ Doublette n
2’ Fifteenth n
II Sesquialtera n
IV Kleine Mixture n
IV-VI Grande Fourniture n
III-VI Plein Jeu n
III Cymbel n
16’ Fagot n
SWELL ORGAN W.P. 6”, 10”
16’ Contra Gamba
16’ Bourdon
8’ Geigen Prinzipal n
8’ Viole de Gambe
8’ Viole Celeste
8’ Salicional
8’ Voix Celeste
8’ Gedeckt
8’ Spitzeflote
8’ Flute Celeste n
8’ Unda Maris II rks.
4’ Prestant n
4’ Flauto Traverso
4’ Violina
2’ Octavin n
IV Plein Jeu n
III-IV Scharff n
16’ Contra Fagotto
8’ Cornopean
8’ Trompette n
8’ Oboe
8’ Voix Humaine
4’ Octave Trumpet
4’ Clarion n
Tremulant
CHOIR ORGAN W.P. 6”
16’ Sanftbass
8’ Viola Pomposa n
8’ Viola Celeste n
8’ Concert Flute
8’ Nason Flute n
8’ Dulcet II rks.
8’ Dolcan
8’ Dolcan Celeste
4’ Montre n
4’ Koppelflote n
22/3’ Rohr Nasat n
2’ Blockflote n
13/5’ Terz n
11/3’ Larigot n
1’ Sifflote
III Grave Mixture n
III Zimbel n
16’ English Horn n
8’ Cromorne n
8’ Clarinet
4’ Trompete n
Tremulant
SOLO ORGAN W.P. 15”
8’ Flauto Mirabilis
8’ Harmonic Flute
8’ Cello
8’ Cello Celeste
4’ Hohl Pfeife
2’ Doppel Flote
8’ Flugel Horn
8’ French Horn
8’ Vox Baryton
8’ Tuba Major
(unenclosed) W.P. 25”
4’ Tuba Clarion
(unenclosed) W.P. 25” n
Tremulant
BOMBARDE ORGAN W.P. 10”
16’ Bombarde n
8’ Trompette
Harmonique n
4’ Clarion Harmonique n
V-IX Tierce Mixture n
(Bombarde division available at all stations)
WEST END W.P. 50”
8’ State Trumpet n
(Available at all stations)
PEDAL ORGAN W.P. 6”, 10”, 17”
32’ Open Bass
32’ Contre Violone
16’ Open Bass
16’ Contre Basse n
16’ Violone
16’ Montre (Great)
16’ Gamba (Swell)
16’ Bourdon (Swell)
16’ Sanftbass (Choir)
16’ Quintaten (Great)
102/3’ Quintaten (Great)
8’ Principal n
8’ Montre (Great)
8’ Spitzflote new in 1963
8’ Quintaten (Great)
8’ Gedackt Pommer n
8’ Flute Harmonique
4’ Choral Bass n
4’ Montre (Great)
4’ Nachthorn
2’ Blockflote
IV Mixture n
IV Scharff n
32’ Contre Bombarde n
16’ Ophicleide
16’ Bombarde (Bomb.)
16’ Contra Fagotto (Swell)
8’ Trumpet
8’ Bombarde (Bomb.)
4’ Clarion
2’ Rohr Schalmei n
n denotes new pipework added in 1954 rebuild
W.P. denotes wind pressure
