The next stirring free concert from the Santa Barbara Music Club will take place at 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22 in First United Methodist Church, 305 E. Anapamu St. The featured performer will be the award-winning organist and composer Tom Mueller, who will perform:
Johann Sebastian Bach‘s splendid “Prelude and Fugue in D Major, BWV 532” (ca1710, but not published until 1845); the “Pastorale “(1989) by American David Conte (born 1955); the Third Movement “Scherzetto,” from the “Sonata in c-minor “(1935–36) by the English composer, Percy Whitlock (1903-46); the “Chorale No. 1 in E-Major” (1890) by the Belgian César Franck (1822-90); and Mueller’s own four movement “Sonata (2020).”
I have heard all of these pieces but the one Mueller himself wrote. The Bach is majestic, as always; the Franck is quiet and uneventful, as always; the Conte and the Whitlock, though they do not resemble each other, share a charm and light-footed gaiety rare in the literature of the king of instruments.
As noted above, there is no charge for admission to this concert, but if you want to join the Music Club, or make a donation, you may find the paperwork, and someone to assist you, in the lobby of the United Methodist Church.
If you are looking for information on this or other Santa Barbara Music Club programs and performing artists, go online to www.SBMusicClub.org.
— Gerald Carpenter covers the arts as a Noozhawk contributing writer. He can be reached at gerald.carpenter@gmail.com. The opinions expressed are his own.