Organist Cauchefer-Choplin (J. Harrod Photo)

VIRTUOSO ORGAN WORKS PLAYED BY CAUCHEFER-CHOPLIN AT CAS RECITAL IN RESURRECTION PARISH

Santa Rosa's Creative Arts Series presented French virtuoso organist Sophie-Véronique Cauchefer-Choplin in a beautiful organ recital October 21 at Resurrection Parish. Ms. Cauchefer-Choplin played a balanced program of familiar and lesser-known works of French and French-inspired composers, concluding with her own breath-taking improvisations on submitted themes.

Mme. Cauchefer-Choplin is an organist at Eglise de Saint Jean-Baptiste de la Salle and Saint Sulpice, both famed churches in Paris. Since 2008 she has been the organ professor at the Royal College of Music of London.

The recital opened with Bach's Fantasia in G Major, BWV 572, in which Ms. Cauchefer-Choplin interpreted the three movements uniquely, playing by the lengthy opening section quietly on flutes with fast, unvaryingly perfect articulation, the second grand choral section with understated registration in a methodical and progressive walk, and the last quietly and soothingly with eight-foot flute and mutation quiet as an evening blessing.

Franck’s familiar and beautiful Choral No. 3 in A minor followed, the snarling reeds of the opening toccata reappearing intermittently and combining subsequently with the two pensive melodies to develop finally in a grand synthesis typical of the composer. All organists dream of performing a perfect interpretation of these three final organ compositions of Franck. We most likely heard a perfect one on Sunday.

Halloween announced itself in Ms. Cauchefer-Choplin’s energetic rendition of the Toccata in B Minor by Gigout. A somber autumn mood continued in the elegant and truly difficult music of Vierne: the Choral from the Second Symphony and the Prelude in F-sharp minor. In Vierne’s choral, a solemn motif gradually develops into an exploding agitato with full organ and reeds in 6/8 time. The Prelude in F-sharp minor is quiet and dreamy, fading out at the last.

New to most organists is music of Canadian composer Denis Bedard, currently the organist at the Vancouver Cathedral of the Holy Rosary. Ms. Cauchefer-Choplin played Bedard’s organ suite - Four Pieces in the Form of a Mass - a composition of rich harmonic sequences suggesting a full range of liturgical emotions.

Finally, the gourmet dessert was the organist's famous improvisation skill and she has been described as “one of the best improvisers of her generation”. She improvised anew on two Gregorian themes: Sanctus from the Ordinary of the Mass and Salve Regina. These themes, first stated clearly and then kneaded vigorously again and again into pulsing obbligato’s upon a pounding pedal bass, was indubitably a Tour de France of its own!

Ms. Cauchefer-Choplin will be performing again this week in Pacific Union College's Paulin Hall in Angwin and Oct. 28 at San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral.