Prelude and Fugue in C minor BWV549 - Bach

Mandelion - John Tavener Concerto in G BWV592 - Bach/Ernst

Le circle de lumiere - Eric Sweeney

Peter Sweeney was in commanding form in his organ recital at St Michael's Church, Dun Laoghaire on Sunday night. The prelude from the early, Buxtehude-style Prelude and Fugue in C minor BWV549 had an apt, improvisatory panache. This was stretched by the fast speed and quietly tinkling registration which opened the fugue, and was blasted into orbit by the loud, first pedal entry, with matching response from the manuals.

The Concerto in G BWV592, which Bach arranged from a string concerto by his patron, Duke Johann Ernst, is no match for his arrangements of Vivaldi. But this performance - much more straightforward than the Prelude and Fugue - showed that the duke's mechanistic approach to concerto writing works well, if everything is taken with controlled dash.

Eighteen years ago in Dublin, Peter Sweeney gave the first performance of John Tavener's Mandelion. It takes something to sustain effectively a piece which is mostly slow, deliberately vague in outline, and which lasts 25 minutes but seems capable of going on for 45. In this well-managed performance, it was telling and appropriate that time seemed irrelevant.

The concert ended with the first performance of Circle de lumiere, written for this occasion by the recitalist's brother, Eric Sweeney. It combines an ostinato idea inspired by Bach, contrasted sections, and the repetition techniques of minimalism. These give it that sort of catchy appeal which is the special preserve of character-piece composition for the organ. I would be surprised if other organists do not take up this piece.