MUSIC REVIEW : Ahlstrom, Joyce in Keyboard Merger

As a rule, the pipe organ and the synthesizer have moved in mutually exclusive circles. Separately, they are worlds unto themselves; together, one might guess that whole new sonic vistas would be opened up. Or maybe not, given their limitations in expression.

Alternating between the Pasadena First Baptist Church pipe organ and a pair of Roland D-50 and Yamaha DX-7 synthesizers, Albert Ahlstrom and Donald Joyce explored this keyboard merger in a mostly low-key manner at an American Guild of Organists recital Monday night. (The concert was moved at the 11th hour from the nearby All Saints Church since its renovated pipe organ wasn’t finished in time for the performance.)

In the sustained passages of Ahlstrom’s drifting “The Vision of St. John,” the synthesizers mostly would emulate the organ, occasionally taking on the manner of the now-obsolete Mellotron. Joyce’s “Regards dans le jardin d’amour,” preceded by a brief slide show of Persian art, took about half of its half-hour length to develop a sense of direction before falling back upon tired minimalist maxims.

Ann Callaway’s “Water Garden: Reflections on Hildegard von Bingen” was the first piece of the night that tapped deeply into the glassy colors available on the DX-7. Ahlstrom’s “Refractions 2.2,” partially realized via computer-generated tape, was the most interesting work of the lot as the organ tumbled over the electronics in a coherent, increasingly complex arch.

Finally, Ahlstrom and Joyce took on a big risk--somehow trying to translate Part I of Stravinsky’s “Le Sacre du Printemps” into what turned out to be a clumsy medium. While the synths managed a pretty good imitation of the blasts of the brass, many important threads were smudged, the rhythms were almost nonexistent, and the soft-focused attacks and long decay time of the pipe organ probably contributed to the agonizingly slow tempos.

Perhaps a more wild-eyed treatment would have more effective; there was a hint of that in the tiny “Le Sage” section, where a spine-chilling Hell’s-gorge-like timbre oozed from the synthesizers. But the overall result was a ponderous rite, indeed, staggering to the finish line in smeared clouds of sound.