MUSIC REVIEWS : Organ Celebration at Crystal Cathedral

As part of a monthlong commemoration of the installation in 1982 of the Hazel Wright organ at the Crystal Cathedral, the church sponsored a program of mostly uncommon works for organ and orchestra Friday.

Daniel Hege, assistant conductor of the Pacific Symphony since August, led about 65 members of the orchestra (as many as could fit in the available space) in works by Bach, Alexandre Guilmant and Joseph Jongen.

The capable soloist was Frederick Swann, director of music and organist at the cathedral.

Because the 16,412 pipes of the Wright organ make it the “second-largest fully functional organ in the world,” according to the program booklet, the orchestra players needed to be amplified.

However, the amplification had not been worked out well for the opening piece, the short Sinfonia from Bach’s Cantata No. 29. The mighty Wright organ often reduced the Pacific players to visual accompanists--seen but not heard.

Someone must have fiddled with the controls afterward because the two huge Gallic, coloristic and romantic works that followed sounded better. At least in these sonic terms.

Neither is a masterpiece, and their absence from the repertory may result from reasons other than the practical one of bringing an organ and orchestra together.

Composed in 1874, Guilmant’s Symphony No. 1 sounded still-born and static. Whenever the composer got stuck, which was frequently, he resorted to writing chorales and fugal passages.

To bring the work to a monumental finish, Guilmant revved up the trumpets and drums in a mighty chorale. Unfortunately, the beginning of it evoked the start of “Three Blind Mice.”

Jongen’s Symphonie Concertante (written in 1926) traverses greater stylistic variety, but also seeks to end with razzle-dazzle and a big bang. It brought the audience to its feet.

A program of concertos does not provide the best opportunity to assess a conductor. But Hege seemed to fare reasonably well under the circumstances. The languid, lush pleasures of Jongen’s overly long third movement (Lento misterioso) appeared carefully shaped by him.

Despite some harsh registrations, an occasionally recalcitrant key and shutters that worked in binary opposition (either on or off), Swann proved a strong and sensitive soloist.

In retrospect, however, the limpid arrangements of works by Bach, Handel and Anton van Ooik played on the outdoor carillon by James R. Lawson before the concert may have been the real highlight.