Adam Parrish introduces the first piano piece of the concert
On Monday 13 September, Adam Parrish came to play the Monthly Monday Organ Recital.
The organ was unfortunately not working properly when Adam Parrish was practicing - some keys were sticking badly. Fortunately the ever resourceful musician carries a spare piano recital in his back pocket (all his music is on a tablet computer) so the piano was wheeled out for a piano recital instead.
Adam dedicated the first piece to Lesley, with thanks for all her hard work with co-ordinating all these events in the church.
Adam playing Morning is broken
Morning is Broken - instrumental version of Cat Stevens recording from the 1970s, once played by Rick Wakeman (whom Adam knows).
A couple of jazz pieces next:
Cry me a river (Arthur Hamilton in 1953) Georgia on my mind (Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell in 1930, famously sung by Ray Charles in 1960).
Handel’s Arrival of the Queen of Sheba - Adam had taken the version used for a duet with his piano teacher. He dedicated it to his teacher, who sadly died this summer, for all the support in his lessons.
2 pieces Adam had arranged together:
Gustav Lange Blumenlied (Flower Song) then into John Lennon’s Strawberry fields.
Adam Parrish's fingerwork at the piano
The next piece was traditional jazz, Adam's version of Sweet Georgia Brown, a 1925 song by composers Ben Bernie and Maceo Pinkard (lyrics by Kenneth Casey)
Adam played using a tablet computer for his sheet music
Next was a piece from Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess: Summertime
After that piece Adam commented "What a lovely piano this is to play in a lovely building.
Sonata in D minor opus 31 no 2 first movement by Beethoven, was one of his favourite Beethoven pieces (known later as “The Tempest”).
Pirates of Penzance Overture (1879) - William Schwenck Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan (arr Adam Parrish during the pandemic as an experiment to discover what G&S would work on the organ but heard today on the piano.
His encore was a little piece by Rick Wakeman from his 6 wives of Henry the 8 album, first time he played this was on the organ at St Giles Cripplegate. Adam’s version of Rick Wakemans ‘Jane Seymour’.
Adam introducing his encore
What could have been a disaster for Adam and the audience with the organ action problems turned into a little gem of a Monday lunchtime concert, thank you Adam for the unexpected piano instead of organ recital.
Words and photos by Anna Page
