Ben Comeau (born 1993) is a British composer, pianist and organist, whose work combines classical, jazz and contemporary music.
Comeau was born in 1993 and grew up in Truro, Cornwall. As a child, he sang with the choir at Truro Cathedral, [1] becoming interested in Bach and jazz music. [2] He obtained an LRSM diploma with distinction in piano, and a Royal College of Organists diploma. [3] In 2011, he won the first Northern Ireland International Organ Competition, playing his own arrangement of Igor Stravinsky's Firebird Suite . He studied at Girton College, Cambridge, where he was the college organ scholar, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in music in 2014. [1] [2] He gained a postgraduate degree in music from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. [2]
Comeau's concerts mix classical, jazz and contemporary music including Björk and Pink Floyd. [2] In 2015, he composed and performed a 45-minute piano sonata in the style of a fictitious student of Franz Liszt in the 1880s. [4] He has composed and performed several works for BBC Radio Three, playing piano and organ. [5]
In 2018, Comeau uploaded to YouTube a four-part fugue arranged for soprano, alto, tenor and bass with the words "Donald Trump is a Wanker", set to the tune of The White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army". [6] He sold the fugue's score online, with proceeds going towards "organisations combating the more odious policies of the Trump administration." [5] He uploaded a similar fugue to YouTube the following year, "Boris Johnson is a Lying Shit" in the run up to the 2019 general election. The video had been played over 100,000 times by election day. [6]
The Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565, is a piece of organ music written, according to its oldest extant sources, by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750). The piece opens with a toccata section, followed by a fugue that ends in a coda. Scholars differ as to when it was composed. It could have been as early as c. 1704. Alternatively, a date as late as the 1750s has been suggested. To a large extent, the piece conforms to the characteristics deemed typical of the north German organ school of the Baroque era with divergent stylistic influences, such as south German characteristics.
Wanker is slang for "one who wanks (masturbates)", but is most often used as a general insult. It is a pejorative term of English origin common in Britain and other parts of the English-speaking world, including Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. It initially referred to an "onanist" and is synonymous with the word tosser.
Virgil Keel Fox was an American organist, known especially for his years as organist at Riverside Church in New York City, from 1946 to 1965, and his flamboyant "Heavy Organ" concerts of the music of Bach in the 1970s, staged complete with light shows. His many recordings made on the RCA Victor and Capitol labels, mostly in the 1950s and 1960s, have been remastered and re-released on compact disc in recent years. They continue to be widely available in mainstream music stores.
David John Briggs is an English organist and composer. He started his career as a cathedral organist as Assistant Organist at Hereford Cathedral before becoming the organist of Truro and Gloucester Cathedrals. Heavily influenced by Jean Langlais and Pierre Cochereau, Briggs is regarded as one of the world's finest improvisors, and now works as a concert organist. He is also a composer of choral and organ music, and has transcribed many orchestral works for solo organ, as well as many of Cochereau's recorded improvisations.
Johann Ludwig Krebs was a German Baroque musician and composer for the pipe organ, harpsichord, other instruments and orchestras. His output also included chamber music, choral works and concertos.
Wolfgang Friedrich Rübsam is a German-American organist, pianist, composer and pedagogue.
Max Kenworthy has performed recitals throughout the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand and has undertaken recordings, broadcasts and tours in pipe organ, piano and conducting.
Prelude and Fugue in A minor, BWV 543 is a piece of organ music written by Johann Sebastian Bach sometime around his years as court organist to the Duke of Saxe-Weimar (1708–1713).
Jevgenija Lisicina, also spelled Eugenia Lissitsyna or Jewgenia Lisitzina is a Latvian organist of Russian descent.
The Great Fantasia and Fugue in G minor, BWV 542, is an organ prelude and fugue by Johann Sebastian Bach. It acquired that name to distinguish it from the earlier Little Fugue in G minor, which is shorter. This piece is not to be confused with the Prelude and Fugue in A minor, which is also for organ and also sometimes called "the Great".
The Clavier-Übung III, sometimes referred to as the German Organ Mass, is a collection of compositions for organ by Johann Sebastian Bach, started in 1735–36 and published in 1739. It is considered Bach's most significant and extensive work for organ, containing some of his most musically complex and technically demanding compositions for that instrument.
Ignace Michiels is a Belgian organist, choral conductor and organ teacher. He is internationally known as a concert organist.
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists. In addition, an organist may accompany congregational hymn-singing and play liturgical music.
Alexander Winterberger was a German organist and composer. He is mostly remembered for his association with Franz Liszt, in particular his close involvement with the two great organ fantasies Liszt wrote for the Merseburg Cathedral organ, the Fantasy and Fugue on the chorale "Ad nos ad salutarem undam" and the Fantasy and Fugue on the Theme B-A-C-H.
Nazario Carlo Bellandi was an Italian music composer, organist, pianist, harpsichordist.
Pierre Daniel Vidal was a French composer, organist, and musicologist.
Pascal Vigneron is a French classical musician, both trumpeter, organist, and conductor.
Throughout the 18th century, the appreciation of Johann Sebastian Bach's music was mostly limited to distinguished connoisseurs. The 19th century started with publication of the first biography of the composer and ended with the completion of the publication of all of Bach's known works by the Bach Gesellschaft. A Bach Revival had started from Mendelssohn's performance of the St Matthew Passion in 1829. Soon after that performance, Bach started to become regarded as one of the greatest composers of all times, if not the greatest, a reputation he has retained ever since. A new extensive Bach biography was published in the second half of the 19th century.
Luke Bond is a British organist and is currently Assistant Organist at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, where he played prominently for the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and the funeral of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. He has appeared internationally, and has made recordings of organ music and choral music.
Gereon Krahforst is a German composer, concert organist, pianist, harpsichordist and church musician.