WILLIAM SELF: MINE EYES HAVE SEEN
PUBLISHER'S INTRODUCTION When William Self responded to the request to write his memoirs, his friends found in the work far more than the pleasant recollections and personal memories of a career spanring over sixty years, delightful as these might be from so amiable a personality. The interest lies also in the writer's unique involvement with many significant individuals in the recent history of cburch music, and in his own remarkable accomplishment as Organist and Choirmaster. Regarded by musically aware church-goers as a legend in his time, William Self brought forth sounds from generations of American boys that often rreminded the well travelled of the best boy choir of Europe. In the organ community, th era in which he was active in important ways is generating intense interest at present, largely because of the development of the American organ, both Classic and Romantic. Not surprisingly, William Self was intimately involved with the people and the decisions concerned in this development, and the book includes precise specifications for a number of important American and European organs. Finally, the memoirs offer readers a valuable perspective on the church as we see it today. and its evolurion over the last seventy years. As the book advances, two images offer us as fine a due as may befound for so e1usive a thing as a man's life: David's stones and Apollo's mountain. The 'stones' at first weapons for defense against 'giants' became over the years rhe ground on which he stood. solid and unshakeable, in his attachment to the church, to its music,. and to the people whom he knew and taught and served —and loved. Apollo's mountain, Parnassus, where the Moses sang to the strains of the god's golden lyre became for him the symbol of the ineffable union of music and worship, the epitome of pure adoration as far as iit may be felt and expressed by human beings in this world. Indeed, his eyes have seen ... He has had glimpses of the 'view from the top,' and in these memoirs he invites us to share his vision of how things have been with church music, how they now are, and. above all, how they might be. |
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CONTENTS Prelude |
FOREWORD Six red-carpeted steps lead up to the stage of the venerable concert hall where I work. Often, as I walk onto the stage, I am conscious of the famous men and women who have ascended those same stairs - Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, Susan B. Anthony,
Anton Dvorak, Enrico Caruso. In its 131 years, Mechanics Hall has known many historic moments. One of those moments occurred at a concert on December 21, 1988. I walked onto the stage that day to find the largest audience assembled here in recent years. More than 1200 people took up literally every inch of space and, as I found out later, a hundred more stationed themselves in our lower hall to listen over the public address system. Among the performers the audience had come to hear was William Self. Undoubtedly, his appearance on the program was the reason many were in attendance. Generously coming out of his retirement for a few memorable minutes, Mr. Self played a Daquin Noel, his fingers moving ably over the four keyboards of our historic organ. Since the organ was installed in 1864, hundreds of organists have taken their bows from the side of its console, but I don't think any of them received a warmer and more genuine ovation than did Mr. Self. Organist Emeritus of the City of Worcester, William Self is the most respected member of Worcester's thriving musical community. Those who read this book will easily discern the reasons he is held in such high regard. May I offer a reason of my own? William Self's world is a large one. He has shared that world with his colleagues and friends in a manner that has brought it to us and drawn us into it. Our lives are better as a result. Perhaps that is the measure of this man. He has enriched every place he has been and every person he has known. It is a happy circumstance that I know William Self as a friend and I am pleased to commend this remarkable record of his life to you. - Richard F. Jones EXCERPTS "I now found that my association with Bonnet was becoming more than that of student and music teacher. He was a teacher of the life of the spirit." "We were, of course, first and foremost a choir school, and in performance the black cassocks, white surplices, and carefully kept ruffs gave the boys an angelic appearance. But.. under this surface was ever to be found the Eternal boy." "Those who aspire to the riches of the church music repertoire would do well to attempt ttle ascent of Mount Parnassus. It is a lonely journey; the traveller meets fewer and fewer fellow-climbers as he ascends; the air becomes more rarefied, and in the end only those who have been touched by the god are able to reach the top. But to him who succeeds thore are truly divine rewords." "In the Bach Magnificat, there is a tremendous climax near the end of Chorus IV, followed by a pause and total silence. It was precisely during this silence that an irate New York motorist leaned heavily on his horn, and the sound remains in our recording to this day, an 'ornament' intended neither by Bach nor by us." |