Klauss Brings Bach, And Beyond, to the Old Whalers' Church

[caption id="attachment_48699" align="alignnone" width="800"] Walter Klauss with the organ at the Old Whalers' Church in Sag Harbor. Michael Heller photo.[/caption]

By Tim Sommer

“Sag Harbor is known for its literary community, and it’s known for its jazz, its theatre, its artists and painters. But the thing that Sag Harbor doesn’t have is a classical music series, and I thought, this is something nice for the village, and something I can offer, with the experience and contacts I have.”

Those are the wise and logical words of Walter Klauss, a world famous organist, conductor, musical midwife, and East End resident. Mr. Klauss is also the curator of the new “Bach, Before and Beyond” series that will make the historic walls of Old Whaler’s Church in Sag Harbor ring, resound, sigh and sing with some of the Western world’s most beautiful and eternally engaging music.

Since performing in his first major organ recital at age 17, Mr. Klauss has played in some of the most famous concert halls and cathedral on earth; he has also conducted orchestras and led ensembles with grace, skill, and invention. Along with devoting a lifetime to musical education, enlightenment, and academia, Mr. Klauss also founded and piloted world-renowned Musica Viva series, which began in 1977 at Manhattan’s All Souls Unitarian Church. In his role as the encouraging and discriminating guide of Musica Viva, Mr. Klauss is credited with having been instrumental in bringing soprano Renée Fleming, recognized globally as one of the greatest opera voice of the last half-century, to the world.

Now, Maetsro Klauss is setting his sites on raising the musical profile of Sag Harbor. Always known for it’s shimmerring watersides, leaf-arc’d lanes, and glimmerring theatrics, perhaps Sag Harbor can also be a destination for beautiful and historic music.

“I love Sag Harbor, and I love the Old Whalers Church,” Mr. Klauss enthuses, “and they’ve named me artist-in-residence there. The acoustics there are absolutely superb for chamber music – and of course they have that historic organ in the choir loft, it’s the oldest functioning pipe organ on Long Island.”

One concert in the short but striking debut season of Bach, Before and Beyond has already occurred, but the second in the three-event series takes place on Sunday, March 6 and will feature cellist Maureen Haynes, playing selections from the immortal repertoire of Haydn, Bach, and Mendelssohn. Since only 33% of that list is named Bach, can the Maestro explain what the name of the series really means?

“Well, a lot of the focus in the series is in the Baroque area – but not all of it! So,” Klauss explains, “we do some music from before Bach’s time, and we certainly do some after Bach’s time. For example, our first concert of the season was called Bach to Broadway. This second concert, there’s a big Bach cello suite, and there’s a piece by Haydn that’s slightly after Bach, and there’s a work by Mendelsohn, and a couple of other pieces. It’s a broad spectrum, but a lot of the music is from the baroque area, which is dated from 1600 to 1750. It’s sort of they way they have the Mostly Mozart series in Lincoln Center, but there’s other stuff that’s part if it, too. “

Which brings us back to that famous organ in the Old Whalers Church. In the era before standardized factory-made instruments, many organs were built specifically for the space that would hold them, and to help best showcase the repertoire they would be performing. This led to a remarkable variety in organs, and the great organs of the world are amazing objects of character and distinction. We are fortunate enough to have one of those, right here in Sag Harbor.

“It was built in 1845 by Erben,” Mr. Klauss explains, referring to Henry Erben, one of the most famous organ makers of the first half of the 19^th century, “and the congregation voted in the 1970s to restore the instrument totally instead of tossing it out and replacing it with an electronic instrument, as so often happens. It’s a wonderful instrument and I’ve given recitals on it before – I actually initiated a recital series a few summers ago to bring some attention to this wonderful old instrument. It’s an interesting challenge to play, and it has a wonderful sound, and it’s great to bring back the validity of this historic instrument. “

In fact, the quality and character of the historic organ at Old Whalers Church is so distinct that Mr. Klauss is hoping to build a future music series entirely around the extraordinary instrument.

“They’re people in New York who know about the organ and are interested in it, and they know that I’m out there, and so they’re interested in coming out to play it. So we’re going to do that sometime in the summer, the dates haven’t been set yet.”

But before that happens, there are still two more events in this wonderful new series. After the March 6 concert, there will be a May 22 performance, which will feature Dutch recorder player Marion Verbruggen playing a concert of Baroque and Renaissance music. How were we fortunate enough to have Bach, Before and Beyond alight in the East End?

“It was the minister (of Old Whalers Church) who left last year, Mark Phillips, who was excited about my interest in the instrument and the acoustics and the history of the place, so I became involved there on that level. They then asked me if I’d be willing to be their artist in residence,” Mr. Klauss continues. “They said use the place and do what you want, it’s good for us, and it’s good for the community, and it’s interesting to me. There wasn’t anything like that in Sag Harbor, and here is this beautiful space with these beautiful acoustics, and people in that congregation who are so open and willing to have me do this. So that’s how it all started, and it’s wonderful.”

The next “Bach, Before & Beyond” will take place on March 6, and the third and final event in the series will take place on May 22. Both concerts are at 3 p.m. at Old Whalers’ Church, 44 Union Street in Sag Harbor. For more information about the series, email bachbeforeandbeyond@gmail.com.