Mark Buxton's sudden and unexpected death on December 18, 1996 was a loss to all of us in the organ world. See his "Nunc Dimittis" notice on page 4 of the February 1997 issue of The Diapason. His work as a church organist, recitalist, and organ consultant was well-respected and of an enduring quality. Even more so, his voluminous writings will remain as a significant legacy to our profession. The following tributes are offered in his memory.
In Memoriam--Mark Buxton
by Charles Callahan<.h2>
The sudden passing of a fine
musician and writer has left a sadness in all of our hearts. A graduate of
Durham University, Mark spoke French fluently and was an especially gifted
improvisateur, having studied with Jean-Jacques Grunewald in Paris. As the
author of countless articles on matters of interest to the organ world, Mark
was known here in North America and abroad. But for those of us who knew him not
only as a colleague but also as a friend, the loss is intense.
For Mark personalized a quality
of idealism that has become all too rare today. His standards of excellence
were accompained by high hopes for a renaissance in the best possible standards
in church music, organ playing, and indeed business and personal relationships.
As a sensitive and dedicated musician, Mark was certainly out of step with the
many clerical types sadly all-too-prevalent in today's church music circus.
For this alone, he would have
earned much admiration! But he "moved ahead" and carved a
well-respected name for himself through his many recitals, reviews, and feature
articles. Those of us who were blessed by his friendship cherished his calls
and cards that demonstrated his care for us, his true friendliness, and his
great civility in a world that sadly needs much more of the same.
Only days before his passing, I
received a postcard from him from St. Mary Redcliffe in Bristol--saying
"what a superb organ it is!" Of course he know how I would revel in
his enthusiasm for one of the supreme examples of English organ building.
Our thoughts and prayers go now
to his wife Sandy and the two children. May he rest in peace, and may perpetual
light shine upon him.
Mark Buxton
by Albert Neutel
To write about Mark Buxton is
about as difficult as it was to get to know him. No, I don't mean to imply that
Mark was a difficult person, in fact, quite the opposite was true. It was
difficult in that Mark was "many faceted" and a complex man while at
the same time one of the clearest thinkers and most articulate writers of our
time. Does one write about his phenomenal keyboard skills, his keen
understanding of the literature, his interest in research and writing? I will
leave these to others who have a deeper understanding of the subjects. One
thing was very clear about Mark: he suffered no fools or idle talk. His respect
for worship and the meaning of the liturgy helped to make Mark what he was: a
consummate musician with great skills to communicate the beauty of all styles
of music to the listener with simplicity and ease.
It was my privilege to have
known Mark for almost three years. It all started with discussions about what a
church organ ought to be. To Mark's mind there are only two kinds of organs:
good organs and bad organs. The size of the organ had no influence on his
simple philosophy. A good organ could consist of four stops and he had many
examples of bad organs that consisted of 40 or more stops. His simple
philosophy extended also to organists as musicians.
During our many discusions,
several times Mark insisted that we go back to visit the small eight-stop
"Willis on wheels" organ in St. Paul's Cathedral, London, to prove
his point of how a few stops, well chosen, wisely scaled and exquisitely voiced
can fill the space of a room, accompany the choirs and be a perfectly fine solo
instrument.
It was a real honor and treat to
have had Mark as our colleague at Reuter. All of us have learned much, gained a
deeper appreciation and found a new desire to continue to build instruments
worthy to be placed in a house of worship to serve the people and our Creator.
He will be missed by us as well as his many friends around the world. Our
heartfelt sympathy to his family Sandy, Kevin and Joanna in Toronto, as well as
to his mother, brother and sister in Manchester, England.
Mark Buxton -- An Icon of Political "Independence" in the Organ
World
by Herbert L. Huestis
Mark Buxton's untimely death at
the age of 35 ended a writing career that was just hitting full stride. He
published over 50 articles, music, book and record reviews in The Diapason and
brought to the magazine a refreshing perspective filled with musicality and
personal experience. He was a master reviewer, able to discover the essence of
a book or recording, abstract it, and reveal its essentials quickly. He did all
that and kept an engaging personal style, filled with pithy quotes that helped
sustain the reader's interest. He could sneak in bits of musical philosophy by
telling a story--its conclusion would reveal his point of view.
Mark preferred the eclectic in
organs as well as organists. He was always open to individualism in organ
building, but was particularly aghast at what he considered "slavish"
copying by organ builders who subscribed to what he considered "historical
trendiness." That point of view came to light with a delightful story in a
review which was published in December 1995. He told a tale of attending a
reception after a recital where he dubbed both food and program as
"provender of dubious provenance." He declared that this fare caused
him to "repair to a pub to fix the damage with pork pie and real
ale."
He disliked the performance of
big Bach works on "tiny scale registrations, which robbed them of their
dignity." He put this notion into especially colorful language:
The organ world suffers from a
pandemic surfeit of Cassandras, blithering on about how large, unwieldy
instruments are bad for our communal health.
He contended that a certain disk
by Frederick Swann "answered the prayers of those who crave deliverance
from the 'Organ Lite' movement:"
Here is a top-notch musician,
who really knows how to play and project a large organ with spectacular
conviction. Hats off to one of this continent's finest exponents of our
instrument for his devotion to music-making rather than musical trendiness.
This disc will win friends for the organ, and might just remind some of us why
we took up playing in the first instance. It would be gratifying to think that
Mr. Swann likes Lincolnshire pork pipe and ale, and that he sautées his
food in real butter.
There were no holds barred in
the reportage of the organ world for Mark Buxton. Yet humor was always lurking
between the lines and often bubbled up between them. His vocabulary was
extensive and often colorful. He was adept at the sometimes necessary
situations where he felt compelled to remark on various aspects of organs that
he didn't like. This he could do with a certain penache that belied the negative
impact of his commentary.
For example, in a review where
he did not take a shine to the organ, he put it this way:
The organ and the repertoire are
not always the most comfortable of bedfellows. Frankly,I found it an unlovable instrument, although some
smiles are coaxed from what often appears to be a sullen beast in an
unflattering acoustical cage.
He could be relied on to find a
sly way to deliver a swift kick, when an organ could not do the musical job at
hand:
The various undulants go some
way to imparting a bloom to the sound that otherwise would be absent . . .
Mark had a definite preference
for large, eclectic and interesting organs. In his commentary on the famous Longwood Gardens Aeolian, he
said the organ was "a sumptuous behemoth if ever there was one." He
continued . . .
The instrument's seemingly
endless and eclectic tonal palette, including strings by the desk and entire
clans of Vox Humanas will curl the ponytails of the purist fraternity . . .
Writing can be a solitary job,
especially for free lance reporters like Buxton. He divided his time between England, his birthplace, Canada,
where he lived with his wife, and the U.S., where he eventually hoped to
settle. On the subject of expatriate writers, Brian Moore, the author of The
Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne1, observed:
"When you emigrate, you are never quite from anywhere--you are not at home
at home . . ."2
Mark put it this way in
"Off the Beaten Track in England" (April, 1995):
Returning to the land of one's
birth is a peculiar business for the expatriate. Will things have changed beyond recognition? Will those
favorite places still be there? Will one still feel at home? Or uncomfortably
out of step with current tastes and fashions?
Like Brian Moore, Mark Buxton
was a chronicler and had the knack of making a strong start in his writing. He
could hook the reader's interest and hang on to it until the end of the
article, whether it was an interview, record review or opinion piece.
The tragedy of his early death
denied him the happy ending most of us anticipate. But within the short period of six years, he contributed
extensively to The Diapason.
Within that opus we can see an enthusiastic, upbeat and independent
spirit, always communicating the presence (or absence) of music as the real
subject for all that he wrote.
This adds up to a terrific loss
for The Diapason and other journals which benefited from his free-flowing pen.
Filling in that gap will be a demanding burden that will probably require a
team effort. One can only imagine from such beginnings, how magnificent his
contribution to organ reportage would have been. However, the opus that remains
with us is full of insight, sparkle and wit, often punctuated with a good
story. If you collect the issues of The Diapason with Buxton offerings, you'll
have a 2-inch thick pack to go through, but it will be worth the effort. You'll
chuckle at his witticisms, revel at his insights and weep that he is no longer
with us.
A few "Buxtonisms"
On Richard Strauss: "Would
that the composer of Salome and Electra have favored our instrument with a
piece from his top drawer!"
On Edwin Lemare: "Thomas
Murray's recording of music by Lemare, yet another step in the composer's
rehabilitation, serves to prove one again that Fortune's Wheel does indeed turn
. . . After a lengthy period in musical purgatory (a spacious resort, one would
imagine) Lemare's name is back in recital programs, and in recording
catalogs."
Reflecting on an English Organ:
"I cannot disguise a lack of affection for some of the chiffy flues and
assertive upper work heard here . . .. The Tuba Mirabilis has the requisite
hint of good flat lukewarm British beer!"
Some recommended reading
These references do not include
all of Mark Buxton's writings in The Diapason. They are those selections which
are most highly recommended by the author.
Articles and Interviews
October 1992 Daniel Roth at 50
April 1994 Ralph Downes: An
Appreciation
May 1994 A Conversation with
Thomas Murray
August 1994 A Conversation with
Oliver Latry
February 1995 George H. Guest: A
Guest at Cambridge
June 1995 Stephen Cleobury--A
Profile
March 1996 A Conversation with
Martin Neary
Surveys of Organs and Organ
Builders
May 1995 An American Landmark in
Canada, The Schoenstein Organ at Islington Church, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
July 1995 Off the Beaten Track
in England, A Survey of Interesting English Organs
July 1996 Restoration of
the Casavant Organ at Redlands
University, Redlands, California
February 1997 Rieger-Orgelbau:
The First 150 Years, History of the firm and interview with Christoph
Glatter-Götz
Reviews of recordings
June 1991 An Evening with Edwin
H. Lemare, Thomas Murray, Austin Organ, Portland, Maine
January 1992 The Symphonic Organ
Thomas Murray, Skinner Organ, Woolsey Hall, Yale
February 1992 Marcel
Dupré--Le Chemin Du Croix, François Renet plays the
Cavaillé-Coll organ at St. Sernin de Toulouse
February 1993
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> The Mystic Organ, Frederick Swann,
Möller organ, Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, DC
February 1993 Romantic Organ
Music, Mikael Wahlen plays the Organ of The Jacobskyrka, Stockholm, Sweden
May 1993 Daniel Roth interprets
César Franck on Three Cavaillé-Coll Organs
September 1993 Charles-Marie
Widor: Symphonies III and IV, Ben van Oosten plays the Cavaillé-Coll
organ of St. François-de-Sales
October 1993 Poesie de l'orgue
symphonique, Odile Pierre plays two Cavaillé-Coll organs
October 1993 Music of Alexandre
Guilmant, François Lombard plays the Cavaillé-Coll organ of St.
Omer Cathedral
November 1993 Organ Duets,
Sylvie Poirier and Philip Crozier play the Aurèle Laramée Organ
in the Chapel of the Maison Provinciale des Frères Maristes, Iberville
Québec. Organ built by Mariste brother Aurèle Laramée
March 1994 The Organs of Oxford,
Nine Organists Play The Organs at Oxford
April 1994 Organ Music of
Franck, Boëllmann, Mendelssohn, Reger, and Grunenwald. Veronique Choplin
plays Cavaillé-Coll at St-Sulpice. (Note: Mark Buxton studied with
Grunenwald, former organist.)
August 1994 Anthems and Motets,
Choir of St. John's Episcopal Church, Samuel Carabetta, director. Lafayette
Square, Washington, DC ("Church of the Presidents")
September 1994 César
Franck--Music for Harmonium and Piano,
Joris Verdin and Jos Van Immerseel play harmonium and nineteenth-century
piano
October 1994
Reger-Organworks--Heinz Wunderlich at St. Jacobi and St. Michael's, Swabish
Hall. Nelly Soregi, violin
December 1994 Vierne--Works
for organ, Wolfgang
Rübsam, E.M. Skinner organ at Rockefeller Chapel, Chicago, IL
January 1995 Well Tempered
Organ, John Wells plays the Letourneau organ at St. Paul's Collegiate School,
Hamilton, NZ
May 1995 Organ works of Basil
Harwood. Roger Fisher plays the
organ of Chester Cathedral Whitley organ, rebuilt by Gray & Davidson, Hill,
and Rushworth & Dreaper
July 1995 Sigfried
Karg-Elert--Organ Works, Wolfgang Stockmeier plays the organs of
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> St. Johannis, Osnabruck, St Martin, Bad
Lippsprige and Herz-Jesu, Bremerhaven-Lehe
July 1995 Hear My Prayer--Choir
boy and choir girl competition--RSCM choir boy and choir girl of the year, 1992
August 1995 The Historical St.
Thomas Organ, Pierre Cochereau plays the organs of St. Thomas Church, NY
September 1995 The Organ Music
of Alfred Hollins, David Liddle plays the organ of Hull City Hall
November 1995 Stars and Stripes
Forever: Organ Duets, Elizabeth and Raymond Chenault, Skinner organ of
Washington National Cathedral
November 1995 Longwood Pops--The
Longwood Gardens Organ, Michael Stairs plays the Longwood Aeolian Organ
December 1995 Four Masterworks--Frederick
Swann at the Crystal Cathedral--Ruffatti organ
June 1996 George Walker--A
Portrait
September 1996 Olivier Messiaen
--Complete Organ Works, Gillian Weir, Frobenius Organ, Arhus Cathedral, Denmark--Early
Frobenius with French reeds
Book Reviews
May 1991 Charles Callahan--The
American Classic Organ: A History in Letters
August 1994 Jane Langdon--Divine
Inspiration, A review of the "organ" novel
Reports
October 1992 AGO National
Convention, Atlanta, GA (with Jess Anthony)
March 1993 Herbert Howells
Centenary Concert, Westminster Abbey
April 1994 21st Lahti Organ
Festival, August 2-7, 1993
Notes
1. style='mso-tab-count:1'> Moore, Brian. The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1988.
2. style='mso-tab-count:1'> Wyman, Max "Profile--The loneliness of the long-distance writer". Vancouver: Vancouver Sun, January 1997.
