St Bride's Organ Recitals

Andrew Forbes is back at St Bride's Episcopal Church on Sunday 1 November, part of the monthly organ recital series that runs on the first Sunday of each month from August through to June. This one falls on the first Sunday of November, so it's a good time to get back into the habit if you've been away for a few months.

Forbes has put together a programme that pulls from a few different eras. He opens with Samuel Wesley's Voluntary in C, Op. 6, No. 2, followed by Herbert Howells' Quasi lento: Teneramente. From there it's Jacques-Nicolas Lemmens' Prélude à cinq parties, and he closes with the symphonic poem Orpheus by Franz Liszt, transcribed by Jean Guillou and Alexander Gottschalg. It's a broad spread of repertoire, and the Liszt is a big, dramatic way to wrap it up.

Forbes is a prize-winning organist and the Director of Music at Glasgow Cathedral. His recitals usually pair classical organ repertoire with film-music arrangements by composers like John Williams, Alexandre Desplat, Nicholas Hooper and Patrick Doyle, so you'll often hear the two sitting side by side. He plays the church's William Hill organ, which is nearly 160 years old and has been restored to its former glory. St Bride's is well known in the West End for its acoustics, which work for both voice and instruments; one visitor described the organ as "like a whole orchestra controlled by one person."

The recital runs from 1pm to 2pm on Sunday 1 November, and entry is free, with donations welcome to support the church's musical outreach. If you can't make the Sunday, there are additional dates on Wednesdays 4, 11, 18 and 25 November. You'll find the church at 69 Hyndland Road, Hyndland, Glasgow West End G12 9UX.