VIENNA, AUSTRIA — As a concert organist with a keen interest in the work of Johann Sebastian Bach, there’s likely no better place for Craig Humber to be than Vienna, Austria.
The native of John’s Beach recently wrapped up a four-year tenure as a lecturer in structural analysis and musical form at Vienna’s Franz Schubert Conservatory of Music. An artist in demand, Humber regularly plays shows throughout Europe, including stops in Switzerland, Croatia and Italy.
In June of 2010, Humber realized a lifelong dream when he recorded a double CD of Bach’s music titled J.S. Bach: Leipzig Chorales. The disk features pieces composed in the 18th century during the later part of the artist’s life and was recorded on a historic organ crafted by famed baroque artist Gottfried Silberman.
Recorded in the German city of Freiberg, Humber’s first full CD has earned plenty of positive critiques throughout France, Great Britain and Germany since it’s release.
“It’s like anything, there’s some really beautiful things and some things that I’m less happy with,” Humber said recently from his home in Vienna. “But all in all, I think it’s a very successful project. The array of sound and colours from the instrument are really spectacular.”
While he practiced on the organ in the past, Humber said he was thrilled to have the chance to finally record on an instrument which dates back to 1736.
Although the two contemporaries were known rivals, Humber believes the combination of Bach’s brillance as a composer and the clarity of sound available on Silbermann’s pipe organs are a perfect combination.
The fact the two also borrowed techniques and styles from Italian and French traditions serves as another important link between the German masters.
“Both of them were geniuses in their own rights,” he said. “By virtue of the fact they were both very international, it made them internationally influenced in their own works.”
As someone who first became enthralled with Bach’s music as a 15-year-old and now has the chance to play the same instruments in the same buildings as the composer is something Humber admits is a surreal experience which makes living in Vienna such a privilege.
“It’s something you can’t really get anywhere else,” he said. “It’s a one-time thing and it’s here. I’ve been very fortunate to see a lot of beautiful places ... and to be able to bring beautiful music to very thankful and gracious people.”
While he was most recently home on the west coast in 2009 as part of the Gros Morne Summer Music Festival, Humber said a busy European performance schedule will prevent him from making it back this year.
He will also soon have his own pipe organ, one which was handmade in Belgium and took two and one-half years to complete. Once in Vienna, the instrument will take approximately two weeks to put together, although Humber believes the wait will be well worth it.
“It will be fabulous,” he said. “Every pipe in it and every tone colour is made to my specification. So it’s basically every musicians dream.”
When asked of future plans, Humber said he’s already begun planning another CD, although he admits he isn’t sure if it will be devoted to Bach’s work. Living in a place where musical history is literally at his fingertips, Humber doesn’t anticipate he’ll ever run out of inspiration
“If you choose a certain area of repertoire, you have the original instrument where that music sounds best,” he said. “There are basically endless possibilities. You’d need about four lifetimes to be finished with it.”
For more information, visit Humber’s website at www.craighumber.com