Feel the music
05 Sep 2018
For Year 12 student Max Toth the appeal of learning to play the organ is in the richness of its sound and its complexity. “I like playing something not everyone else can play and being able to play an instrument that can make hundreds of different sound combinations.”
Max, along with Year 13 Rangi Ruru Girls’ School student Valerie Xiang, gave an organ recital at St Andrew’s at Rangi Ruru, on Sunday 2 September. “Valerie and I were talking about playing the organ when [Director of Music at Rangi Ruru] Janet Kingsbury overheard our conversation and decided we should put on an organ recital. It was really fun, I loved it.”
Max included in his performance an original work “Clotho”, an organ improvisation, which is intended to be the first in a suite of three pieces, titled “The Moirai Suite”.
An accomplished pianist and keyboard player, Max was introduced to the organ at College and was immediately hooked. He started taking lessons when he was in Year 10. “The organ is a whole different instrument. Although it looks similar to the piano, it’s really a wind instrument, and to play it you have to learn a completely new technique. If you pull out all the stops you create the fullest possible sound, and it’s amazing how loud it can get. You can really feel the music, feel it vibrating through you. It’s extraordinary.”
