MONTE MAXWELL CONCERT REVIEW

10/12/24 by Ronald Stonehouse

The first concert of this season’s 2PM starting time unfolded and became an unbelievably wonderful experience. Not only is Monte Maxwell a great organist but also as a speaker in building rapport with his audience. All the music in this concert was arranged by him, plus his style and many registration changes gave our Kimball a different sound with almost every piece. I thank not only Monte but also our fine organ maintenance crew and those that selected this organist to begin with!

The concert began with Phantom of the Opera Theme by Andrew Lloyd Webber and as the organ rises from the pit, we find Monte dressed in a full- length black and red cape. What a wonderful way to start off the concert. I think this was the fullest version of this piece I have ever heard. Monte continued with two more pieces from the musical being All I Ask of You and The Music of the Night after which he excused himself as he removed the cape and said it was too warm!

The next piece was by Johann Sebastian Bach and is one of the top two known for their opening chords Toccata and Fugue in D minor. The other was by Ludwig van Beethoven. Great classical sounds by our Kimball of course. A change of style again with four themes of shows. First The Munsters by Jack Marshall, from Alfred Hitchcock it’s Funeral March of a Marionette by Charles Gounod, thirdly The Adams Family, and lastly Theme from Harry Potter which is Hedwig’s Theme by John Williams.

Traveling back in time to 1875 Monte gave us In the Hall of the Mountain King composed by Edward Grieg for the 6th scene from Act 2 in Henrik Ibsen’s 1867 play “Peer Gynt”. Probably more than you wanted to know I’ll bet.

Loved the arrangements of the next two pieces, the first was Bill Bailey, Won’t You Please Come Home? The composer was Hughie Cannon in 1902. One of my favorite versions was recorded by Patsy Cline with a backup group called the Jordanaires who also did backup on many Elvis songs.

Second piece by Con Conrad and Billy Rose was You’ve Got to See Mamma Ev’ry Night (Or You Can’t See Mamma At All) and first recorded by Sophie Tucker in 1923.Taking us into intermission was a medley from the 1959 musical “The Sound of Music” by Rodgers and Hammerstein and they were Climb Ev’ry Mountain, Edelweiss, My Favorite Things, and The Sound of Music.

The second half began with a George Gershwin medley containing the following tunes: (A)Sumertime in 1934 for the 1935 opera “Porgy and Bess”, (B) Someone to Watch Over Me in 1926 for the Broadway musical “Oh, Kay!” with Gertrude Lawrence, and (C) I Got Rhythm in 1928 for “Treasure Girl” but not used until 1930 for “Girl Crazy” on Broadway with Ethel Merman. This was followed by a 9 tune medley consisting of the following: (A) You’ll Never Walk Alone, (B) There’s No Business Like Show Business, (C) Beautiful Dreamer, (D) Silver Threads Among the Gold, (E) Red River Valley, (F) You Are My Sunshine, (G) Home On the Range, (H) My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean and (I) Shenandoah.

Monte chose two more themes from movies and they were Lara’s Theme from “Dr.Zhivago” in 1965 and later called Somewhere My Love, composed by Maurice Jarre. Then by a Greek electronic composer Vangelis in 1981 the musical score for the British film “Chariots of Fire” and obviously the music played was Theme from Chariots of Fire. Could I have made it any more confusing?

Up next a railroad theme medley. First we hear Chattanooga Choo Choo by Harry Warren and Mack Gorden in 1941 for Glen Miller in “Sun Valley Serenade” movie followed by I’ve Been Working on the Railroad which was adapted from a 19th century tune called Working on the Levee. Petticoat Junction by Curt Massey finished the set which were all combined into one piece.

Mr. Maxwell called for all who had served in the military to stand and be recognized after which he played his closing piece, our national march composed in 1896 by the march king John Philip Sousa, Stars and Stripes Forever.

He received a very well-deserved standing ovation which he acknowledged but to our disappointment gave no encore. I will admit it was a longer than usual concert and we can’t say we didn’t get our money’s worth! I hope to see and hear him again, perhaps even making it to Annapolis! Thank you Monte for the great concert I won’t forget!