At midnight on All Hallow's Eve, a dark and packed Sayles Hall was stunned into silence by the appearance of one accusatory floodlight.
It illuminated a coffin in the middle of the room. The coffin lid suddenly swung open, revealing a figure that, in a voice evoking Sesame Street's Count Dracula asked, "What night is it? What night is it?" With zombie-like solidarity, the students responded, "Halloween!"
One of the chairs supporting the coffin collapsed and the coffin tumbled to the side. Amid the crowd's gasps, the figure stumbled out, saying, "I must play the organ! I must play the organ!" Wearing a black suit with long coattails, he walked, with legs stiff and arms extended, up to the organ.
Another light cast a larger-than-life shadow of the organist on the wall. When the figure raised his hands to play, a shadowy giant had its hands poised above the entire hall, ready to plunge down on the keys with a vengeance.
Mark Steinbach, the University organist, began the annual Halloween Midnight Organ Recital by playing the spooky "Transports de joie," by Olivier Messiaen, and the shadow played with him. This opening piece was lively yet haunting, demonstrating Steinbach's technical prowess and dramatic sensitivity and setting the tone for the rest of the concert.
Even before the concert, students were expecting something wonderful.
"I'm excited. I'm pumped," Lisa Berdie '12 told The Herald. "This is my first one, but I've heard that they're really good."
"It was one of my favorite parts of Halloween last year so I wanted to come this year," said Stephen Larrick '11.
Steinbach's enthusiasm was evident in an e-mail he wrote to The Herald before the concert. "It is a great opportunity to play fantastic organ music for a large receptive audience in a relaxed setting. It's a big party! And what better way to enjoy great music, but lying on the floor!"
In addition to the spooky ambience and his Dracula stunt, the repertoire Steinbach chose was finely tuned to create a dramatic musical progression. After the opening piece, he played "Marche Funebre d'une Marionette" by Charles Gounod with a sweet, almost chime-like sound.
"A large part of the organist's art (besides learning all of the notes, playing correct rhythms, and phrasing ...) is 'registering,' or orchestrating a piece to fit the specific instrument," Steinbach wrote.
The transition from the frenetic, creepy and loud sound of the first piece to the small, sweet and bright second exemplified this very skill. The rest of the concert consisted of gradual increases in drama and grandeur from piece to piece.
It was clear that the seventh and last piece, Johann Sebastian Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D minor," BMV 565, was going to be the concert's highlight as soon as Steinbach played the familiar first notes. The buzzing, bellowing organ was positively alive as the perfect counterpoint floated through the air. Bach was an organist, and he certainly composed -- just as Steinbach played -- to the instrument's advantage.
Students, including those that had been to previous Midnight Organ Recitals, seemed pleased with Friday night's concert.
"It was quite the silhouette," Larrick said of the giant shadow cast on the wall, "It's like a Hitchcock movie - sometimes it's better to let your imagination fill in the blanks."
"I like coming in here - it's pitch black. It's very powerful; everyone is silent," Luke Landers '12 said. "Being a freshman, it's nice to be part of Brown traditions."
Organ aficionados and novices alike should attend Steinbach's next organ concert on Nov. 22 at 8 p.m. in Sayles Hall. The show will celebrate the mystic and composer Olivier Messiaen.
