Reactions to ‘Vierne at 150’ festival

From critic Stephen Smoliar: “Taken as a whole, what was most interesting was the extent to which both the performance and the video account provided a useful introduction to Vierne’s techniques as a composer. It was particularly engaging to observer Houlihan execute ornate arpeggios on one keyboard with one hand, while the other hand unfolded a cantus firmus on another keyboard. The pedals then provided a bass line, which would often extend into a more ornate melodic line. The viewer was thus provided with a rich experience of both Vierne’s lexicon and the syntax through which his “words” were assembled into “sentences.” The experience was not that different from viewing a video account of a full orchestra in which the camera work follows both thematic and instrumental progressions.”—The Rehearsal Studio