Across the last weekend in August, composer Matthew Lee Knowles and organist Katia Farn will present “For Samuel Beckett”, the longest fully notated composition ever written for the organ – this will be an entirely unique experience as Heath Street Baptist Church is filled with sound for up to twenty-seven hours in this world record breaking event.
Matthew and Katia invite anyone to join them for a minute, an hour or even longer!
Samuel Beckett – “Waiting For Godot”
The score itself is a direct translation of Beckett’s “Waiting For Godot” (initially written in French then translated into English) where the letter A becomes the musical note A. And if all this wasn’t unusual enough, Kat will have two registrants by her side the whole time, randomly pulling stops and morphing and moulding the soundscape as they please to fully utilise the organ’s resources.
The organ responsible for bringing this piece to life is 124 years old and in desperate need of repair so this performance will also act as a fundraising drive to repair it and see it through the next hundred years!
Heath Street Baptist Church Pipe Organ
The organ at Heath Street Baptist Church was built by J.W. Walker & Sons in 1901, incorporating elements of an earlier Willis organ from the 1870s. It holds Grade II listed status and is regarded as both a historic instrument and one well worth preserving.
English organ building has long been defined by innovation, and as a result, many older instruments have been modernised or replaced over time. Very few survive in the kind of original and playable condition we see at Heath Street today. This makes this organ a valuable historical artefact which deserves to be protected and maintained for future generations.
This fundraising campaign is seeking to raise £20,000.
More details, time and location
Composed by: Matthew Lee Knowles
Performed by: Kat Farn
Registrants: Frey Lawler & Pablo Baxter
PART ONE will begin on Saturday 30th August at 9am & finish between 6:30pm & 1am
PART TWO will begin on Sunday 31st August at 12:30 & finish between 8:30pm & midnight
Heath Street Baptist Church
84 Heath Street
Hampstead
London
NW3 1DN
FREE ENTRY – DONATIONS WELCOME
About Katia Farn
Katia Farn (she/they) is a composer, producer, and organist from Sheffield, she has studied with Jenny Jackson, Ian Stephens, Andrew Toovey and Michael Wolters at various institutions. Kat specialises in contemporary organ performance, working to bring underperformed music to a wider audience through her YouTube channel and recitals; she has also enjoyed recordings and performances of her own work around the globe, mostly by fellow organists.
About Matthew Lee Knowles
Matthew Lee Knowles has composed 95 songs, 2 operas, 19 string quartets, 7 theatre scores, 2 film scores, 2 opera librettos, 2 song cycles, a ballet, 250 works for solo piano, 5 concertos, 4 global happenings, 6 London happenings, 150 poems, thousands of instructional scores and graphic scores, hundreds of electronic works, 500 paintings, a 1000 page novel, 4 albums and several hundred miscellaneous compositions. He has been involved in hundreds of performances and collaborations and had several dozen works dedicated to him.
Website: https://matthewleeknowles.com/
I have had a passion for church organs since the tender age of 12. I own and run Viscount Organs with a close attention to the detail that musicians appreciate; and a clear understanding of the benefits of digital technology and keeping to the traditional and emotional elements of organ playing.
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