Patrick Russill
St Peter’s Church, St Peter’s Street
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)
from Die Kunst der Fuge (The Art of Fugue) BWV 1008: Contrapunctus I
Johannes Brahms (1833–1897)
Chorale Preludes op. post. 122, nos 1–7 (autograph numbering)
Mein Jesu, der du mich
Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele
Herzliebster Jesu
O Welt, ich muss dich lassen (I)
O wie selig, seid ihr doch, ihr Frommen
O Gott, du frommer Gott
Herzlich tut mich erfreuen
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562–1621)
Variations on ‘Mein junges Leben hat ein End’
Johannes Brahms (1833–1897)
Chorale Preludes op. post. 122, nos 8–11
Es ist ein’ Ros’ entsprungen
Herzlich tut mich verlangen (I)
Herzlich tut mich verlangen (II)
O Welt, ich muss dich lassen (II)
César Franck (1822–1890)
Choral no.3 in A minor
Patrick Russill is one of the leading figures in English church music. After an organ scholarship to New College Oxford, where he studied organ with Nicholas Danby, he was appointed Organist of the London Oratory in 1977 on the nomination of his predecessor, Ralph Downes. Since 1999 he has been Director of Music there, with responsibility for choral tradition within the Latin liturgy for the Oratory is celebrated, and especially for its famous professional choir. Now Emeritus Head of Choral Conducting at the Royal Academy of Music, between 1997 and 2024 he developed the most successful postgraduate course for choral conductors in the UK, and in 2022 was appointed a Professor of the University of London. He was Chief Examiner of the Royal College of Organists 2005-2017, and Visiting Professor of Choral Direction at the Leipzig Hochschule für Musik und Theater 2001-2023.
Patrick made his Royal Festival Hall organ recital debut in 1986 and has since played in Europe, Asia and all over the UK. His 2007 Queen Elizabeth Hall recital on the reconstructed Tudor organs of the Early English Organ Project was acclaimed by the Independent on Sunday as the outstanding London keyboard concert of that year, and he has demonstrated these important instruments on numerous occasions since.
He was musical editor of The Catholic Hymn Book (1998) and contributed the chapter on ‘Catholic Germany and Austria 1648-1800’ to The Cambridge Companion to the Organ (1998). His choral editions of Howells, Sweelinck and others are published by Novello and OUP.
Patrick is a Vice-President of the Herbert Howells Society and Chairman of the Church Music Society. He is also a trustee of the Nicholas Danby Trust and the Organists’ Charitable Trust. He has been appointed honoris causa to Membership of the Royal Academy of Music, and to Fellowship of the Royal College of Organists and the Royal School, of Church Music. In 2023 he was awarded the Medal of the RCO for his achievement in church music, choral conducting and pedagogy, and most recently he was awarded a Papal Knighthood in recognition of his contributions to Catholic church music.
The St Albans International Organ Festival presents monthly International Concerts on Saturdays throughout the year.
Entrance and programme are free, with charitable donations invited to support future events presented by the St Albans International Organ Festival.