Robert Bates' recital took place on July 4 during the AGO 2000 Convention on the monumental organ built by Paul Fritts and Company for Lagerquist Hall at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington. Works from the German Baroque and the late 20th century are featured, including works by Buxtehude, Scheidt, Bach, Pärt, and Bates' own compositions.

 

Annum per Annum/ Arvo Pärt
Toccata in d minor/ Dietrich Buxtehude
Bergamasca/ Samuel Scheidt
Paduana Lachrymae/ John Dowland
Prelude and Fugue in C Major (BWV 547)/ J. S. Bach
Time Machine (1989; rev. 1999)/ Robert Bates
Saga No. 6 ("Ikarus") / Jean Guillou

"Bates supplied some of the convetion's most consistenly satisfying playing.  His Dowland, Scheidt, Buxtehude, and Bach were assured, unfussy and naturally buoyant.  The gentle, vocal principal he used in the Buxtehude...was ravishing...Bates gave [Ikarus] an electrifying performance.

- The American Organist

 

"To say that Bates captivated the audience is an understatement." 

- The Diapason

 

"There were no dull moments Friday night. He played with an impressive command of the instrument, searching out marvelous registrations and keeping his intellect focused. He found freedom in unusual places and musical grandeur everywhere....[The smaller works] revealed the kind of colorist Bates is, just as larger works revealed Bates' ability to make great musical architecture."

-Seattle Post Intelligencer

 

"[Bates' composition] had the graphic richness of stained glass in its visual presentation. It was as exciting as any traditional organ piece, made even more tantalizing by short quotes from Bach's 'St. Anne' Fugue!"

-The Diapason

 

"Bates' [new composition] was impressive to both eye and ear....Among its attractions was the pleasure of 'tracking' Bates' performance as it unfolded via the elaborate graphic representations provided to the audience."

-Early Keyboard Studies Newsletter

"Bates has a beautifully refined technique, a profound understanding of rhythm and its subtleties, and a thorough sense of style."

-The American Organist