Thomas Wikman Reviews
Thomas Wikman at the Chicago Theological Seminary
RECOMMENDED
Where: Graham Taylor Hall at 5757 S. University Ave.
When: Fridays at 12:30 p.m. through June 3
Tickets: No charge
May 18, 2005
By M.L. Rantala, Classical Music Critic, Hyde Park Herald
Sometimes treasures in your own backyard are overlooked as you contemplate the greenness of grass over yonder. But if you've
never made it to one of the free noontime organ recitals at the Chicago Theological Seminary, you're missing a treat
on your side of the fence.
Hyde Parker Thomas Wikman is the seminary organist and artist-in-residence who performs recitals in Graham Taylor Hall
(upstairs from the Seminary Co-op Bookstore) most Fridays during the academic year. I caught the recital last Friday the
13th and consider myself lucky to have done so. It was an afternoon replete with dramatic bolts of thunder, and that was
even before Wikman pulled out all the stops. Stormy weather only added to the atmosphere in the intimate hall graced with
stained glass and weathered stone.
The recital opened with J. S. Bach's sturdy "Kyrie, Gott heiliger Geist," BWV 671, which Wikman dispatched with agility to
spare. The same composer's "Komm heiliger Geist,' Herre Gott," BWV 652 was carefully layered and the accelerated tempo at
the very end was both joyous and exciting.
