Adam Cobb

Events

  • César Franck and His Approach to Writing and Playing the Organ with Historical and Contemporary Considerations of Performance Practice
    808 Howell St
    July 7, 2022 @ 9:00 am
    The intention of a composer is not always apparent. Whereas later composers such as Louis Vierne and especially Charles Tournemire wrote very detailed instructions for performers, their teacher, César Franck, left many questions about interpretations unanswered. Consequently, when performers play from scores that have inconsistencies or ambiguities in them, a significant amount of discretion in performance is considered typical, even if that could mean that two contrasting approaches could be considered equally legitimate.  After an overview of the life of César Franck and his relationship to the organ, both as a performer and composer, this lecture will discuss specific issues that the modern performer faces when considering appropriate performance practice of these works, concluding with an analysis of Franck’s Choral No. 3 in A Minor, focusing on how performers have approached these textual concerns in order that future performers can evaluate the scores with evidence drawn from comparative analysis.

Adam Cobb
About

Adam Cobb D.M. (b. 1994) is from Madison, Alabama. He holds a Doctor of Music in Organ Performance from The Florida State University, where he studied with Dr. Iain Quinn.  He holds a Bachelor of Music in Composition from Samford University and a Master of Music in Organ Performance from The Florida State University

As a performer, Dr. Cobb has performed in venues across the United States and abroad. In 2019, Dr. Cobb presented Olivier Messiaen’s La Nativité du Seigneur in churches across the Southeast, with performances in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Louisiana. Most recently, he recorded a recital on the 1911 Murray J. Harris organ at St. James in the City in Los Angeles for the Organ Historical Society as an E. Power Biggs alumnus, recording works of Joseph Jongen, William Grant Still, Joanna Marsh, and Marcel Dupré. Dr. Cobb was an organ scholar for the 2019 RSCM Pacific Northwest Course. In 2018, he attended the Haarlem International Summer Academy, studying various repertoire with world-renown organists. Dr. Cobb has also studied on two occasions with Dame Gillian Weir. 

As a composer, Dr. Cobb has had several pieces programmed in academic and church settings. His settings of the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis have been programmed for several services of Evensong, both at St. Peter’s Anglican Cathedral in Tallahassee and Episcopal Church of the Advent in Tallahassee. His song cycle Journey of Hope for soprano and piano was commissioned by Dr. Christina Villaverde.