Fourth Sundays at Four concert series pays tribute to composer

Passion for the dramatic music of Johann Sebastian Bach drew people to a Corvallis concert Sunday.

More than 100 people heard Bach works at the Episcopal Church of the Good Samaritan in an annual concert in honor of his birthday, which was 323 years ago March 21.

The church’s current and former music directors, R. Ward Scott and Myles J. Criss, shared the program, playing 21 pieces of music on the church organ, which is the largest in Corvallis. The concert was rounded out by a spirited rendition of “Happy Birthday” as the finale, with the audience singing along.

Johann Sebastian Bach, born March 21, 1685, was a prolific German composer and organist who created sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra and solo instruments. He died in 1750.

The crowd-pleaser of the day was the deep bass tones and flying scales of Bach’s “Toccata and Fugue in D minor,” which can be recognized in films as diverse as “Fantasia,” “Rollerball” and “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.”

Alana Rodriguez recognized some of the music from her own repertoire of songs that she practices on the piano. Rodriguez — age “nine and three-quarters” and a student at Santiam Christian Grade School — came to the concert with her mother, Cynthia.

“She says it was me that made her come, but it was really her idea,” said Cynthia.

They enjoyed birthday cake after the performance with family friend Sandy Gell, who together with her husband, Jack, is the largest donor to the fund that makes the Fourth Sundays at Four concert series possible.

“It’s been great to see the music program expand at the church over the years,” Gell said.

Former music director Criss began the birthday concerts in 1998 during his second year as music director at the church.

“We try to keep it as close to March 21 as we can,” said Criss. “It’s always a fun concert.”

Current director Scott was happy to keep the tradition going.

Scott remembered that when he was first considering a job at the church about five years ago, two stained-glass windows near the back of the sanctuary caught his attention.

One of the windows portrays J.S. Bach and the other a pipe organ and a symbol created by Bach.

“That really sealed the deal for me,” he said. “I thought any church that would put a musician in the window, well that’s a cool congregation,” he said.

“Certainly church organists owe a lot to Bach ... he gave us such a rich heritage,” said Scott.

Nancy Raskauskas can be reached at 758-9542 or nancy.raskauskas@

lee.net.