THE final recital of a 2025 series took place at St Ia’s Parish Church, in St Ives, on Wednesday, October 15.

The soloist for the last recital of the year was Clive Ellison of St Agnes, someone who is well-know in local music circles. The opening work of his programme was J S Bach’s popular Fantasia in G major, a piece that is tripartite in structure with a grand central section flanked by two ‘toccata-like’ quicker episodes.

In the Steppes of Central Asia by Borodin is not often a work that features in organ recitals, but was most atmospheric in its portrayal of a camel-train traversing a treeless plain and passing by an observer before disappearing once more into the distance.

The central work of the programme was one of Handel’s ever-popular organ concertos, this one in F major, which was followed by the third of Mendelssohn’s organ sonatas, unusual in that it is comprised of just two movements, the first grandly majestic and the second more gentle and lyrical.

Concluding his programme, Clive treated an appreciative audience to Henri Mulet’s Carillon Sortie, a very typical turn-of-the-century French toccata piece. This appealing programme demonstrated admirably the full range of tonal resources on the St Ia Hele organ.

Donations raised from the 2025 series for the church’s organ restoration fund amounted to just under £1,500, going towards a planned overhaul and renovation of the instrument in time for its 120th anniversary in 2027.

Next year’s series begins on May 4 with a Bank Holiday Monday recital to be given by St Ia’s director of music, Jeffrey Williams as part of a weekend of events and music to help reach the remaining £10,000 that the church aims to raise.