Young Artist Interview: Charles Maxtone-Smith (organ)

Musicians’ Company award winner, Charles Maxtone-Smith, is an organist of exceptional dedication and skill. Organist at Buckfast Abbey since January 2024, Charles was formerly organ scholar at Westminster Abbey and New College, Oxford and student at the Royal Academy of Music. Charles tells us how his love for the organ’s rich sound and history fuel his passion and drive.

What is your first memory of hearing an organ?
Funnily enough I don’t have a particular memory of hearing a pipe organ for the first time. What I do remember better is hearing my father play the piano in his spare time, and I found the art of keyboard playing fascinating from an early age.

Where did you start learning to play?
I started learning at St George’s, Campden Hill, London at the age of 11. For the first few months I could not reach the pedals, so I started with my hands only. I was immediately fascinated by the combinations of the organ’s different sounds, and found both the technical work and the repertoire highly fulfilling.

Who have you studied under?
At secondary school I learnt under Simon Bell and Malcolm Archer. For many teenage years I participated in the Oundle for Organists Summer School, a highly valuable week for so many organists, which allowed tuition from a fine set of teachers. I then learned with Stephen Farr whilst studying at Oxford. My main teacher at RAM was David Titterington, and I also received some one-to-one tuition from Bine Bryndorf and Richard Pinel. The generous Company Award has allowed me to take lessons with Christophe Mantoux at Église Saint-Séverin, focusing on French repertoire from the Baroque onwards.

What keeps your passion alive?
For a large part of my life I have been unable to imagine a career outside music! My particular passion for the pipe organ comes from the remarkable variety of sounds that emerge from the instrument, and the capacity it has to inspire and move audiences. I greatly enjoy playing recitals, but it is the organ’s function in adorning and beautifying the liturgy that gives me the greatest pleasure as a professional organist.

What repertoire are you working on?
I am currently working on repertoire for two upcoming concerts at Buckfast Abbey with its splendid 2018 Ruffatti organ. First a solo organ recital on Saturday 12th October, which will culminate in Liszt’s Fantasy and Fugue on “Ad nos, ad salutarem undam”, one of the most extraordinarily unique works ever written for the instrument. Secondly a concert with the Abbey Choir on Saturday 2nd November, featuring Duruflé’s Requiem in the chamber orchestra version and Poulenc’s Organ Concerto, which Duruflé himself premiered and whose registrations appear in the published score.

Is digital technology changing your playing approach?
Overall digital technology does not make a great deal of difference to my approach to playing, as it is best to experience a pipe organ live. Buckfast Abbey Choir has recently recorded a CD due for release in 2025 of music for the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, and it is a fine balancing act between providing enough verve and colour to the registrations without overwhelming the choir.

What do you consider your finest performance?
I do my best to make every musical performance as fine as it can possibly be. My project in my final year at RAM was a complete performance of Louis Vierne’s rarely heard Symphony No. 5. It took many hours to work through the technical challenges of his densely chromatic harmonic language, and to project a performance that befits an orchestral-like symphony on a grand scale.

Where do you hope to be in five years’ time?
I was appointed Organist at Buckfast Abbey in January 2024, and I hope that the next five years will bring many performances at the Abbey both as a soloist and accompanist, and recording opportunities on the Abbey’s in-house label Ad Fontes. I also aim to expand my organ recital portfolio, both in the UK and abroad.

Interview by Suzy Willmott