All Episodes

…Celebrated composers' musical tributes to Johann Sebastian Bach, using the theme derived from his last name.

…a reflective survey of performance practice. As the pendulum of taste swings eternally. music of Johann Sebastian Bach remains a constant attraction. But even his work is not immune to varying interpretation as our notions of the ideal "Bach approach" shift and fluctuate. Here we explore the Bach art in its manifold variety as displayed by such noted personages as Albert Schweitzer. Anton Nowakowski. Marcel Dupre. Louis Vierne, Helmut Walcha. Carl Weinrich, E. Power Biggs, Virgil Fox and several contemporary talents.

…A digital recording of a concert performance from St. Clement's Catholic Church in Chicago, by organist Wolfgang Rubsam, featuring the so-called German Organ Mass, elaborate chorale-preludes based on melodies of the Lutheran Greater Catechism.This volume is the first of Bach's organ music published in his lifetime, and represents his compositional art at its height. Commentary is provided by Bach scholar Chistoff Wolf of Harvard University.

…Performances by members of the twin cities (Minnesota) chapter of the American Guild of Organists, digitally recorded in recital on the 1976 Casavant organ (18-stops) at the Church of the Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in St. Paul.

…A rare American performance of the 1979 cantata by Peter Maxwell Davies, based on a text by George Mackay Brown evocative of the early Celtic civilization on the Orkney Islands, and some lessons for our own. Recordings were made in concert at St. John's Benedictine Abbey and University Church in Collegeville, Minnesota. Organ by Walter Holtkamp, Sr. (1962)

…A concert recorded at Christ Church Parish in Tacoma, Washington, during the 1982 national convention of the Organ Historical Society. Organ by John Brombaugh & Associates, 1979 (24 stops) and harmonium by Peter Titz.

…A potpourri of music in observance of the 300th birthday year of three renowned composers (Bach, Handel and Scarlatti), the centenary of a legendary recitalist (Lynwood Farnam), and the Feast of the Epiphany.

…A quarterly sampling of recent organ discs, with emphasis on the unusually attractive and the unusual. Our choices are wide-ranging, covering a variety of musical styles, performers and instruments. Domestic and imported LPs and CDs will be aired.

…A variety of music ancient and modern, in celebration of this special holiday, from domestic and imported recordings.

…A program of French organ music for the Christmas season.

…Another program featuring historic American instruments, with comments from William Van Pelt of the Organ Historical Society. These performances were recorded in Western Massachusetts during the 1983 OHS Convention.

…A concert on the 1983 Karl Wilhelm organ (3-manuals, 58-ranks) at Christ Presbyterian Church, Edina, Minnesota. Mr. Rübsam is Associate Professor of Organ and Church Music at Northwestern University, and a prolific and prize-winning recording artist.

…The world-famous British recitalist performs the dedicatory program on the new J.W. Walker & Sons organ (2-manuals, 30 stops) at the Breck School chapel, Minneapolis. This is the first instrument by this reputable English firm to be installed in the United States.

…Martin Luther loved music, and was determined that the Devil shouldn't have all the good tunes. The rich body of Lutheran hymns has been an inspiration to composers for centuries. Luther’s “good tunes” are heard in music by Bach, Pepping, Walcha, Reger, Sifler, Krapf, Schroeder and Langlais. These concert performances feature John Eggert and David Craighead at Jehovah Evangelical Lutheran Church, St. Paul, MN (1983 Van Daalen organ, 59 ranks) and John Ferguson at Trinity Lutheran Church, Moorhead, MN (Holtkamp organ).

…the music of American composer Leo Sowerby, introduced by one of his former pupils, Professor Robert Rayfield of Indiana University.

…another in an occasional but continuing series of programs featuring recordings from the archives of the Organ Historical Society and comments from the OHS executive director William VanPelt. Among the historic instruments in this broadcast are several by the excellent but little known St. Louis builder John George Pfeffer.

…another quarterly sampling of recent organ discs, with emphasis on the unusual and the unusually attractive. Our choices are wide-ranging, covering a variety of musical styles, performers and instruments. Domestic and imported LPs and CDs will be aired.

…an all-improvisation concert of music inspired by themes suggested by members of the audience, as recorded on the 1979 Virtanen organ (4 manuals, 52 stops) at the Church of the Cross.