This week, we ride into a fascinating world where aesthetics, politics and life experiences merge in the output of talented artists which will raise your spirit. Marvin Mills talks about his background and explores both the polyphony and the philosophy behind our multi-hued repertoire, as we experience Music of Color
Enjoy the fantastic sounds of organs in Denmark on this week’s show. We’ll start at Roskilde Cathedral where some parts date back to the 16th century and at the Holmens Church in Copenhagen. Dieterich Buxtehude got his start in Elsinore, founding a Baroque tradition further built upon in the 19th century by Gottfred Matthison-Hansen and in the 20th century by some authentic Danish moderns. Join us as we explore the music of the Great Danes.
We’re back in the saddle again, or if you prefer, on the bench and offering more unique performances recorded live. A continuation of the concert performances from last week, we are returning to the scene, IN CONCERT, Part 2.
If the number of recitals played each year is any indication, the art of the pipe organ in these United States is doing spectacularly well. This week, we lift samples from four different concert programs. Nothing replaces the excitement of being there for a live performance, even the best stereo in the world can’t compare, but you’ll get the idea as we draw from the energy our featured performers put forth as we find them In Concert.
Ten players tackle first symphonies by two famous blind Frenchmen, Louis Vierne [1870-1937] and Jean Langlais [1907-1991]. Featured Organs
…a tribute to one of America’s foremost recitalists and teachers, January 18, 1914 — September 19, 2003. Poise and brilliant playing were her hallmarks. They were evident at her national debut in 1942 and also in every recital presented during the next five decades. This week, we honor Catharine Crozier. She was an esteemed faculty member of the Eastman School, an internationally touring soloist, and an icon of integrity in her art. We'll hear Dr. Crozier in CD recordings and also in a remarkable recital performance from the Christian Science Mother Church in Boston, proving that she was still at the top of her form at age 76. We honor the life and memory of a revered teacher and organist of the top echelon.
We rejoice in new sounds for the new year by sampling recent installations in live concert recordings. Joyce Jones plays the four-manual Letourneau organ at Saint Andrew United Methodist Church in Plano, Texas; David Schrader exploits the twenty-three voices in the Jaeckel organ at Saint Mary’s Episcopal in Park Ridge, Illinois; and Marcus Saint Julian sets the wild echoes flying with the 35-stop Dobson organ at Saint Joseph Abbey in Saint Benedict, Louisiana. They only happen once, so click and listen to these Inaugural Pleasures.
Ours is a pilgrim’s progress of sorts, traversing a year in retrospect and looking into the future. Join us as we take measure of the year 2003 and celebrate the art of the organ and its practitioners the builders, players and composers whose lives contribute so much to our experiences each week. We’ll play some recent compact discs, share shapshots of a trip to Italy, honor the memories of those who have passed to their rewards, and prognosticate a bit about what might come along in 2004.
The Christmas image of a newborn babe brought into a cold world conjures sentiments of joy and astonishment. So it’s not entirely surprising that the music on this week’s program does the same. We celebrate the season with trumpets and choirs, as well as organs both in solo and duet performances. Join in and sing along with familiar old tunes and embrace some new music, too, heralding the good news of the Nativity. For Unto Us: a holiday for heart and ears.
Some pieces were intended for intimate living-room spaces, while others have enthralled crowds in great cathedrals. This week, we travel the world in search of seasonal treats. Christmas is coming, and we will dance and sing while listening to the Memphis Chamber Choir and a host of organ soloists from Germany, France, the Netherlands, and the United States, as each contribute sonic surprises of many sorts. Come along as we celebrate a Holiday International.
Whether it’s a wakening call, a Brazilian sleighride or a gentle lullaby, this week we’ll serenade the spirit of the holiday season with a fanciful collection of familiar carols. From the pen of Leroy Anderson or Julien Zbinden, both choirs and instruments are combined into one harmonious message which speaks of peace on earth.
Our seasonal offering sounds the wake-up call and makes plans to be home for the holidays, as we listen to musicians raise their voices in praise at Christmas time. Join with them as they Sing, Beloved.
Rather than fugues and canzonas, try a Pastorale Dance or a March with trumpet. On this week’s show, we temper European tradition with the iconoclastic visions of some composers here at in the U.S. Lukas Foss writes a celebratory choral work for a new church, Lee Hoiby sketches impressions of his California homeland, and Daniel Gawthrop has us kicking up our heals in rhythmic response. Beyond toccatas and tientos, we bring our focus closer to home and celebrate The American Muse.
The pipe organ’s participation in religious worship has been an important facet of its tradition. This week, we’ll explore one of those traditions, the organ’s role in the sacred liturgy of the French Mass. From the colorful registrations used by Nicolas DeGrigny in his 17th century versets to the provocative images of Olivier Messiaen, the voice of the pipe organ adds immeasurably to the enhancement and the elevation of spiritual consciousness.
With more than $50,000 in prize-money, the Dallas International Organ Competition attracts top-grade talent. This week, we’ll listen to three superb finalists, each with musicianship worthy of international exposure. Jeremy Bruns hails from Muleshoe, Texas, but now directs the music program at All Saints Church-Ashmont near Boston. Sarah Baldock, from England, is the assistant at Winchester Cathedral and is also on the Calgary Academy Faculty in Canada. Bradley Hunter Welch is the organist at Highland Park Presbyterian Church in Dallas.
On the Fisk organs at Southern Methodist Unversity and the Meyerson Symphony Center they perform pieces from the French repertoire, plus works by Reger, Bolcom and Bach. Enjoy young artists in award-winning performances From the Dallas Competition.
What do a city auditorium in New Zealand, an historic church of in Manila, a Scandinavian university science project and the Tennessee Valley Arts Commission have in common? Each celebrates the art of the organ. This week we’ll savor performances from Christchurch Town Hall, the parish of Las Pinas in the Philippines, the Hamburg Baroque Organ Project of Gothenburg, Sweden and the Unitarian Church in Knoxville where pipe organs, old and new, excite the imagination with ear-intriguing sounds.
The proof is in the playing. Enjoy some sonically beguiling CD releases while we’re Going On Record with organ music in review.
Some folks think of the pipe organ as a musty antique that is old fashioned and out of the mainstream. I don’t agree, but just to confuse the issue, we’ll listen to four instruments that live in museums, at the Frick Collection and the Metropolitan Museum in New York City, the Nethercutt Collection, San Sylmar in Los Angeles, and the Museum Center at Union Terminal in Cincinnati.
Don’t be misled. These pipe organs provide provocative harmonies in picturesque settings. Creating their own attractive, interactive displays these are true Museum Pieces.
With six keyboards, four hundred stops, and more than 28,000 pipes, this organ offers a universe of opportunity. This week, we visit with the man who takes advantage of that opportunity virtually business day. You can hear it whenever the building’s open, but rather than buy a ticket to Philadelphia, why not join us for music of every sort, from Mussorgsky’s portrait of a Night on Bald Mountain to excerpts from a Wagner operas. Who needs singers, when the world’s largest musical instrument is under your control?
From Leonard Bernstein to sonic blockbusters, we’re stopping at the Lord & Taylor department store in Philadelphia. You’ve never heard anything like Peter Richard Conte and the Wanamaker Grand Court Organ.
…we celebrate composer Ned Rorem with performances of his music in anticipation of his 85th birthday. On this week’s show, we visit with Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Ned Rorem and celebrate the remarkable and envigorating repertoire that he has composed for organists and choirs. Is it strange that an agnostic son of Quaker parents should write so compellingly for the church or is everything under the sun just a concert celebrating creativity? Insights from the artist with his art, it’s Rorem on Rorem.
