1982 Lacroix organ at St. Bertrand, Comminges, France

Trumpet fanfares and other bracing measures spice up this week’s broadcast as we celebrate spring with improvisations and anthems dedicated to the festival of rebirth. Marilyn Keiser plays a Festal Flourish, Kevin Bowyer borrows from Bach’s Little Organ Book, James Culp asks a pointed question, Craig Philips contributes a song for a special morning awakening, and everywhere sons and daughters sing. With instruments in Texas, Italy, and our nation’s capitol, and choirs from Beverly Hills and Britain, we offer Music for an Easter Uprising.

It’s a sophisticated gathering of friendly collaborators and the King of Instruments on this week’s Pipedreams program. We’ll feature five centuries of repertoire, for organ and saxophone, organ and trumpet, organ and flute, organ with choir and brass ensemble, in works by Duke Ellington, Claude Debussy, Henk Badings, J.S. Bach, Giovanni Gabrieli…really an all-star cast. We’ll also play around with some oddities, too, a very old piece written for the organ to be played along with the tolling church bell, and a wonderfully zesty concerto by Michel Corrette, proving that Handel wasn’t alone in knowing that pipes and chamber orchestra make a superb package. Organ and Chamber Orchestra are among the many pleasureful pairings of pipes. Get yourself a real earful, with Organ Plus, this week on Pipedreams.

As always, glorious sounds result when a pipe organ teams up with other instruments.

…groups of brief, characterful movements proved a good 'recipe' for organ composers in France, and they stuck with it through centuries!

…since the 18th century, the combination of organ with other instrumental ensembles has provided many good vibes.

…a collection of choral works and organ solos in celebration of the Feast of the Resurrection.

…Concert recordings by the noted French musician, whose original compositions, transcriptions, and improvisations reveal a modern genius of Lisztian proportion. Guillou's vision of the modern organ's potentials is uncommonly arresting.

…A quarterly program of reviews of recent recordings.

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…with an international collection of old and new settings, we magnify and glorify Mary’s Song.

An autumn quarterly review of recent recordings.

Four centuries of music for a festival of rebirth and renewal, the triumph of life over death.