1934 Aeolian-Skinner organ at Grace Episcopal Cathedral, San Francisco, California

It’s all so familiar but also the beginning of an uncharted adventure. This week’s Pipedreams program explores wedding music in its broader implications. We’ll have traditional processionals, historic works in celebration of a joy-filled day, exotic pieces from Finland and the Czech Republic songs and ballads about true, perfect and wondrous love, an anthem about an amiable dwelling place, and even a warning lest fools rush in. For June brides or newlyweds at any time of the year, it’s music which proclaims This is the Day.

We reflect on the passing of time on our next Pipedreams broadcast. The old year now is gone and done. So are a number of wonderful musical friends whom we will honor and miss. But, we’ll also celebrate some intriguing new instruments, check up on the Wanamaker Organ in Philadelphia for a progress report on the ongoing restoration there, sample some recent recordings - including a disc which just won a ‘golden ears’ award from a popular audiophile journal and stop down in Mexico, where fireworks and the village band added to the excitement of a visit from some Norwegian performers.

We’ve everything from a 16th century Italian dance to a grand orchestral march, featuring instruments of only a dozen stops to several hundred. On our next Pipedreams program, we sample some recent recordings from Saint Christopher’s-by-the-River in Ohio, and the Riverside Church in New York City, the first CD release from Ocean Grove Auditorium, the latest from the Mormon Tabernacle, plus a tribute to Dame Gillian Weir, the last album from George Wright, and a pair of critically acclaimed surveys of the complete organ works of Marcel Dupré. Sounds good? You bet! We’re Going On Record with a review of recent recordings this week on Pipedreams.

Deep in its heart, it is all about a search for poetic, and musical, truth. On our next Pipedreams program, we investigate the tradition of the Ricercare, one of the earliest forms of Baroque instrumental music. Our examples take us back to the mid 16th century and feature an instrument even one hundred years older, at a Basilica in Bologna. Simple themes develop and interweave in phrases both rhapsodic and rigorous. Beyond the fertile Italian homeland, we visit churches in Stockholm, San Francisco, and the Netherlands for performances by John Weaver, Massimo Nosetti, Liuwe Tamminga, and Jean Guillou of works by Bach and Frescobaldi, and Menotti. Ancient and eloquent, our ears follow it heavenward. Ricercare for the Sky the ancient art of counterpoint, this week on Pipedreams.

Felix Mendelssohn wrote often and well for the king of instruments, but his Hebrides Overture is not usually numbered among his standard organ essays. On our next Pipedreams program, though all of the music sounds simply fantastic, none of it was created for the medium of wind-blown pipes. If you’ve enjoyed the occasional appearance of the pipe organ in his Second and Eighth Symphonies, how about Mahler’s Symphony Number 5 arranged as an organ solo? Good things are where you find them, and Frederick Hohman, Matt Curlee, Alexander Frey, David Briggs, and other friends tackle the matter of orchestral transcriptions with overtures for concert hall and opera house. Not your usual organ recital. For an extraordinary experience, it’s Mozart, Mendelssohn, and Mahler, this week on Pipedreams.

The colors may be noteworthy, but the lengthening of days spells a change of season. This week we’ll steady ourselves against fall, with several musical impressions of summer’s end. Clarence Mader penned an October Interlude, Joseph Bonnet wrote several Autumn Poems, and Antonio Vivaldi takes us on a fox hunt through the crisp countryside. Walt Strony and Lyn Larsen play some seasonal pops favorites, and Kurt Luedders, Cherry Rhodes and Graham Barber lead us in a pageant of color. When the short sleeved shirt gets replaced by a jacket and scarf, you know that summer is behind us and a new season awaits. Enjoy music which embraces the best of fall and join us as we reflect on the multiplicity of colors in Autumn Leaves.

…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.

Exploring a collection of scores, some new, some newer, all by American composers.

…celebrate one of America’s foremost veteran teachers, church musicians and recitalists with his own words and compositions.

…a collection of ‘organ pops’, including a centenary tribute to American composer Leroy Anderson [born 6/29/1908].

…the splendid sound of organ music in American cathedrals in Seattle, San Francisco, Wilkes-Barre, Toledo, Buffalo and the Twin Cities.

…some up-tempo tunes to keep the blood warm and take us through to the beginning of spring.

…compositions of lament, reflection and healing in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the tragedy of September 11, 2001.

…a collection of music by composers (mostly) with important birthday anniversaries in the year 2011.

…magical music, both old and new, adds immeasurably to the spirit of the Nativity Festival.

…a tribute to the memory of one of the most popular, and controversial, organists of all time, who believed in the cause of beauty above history, and above the limitations of any instrument.

…the splendid sound of organ music in American cathedrals in Seattle, San Francisco, Wilkes-Barre, Toledo, Buffalo and the Twin Cities.

…a centenary tribute to the celebrated San Francisco organist-composer Richard Purvis (1913-1994).

…performers, composers, arrangers, and instrument builders join in providing music for the holiday celebration.

…the annual Olde Yeare–New Year reflection, with highlights from recent recordings, concert excerpts, prize–winning performances, memorial tributes and more.

…in celebration of the Christian Resurrection Festival, music from the earliest surviving organ book to contemporary compositions and of-the-moment improvisations.

…an exploration of the many sorts of composition that you find under the generic, historic title "Ricercar".

…a multi-national celebration of the Nativity Festival with music old and new.

…music for an Earth Day celebration of the world's splendor and the environment which is our life-support.