Holiday Pipes #2349

Hour 1

Soloist John Schwandt, of the American Organ Academy, created on-the-spot improvisations for a live audience at the Basilica of St. John the Baptist in Canton, OH.  In the Basilica’s balcony is a 74-rank instrument completed in 2004 by Charles Kegg Pipe Organ Builders of Hartville, Ohio.  Michael Barone was ‘moderator’ for the event, selecting themes from an envelope of possibilities and combining them in unusual groups to challenge Schwandt’s creative ability to make coherent music in the spur of the moment.  Themes on which the improvisations are based include Angels we have heard on high, Es ist ein Ros entsprungen, O little town of Bethlehem, In dulci jubilo, Divinum mysterium and Joy to the world.  Andre Servais served as audio documentarian (r. December 2, 2022). 

Filler - SCHWANDT:  Angels Dance & Blooming Rose (see above)

Hour 2

JOHN SCHWANDT:  Scherzo-Improvisation on God rest you merry, gentlemen –John Schwandt (2004 Kegg/Basilica of St. John the Baptist, Canton, OH) r. December 2, 2022

EMMA LOU DIEMER:  On Christmas Night –Karen Leigh, mezzo-soprano; David Heller (1995 Brombaugh/Lawrence University, Appleton, WI) ClassicalVocalReprints 2004

Z. RANDALL STROOPE:  Hodie –Paul Hill Chorale/Paul Hill; National Capital Brass & Percussion Ensemble; Sondra Proctor (1971 Holtkamp/Bradley Hills Presbyterian Church, Bethesda, MD) Centaur 2258

GREGORY PETERSON:  Improvisation on Adeste fidelis.  HELMUT WALCHA:  3 Christmas Preludes (Fröhlich soll mein Herze springen; Den dir Hirten lobten sehre; Zu Bethlehem geboren).  GERALD NEAR:  Carillon on a Ukranian Bell Carol –Gregory Peterson (1978 Sipe/Luther College, Decorah, IA) Peterson 2017

JEAN LANGLAIS:  La Nativité, fr Poemes Évangéliques –Virgil Fox (1954 Aeolian-Skinner/Riverside Church, New York, NY) EMI Classics 66088

OLIVIER MESSIAEN:  Dieu parmi nous, fr La Nativite du Seigneur –Mark Laubach (2002 Berghaus/St. Stephen’s Episcopal Cathedral, Wilkes-Barre, PA) Pro Organo 7210

Filler – NEAR (see above)

It is pleasant to think that listening to PIPEDREAMS might have an effect.  Here is John Schwandt’s comment:

I want your listeners to know I am unabashedly and unashamedly a proud child of PIPEDREAMS. We were listening at our lake cottage [to Wisconsin Public Radio], I think I was seven, and I was transfixed both by the programing and your commentary. You, whether or not you realize, are a natural teacher, which also inspired me because I love teaching. I still listen religiously to the program, and it's an always an education. You are also fearless in stretching the listeners' imagination to repertoire, organs, and artists they perhaps had not considered before. That is creativity and one discovers new things that way. PIPEDREAMS has been a gift for me my whole life, and I've used the program in my teaching. I hope to keep improvising until I can't anymore. Similarly, I hope that you'll still be producing PIPEDREAMS until you can't anymore. It has value!

Continuing support of PIPEDREAMS is provided in loving memory of Lucinda and Wesley Dudley by their family, with additional support from Walter McCarthy, Clara Ueland, and the Greystone Foundation, from Jan and Steve Kirchner, from the Art and Martha Kaemmer Fund of the HRK Foundation, and from listener-contributors to this public radio station.  Support also comes from Foley-Baker, Incorporated, of Tollund, CT and Paul Fritts & Company, Organ Builders of Tacoma, WA, members of APOBA, the Associated Pipe Organ Builders of America, a collaborative of designers, creators, and maintainers of pipe organs found in religious and educational institutions, concert halls, and residences throughout the United States and beyond.  An APOBA resource guide and member prospectus is available at APOBA.COM.