Episodes: 1985

…an entertaining glimpse at the show-biz cousin to the “king of instruments,” the theater organ, once the ubiquitous accompaniment to the action on the silver screen, now a popular attraction in its own right. Guest commentator Karl Eilers joins host Michael Barone in examining just what a “theater organ” is, and what it can do.

…a concluding program of performances recorded by guest artists at last summer's international organ week in Finland, at Lahti's Church of the Cross.

…solo performances recorded in concert on the 1979 Virtanen organ at Lahti's Church of the Cross.

…the first of three broadcasts featuring performances recorded in the contemporary Church of the Cross in the Finnish city of Lahti, annual site of an international organ celebration.

…an all-Bach recital played by James David Christie on the new Taylor & Boody organ at St. Joseph Memorial Chapel, College of the Holy Cross, in Worcester, Massachusetts. The program includes an in-depth examination of the instrument, as discussed by one of its builders, George Taylor.

…a concert performance by Yale University organist Charles Krigbaum of Bach's final masterpiece, recorded on the Robert Sipe organ in the Center for Faith and Life at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa.

…performances by the California organist, recorded on Flentrop instruments in Seattle and Palo Alto, Schoenstein organs in Los Olivos and San Francisco, and the Holtkamp/Moeller organ at the US Air Force Academy chapel.

…music of American composers performed at Toronto's Roy Thomson Hall, the DuPont estate, Longwood Gardens and Grace Cathedral, San Francisco.

…on this first broadcast of a new Pipedreams series, host Michael Barone surveys the musical and historic variety of the pipe organ, while sampling recent recordings. The emphasis is on the unusual and the unusually attractive, with wide-ranging choices covering many musical styles, performers, and instruments.

…performances by members of the Twin Cities Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, recorded in concert.

…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 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 selective survey of the unique contributions to the organists' repertoire by the man who invented the organ concerto, George Frideric Handel.

…performances by Minnesota organists Howard Don Small and James Melby, recorded on the 4-manual Welte-Moller-Gould organ (1928-1983) at St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

…music for organ and diverse win instruments, from bagpipe to brass ensemble.