An Organist's Yearbook #1752
…our traditional summing-up of some of the year’s happenings in the world of the King of Instruments.
Hour 1
SIMON PRESTON: Alleluyas –Stephen Cleobury (1968-2016 Harrison/King’s College Chapel, Cambridge, England) KGS 020. This is the first commercial recording made on the recently refurbished organ, arguably one of the worlds best known and most-heard instruments.
SAMUEL WESLEY: 3 Pieces. EDWARD ELGAR: Introduction & Voluntary No. 6, fr Vesper Voluntaries, Op. 14 –Margaret Phillips (1795 Davis/English Organ Museum, Milborne Port, England) EOS 21.
MÅRTEN JANSSON: Ein feste Burg (2017) –James D. Hicks (1930 Steinmeyer-2014 Kuhn/Nidaros Cathedral, Trondheim, Norway) Pro Organo 7285…in celebration of the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation.
JEANNE DEMESSIEUX: Sixths (iv.), fr 6 Etudes, Op. 5 –Alcee Chriss III (1890-1991 Casavant/Notre Dame Basilica, Montreal, Quebec, Canada) Pipedreams Archive (r. 10/19/17)…Alcee Criss won First Prize in the 2017 Canadian International Organ Competition.
Some other competition winners:
Thomas Gaynor – St. Alban’s Competition-England
Grant Wareham – Albert Schweitzer Competition-Connecticut
Younjung Lee – Poister Competition-New York; Asia International Competition-Taiwan
ALEXANDER SCHREINER: Lyric Interlude --Alexander Schreiner (1948 Aeolian-Skinner/Mormon Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, UT) Columbia MS-6101. This year marks the 150th anniversary of the original Mormon Tabernacle Organ by Joseph Ridges, first played (incomplete) in 1867.
GAETANO VALERI: Sonata in F. GIUSEPPPE GHERARDESCHI: Rondo in F –Luigi Ferdinando Tagliavini (1797 Agati/Chiesa di San Michele Arcangelo, Pistoia) Fone 9OF33…in memoriam Maestro Tagliavini (1929-2017; d. 7/11/17)
EUGENE GIGOUT: Minuetto & Toccata, fr Douze Pieces –Suzanne Chaisemartin (1868 Barker & Peschard/St. Augustin Church, Paris) Aeolus 10461…in memoriam Suzanne Chaisemartin (1921-2017; d. 7/8/17)
RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS (trans. Spicer): Greensleeves –David Spicer (1963 Austin/Wayne Presbyterian Church, Wayne, PA) Pro Organo 7132…in memoriam David Spicer (1946-2017; d. 1/18/17)
Hour 2
SAMUEL SCHEIDT: Modus ludendi pleno organo pedaliter –Thomas Dressler (1847 Ferris/Round Lake Auditorium, Round Lake, NY) Dressler 2003…in memoriam Edna VanDuzee-Walter (1921-2017; d. 8/8/17), a long-time champion of this historic Ferris pipe organ which, in June 2017, was designated a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service.
LOUIS JAMES ALFRED LEFEBURE-WELY: March in C –Hector Olivera (1992 Ruffatti/Spivey Hall, Morrow, GA) Pipedreams Archive (r. 5/6/17) The year 2017 marks the Lebefure-Wely bicentennial, a Pipedreams Tour in France, and the 25th Anniversary of the Spivey Hall organ.
HERBERT HOWELLS (ed. Wells): Flourish for a Bidding –Andrew Senn (1998 Reuter/1st Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, PA) Senn 2017
WILLIAM WOLSTENHLME: Serenata –Alfred Hollins (1914 Welte/Mechanical Musical Instrument Museum, Seewen, Switzerland) Oehms 845. Played In Memoriam of the longtime curator of the Seewen Museum, Australian musicologist David Rumsey (1939-2017; d. 2/12/17)
JOE UTTTERBACK: Balboa Bolero –Elizabeth Melcher Davis, Cheryl Van Ornam (1979 Austin/Grace & Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, Richmond, VA) Pipedreams Archive (r. 2/11/17)
GEORGE THALBEN-BALL: Elegy No. 1 –Peter Jewkes (1898 Norman & Beard, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Parramatta, Australia). WILLIAM MATHIAS: Fanfare –Daniel Canaris (1891 Davidson/St. Paul’s Church, Burwood, Australia) OHTA 2009. A second Pipedreams Tour in 2017 visited Australia!
JOSEPH CALLAERTS: Toccata in e, Op. 29, no. 1 –Stanislas Deriemaeker (1891 Scheyven/Antwerp Cathedral, Belgium) Unda Maris 20271. The next Pipedreams Tour heads to Belgium (May 15-26, 2018); come with us!
J.S. BACH: Wer nur den lieben Gott lässt walten, BWV 647 –Wim van Beek (1730 Schnitger/Martinikerk, Groningen, the Netherlands) Martinikerk 1999…in memoriam Wim van Beek (1930-2017; d. 6/24/17) who was Martinikerk organist from 1956 to 2016.
JOHN KARL HIRTEN: Variations on Auld Lang Syne –Millennia Consort; Alison Luedecke (1976 Austin/St. James-by-the-Sea/La Jolla, CA) Millennia Consort 6-6644956712-4. Happy New Year to All!!
