All Episodes

Sampling sounds of six recent organ installations in Washington, California, Arkansas, Florida and North Carolina.

With organologist and restorer Susan Tattershall, we explore the musical legacy of the Spanish conquest of the New World, visiting historic instruments in the regions of Oaxaca, Tlaxcala and Mexico City. Less than a century after the first expedition of Christopher Columbus, the art of organbuilding, taught by Spanish monks and practiced, to large extent, by indigenous artisans, was firmly established on the North American continent. Our program travels the countryside, revelling in the ‘sights and sounds’ of a remarkable culture, and listening to instruments built in the 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries, some small enough to stand on a card table, others as grand as the finest cathedral organs of Old Spain. Performances feature Jose Suarez of the Mexico City Conservatory, and Roberto Oropeza. All recordings were made on location and generally in compromised circumstances, and in most cases the organs were pumped by hand. Sites and musical selections include:

Music on Old Testament themes for Synagogue services or concerts.

A trio of historic instruments, a contemporary piece for two to play, and a centenary bouquet for a past master of melody.

American composers Frank Ferko and Stephen Paulus confirm the influence of a medieval mystic, Hildegard of Bingen, upon their contemporary art. Hildegard believed music to be the highest form of human activity, a mirror of the celestial resonance of angel choirs and the harmony of the heavenly spheres. Why shouldn’t composers today be inspired by her example?

Behold! We bring you both powerful and poetic musings from one of the greatest organists of the 20th century, Marcel Dupré.

Glittering interpretations of cosmic compositions on brilliantly shining and heavenly themes.

Faculty and student soloists demonstrate instruments by Flentrop, Aeolian-Skinner, Brombaugh and Holtkamp on the campus of the famed Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio. The Oberlin Conservatory was established in 1865 as an adjunct to the co-educational Oberlin College, they each being the first such institutions of their kind in the United States. At present, the Conservatory serves approximately 500 students, a bit less than one-fifth of the total college population. In addition to the 1974 Flentrop tracker organ, III/44, in Warner Concert Hall and the 1955 Aeolian-Skinner, III/68, in Finney Chapel, the campus boasts 23 other pipe organs of various sizes and styles for practice, teaching and performance.

Early Baroque and late Romantic repertoire from the organ’s spiritual home.

Spirited and creative variants on themes of heavenly grace.

Capsule coverage of some recent organ installations showing an interesting variety of styles.

Bay-area favorite Tom Hazleton returns to home territory for concert performances at the Castro Theatre and Trinity Episcopal Church on Bush Street, where California landmark instruments were recorded during an Organ Historical Society convention.

Concert performances on the 1985 Schantz pipe organ at the Church of Saint Leo the Great in Saint Paul, MN.

A miscellany of music for organ and various other instruments.

A summer quarterly review of recent releases of organ music on compact disc.

instruments built by John F. Nordlie and Charles Hendrickson envigorate the organ scene in and around Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

a collection of unusual repertoire featuring Canadian composers and performers.

portraits of four historic instruments, in Portland and Bangor, Maine; Ocean Grove, New Jersey; and Round Lake, New York, famous for their summer concert schedules.