Episodes: 1995

Reflecting on what has been and what may be in the realm of the King of Instruments, with audo postcards, letters from listeners, reviews of some new recordings, and enough of a party atmosphere to ring out the Old Year and ring in the New Year, too.

From San Diego to Brooklyn, from churches and theaters, this collection offers warm and friendly greetings of glad tidings and good cheer.

An international collection of arrangements for instruments and voices.

A progression of gladsome Gallic variants on holiday melodies.

There’s a song in the air and it’s about change. The future is just around the corner… but not quite, not yet. On this week’s broadcast, we’ll ponder the problem of the unknown, with music for Advent, including an atmospheric pharaphrase by Hans-Andre Stamm, a collection of Bach chorale-preludes, and an improvised symphonic movement by Marcel Dupré that he recorded with compelling persuasiveness in his 79th year.

…a selective, annotated autumn survey of new releases of organ music on compact disc

Beyond the familiar Trumpet Tune, this week’s broadcast features many pieces by one of England’s foremost masters, one of his contemporaries and some later imitators. He’s justly celebrated, but sometimes for not quite the right reasons. Henry Purcell, the foremost English composer of the late seventeenth century, is our particular fascination on the next Pipedreams broadcast, when we’ll listen to everything he wrote for organ, plus some pieces that he DIDN’T, but to which his name is traditionally and tenaciously attached nonetheless. With period instruments and grand cathedral organs played by Robert Woolley, John Butt, John Scott, Davitt Moroney, and even Virgil Fox, we go on beyond the familiar Trumpet Tunes to hear Voluntaries and Marches, Anthems, Songs, and Dances, looking back through 3 centuries in tribute to the memory of one of Britain’s famous past masters.

…vibrant recital performances and revelatory conversation with an internationally-reverred virtuoso, one of the last living representatives of a grand playing tradition.

…no recording can fully capture the immensity of New York City's famous cathedral space, but that doesn't mean it isn't fun to try.

…performances and comments by husband-and-wife recitalists Cherry Rhodes and Ladd Thomas, organ faculty members of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

…sharing music and tales of peril with Alan Laufman of the Organ Clearing House, who helps aging orphan instruments find new homes.

…a glimpse at the Australian scene through recordings of several famous (and large) instruments, plus new-music performances (and commentary) by Ralph Morton.

…concert and recorded performances by the young British virtuoso and the famous voices of London's historic cathedral.,

…impressions of personalities, picturesque locales, and the mythic muse.

…an introduction to the historic instruments and repertoire of Italy.

…concert performances by the celebrated Frank Speller on the 97-rank 1983 Visser-Rowlands organ in Bates Recital Hall of the University of Texas in Austin.

…conversations with Harald Vogel, who performs repertoire from the Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque periods on appropriate instruments (old and new).,

…surveying the post-romantic works of the prolific Sigfrid Karg-Elert, with comments from organologist Felix Aprahamian.

…a capsule survey of three centuries of music and instruments in Canada's Province Quebec.,

…diverse delicious distractions dedicated to variety and tuneful pleasure.

…a gilded gathering of guest talents, taped in concerts at the 1986 national convention of the American Guild of Organists.

…three unusual tributes to the memory and the mighty genius of Johann Sebastian Bach.

…leading us to the marvelous Marcussen organ at Wiedemann Hall of Wichita State University and the wonderful Wurlitzer at Century II Convention Center.

…the amiable and peripatetic Swiss musician introduces us to historic sounds south of the border, plus other delights.

…a summer seasonal sampler of recent recordings, with comment.

…recital performances on the 64-rank Casavant organ at the Philharmonic Center for the Arts in Naples, Florida.

…performances on the famous and historic Great Organ of the Methuen Memorial Music Hall in Massachusetts.

…a spring quarterly survey of recent recordings.

…with an international collection of old and new settings, we magnify and glorify Mary’s Song.

…a survey of mostly 19th-century instruments made by regional builders for churches in and around Maryland's prosperous port.

…continuing our overview of the works of American composer Leo Sowerby in his centennial year, with comments from Francis Crociata.

…performances from Saint James Cathedral and Saint Thomas the Apostle Church, and comments by Sowerby biographer Ronald Huntington.

…a survey of recordings of choral and organ works by the famous Michigan-born, Chicago-based, nationally acclaimed Leo Sowerby, one of America's major minor musical masters.

…dazzling performances by the three top prizewinners at the prestigious Calgary International Organ Competition in Canada.

…a collection of compositions on themes of resurrection, rebirth and renewal.

…from triumphal entry through trial and tribulation to redemption, a collection of liturgical and other music of ceremony and spirituality.

…recital performances on the Ruffatti organ at Spivey Hall of Clayton State College in Morrow, Georgia.

…the energetic Viennese organist and conductor shares some of his innumerable enthusiasms.

…three very different instruments span one century of history and three centuries of repertoire.

…performances from an Organ Historical Society gathering in and around Newburyport, Massachusetts.

…recital and session recordings of traditional and contemporary repertoire, featuring American organist Barbara Harbach.

…festive organ solos and hymn improvisations performed at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

…a New Year’s survey of recent recordings, focusing on American artists and instruments.