Episodes: 1997

Some dramatic examples of the still profoundly moving and monumental compositions by the famous turn-of-the-century German master Max Reger.

A celebration of British contributions to the organ’s repertoire over five centuries.

Recordings and recital performances on one of America’s most famous historic concert organs. Recitalists include Anne and Todd Wilson, recorded in concert on July 9, 1986, Michael Murray on Telarc S-5036 and CD-80049, and Barbara Bruns on AFKA S-4694.

Hardly profound but certainly sonically stimulating playthings from the organist’s bench.

…concertos and other musics for organ with diverse collegial involvements.

…a diverting collection of music in a form which Italians invented but composers in Germany perfected.

…featuring recordings of 19th-century instruments from the archives of the Organ Historical Society, with comments from its Executive Director William Van Pelt.

A summer survey of recent releases of organ music on compact disc.

A continuing survey featuring five instruments of from 12-stops to 109-stops from the shops of Guilbault-Therien, John Dower, Orgues Letourneau, William Longmore, and the Rodgers Instrument Company.

An engaging miscellany of seven instruments, ranging in size from 12-stops to 40-stops, from the shops of American builders Gene Bedient, Jan van Daalen and Fritz Noack.

three timeless works which exploit the French symphonic organ tradition.

One of the world’s best known texts provides us with glimpses into the composer’s craft and the organbuilder’s art, plus a meditative tribute to dads everywhere.

Music of the reluctant French virtuoso and pioneering genius, Charles-Valentin Alkan [1813-1888], composed originally for pedal piano, plays brilliantly on the pipe organ. Considered by many to be the virtuosic equal of Franz Liszt, and also both friend and neighbor to Frederic Chopin, Alkan was a curious, reclusive figure on the mid-century Parisian scene. His numerous works, virtually all for piano, abound with digital challenges and provocative creative twists. Alkan wrote both a four-movement symphony and a massive three-movement concerto, both for solo piano without orchestra. Later, another friend, Cesar Franck, dedicated his own pioneering solo organ symphony…the Grande Piece Symphonique…to Alkan. Franck also published organ editions of the pieces to be heard in the course of this program, which Alkan created for that ‘dead-end’ Romantic-era instrument, the pedal piano, a standard piano with an additional organ-like clavier for the feet. Alkan was particularly fascinated by this device, and even left money in his will to fund a pedal piano course at the Paris Conservatory. Our broadcast includes a complete performance of Alkan’s Thirteen Prayers, Opus 64, and selections from Eleven Grande Preludes, Opus 66 and the Little Preludes in the Eight Plainchant Modes [1859].

Recital performances by faculty, students and alumni on another exceptional instrument at Caruth Auditorium of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.

Varied splendid and vibrant settings of the perennially affirming hymn of praise, faith and celebration, a sonic spectacular!

Reviewing expected pleasures and uncovering unexpected treasures amidst the important works of Felix Mendelssohn.

A sampler of musics by composers from Nebraska, Iowa, Florida, Boston, Chicago and New York City.

Tune in and discover a few revelatory attitudes and probing interpretations that set this noteable French virtuoso apart from the norm.