Episodes: 2007

…our annual reflection on the past twelve months and projections for the future, including some of the original PIPEDREAMS elements from our first broadcasts 25 years ago.

…a three-century collective of composers provides a colorful package for our holiday pleasure.

…from Ann Arbor to Atlanta, whether on campus or at home, in church or theater, organ music for the season resounds with glad tidings!

…in anticipation of the Christmas festival, this collection of music with an international flavor.

…with inspired hymns, concertos, anthems and organ solos, we reflect on the work of England’s remarkable Wesley dynasty…Charles, Samuel and Samuel Sebastian.

…an eclectic and engaging survey of evidence of the pipe organ’s potential for color and variety, from recent recordings.

…Michael Barone teams up with soloist Mary Preston, conductor Jerry Junkin, and one of the world’s best wind ensembles at the Meyerson Symphony Center.

…four estimable soloists, Stewart Wayne Foster, Simon Preston, John Daniel Schwandt, and Olivier Latry, play varied recital repertoire.

…musical reflections on the nature of war, in observance of the 1918 Armistice, and in tribute to battle veterans of every stripe.

…from festival hymns to far-out fantasies, a further foray into our native-born repertoire for the ‘King of Instruments’.

…preluding an early November celebration of the art of the organ, these four internationally-acclaimed soloists will be featured in concerts and personal appearances in Minnesota’s Twin Cities.

…excerpts from Michael Barone’s public appearances with a collection of talented performers in concert in Tallahassee, New Brunswick and Cincinnati.

…inaugural celebration performances on the new Dobson organ at Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts.

…honoring a revered teacher and performer who made history with his authoritative and pioneering recordings of Bach’s organ works.

…we gauge the shift of seasons with a curious collection of compositions in changing harmonic colors.

…take a trip with counterpoint, and follow each voice as the aural weave becomes both intricate and engaging.

…the new 66-stop tracker organ by Paul Fritts at Saint Joseph Cathedral joins this city’s already rich local instrumental resources.

…reading notes from a page is one thing, but improvising something new, ‘out of thin air’, is a remarkable skill.

…performances from London’s celebrated Royal Albert Hall and its 9,999-pipe Willis-Mander organ, still the largest in England.

…scintillating and sober songs of praise, multiple settings across four centuries of the chant Te Deum!

…a reminder that bigger is not necessarily better, and that the efficient, one-manual pipe organ s rich in charm and character.

…concert performances by Christa Rakich, Lawrence Archbold and Robert Bates, recorded in midwestern venues.

…grander than grand, these impressive instruments resonate in some of England’s most famous ecclesiastical buildings.

…history has been slow to acknowledge the evidence that women composers have accomplished plenty.

…the remarkable Marie-Claire Alain talks about the unique power of the compositions by her older brother and first teacher, Jehan Alain [1911-1940]. He wrote one of the best known, and most powerful organ scores of the 20th century, titled Litanies, and during his short life created an astonishing array of deeply communicative compositions. On our next Pipedreams program the works of Jehan Alain will be performed by an international array of soloists, including composer’s sister Marie-Claire. Jehan was the talented older brother, Marie-Claire the little black sheep whom he encouraged. Jehan was killed early in World War II, at the age of 29 and Marie-Claire has championed his music ever since, music which now the whole world knows. Mysterious, miraculous, the music of Jehan Alain, revealed to us by the woman who has championed it throughout her own remarkable international career. Marie-Claire Alain is our special guest for Alain on Alain, this week on Pipedreams.

…the famous French recitalist, recording artist and teacher Marie-Claire Alain talks about her life and shares her music. With more than 200 albums to her credit, she is synonymous with the art of French organ music today. On our next Pipedreams program, Marie-Claire Alain talks about her family’s history, including the time when her organist father built an instrument for their home, upon which her older brother composed some of the foremost works of the 20th century. Meanwhile, this little black sheep of the talented Alain family grew up to be a famous teacher and recitalist who helped popularize the French Classics, and has recorded the complete works of Bach three times. Marie-Claire Alain talks and plays from the heart. She is a vital force in broadening the French musical perspective. Daughter and sister, teacher and recitalist, she has lived a life with and for music. Hear her story Alain on Alain this week on Pipedreams.

…a modest miscellany of recent compact discs, a representative sampler of the incredible flood of current offerings.

…It’s not just fancy pedal-playing that keeps these musicians’ happy feet, and ours, dancing.

…you needn’t travel to Kazakhstan to hear some truly wonderful recent pipe organs, but you could.

…If you’re out and about across the country, some summer organ concerts could be part of your travel plans.

…select shorts of some of the remarkable instruments we heard during a 2006 tour in southern Germany.

…performances of American music recorded in New York City during a national convention of the American Guild of Organists.

…another exploration of the remarkable repertoire for pipe organ in consort with other instruments and voices. It’s all about collegiality. On our next Pipedreams program, the organ teams up with all sorts of friends including it’s keyboard cousin, the piano, plus other brassy relations –the trumpet and trombone. You’ll hear a little lullaby for organ and harp, a haunting fantasy for organ and electronic-tape that is amazingly effective plus a transcription of an orchestral tone poem by Franz Liszt, a spicy Baroque Concerto by Michel Corrette, and a lusty march by Alexandre Guilmant. Think variety organ with trumpet, organ with trombone, organ with choir, or harp, or piano, or symphony orchestra, even organ with electronic tape. We’re going to set aside all churchly implications and team up with many instrumental friends. Think beyond the box. Organ Plus, this week on Pipedreams.

…share in humoresques, scherzos, fantasies and other compositions done up with a sense of fun and surprise. Who says the organ must always be so serious. It’s not all solemn processionals. The king of instruments does have a sense of humor, too, as you’ll discover on our next Pipedreams program, where wry wit, sardonic satire, and a general joviality prevail. Bill Albright’s nifty narration provides a key element, as do songs by Stephen Sondheim and Henry Mancini, scherzos and fantasies played in Souvigny and San Francisco, and a humerous hornpipe played in Sydney Australia. That’s but part of the fun. We’ll also sample concert instruments in Dallas and Yokoyama, theatre organs in Kansas and Arizona, and one of the finest French antiques from the 18th century, still capable of a big smile. Curious chords prove that the Joke is On Us - humoresques for organ, this week on Pipedreams.

…a tribute to the foremost organ composer before Bach, Dieterich Buxtehude [1637-1707].

…trace the evolution of this powerful compositional format from its beginnings as a suggestive street ‘dance’.

…celebrate one of America’s foremost veteran teachers, church musicians and recitalists with his own words and compositions.

…through works of the Couperin Family, we provide a fog-reducing introduction to music in French Classic style. Truly fit for a king. Their family dynasty served the Royal French Court, and French music, for nearly 200 years. The Couperins were masters of the keyboard and organists at the Church of Saint Gervais in Paris from 1653 to 1830. On our next Pipedreams broadcast, we’ll explore their works: the majestic and austere verses and fantasies by Uncle Louis, the charming miniatures of the grandson Arman-Louis and his son Gervais-Francois, and the monumental and poetic Masses by François Couperin who was called “The Great” for good reason. It’s a study of the evolution of style, and an introduction to the flavorful recipes of Classic French organ registration. This week, we’ll also hear program host Michael Barone demonstrate a few “French Classic” registrations with some illustrative performances. For anyone who has ever wanted to hear him play, here’s your chance! The colors are rich, the rhythms saucy, the flavors as beguiling as a good French wine. We’ll savor the art of the Baroque Organ in Paris, through music from four generations of the famous Couperin family: Louis, Armand, Gervaise, and Francois. From “C” to Shining “C”, an introduction to elegance, this week on Pipedreams.

…composer William Bolcom provides glimpses into the creation of these beguiling re-imaginings of familiar American tunes.

…a collection of music meditations on the themes of Easter’s resurrection.

…with a troupe of talented Texans, host Michael Barone fills the premiere concert venue in Dallas with organ music beyond the pale.

…some varied recital performances of works by history’s greatest composer for the King of Instruments, as recorded in the Twin Cities.

…Usually three ‘p’s mean pianissimo, but this program resounds with an exultant trio of exciting modern works for organ and instruments, one of them a premiere. This week’s broadcast features new music for organ and instruments. Starting with Richard Proulx’s Concerto for Organ and Strings, we’ll hear its premiere played by Jonathan Biggers, in concert at Saint Olaf Roman Catholic Church in Minneapolis. A multi-functional Suite for Organ, Brass and Percussion by California composer Craig Phillips and the increasingly popular Concerto Number 1 by Stephen Paulus have added to the compelling concert repertoire for the King of Instruments. Three ‘p’s usually mean pianissimo, but now they stand for a pair of fine concertos with orchestra and a marvelous suite with brass and percussion. They are colorful contemporary works for organ plus by Paulus, Philips and Proulx.

The pipe organ’s concert repertoire often strays into the realm of symphonic ensembles, with remarkable results.

An exploration of some organ repertoire that takes on a life of its own apart from worship.

A 10th anniversary salute to Joseph A. Vitacco, a young business major from the University of Notre Dame who set out to document some of the world’s finest pipe organs.

Unedited and without a net, four superb soloists know how to put three pipe organs through their paces.

At Ann Arbor’s 75-year-old Michigan Theatre, an aging pipe organ served as keystone to the downtown’s heritage preservation.

A sampler of six new American-built instruments that were inaugurated during the past ten years.

From seventh grade to graduate school, aged 12 to 21, these talented players point the way towards the pipe organ’s future.

On four historic instruments in this New York university town, we explore a collection of cordial and creative contemporary compositions.

The Netherlands, beyond its eye-catching windmills and colorful tulips, is home to an incredible treasure of historic and modern pipe organs.

Whether because of a guiding star, or a brilliant flash of inspiration, our composers make more vivid that special moment of clarity.