1596 Malamini organ at the Basilica di San Petronio [Basilica of St. Petronio], Bologna, Italy

The old tunes have their charm, and the old instruments, too, as we revisit the beginnings of organ music; play on pipes that have been singing persuasively for four, five, and six hundred years; and remember that the matter of age directly relates to attitude. This week on Pipedreams you’ll hear instruments dating from the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries - instruments from Italy, Austria, France, Germany, Spain, and the Netherlands - including the oldest in the world, still going strong.

We’ve everything from a 16th century Italian dance to a grand orchestral march, featuring instruments of only a dozen stops to several hundred. On our next Pipedreams program, we sample some recent recordings from Saint Christopher’s-by-the-River in Ohio, and the Riverside Church in New York City, the first CD release from Ocean Grove Auditorium, the latest from the Mormon Tabernacle, plus a tribute to Dame Gillian Weir, the last album from George Wright, and a pair of critically acclaimed surveys of the complete organ works of Marcel Dupré. Sounds good? You bet! We’re Going On Record with a review of recent recordings this week on Pipedreams.

If one is good, two is better or so it would seem on our next Pipedreams broadcast when we explore the remarkable and charming repertoire of organ duets. Whether together at one keyboard or tossing musical messages back and forth between opposing galleries, these selections do prove that you double your pleasure when two organists perform together. When four hands and four feet are set loose at the console, opportunities abound for sonorous and sensuous surprise. Artists include Anthony and Mary Jane Newman, Joseph and Phoebe Payne, Hans Fagius and David Sanger, and Elizabeth and Raymond Chenault, on instruments in Bologna, Boston, Munich, Mount Kisco, and Roswell, Georgia… music by Frescobaldi, Wesley, Daniel Pinkham, Bruce Neswick, Jean Langlais, and Myron Roberts. It’s a new world of experience, music For Two to Play, this week on Pipedreams.

It had to start somewhere, even when it comes to new styles of writing for the keyboard. On our next Pipedreams broadcast, we’ll trace the art of the organ from the sixteenth to the twentieth century, from Antegnati to Ravanello, with recordings on some of the earliest playable pipe organs, solos, duets, saucy sonatas, romantic tone poems, and dramatic concertos. Influenced by the world at large, by court, church, theatre, and concert hall, these pieces by Gabrieli and Galuppi, Bergamo and Bossi, and Casella document a remarkable and colorful artistic progression an Italian Evolution, this week on Pipedreams.

What’s past was yesterday’s future. In this week’s program we take look in both directions by summing up happenings in the year 2002 and projecting our future into the new year. We’ll have snapshots from a European tour, birthday celebrations for some noted composers, a few highlights from superb concerts we’ve attended, and reflections on important personalities who have gone to their reward. Trumpets sound forth, ancient pipes sing out, and persuasive personalities make the case for the King of Instruments as we celebrate the New Year and savor highlights from the Old. This week we take our annual look back & forward by pondering the pages in An Organist’s Yearbook.

We trace back root causes on this week’s show, exploring composers in Italy, who laid the foundations for much of what we enjoy in classical music today. And organbuilders, too, whose instruments in Bologna, Treviso, Turin and Pistoia retained an unparalleled degree of simplicity of design and purity of sound across four centuries of European history. Their unique character blooms in the special idioms of Frescobaldi, Pasquini, Valeri and others, as we discover during A Sojourn in Italy.

Part one of a two part celebration of the 100th birthday of one of the most influential and effective advocates for the pipe organ, the late, great Edward George Power Biggs, March 29, 1906—March 10, 1977.

…tune in for a modest five-century survey of the history of organ music in Italy.

…compositions from Sweelinck to Cage, honoring composers whom we celebrate for significant anniversaries this year.

…the original ‘touch piece’ has manifested itself in many different ways, dependent on time and place.

…whether fiery demonstrations of tactile agility or thoughtful meditations on cosmic principals, this genre provides a touchstone for the organist’s art.

…the delightful and sun-shiney music of the gifted Spanish virtuoso and priest, Padre Antonio Soler.

…a summer quarter sampler of recent releases of organ music, with emphasis on the unusual and the unusually attractive.

…Christmas Joy ... colorful and outgoing compositions old and new for t his exuberant time.

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