1991 Buzard at Saint John the Divine Episcopal Chapel, Champaign, IL

The pipe organ is not one thing but, rather, many - and our next Pipedreams broadcast explores some of that diversity while listening to instruments by six different builders, each one with a very distinct personality. A pair of organs in Ontario, for instance, make up in elegance and charm what they may lack in sheer size. Another one, in San Francisco, recycles 90-year-old pipes in a new configuration which both embraces history and creates its own. Yet another organ, built in Czechoslovakia, serves a Lutheran parish in Illinois and, when asked, can play itself. From California to South Carolina, it’s a North American Organ Sampler.

We’ve scanned the continent for interesting sounds and have visited churches in California, Massachusetts and Illinois in search of exciting pipe organ installations. Among the choice morsels gathered include John Butt playing Spanish repertoire at the University of California, Berkeley; and Loraine Olson Waters exploring mostly French pieces at the little Mont Marie Chapel in Holyoke. George Edward Damp will also entertain us with english fancies at Saint John the Divine Chapel in Champaign, and Louis Patterson savors romantic moments at Grace Lutheran Church, River Forest. The repertoire’s international and historic, but the instruments all were made in the USA. An array of artists celebrate the diverse organs built by American organbuilders Berghaus, Buzard, Harrold and Watersmith.

From the 17th through the 20th centuries, composers have gathered together movements of tenderness, audacity, rhythm and color to create sweet samplers of their art.

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