1926 Skinner organ at Jefferson Avenue Presbyterian Church, Detroit, MI

The impulse is inexorable, and it’s not just the organist’s feet that want to move out. Our next Pipedreams program celebrates the ceremonial and the aerobic opportunities of music in the manner of a march. Some pieces have the expected pomp and circumstance, but others are majestic, or joyous, or somber, or even side-splittingly funny. Siamese children, archers, marionettes, three kings, and even penguins get into the act, as we step right out according to rank and file. Whether stepping out to a little number by Bach, or a grand romp by Sousa or Elgar, we’ll get our legs and ears in shape and take advantage of an energy which makes you want to move. Ready? Start with your left left-right organ music for a parade. We March Forth!, this week on Pipedreams.

Some of them are small and could fit in your living room. Others are large and make a mighty noise. All of them are old, but what does age mean in this context? On our next Pipedreams, we hear the music of historic pipe organs in and around Detroit. Some still are playing in their original settings, others have been moved to new homes, properly restored to begin a second century of use. All tell us something about times past, when the organbuilder’s art in the United States was at its first full bloom. They look back over more than one hundred fifty years of experience, and remind us that beauty is as much in reflection as forward motion. Aesthetic archeologist and fixit-magician Dana Hull shares some surprises from her territory. She shares her insights, introducing us to a vibrant and sturdy breed: the Historic Organs of Michigan, this week on Pipedreams.

Composer and critic Virgil Thomson had the right idea. For him, regardless of style or attitude, if a piece of music was written by an American it qualified as American Music. And that’s what you’ll hear on our next Pipedreams program. There’ll be several zesty settings of popular hymns, jazzy toccatas, and dances including a boogie-woogie, picturesque scenes, historic take-offs, and even a profound Passacaglia, played on sonorous instruments by Rosales, Skinner, Hendrickson, and Wurlitzer. From California to Connecticut, from Bingham to Bitgood, ours is a coast-to-coast survey of colorful organ scores. Frances Nobert, Diane Belcher, James Biery, Diana Lee Lucker, and Charlie Balogh with the Wichita State University Jazz Ensemble are all part of the party as we sample American Perspectives, this week on Pipedreams.

Old world resonances come together in new world experiences on this week’s show, it’s a discovery of colorful and unusual works on African-American themes. Noel DaCosta adapts Nigerian tunes in his Ukom Memory Songs for organ and percussion, Dezsö Antalffy transforms Black spirituals in a splendid solo fantasy from the 1930s, and Pulitzer Prize-winner George Walker evokes images of craggy heights in his new solo titled Spires. Mickey Thomas Terry provides personal glimpses to repertoire which juxtaposes light and shade with vivid result. Duke Ellington’s urbanaty, southern spirituals and Nigerian funeral chants all figure in our program of music on African American themes. We’re blending Black and White together, with colorful results, this week’s broadcast.

Perhaps from hanging around in the organ lofts near those bell towers, organ composers have amassed a fine pile of bell-music.

Exemplary scores by a titan of the keyboard who liberated the organ in ways we are only beginning to fully appreciate.

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

…you don’t want to be left all alone when things go bump in the night in the organ loft!