1854 Hook organ at First Unitarian Church, Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts

Listen, my children, and you shall hear On this week’s Pipedreams program, soloists Leo Abbott, Tom Murray, Fred MacArthur, Catharine Crozier, and Brian Jones will take you on a tour of historic instruments in Beantown - from the immense Aeolian-Skinner organ at the Christian Science Mother Church, the E.M. Skinner instrument at Old South Church moved from Saint Paul, MN, and the historic Hooks in Jamaica Plain and the Immaculate Conception Church.

From sprightly Renaissance dances to grandious symphonies, this week’s show celebrates the many diverse elements which make organ music so remarkable, and a mirror of changes in western culture. Style, emotion, compositional and mechanical ingenuity all play a part in creating music of joy and contemplation, of restraint and exhultation. Whether in folk-song improvisation or anthem accompaniment, flashy toccata or rhumba-inspired trumpet voluntary, the pipe organ does it all. Listen to newly released compact discs from around the world in this sonic spectacular.

…on the eve of the 2014 American Guild of Organists convention, we enjoy historic instruments by the Boston builders Elias and George Hook, recorded in and around Boston during an Organ Historical Society Convention.

…continuing our exploration of the known and unknown music of this great early 19th century musician.

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