1994 Jann organ at Frauenkirche, Munich, Germany

With themes from ancient chants and traditional hymn, we celebrate a season of reawakening on our next Pipedreams program, exploring four centuries of music for the Resurrection Festival. Through performances on historic instruments at Altenburg Abbey and the Martini Church in Groningen, the Netherlands, we’ll discover that Johann Sebastian was not the first Bach family organist, though hwe was certainly the most ingenious. Franz Lehrndorfer will improvise on the immense new instrument at the Cathedral in Munich. And Melanie Ninneman and Helen Jensen perform a seasonal duet. It’s music to raise the spirits, literally - a seasonal selection from four centuries of compositions on resurrection themes, with works by Pachelbel and John Rutter, a fantastic improvisation from the Munich Cathedral, and some of Bach’s most exuberant chorale-preludes. All together, their colors and harmonies will stir your soul - music for This Joyful Eastertide, this week on Pipedreams.

Michael Barone shares his field recordings of some exceptional historic instruments in spectacular Bavarian Baroque churches, and invites you to join his tour there in May 2006.

Everybody loves a familiar tune, and these composers take advantage of some popular melodies from diverse cultures.

…transformative and uplifting music in observance of the Christian festival of Resurrection.

…uplifting music for the Feast of the Ascension.

An autumn quarterly review of recent recordings.

A spicy collection of holiday music from chapels, cathedrals and a theatre.

Celebratory compositions in a variety of dynamic levels on Christmas themes.