1787 Holzhey organ at the Abbey Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Weissenau, Germany

From a parish church in Raykjavik, Iceland, to a splendid mansion near Philadelphia, our next Pipedreams program samples great sounds and keeps your finger on the pulse of the pipe organ world. It’s a review of recent compact discs, giving you an opportunity to hear the largest church organ in America, a brand-new installation in Seattle, historic instruments in Central Germany from the time of Bach, and a stunning organ-with-trumpet duo from France. We’ll also listen to a sensuous Arabesque by Debussy, a youthful Pastorale by Ned Rorem, new music by Pamela Decker, a tango - believe it or not, and some jazzy measures from the old country. This week’s program is a wild mix of new organ compact discs including jazz stylings from Germany, a Tango from the Desert, Variations in Seattle, a sweet song from the DuPont summer mansion, and Bach in Iceland. John Weaver, Peter Sykes, Michael Keeley, and other share the glory as we sample new releases of organ compact discs, Going On Record, this week on Pipedreams.

Everyone has an opinion, whether asked for or not. On our next Pipedreams program we’ll argue the opinions of eight esteemed artists, each of whom has a personal view of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. I’m not sure we’ll find, or even desire, a consensus, but we will be provoked by the playing of Harald Vogel, Wolfgang Rübsam, Kate van Tricht, and Anthony Newman. We’ll hear them perform on various instruments from Bach’s time and other organs inspired by history and by the methods by which music was generally created when those particular organs were built. The greatest music demands the greatest interpreters, and we find out just how broad the interpretive stage can be when eight players and as many instruments pay homage to the genius of Johann Sebastian. The interpretive pendulum swings Bach and Forth this week on Pipedreams.

On this week’s show, we’ll assess the not inconsiderable accomplishments of three talented offspring who made their own way in the world of music. Wilhelm Friedemann was considered Germany’s foremost organist. Johann Christian converted to Catholicism, studied in Italy, and ended up as the most celebrated import, after Handel, on the London scene. And Carl Philip Emmanuel, after a period of royal servitude, became music director for the city of Hamburg, a job his father lusted after but never himself achieved. Boys will be boys, but when your father is Johann Sebastian Bach there are certain standards to be met, and a degree of individual independence to be sought. Hear the the works of three talented offspring the Sons of ‘B’ music by The Bach Boys, this week on PIPEDREAMS.

If this music makes you think of weddings and beautiful brides, you’re right on target. This broadcast is a collection of preludes, processionals and other pages in praise of matrimony and the emotions and circumstances which lead us to the altar. Whether it be Handel’s Hornpipe or Mendelssohn’s familiar Wedding March, a Salute to Love by Elgar, or Duke Ellington’s In a sentimental mood, you’ll be amazed by the various ways composers have dealt with love and its ramifications. Trumpet tunes and blessings, salutes to love and lullabies, it’s all part of the package when two people tie the knot at a June wedding, and we provide the music appropriate to a chapel or cathedral creating Matrimonial Magic.

His name is nearly ubiquitous because of a strangely beguiling piece of chamber music. This week, we’ll leave that piece alone and explore more of the music by the late 17th century master Johann Pachelbel. First in Eisenach, then in Erfurt, Pachelbel maintained friendly ties to the Bach family, and was the principal teacher of Johann Christoph Bach, who in turn used Pachelbel’s music as ideal example when teaching his orphaned younger brother, Johann Sebastian. Barbara Harbach, Antoine Bouchard, Joseph Payne, Wolfgang Rübsam, Marilyn Mason and Olivier Vernet explore the many nuances inherent in these variations sets, fugues, toccatas and fantasias, and reinvigorate these pages from centuries ago. Tune in for the Pachelbel Players.

Showing independence of spirit and diversity of expressive means, a sampler of music from Norway.

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.

…a collection of music meditations on the themes of Easter’s resurrection.

…music by offspring, pupils, and later enthusiasts for whom the music of Johann Sebastian Bach was both beacon and benediction.

…a multi-cultural exploration of diverse musicks for the Festival of the Nativity.

…another exploration of the organ art as practiced in distinctive fashion by soloists and composers from Norway.

…from triumphal entry through trial and tribulation to redemption, a collection of liturgical and other music of ceremony and spirituality.