1981 C.B. Fisk organ, Opus 72, at Wellesley College, Massachusetts

It’s a game of getting-to-know-you. First a few notes, then some others and before you know it, we’re into a new adventure in sound. For hundreds of years, players have explored the limits of their instruments and of their own techniques in works that evolved from the sheer tactile pleasure of pushing down the keys and seeing what happens. Marius Monnekendam in the Netherlands, Robert Elmore in the United States, Girolamo Frescobaldi of Italy, J.S. Bach in Germany and many others have written some of their most exciting music following this scheme. Tactile and tantalizing, our program explores four hundred years of repertoire, instruments from three centuries, and the delights of things done by hand. Better than a good massage, with a tingling sensation guaranteed, we Reach out and Touch the Art of the Toccata, this week on Pipedreams.

Craig R. Whitney visits us to talk about the traditions and power of the pipe organ in the United States.

…we trace a trail from before Bach to Bingham and beyond, with a collection of music ‘in the manner Baroque’.

…A Summer quarter sampler of recent releases.

…a New Year’s survey of recent recordings, focusing on American artists and instruments.

…conversations with Harald Vogel, who performs repertoire from the Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque periods on appropriate instruments (old and new).,

European music of the past is recreated in the United States on three instruments built by the profoundly influential American organ designer, the late Charles Brenton Fisk.

Proving that even if you cannot teach an old dog new tricks, you can play old music on new organs.