Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

In the early morning of January 1, 2012, the Somers Congregational Church burned to the ground as a result of arson. In May of 2014, after two long years of struggle, the church was finally rebuilt, and dedicated, and a new Richards-Fowkes organ was placed in the sanctuary. The organ and acoustics of the room are ideal for chamber music and performance of solo organ literature. The recorded program includes works for cello and organ, flute and organ, as well as a thorough demonstration of the organ alone. Artists are Christa Rakich, organist and artist-in-residence at the Congregational Church of Somers, Kathleen Schiano, cellist, and Greig Shearer, flute.

Classical Music

Music critic Charles Rosen has called Mendelssohn the greatest child prodigy the history of Western music has ever known," which is indeed evinced by the fact that he wrote for the organ from the age of 11. Mendelssohn's less well-known works are receiving new appraisal and attention. This disc of organ gems is sure to excite.

Messiaen’s artistic mission was to invent new musical languages to explore and portray the mysteries of the Christian faith. These “languages” employed many compositional techniques, including modes of limited transposition, Hindu rhythms, Greek rhythms, plainsong, birdsong, “communicable language,’ and serialism. Born in Avignon to Pierre Messiaen, a Shakespeare scholar, and the poet Cecile Sauvage, Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) exhibited a rare musical talent from an early age. He was admitted to the Paris Conservatory at age eleven, where he won five First Prizes- notably in classes with Marcel Dupre, Maurice Emmanuel, and Paul Dukas. In 1930, he was appointed Organiste Titulaire of Sainte Trinite Church in Paris, a position he held until the early 1970s. At the outbreak of WWII, he became a French army hospital attendance, and in 1941 was taken prisoner and held in a POW camp in Silesia (where he composed Quartet for the End of Time). Upon his repatriation in 1942, he was appointed professor of harmony at the Paris Conservatory. During his lifetime, Messiaen was famed as an organist and pianist and frequently performed his own difficult compositions in concerts around the world. Colin Andrews is an internationally famous concert artist, with extensive experience in the music of Messiaen. One of only four organists to have recorded Messiaen’s complete organ works, Andrews was recently named “Membre d’Honneur” of the Association Grand Orgue Trinite Messiaen, based at Messiaen’s church in Paris.

The first in a series of recordings celebrating 50 years of the famed Flentrop organ at Saint Mark's Cathedral in Seattle, Washington. In this recital from 2001, Roger Sherman undertakes a twin mission, exploring both selected repertory of composers who influenced J.S. Bach's organ compositions and conversely composers whose organ works were influenced by Bach.

This is the first recording on the newly restored E. M. Skinner organ of Rockefeller Chapel at the University of Chicago, featuring several world premiere recordings (Tracks 8-13). This was written for and dedicated to Douglas Cleveland.

Classical Music

A prominent element in the shared culture of cities of the Hanseatic League were the pipe organs. Jonathan Moyer begins a series on these remarkable instruments in L�beck, on an organ with pipework from the mid-1400s. Expanded by Stellwagen in 1637, the "north" organ in St. Jakobi was an important model in the revival of historical styles of organ building in the 20th century. Jonathan William Moyer maintains a dynamic career as church musician, concert organist, and pedagogue. He is the David S. Boe chair and assistant professor of organ at Oberlin Conservatory of Music and is organist of the Church of the Covenant in Cleveland, OH, where he oversees 2 pipe organs (Richards, Fowkes and Skinner/Aeolian) and a 47-bell Dutch carillon. Moyer has also been a visiting lecturer in organ at the Hochschule f�r Musik in L�beck and specializes in a vast repertoire from the renaissance to the 21st century. He received degrees in organ and piano from the Peabody Conservatory of Music, the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and Bob Jones University.

Michael Kleinschmidt plays his first recital on the Flentrop organ at Saint Mark’s Cathedral. Taking inspiration from the inaugural recital programs by E. Power Biggs fifty years earlier, Kleinschmidt includes works by Sweelinck and Bach played in those first concerts. As a concert organist, Michael has performed in forty states in the US, and in Canada, England, Europe, and Japan. As a choral conductor, he has served as guest conductor for summer choir courses of the Royal School of Church Music/America in Missouri, North Carolina, and Oklahoma, and for diocesan youth choir festivals in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. “…a compelling and creative musician…” (The Oregonian)

Intended as his final major work for organ, Messiaen’s “Meditations on the Mystery of the Holy Trinity” is the culmination of his lifetime work as composer for the organ. Begun as a set of improvisations celebrating the renovation of the organ at Trinité (and the church’s 100th anniversary), “Meditations” employs new musical languages to explore the mysteries of Christian faith. Born in Avignon to Pierre Messiaen, a Shakespeare scholar, and the poet Cecile Sauvage, Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) exhibited a rare musical talent from an early age. He was admitted to the Paris Conservatory at age eleven, where he won five First Prizes- notably in classes with Marcel Dupre, Maurice Emmanuel, and Paul Dukas. In 1930, he was appointed Organiste Titulaire of Sainte Trinite Church in Paris, a position he held until the early 1970s. At the outbreak of WWII, he became a French army hospital attendance, and in 1941 was taken prisoner and held in a POW camp in Silesia (where he composed Quartet for the End of Time). Upon his repatriation in 1942, he was appointed professor of harmony at the Paris Conservatory. During his lifetime, Messiaen was famed as an organist and pianist and frequently performed his own difficult compositions in concerts around the world. Colin Andrews is an internationally famous concert artist, with extensive experience in the music of Messiaen. One of only four organists to have recorded Messiaen’s complete organ works, Andrews was recently named “Membre d’Honneur” of the Association Grand Orgue Trinite Messiaen, based at Messiaen’s church in Paris.

The “Livre du Saint Sacrement” is a summation of Messiaen’s musical and theological persona, a statement of faith and a profound summary of his entire organ “oeuvres.” In this work he employs the significant compositional techniques of his life’s work as an organ composer: modes of limited transposition as the basis for his harmonies, Hindu rhythms, Greek rhythms, plainsong, birdsong, “communicable language,” and serialism. As always these compositional elements are used to explore the mysteries of Christian faith, in this, his most massive work. Born in Avignon to Pierre Messiaen, a Shakespeare scholar, and the poet Cecile Sauvage, Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) exhibited a rare musical talent from an early age. He was admitted to the Paris Conservatory at age eleven, where he won five First Prizes- notably in classes with Marcel Dupre, Maurice Emmanuel, and Paul Dukas. In 1930, he was appointed Organiste Titulaire of Sainte Trinite Church in Paris, a position he held until the early 1970s. At the outbreak of WWII, he became a French army hospital attendance, and in 1941 was taken prisoner and held in a POW camp in Silesia (where he composed Quartet for the End of Time). Upon his repatriation in 1942, he was appointed professor of harmony at the Paris Conservatory. During his lifetime, Messiaen was famed as an organist and pianist and frequently performed his own difficult compositions in concerts around the world. Colin Andrews is an internationally famous concert artist, with extensive experience in the music of Messiaen. One of only four organists to have recorded Messiaen’s complete organ works, Andrews was recently named “Membre d’Honneur” of the Association Grand Orgue Trinite Messiaen, based at Messiaen’s church in Paris.

This concert explores works from Bach's earliest days through the end of his time in Weimar. He was only 33 when he left Weimar, his last position as an organist. Roger W. Sherman is Associate Organist Emeritus of Saint Mark's, after more than 30 years of service to the Cathedral. He is also Artistic Director Emeritus of the Orcas Choral Society. At Saint Mark's, he has served in many additional ways: on Saint Mark's Cathedral Foundation board, on the Vestry (Senior Warden), as President of Cathedral Associates and most recently on the board of the Hallock Institute. Mr. Sherman studied organ, music history and computer science at Oberlin College and Conservatory of Music. His teachers include Fenner Douglass, Arthur Poister and William Porter. He has been featured as a musician on numerous recordings and has concertized throughout the United States and Europe. Since 1993, he has been the host of the popular radio program, The Organ Loft, broadcast throughout the Pacific Northwest. Mr. Sherman is president of The Gothic Catalog. Saint Mark's Flentrop organ is one of the most recorded instruments in the United States. An unusually large mechanical action organ, it has a full-length 32'Prestant and a full-length 32'Bazuin in the pedal. The Flentrop organ benefits from a superb acoustical environment, which was recently improved with renovations to the Cathedral building and windows. After more than 50 years of concerts, service playing and recordings, it remains a landmark instrument, suitable for a wide variety of musical repertoire.