In celebrating the splendid Fisk organ we are offering a tribute to the power and beauty of music. The extraordinary Hall, with it's magnificent C.B. Fisk organ will, we trust, continue to inspire and challenge new generations throughout the twenty-first century. (William Peterson) The repertoire on this recital recording in "Little Bridges" was chosen to showcase both the organist's and the organ's ability to handle music of widely varied origins with ease and authenticity. It also showcases the acoustically sensitive design of Bridges Hall. Bridges Hall of Music, designed by the notable architect Myron Hunt in 1915, is one of the oldest buildings on the Pomona College campus. The dedication of Fisk Op. 117 on October 12, 2002, marked the 115th anniversary of the founding of the College and was the culmination of a design process which began in 1980. William Peterson has played concerts throughout the United States. His recitals have included "French Organ Music from the Time of World War I, " 16th and 17th century Dutch and German composers as well as works by JS Bach. As a scholar he has worked extensively on French organ music of the 19th and early 20th centuries. He is the Harry S. and Madge Rice Thatcher Professor of Music and College Organist, Emeritus, at Pomona College.

Felix Mendelssohn's colleagues and contemporaries regarded the grand sonatas as the most important cycle of organ compositions since the time of Johann Sebastian Bach. They interpreted the expressive and dramatic movements of the Sonatas with poetic meaning, based on what a contemporary critic called their spiritual dimensions. This viewpoint challenges the common contemporary understanding and interpretation of these works. Widely considered one of the greatest organ virtuosi of his time, Mendelssohn played the cycle as a whole at an informal premier in Frankfurt in 1845. Conceived and perceived as a single large-scale work, the Sonatas seem to have a symphonic scope. Yet, eighteenth-century central German organs were Mendelssohn's preferred style. The descriptions of Mendelssohn's sensitive touch, differentiated articulation, brilliant technique, and expressive playing, as well as his original metronome indications, inspire us to take a fresh approach to the Sonatas. In recent years, Hans Davidsson's studies of the Sonatas and early nineteenth-century performance have brought new perspectives to our understanding of these works. Traditionally the individual Sonatas might be "authentically" played as single, separate pieces on a German Romantic organ, contemporaneous with Mendelssohn's lifetime. Instead, Davidsson has chosen to play the complete eighteen-movement cycle on an early nineteenth-century organ, an instrument with unique character, sensitivity, transparency, and rich color. For the performer, this instrument brings new interpretive possibilities to the Sonata cycle, based on what is known about Mendelssohn's own performances. For the listener, these new interpretations are given voice on one of the best preserved historical organs in northern Europe- the instrument built for the church in Gammalkil, Sweden, by Pehr Schiorlin in 1806.

Part of a series of concert recordings celebrating 50 years of the Flentrop organ at Saint Mark's Cathedral (Seattle). Roger W. Sherman performs one of the popular "All-Bach" concerts that are an annual feature of Saint mark's Concert series. Roger W. Sherman is the Associate Organist Emeritus of St. Mark's Cathedral in Seattle, and Artistic Director, Emeritus of the Orcas Choral Society. He has also served as Executive Director of the Westfield Center, an early music organization devoted to historic keyboard instruments. For more than 25 years he is also been host and producer of the popular Organ Loft radio program, broadcast in Seattle and Eugene. A native of Seattle, Mr. Sherman attended Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where studied with Arthur Poister, Fenner Douglass, and William Porter. He was Director of Music for St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Milwaukee from 1974-1979, and taught organ and harpsichord at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music. During his tenure in Milwaukee, he was a popular harpsichord soloist with many groups, especially the Milwaukee Chamber Orchestra. In addition to the recordings listed below, he has made recordings with Fred Sautter (principal Trumpet for the Oregon Symphony), the Imperial Brass, and the Dale Warland Singers.

This is the first recording of Richards, Fowkes opus 16. It is located in Goodson Chapel at the Duke University Divinity School. The chapel space presents a warm acoustical environment, allowing the organ to project a solid but unforced sound. The new organ is a gem among the extraordinary collection of organs at Duke. “Yuko Hayashi (1929-2018) taught me how to reach graciously into the hearts of listeners. She taught me how touch could shape a phrase, how variety in attack and release could make the organ “speak,” how to manage wind, how to make a room seem larger and more reverberant.” (Christa Rakich) Christa Rakich is Visiting Professor of Organ at Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio. As a Fulbright Scholar, she studied for two years with Anton Heiller in Vienna. She has served on the faculty of the New England Conservatory, Westminster Choir College, Brandeis University, and the University of Connecticut. A prize winner in numerous international organ competitions, Rakich has received particular acclaim for her interpretations of the music of J.S. Bach.

Includes passacaglia(s) for keyboard by Georg Muffat. Ensemble: Seattle Baroque Orchestra. Conductor: Ingrid Matthews. Soloist: Byron Schenkman.

Includes work(s) by various composers. Ensemble: Tudor Choir. Conductor: Doug Fullington.

Includes work(s) for org by Johann Sebastian Bach. Soloist: Harald Vogel.

Includes chorale(s) by Johann Ludwig Krebs. Soloist: William Porter.

Includes prelude(s) by Nicolaus Bruhns. Soloist: William Porter.
Includes work(s) by Johann Nicolaus Hanff. Soloist: William Porter.

Prized for its amazing variety of sounds and for its technical complexity, the organ has been used to celebrate powerful rulers and religious institutions since its invention in the third century BC. This CD presents some of the earliest music written for organ, both sacred and secular, played by a leader in the field of early performance practice.

Complete Track List:
From the Faenza Codex: Kyrie cunctipotens genitor Deus; Bel fiore dança; Or sus, vous dormés trop.
From the Robertsbridge Codex: Estampie: Retrové; Motet: Firmissime/Adesto/Alleluya.
From the Groningen MS: Asperance; Empris domoyrs.
From the Ileborgh tablature: Praeambulum 4/Mensura 1; Praeambulum 5/Mensura 3; Praeambulum 3/Mensura 2.
Untitled, from the treatise De musica arte.
From the Buxheimer Orgelbuch: Redeuntes in la; Praeambulum super f; Praeambulum super mi; Praeambulum super C; Redeuntes in Idem.
Chanson settings: Praeambulum super d; Adieu mes tres belle; Praeambulum 1 from the Ileborgh tablature; J’ay pris amours; Praeambulum super G; Portugaler; Praeambulum super C; Se la face ay pale.
Kyrie de Sancta Maria Virgine.
Gloria de Sancta Maria Virgine.

Includes work(s) by Johannes Brahms, Johann Sebastian Bach, various composers. Ensemble: Boston Brass. Soloist: Melvin Butler.

The Bach Circle, Vol. 3

Robert Parkins plays the newly renovated 1932 Aeolian organ at Duke – the last built by this builder and the only organ of its size and significance built for a church. His unusual program includes American works influenced by German Romantic and jazz/blues traditions. Robert Parkins is the University Organist and a Professor of the Practice of Music at Duke University, where he joined the faculty in 1975. From 1982 to 1985, he served on the faculty of the School of Music at Ithaca College before returning to Duke. Dr. Parkins received his degrees from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and the Yale University School of Music. In 1973 he was awarded a Fulbright fellowship to study with Anton Heiller at the Hochschule fur Musik in Vienna. Other teachers have included Gerre Hancock, Ralph Kirkpatrick, Charles Krigbaum, and Michael Schneider.

Robert Bates performs selections from Pierre Attaingnant's compilation of dances and chansons on an organ with the oldest playing fa�ade pipes in France (1568). In 1531 Attaingnant published seven books (we do not know who arranged these pieces for keyboard) that are now considered to be among the most important in the entire history of keyboard music. One of Loft's most popular and distinguished artists, Robert Bates' awards include two national conservatory prizes in France. His recording of The Complete Organ Works of Titelouze earned the coveted quarterly Critics Choice Awards (Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik). He has also recorded The Complete Organ Works of Correa de Arauxo to wide acclaim.

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