Starter Packs

Complete your collection with these curated titles, grouped at a special discount.

Shop Now
Organon Novus - Contemporary Organ Works By American Masters, 1990-2015 / Randall Harlow [3 CDs]
Innova Recordings

Organon Novus - Contemporary Organ Works By American Masters, 1990-2015 / Randall Harlow [3 CDs]

$16.99

Details

Composer
VARIOUS
Artist
Randall Harlow
Format
CD
Label
Innova Recordings
Released
Sep 25, 2020
Catalog #
INN959
UPC
726708695927

About

The “King of Instruments,” the pipe organ, has a long and storied history. Its long association with the church has been a source of strength but also, in recent times, led to its seeming neglect by contemporary concert composers. Organon Novus is a monumental effort to bring together this hidden slice of American music. Clocking in at over three hours of music, and running the gamut from Adler to Zorn, it includes 25 works from the past 25 years by 25 celebrated composers – composers not often associated with their organ oeuvre. With 8,565 pipes in 132 ranks available to them, the 1928 E.M. Skinner symphonic organ in Rockefeller Chapel at the University of Chicago is no modest resource for a composer’s imagination (not to mention a player’s active limbs). Randall Harlow, in this marathon tour de force, reaches them all. Compositional approaches range from the sonic tapestries of Thomas and Zorn, to the linear complexity of Adler and Mamlok; from the full-bodied symphonic approaches of Ran and Tower, to the eclectic and unique voices of Lang, Johnson, Lucier and Wolff. The album concludes with the premiere of Aaron Travers’ monumental Barlow Prize work, Exodus. Exploring the extremes of what is possible on the organ, the work offers a way forward for the instrument in contemporary art music, an exit from the common modern associations of the organ with churches and staid liturgical Gebrauchsmusik. Organon, “the device”: the original Greek word for the pipe organ from the third century BCE. Novus, “the new.” From its beginnings as a noise maker to its apotheosis as a contrapuntal keyboard-controlled orchestra, all coupled with the acoustic and architecture of its location, the organ can be many things. This musical snapshot is both a chronicle and a revelation.

Tracklist 37 tracks

  1. Disc 1
  2. 1 On a Day of Bells 07:31
    Track
    1
    Title
    On a Day of Bells
    Duration
    07:31
    Composer
    Libby Larsen
    Performer
    Randall Harlow
  3. 2 Ceremonies Suite: I. Meditation 04:31
    Track
    2
    Title
    Ceremonies Suite: I. Meditation
    Duration
    04:31
    Composer
    Jennifer Higdon
    Performer
    Randall Harlow
  4. 3 Diapason Fall 04:52
    Track
    3
    Title
    Diapason Fall
    Duration
    04:52
    Composer
    Matt Darriau
    Performer
    Randall Harlow
  5. 4 Ordinary 03:39
    Track
    4
    Title
    Ordinary
    Duration
    03:39
    Composer
    David Lang
    Performer
    Randall Harlow
  6. 5 The Revd Mustard His Installation Prelude 03:14
    Track
    5
    Title
    The Revd Mustard His Installation Prelude
    Duration
    03:14
    Composer
    Nico Muhly
    Performer
    Randall Harlow
  7. 6 The Gospel According to Sister Aimee: II. An Evangelist Drowns - Desert Dance 04:42
    Track
    6
    Title
    The Gospel According to Sister Aimee: II. An Evangelist Drowns - Desert Dance
    Duration
    04:42
    Composer
    Michael Daugherty
    Performer
    Randall Harlow
  8. 7 Fantasia Cromática 02:58
    Track
    7
    Title
    Fantasia Cromática
    Duration
    02:58
    Composer
    Roberto Sierra
    Performer
    Randall Harlow
  9. 8 Star Rising 05:57
    Track
    8
    Title
    Star Rising
    Duration
    05:57
    Composer
    Erik Santos
    Performer
    Randall Harlow
  10. 9 Hallel 07:39
    Track
    9
    Title
    Hallel
    Duration
    07:39
    Composer
    Shulamit Ran
    Performer
    Randall Harlow
  11. 10 New and Improved Dances 06:11
    Track
    10
    Title
    New and Improved Dances
    Duration
    06:11
    Composer
    Jonathan Schwabe
    Performer
    Randall Harlow, Randy Grabowski
  12. 11 Misericordia 06:49
    Track
    11
    Title
    Misericordia
    Duration
    06:49
    Composer
    John Anthony Lennon
    Performer
    Randall Harlow
  13. Disc 2
  14. 1 I. Angel Tears 03:08
    Track
    1
    Title
    I. Angel Tears
    Duration
    03:08
    Composer
    Augusta Read Thomas
    Performer
    Randall Harlow, Stephen Burns
  15. 2 II. Earth Prayers 02:44
    Track
    2
    Title
    II. Earth Prayers
    Duration
    02:44
    Composer
    Augusta Read Thomas
    Performer
    Randall Harlow, Stephen Burns
  16. 3 No. 1. ascending order 02:05
    Track
    3
    Title
    No. 1. ascending order
    Duration
    02:05
    Composer
    Tom Johnson
    Performer
    Randall Harlow
  17. 4 No. 2. pairs of pairs 02:34
    Track
    4
    Title
    No. 2. pairs of pairs
    Duration
    02:34
    Composer
    Tom Johnson
    Performer
    Randall Harlow
  18. 5 No. 3. one note changing 02:18
    Track
    5
    Title
    No. 3. one note changing
    Duration
    02:18
    Composer
    Tom Johnson
    Performer
    Randall Harlow
  19. 6 No. 4. all notes change 01:34
    Track
    6
    Title
    No. 4. all notes change
    Duration
    01:34
    Composer
    Tom Johnson
    Performer
    Randall Harlow
  20. 7 No. 5. pentagons 01:05
    Track
    7
    Title
    No. 5. pentagons
    Duration
    01:05
    Composer
    Tom Johnson
    Performer
    Randall Harlow
  21. 8 No. 6. pentagon melodies 01:42
    Track
    8
    Title
    No. 6. pentagon melodies
    Duration
    01:42
    Composer
    Tom Johnson
    Performer
    Randall Harlow
  22. 9 No. 7. five-chord groups 04:13
    Track
    9
    Title
    No. 7. five-chord groups
    Duration
    04:13
    Composer
    Tom Johnson
    Performer
    Randall Harlow
  23. 10 No. 8. triangles 02:11
    Track
    10
    Title
    No. 8. triangles
    Duration
    02:11
    Composer
    Tom Johnson
    Performer
    Randall Harlow
  24. 11 No. 9. eleven sections 05:29
    Track
    11
    Title
    No. 9. eleven sections
    Duration
    05:29
    Composer
    Tom Johnson
    Performer
    Randall Harlow
  25. 12 Memetics 06:10
    Track
    12
    Title
    Memetics
    Duration
    06:10
    Composer
    John Liberatore
    Performer
    Randall Harlow
  26. 13 Celesta 03:55
    Track
    13
    Title
    Celesta
    Duration
    03:55
    Composer
    Christian Wolff
    Performer
    Randall Harlow
  27. 14 Sizzles 11:56
    Track
    14
    Title
    Sizzles
    Duration
    11:56
    Composer
    Alvin Lucier
    Performer
    Randall Harlow, Matt Andreini
  28. 15 là-bas 07:08
    Track
    15
    Title
    là-bas
    Duration
    07:08
    Composer
    John Zorn
    Performer
    Randall Harlow
  29. Disc 3
  30. 1 Spires 06:55
    Track
    1
    Title
    Spires
    Duration
    06:55
    Composer
    George Walker
    Performer
    Randall Harlow
  31. 2 From Generation to Generation 06:00
    Track
    2
    Title
    From Generation to Generation
    Duration
    06:00
    Composer
    Samuel Adler
    Performer
    Randall Harlow
  32. 3 Sunday Organ Piece for Church 01:35
    Track
    3
    Title
    Sunday Organ Piece for Church
    Duration
    01:35
    Composer
    Larry Polansky
    Performer
    Randall Harlow
  33. 4 Festive Sounds II 07:28
    Track
    4
    Title
    Festive Sounds II
    Duration
    07:28
    Composer
    Ursula Mamlok
    Performer
    Randall Harlow
  34. 5 An Idea of Order 06:13
    Track
    5
    Title
    An Idea of Order
    Duration
    06:13
    Composer
    Ken Ueno
    Performer
    Randall Harlow
  35. 6 War and Peace 09:22
    Track
    6
    Title
    War and Peace
    Duration
    09:22
    Composer
    Lukas Foss
    Performer
    Randall Harlow
  36. 7 Ascent 05:58
    Track
    7
    Title
    Ascent
    Duration
    05:58
    Composer
    Joan Tower
    Performer
    Randall Harlow
  37. 8 I. Kyrie 05:15
    Track
    8
    Title
    I. Kyrie
    Duration
    05:15
    Composer
    Aaron Travers
    Performer
    Randall Harlow
  38. 9 II. Wedge 02:47
    Track
    9
    Title
    II. Wedge
    Duration
    02:47
    Composer
    Aaron Travers
    Performer
    Randall Harlow
  39. 10 III. Agnus Dei 05:32
    Track
    10
    Title
    III. Agnus Dei
    Duration
    05:32
    Composer
    Aaron Travers
    Performer
    Randall Harlow
  40. 11 IV. Swann's Way 06:42
    Track
    11
    Title
    IV. Swann's Way
    Duration
    06:42
    Composer
    Aaron Travers
    Performer
    Randall Harlow