The three monumental works recorded here (Liszt's Ad Nos, Reubke's Psalm 94 and Stehle's Saul) represent three “generations” of a musical species that evolved with nineteenth-century romanticism and died out without ever acquiring a distinctive name. It was nourished above all by a new preoccupation with the expressive and pregnant “theme”–anything from a motif to a whole tune–as the essential constructive element of a piece of music. Along with this went an obsession with unity, specifically, a fascination with the idea that a large composition could be unified and its parts linked together by the periodic return or the constant presence of such a theme, either unchanged or modified, fragmented, and “developed” in the manner of a Beethoven symphony, or “transformed” into something quite different in character but still recognizable.   Extensive notes on the music and the organ. A second, narrated version of the Stehle is provided without additional cost.

The Santa Fe Desert Chorale offers a brilliant two CD set with selections recorded at the historic Loretto Chapel, during the 2006 Santa Fe Summer Festival. Using two small ensembles, under the baton of artistic director Linda Mack, the chorale offers An American Hallelujah featuring songs of faith, joy and praise. The second disc called Romance is lead by assistant Matthew Tresler and offers a sublime view of the trials and tribulations of love, from Brahms to Lennon and McCartney

The rarely performed 1725 version of Bach’s St. John Passion is presented by Yale University’s premier early-music ensembles. Simon Carrington, who initiated his illustrious musical career as cofounder of the King’s Singers, directs this live performance.

Organ Works of Franz Tunder North German Baroque organ Örgryte nya kyrka, Göteborg, Sweden Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra, organist Franz Tunder was a brilliant composer of North German organ music two generations before Bach. Predecessor and father-in-law to Dieterich Buxtehude at St. Mary's Church in Lübeck, Germany, he presided over the large North German organ in a room of monumental scale. This is the first American recording of the new North German Organ, part of a research project in Göteborg, Sweden, that is changing organ building practices around the world. Detailed description of the organ and complete registrations are included in the booklet text.

Two organists, both students of Sweelinck, dominated the organ scene in Hamburg in the early 1600's, but their temperaments and music are a study of contrasts. William Porter plays the landmark North German Organ of Gothenburg Sweden.  Includes demonstration-improvisations of individual stops of the organ. 2-CDs, extensive notes on the music and the organ. Full registrations are included.

A two-disc program of Bach's famous "Great Eighteen," performed by acclaimed organist Christa Rakich on two very different organs -- the Fisk organ of Old West Church in Boston, and the Fritts organ at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, WA. The booklet contains program notes by the artist as well as full organ specifications and registrations.

Joan Lippincott continues her Bach series with two of the most substantial collections published during Bach's lifetime. The Clavierübung III follows Book I (Italian Concerto) and Book II (Goldberg Variations) and precedes Book IV (Art of Fugue), and altogether represents Bach’s highest achievements in the art of writing for the keyboard. Clavierubung III, sometimes called “The Organ Mass” begins with settings of the Kyrie and Gloria, but is structured after the German Lutheran catechism. Included in this recording are both the large chorales, the alternative chorales for manuals only and the four duetti. Bach’s collection of cantata movement transcriptions for organ published by Schübler in 1742 includes the famous “Wachet Auf!”, and rounds out this two-CD collection. Program notes by noted Bach scholar, George Stauffer.

The Grammy® award-winning Washington Chorus and Orchestra join forces with the Shenandoah Conservatory Choir in this performance of Berlioz’s Requiem, op.5, recorded live at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. In its intensity, massive scale, and lyricism, the Requiem represents the height of French Romanticism, and remains one of the most awe-inspiring works in the history of music.

The first of three volumes (7 CDs total) of the complete organ works of Buxtehude; Volume One focuses on Buxtehude's best known works, and their relationship to mean-tone tuning temperament.

Drawn by reports of the acclaimed organist of the Mariankirche in Lübeck, Dieterich Buxtehude, the 20-year old J. S. Bach traveled almost 300 miles to hear Buxtehude’s music first hand. On the second in our three-volume set of the complete organ works of Buxtehude, Hans Davidsson plays the ground-breaking repertoire that was known to Bach and his circle, and which may have influenced his musical compositions and performance.

Scored for organ (or pedal clavichord), the Bach trio sonatas can be played on a variety of instruments, as Christa Rakich demonstrates in this imaginative program. Six different organs, six different organ builders, and an assortment of period chamber music instruments are used on this double-CD set!

Known as the “Orpheus of Amsterdam,” Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck was the greatest single influence on the succeeding generation of north European organists and composers, including H. Scheidemann, J. Praetorius II, M. Schildt, and both Samuel and Gottfried Scheidt.

Jonathan Dimmock brings these influential works to life on three landmark mean-tone organs in Holland and Sweden.

Few organists are as well known or as highly praised for their Bach recordings as Joan Lippincott. Performing on the newly-constructed Craighead-Saunders organ (closely modeled after a 1776 instrument by the central German organbuilder, Casparini), Lippincott brings a maturity of vision to Art of Fugue that is based on a lifetime of distinguished interpretations and insights into Bach's organ works.  "Lippincott's wide variety of tempos, colors and moods make this possibly the most enduring Art of Fugue ever recorded...highly recommended!" -- Fanfare magazine

"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". Here he employs the significant compositional techniques of his life's work: modes of limited transposition, Hindu rhythms, Greek rhythms, plainsong, birdsong, "communicable language", and serialism. These elements are used to explore the mysteries of Christian faith, in this, his most massive work for organ.  (Part of The Complete Organ Works of Olivier Messiaen by Colin Andrews, LRCD-1163)

Winner of the Grammy® Award for Best Choral Performance! Recorded live at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, The War Requiem was written in 1962 for the consecration of the rebuilt Coventry Cathedral and was first performed there in May 1962. Coventry Cathedral had been destroyed during the Battle of Britain in World War II. The work received immediate critical acclaim and was hailed as a masterpiece. A life-long pacifist, Britten wrote his Requiem as a statement against the horrors of war. In it, he intersperses the traditional Latin Requiem texts with works by Wilfred Owen, a poet who died in battle in World War I.

The 25th anniversary of the installation of the 1911 Murray M. Harris organ at Saint James is the occasion for this double-album. Acclaimed recitalist Todd Wilson demonstrates the Harris organ's exceptional range of colors and dynamics. Extensively restored and rebuilt in 1995, the Harris organ at Saint James shows why he is often called "the Father of Organ building in the West." Harris built the instrument at St James. Todd Wilson's substantial program demonstrates the full range of colors and dynamics of this instrument -- in its first commercial recording.

Who knew a choir could be this funny? Garrison Keillor, Philip Brunelle and the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers dish up a generous helping of "Potatoes a la Schubert", run away to Europe to indulge their “Shenandoah” habit, and enlighten us on the T.U.L.I.P. doctrine. This two-CD set of the best choral skits and bits from 10 years on  "A Prairie Home Companion" includes the often-requested “Julia” (John Lennon) and a rare choral interpretation of “Karma Chamelon” (Boy George). With Charles Kemper and Richard Dworsky at the piano, The Guy's All-Star Shoe Band and guest appearances by Tom Keith and Tim Russell. Now available nationally for the first time—on Clarion Records from The Gothic
Catalog!

Experience how a Parisian would have heard the harmonium on a typical Sunday in the 19th century! At the church, hear the harmonium accompanying the choir during Mass in the morning, followed by Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament in the afternoon. In the evening, experience the virtuosity of a great musician playing harmonium in a salon concert. This program includes many works heard on recording for the first time with original instrumentation---works by Franck, Saint-Saens, Gounod, Berlioz, Lemmens, Dubois, and Lefebure-Wely.

Messiaen's Livre d'Orgue (1951) is a technical tour de' force, demonstrating his complete mastery of Viennese serial technique, while also incorporating complex Hindu rhythmic formula and bird songs. In addition there are several popular early works, "The Celestial Banquet" and "Apparition of the Eternal Church," and three recently discovered pieces that have been rarely heard. (Part of The Complete Organ Works of Olivier Messiaen by Colin Andrews, LRCD-1163)

This first solo release by Raymond Chenault, is performed on the Buzard organ of All Saints’ Episcopal Church (Atlanta) and features 19th and 20th century French, Belgian and Dutch organ works.

American composer John Muehleisen explores the costs of war from the point of view of the families left behind - specifically the loss of Rudyard and Carrie Kipling's son John during WWI. Robert Bode, directing Choral Arts Northwest, premieres "But Who Shall Return Us Our Children: A Kipling Passion" in this live concert recording.