Welcome! We live in an age when acoustic music is regularly translated into digital information that is often tweaked, edited and "managed" beyond all recognition. Most studio recordings are the compilation of the best portions of three or four takes. Even performances "recorded live" are sometimes "revisited" in post-production in pursuit of perfection. In my experience, the "perfect" performance rarely happens, so it's a bit daunting to present unedited live performances here (with the Bach D-Minor Concerto and the Saint-Saens Duos as the two exceptions) with the inherent bumps, background noises and coughs, and the odd wrong note (always in the worst place!). These inevitabilites aside, there is a certain energy and communication from live performances and I'm happy to present a wide variety of music for piano, harpsichord and organ. As circumstances permit I will change the musical offerings here from time to time. Please come back! To listen, click on the title of any piece, and when it's finished, use your browser's "back" button to return to this page if you want to listen to more music. From my home town.... Organ Music from the Community of Christ (formerly R.L.D.S.) Auditorium and Temple in Independence, Missouri.  Performed on The Auditorium Organ: Aeolian Skinner Op. 1309, 1959. IV/114 MAX REGER 1973-1916 Toccata in D Minor, Op. 59, No. 5 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH 1685-1750 Trio on Allein Gott in der Hoh sei Ehr BWV 662 MAURICE DURUFLE 1902-1986 Scherzo, Op. 2 GUY BOVET b. 1942 Salamanca (from Trois Preludes Hambourgeois) LOUIS VIERNE 1870-1937 Berceuse (from 24 Pieces in style libre, Op. 31) Naiades (from Pieces de Fantaisie, Op. 55) HEALEY WILLAN 1880-1968 Introduction, Passacaglia and Fugue in E-flat Minor  Casavant Freres, Op. 3700, 1992. IV/102. FRANCOIS COUPERIN 1668-1733 from Messe Pour les Pariosses: Kyrie en taille and Fugue sur les Jeux d'Anches Tierce en taille Offertoire sur les Grands Jeux EUGENE GIGOUT 1844-1925 Scherzo (from Dix Pieces) CHARLES-MARIE WIDOR 1844-1934 Andante sostenuto (from Symphonie Gothique, Op. 70) MARCEL DUPRE 1886-1971 from Variations sur un Vieux Noel, Op. 20 Fugato - Non troppo vivace; Presto From Here and There From Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware Ohio Johannes Klais Orgelbau, 1980. IV/82 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH Fantasia in G Minor BWV 542i From The Brick Presbyterian Church, New York City Casavant Freres, Op. 3837, 2005. IV/118 CESAR FRANCK 1822-1890 Choral No. 2 in B Minor MAURICE DURUFLE Toccata (from Suite, Op. 5) |  Bach on the Bamboo Organ was recorded as the last 'event' of nearly a month's work of preparation and performance at the twenty-first International Bamboo Organ Festival in 1996. Manila is another city, like New York, that doesn't sleep, and the constant traffic outside the walls of St. Joseph's Church in Las Pinas required the recording sessions to begin at 2 a.m. (!) Even at this early hour, police and festival volunteers had to stop traffic on the busy road while we recorded as much as we could before impatient motorists complained with their horns. We would stop for a few minutes and then try our luck again and take up where we left off. Although this recording contains edits and is not technically a "live" performance, given the time restraints to get everything on tape we were not allowed to go back and re-record ... we had to get it right the first time. No pressure! As this recording is out-of-print I've taken the liberty of including the entire concerto here. The "clacking" noise you hear on the recording is the organ's primitive key action. Please take a moment to check out the above link and learn more about this charming and noble instrument. JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH Keyboard Concerto in D Minor BWV 1052 with the Bamboo Organ Festival Orchestra Allegro Adagio Allegro From the Harpsichord.... JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH Fugue in D Major BWV850ii (from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I) Allegro (from The Fifth Brandenburg Concerto) with the Lexington (Michigan) Bach Festival Orchestra From the Piano....  JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH Prelude in c-sharp Minor BWV 849i (from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I) CHARLES GRIFFES 1884-1920 The White Peacock (from Roman Sketches, Op. 7) FREDERIC CHOPIN 1810-1849 Scherzo in C-sharp Minor, Op. 29 I thought about subtitling this track "The Flight of the Bumblebee" in honor of the unidentified insect that insisted on buzzing me throughout this performance. Those who know this piece will hear, just before the Coda, when the creature finally made contact. FELIX MENDELSSOHN 1809-1847 Three Songs Without Words E-Major, Op. 19, No. 1 F-sharp Minor, Op. 30, No. 12 (Venetian Boat Song) C Major, Op. 67, No, 34 (Spinning Song) SERGEI RACHMANINOFF 1873-1943 Prelude in G-sharp Minor, Op. 32, No. 12 ENRIQUE GRANADOS 1867-1916 The Maiden and the Nightengale (from Goyescas) CLAUDE DEBUSSY 1862-1918 L'Isle Joyeuse WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART 1756-1791 Piano Concerto in A Major, K488 with the Lexington (Michigan) Bach Festival Orchestra, Don Th. Jaeger, conducting Allegro Organ and Piano Duos was my first album. It was recorded at the Episcopal Cathedral in Trenton, New Jersey, on April 24, 1984. Rollin Smith, organist, and I had intended to spend two evenings getting this album "in the can," but discovered, to our deep dismay when we arrived, that the Cathedral's temperature was too cold and it wasn't possible to "un-tune" the rented Steinway concert grand enough to get it in tune with the organ. We quickly made a deal with the Cathedral building manager for some heat and returned the next night for a grueling marathon recording session. This was very much a "learning by doing" experience for me and I foolishly saved the most difficult piece for last, which was very difficult to get right at 6 a.m. after having recorded all night! CAMILLE SAINT-SAENS 1835-1921 From Six Duos for Piano and Organ, Op. 8 with Rollin Smith, organ Chorale Scherzo LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN 1770-1827 Triple Concerto for Violin, Cello and Piano in C Major, Op. 56 with Caroline Goulding, violin, and Matthew Allen, cello The Lexington Bach Festival Orchestra, Don Th. Jaeger, conducting Rondo alla Polacca |
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