Listen
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-Saëns 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.
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 Piñas 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
At 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
At the Piano....
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 Höh sei Ehr BWV 662
MAURICE DURUFLÉ 1902-1986
Scherzo, Op. 2
GUY BOVET b. 1942
Salamanca (from Trois Préludes Hambourgeois)
LOUIS VIERNE 1870-1937
Berceuse (from 24 Pièces en style libre, Op. 31)
Naïades (from Pièces de fantaisie, Op. 55)
HEALEY WILLAN 1880-1968
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
Prelude in c-sharp Minor BWV 849i
(from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I)
Italian Concerto BWV 971
MILY BALAKIREV 1837-1910
Au Jardin (In the Garden, 1884)
CHARLES GRIFFES 1884-1920
The White Peacock (from Roman Sketches, Op. 7)
FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN 1810-1849
Scherzo in C-sharp Minor, Op. 29
Finale: Presto non tanto (Sonata III in B minor, Op. 58)
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
Vocalise, Op. 34, No. 14
Transcribed for the piano by Earl Wild, 1915-2010
ENRIQUE GRANADOS 1867-1916
The Maiden and the Nightingale (from Goyescas)
CLAUDE DEBUSSY 1862-1918
L'Isle Joyeuse (1904)
Reflets dan's l'eau (Images, Book I)
Hommage à Rameau (Images, Book I)
La Puerta del Vino (Preludes, Book II)
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART 1756-1791
Piano Concerto in A Major, K488
with the Lexington (Michigan) Bach Festival Orchestra
CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS 1835-1921
From Six Duos for Piano and Organ, Op. 8
with Rollin Smith, organ
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
Piano Concerto in G Major, Op. 53
The Lexington Bach Festival Orchestra
MAURICE RAVEL 1875-1937
Sonatine
Animé
Jeux d'eau (1901)
Performed on The Temple Organ:
Casavant Frères, Op. 3700, 1992. IV/102.
FRANÇOIS COUPERIN 1668-1733
from Messe Pour les Pariosses:
Kyrie en taille and Fugue sur les Jeux d'Anches
Offertoire sur les Grands Jeux
EUGÈNE GIGOUT 1844-1925
Scherzo (from Dix Pièces)
CHARLES-MARIE WIDOR 1844-1934
Andante sostenuto (from Symphonie Gothique, Op. 70)
MARCEL DUPRÉ 1886-1971
from Variations sur un Vieux Noël, 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 Frères, Op. 3837, 2005. IV/118
CÉSAR FRANCK 1822-1890
MAURICE DURUFLÉ
Toccata (from Suite, Op. 5)