Ode to the Organ
It's the world's largest, most complex - and powerful - musical instrument. The pipe organ lifts us out-of-the-ordinary and fills us with awe. From cathedrals to arenas, Eitan Cornfield pulls out all the stops to explain why organs still matter in our increasingly secular world....
It's the world's largest, most complex - and powerful - musical instrument. The pipe organ lifts us out-of-the-ordinary and fills us with awe. From cathedrals to arenas, Eitan Cornfield pulls out all the stops to explain why organs still matter in our increasingly secular world.
Participants in the program:
Barbara Owen, church organist and historian of the organ.
Dame Gillian Weir, world renowned concert organist whose career spanned 48 years.
Jacquelin Rochette, Artistic Director, Casavant Frères, Quebec.
William O'Meara, concert organist.
Craig Whitney, writer, organ afficionado and a former editor at The New York Times.
Peter Richard Conte, Grand Court Organist of the Wannamaker Organ at Macy's in Center CIty, Philadelphia.
Cameron Carpenter, world renowned concert organist.
Image Gallery
Related Websites:
Interesting Organ Facts from the Organ's History - Westfield Centre at Cornell
Pipedreams - Long running NPR Organ Program
The Joy of Music - Another Long Running Program about Organs
Lawrence Phelps
The Wurlitzer in Maple Leaf Gardens
Virgil Fox
The Curious Story of the Hammond Organ
Reading List
Organ, (Grove Musical Instrument Series) by Peter Williams and Barbara Owen, published by WW Norton and Company, 1988
Johann Sebastian Bach - The Learned Musician by Christoph Wolff, published by WW Norton and Company, 2001
All The Stops: The Glorious Pipe Organ And Its American Masters by Craig Whitney, published by Public Affairs, 2004
E. Power Biggs, Concert Organist by Barbara Owen, published by Indiana University Press, 1987
Virgil Fox - (The Dish ): An Irreverent Biography of the Great American Organist by Marshall Yeager, published by Circles International, 2001
Listening:
Excellent Budget Introduction to the Pipe Organ:
Glorious Pipes: Organ Music Through the Ages, Various Artists, Deutsche Grammophon
Superb Bach Collection:
Bach: The Great Organ works, Wolfgang Rubsam, organ, Philips 464988
Dame Gillian Weir's definitive Messiaen: Olivier Messiaen:The Complete Organ Works
A Listener's Guide from NPR's Pipedreams
One person's favourite organ recordings
E Power Biggs and other historic organ recordings