Franck: Prière Bruckner: Adagio from the 7th Symphony Sowerby: Prelude on Sine Nomine Boëllmann: Ronde Française Sowerby: Meditations on Communion Hymns: #3, 5 and 6 Gershwin: 3 Preludes for Piano
In 1920, Ernest M. Skinner (one of the United States’ greatest organbuilders) was given “carte blanche” to design the organ at
the Congregational Church in Holyoke, Massachusetts. The organ today remains unaltered and faithfully restored by Messrs. Czelusniak et Dugal, Inc. Peter Stoltzfus uses the organ to great effect showing the entire color palette of 26 manual foundation flues and 18 manual reed stops in Bruckner’s Adagio from the 7th Symphony, the organ’s lighthearted side in Boëllmann’s Ronde Française, the atmospheric nature of the organ in Sowerby's Meditations on Communion Hymns, the poetry of the foundations in Franck’s Prière, and the sheer power and mass of this Skinner Organ, including the full-length wooden 32' Bombarde, in the rhythmically driven Gershwin Piano Preludes and Sowerby’s grand processional on Sine Nomine. This CD is accompanied by a comprehensive booklet with numerous photographs, history of the organ, specifications and program notes. This is the 15th volume in a series documenting the Skinner Organ and Aeolian-Skinner Company. |