At Thursday’s Zoom session, frequent mention was made about St. Thomas Episcopal Church in New York City and we were led to believe that Hauptwerk (the digital organ sampling program) was used as their primary instrument. However, as you will read below, it was only used as a temporary instrument in the nave and now… Read More Just the facts, ma‘am
This morning was devoted to organ practice on the Beckerath organ at Trinity Lutheran Church which was built in 1956. From the church’s website: Trinity’s Beckerath was built in 1956 in Hamburg, Germany by Rudolph von Beckerath, who crafted it in the tradition of the organs of northern Europe in the Baroque era. This organ is… Read More Organist training wheels!
Today Hans-Ulrich Erbsloeh and I took the train to downtown Hamburg, about a 35-minute ride away. It’s super convenient to take the train from his house—only two houses away from the station! By taking the train, we won’t have to hassle with trying to find a parking space, which is always a challenge. Our first… Read More An organ to love
Okay, you probably didn’t know that I knew this term from basketball? According to Wikipedia, “A full-court press is a basketball term for a defensive style in which the defense applies man-to-man or zone defense to pressure the offensive team the entire length of the court before and after the inbound pass. Some presses attempt… Read More Full court press!
Forty years ago, the Lutheran Church of Honolulu sought to revitalize its music program, beginning with the purchase of a mechanical action organ — a tracker organ — altogether unique and unprecedented in Hawaii, in a classic design made by one of the leading master organbuilders, Rudolf von Beckerath of Hamburg, Germany. It turned out to… Read More What is a tracker organ?
Glory be, Hallelujah, hallelujah! After months of searching, I am happy to report that the original dedication program for the Rudolf von Beckerath organ at the Lutheran Church of Honolulu has been found! And it was only located 7,209 miles away, in Hamburg, Germany. I just knew someone had to have saved it! Thanks to… Read More Found it —7,209 miles away!
People have been asking me what my next project will be and that will be a concert on October 19th at St. John’s Episcopal Church, Kula, Maui, home to an Oberlinger organ. They are re-dedicating the organ to celebrate its restoration and it was through my Maui organ student, Clayton Logue, that I received the… Read More The man behind the organs
You may recall that when I was in Bakersfield, I heard an excellent presentation on introducing the organ to children by Robert Ampt and his wife, Amy Johansen, who live in Australia. They also gave an organ duet recital including Arrival of the Queen of Sheba (Handel), Sonata in D minor (Gustav Merkel), Variations on… Read More A visit with the Australians
1. Lit. to commit murder and not get punished for it. Don’t kill me! You can’t get away with murder! 2. Fig. to do something very bad and not get punished for it. That guy always gets away with murder—just because he’s cute. You will spoil your son if you let him get away with… Read More Getting away with murder
I realize that when I wrote the last post, I didn’t clarify some of the details about the continuo organ at LCH at the first service I ever played here. It was the OTHER continuo organ, also called a positiv or positive, which the church purchased as an interim instrument when they decided to replace… Read More The Beckerath positiv organ