T H E MAY 2021 - Christ Church Cathedral Cincinnati, Ohio Cover feature on pages 26-28

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T H E MAY 2021 - Christ Church Cathedral Cincinnati, Ohio Cover feature on pages 26-28
THE
D I A PA S O N
      MAY 2021

                     Christ Church Cathedral
                             Cincinnati, Ohio
                 Cover feature on pages 26–28
T H E MAY 2021 - Christ Church Cathedral Cincinnati, Ohio Cover feature on pages 26-28
PHILLIP TRUCKENBROD
  CONCERT ARTISTS

                    ŚĂƌůĞƐDŝůůĞƌWƌĞƐŝĚĞŶƚ
               WŚŝůůŝƉdƌƵĐŬĞŶďƌŽĚ&ŽƵŶĚĞƌ
T H E MAY 2021 - Christ Church Cathedral Cincinnati, Ohio Cover feature on pages 26-28
THE DIAPASON                                                               Editor’s Notebook
     Scranton Gillette Communications

    One Hundred Twelfth Year: No. 5,                                       Presenting our 20 Under 30 Class of 2021
           Whole No. 1338                                                     The principal focus of this issue is The Diapason’s 20
              MAY 2021                                                     Under 30 Class of 2021. A biennial recognition program of the
          Established in 1909                                              best of young organists, church musicians, harpsichordists, car-                                                         Stephen Schnurr
           ISSN 0012-2378                                                  illonneurs, and organ and harpsichord builders, it is a pleasure                                      847/954-7989; sschnurr@sgcmail.com
                                                                           to present to you representatives of the promising future of                                                      www.TheDiapason.com
An International Monthly Devoted to the Organ,
                                                                           what we all care about deeply. Here you will find biographical
 the Harpsichord, Carillon, and Church Music
                                                                           information and pictures of each of the Class of 2021.                                         The sole remaining unaltered work of John Bergstrom & Sons as
                                                                              Many thanks to those who submitted nominations, and be                                      restored by Schoenstein & Co. is featured in “Organ Projects.”
CONTENTS                                                                   assured there will be many more quality candidates to hear
FEATURES
                                                                           about again in two years. In December 2022, nominations will                                   Digital edition promotion
                                                                           open for the Class of 2023.                                                                       Through the end of June, those purchasing a new or renewal
  The Class of 2021:                                                                                                                                                      one-year subscription can receive a free one-year digital sub-
  20 leaders under the age of 30
    by The Diapason staff                                            14    Elsewhere in this issue                                                                        scription for a friend. This offer is valid when purchasing a
  Pipe Organs of La Grange, Illinois, and the
                                                                              In “On Teaching,” Gavin Black reports on feedback received                                  print or digital subscription; the free subscription is digital only
  Architectural Edifices That House Them,                                  from readers on his discussion about his pedal method. John                                    and is intended for a new subscriber. For information and to
  Part 7: First Presbyterian Church                                        Bishop, in “In the Wind . . .,” writes about the particular care                               subscribe: toll free, 877/501-7540; local, 847/763-4933; for new
    by Stephen Schnurr                        22
                                                                           needed and taken by the organ restoration crew of the Jim                                      subscriptions: https://sgc.dragonforms.com/DPP_newfriend;
NEWS & DEPARTMENTS                                                         Whelan Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, during the                                   for renewals: https://sgc.dragonforms.com/DPP_renewfriend.
 Editor’s Notebook                                                     3   recent demolition of the hotel and casino just feet away from the
 Here & There                                                          3   hall. The seventh installment of my series on the organs of La                                 Summer events
 Appointments                                                          6   Grange, Illinois, details the organs of First Presbyterian Church.                                If you will be hosting summer organ and carillon recitals and
 Nunc Dimittis                                                     8, 10      This month’s cover feature is the installation by Richards,                                 choral events at your church, university, or other venue, be
 On Teaching by Gavin Black                                           11
                                                                           Fowkes & Co. of Ooltewah, Tennessee, in Christ Church Cathe-                                   sure to let me know. The Diapason is already receiving news
 In the wind . . . by John Bishop                                     12
                                                                           dral, Cincinnati, Ohio. Readers will find interesting the scheme                               of upcoming events to share with you, beginning with the June
REVIEWS                                                                    developed for the instrument’s mixtures. The cathedral’s chapel                                issue. We would be delighted to announce as many events as
 Book Reviews                                                        29    organ by C. B. Fisk, Inc., was featured in the August 2018 issue.                              possible, in the print issue and at the website.               Q
 New Organ Music                                                     29
 New Recordings                                                      29
                                                                           Here & There
ORGAN PROJECTS                                                       28
CALENDAR                                                             32    Correction                                                                                                                     The jury consists of Hans-Ola Erics-
ORGAN RECITALS                                                       33                                                                                                                                   son, Paul Breisch, Véronique Le Guen,
CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING                                               34                                                                                                                                   and Matthias Maierhofer. Deadline for
                                                                                                                                                                                                          application is July 15. For information:
                                                                                                                                                                                                          orgue-dudelange.lu.
                   THE
              D I A PA S O N
                                                                                                                                                                                                          Education
                        MAY 2021

                                                                                                                                           Methuen Memorial Music Hall
                                        Christ Church Cathedral
                                                Cincinnati, Ohio
                                    Cover feature on pages 26–28

                                                                                                                                           methuenmemorialmusichall. For infor-
                                                                                                                                           mation: https://mmmh.org.
COVER
Richards, Fowkes & Co., Ooltewah, Tennessee;
Christ Church Cathedral, Cincinnati, Ohio 26                                                                                               Competitions

Editorial Director       STEPHEN SCHNURR
and Publisher           sschnurr@sgcmail.com                               Buzard organ, Countryside Community
                                847/954-7989                               Church, Omaha, Nebraska
President                       RICK SCHWER
                          rschwer@sgcmail.com                                Buzard Pipe Organ Builders
                                  847/391-1048                             regrets that it sent The Diapason the
                                                                           wrong photo for its April cover feature.                                                                                       The Littlefield Organ, University of
Editor-at-Large    ANDREW SCHAEFFER                                                                                                                                                                       Washington, Seattle Washington (photo
           diapasoneditoratlarge@gmail.com                                 The correct image, as edited by Len
                                                                                                                                                                                                          courtesy University of Washington School of
                                                                           Levasseur, appears above.                                                                                                      Music)
Sales Director                  JEROME BUTERA
                              jbutera@sgcmail.com
                                     608/634-6253                                                                                          Stahlhuth-Jann organ, St. Martin’s
Circulation/                                                               Events                                                          Church, Dudelange, Luxembourg (photo                              The University of Washington
                                                                                                                                           credit: FIMOD)
Subscriptions                THE DIAPASON                                     Methuen Memorial Music Hall,                                                                                                School of Music, Seattle, Washing-
                                  P.O. Box 300
                 Lincolnshire, IL. 60069-0300                              Methuen, Massachusetts, announces                                                                                              ton, has announced two donor gifts in
                           DPP@omeda.com                                   summer organ recitals, Wednesdays at                               The Eighth International Organ                              support of organ performance. Organ-
                      Toll-Free: 877/501-7540                              8:00 p.m.: May 19, Michael Hey; 5/26,                           Competition Dudelange will take                                builder Paul B. Fritts has endowed the
                         Local: 847/763-4933
                                                                           Bridgette Wargovich; June 2, Scott                              place September 5–9 on the Stahlhuth-                          first Faculty Fellowship in the School of
Designer                          KELLI DIRKS                              Lamlein; 6/9, Adam Pajan; 6/16, Jeremy                          Jann organ in St. Martin’s Church,                             Music, with a $1.5 million gift that will
                     kellidirksphoto@gmail.com                             Bruns; 6/23, Cathy Meyer; 6/30, Christo-                        Dudelange, Luxembourg. The competi-                            provide support for organ performance
                                                                           pher Houlihan;                                                  tion is open to organists who have not                         degree programs. The Paul B. Fritts
Contributing Editors               LARRY PALMER
                                       Harpsichord                            July 7, Rhonda Sider Edgington; 7/14,                        reached their 35th birthday by Septem-                         Endowed Faculty Fellowship will fund
                                                                           Stephan Griffin; 7/21, Mark Pacoe; 7/28,                        ber 1, 1986.                                                   instruction from organists who are noted
                                   BRIAN SWAGER                            Stefan Donner; August 4, Nichole Keller;                           First prize is €5,000 plus a concert                        for their scholarly and professional
                                          Carillon
                                                                           8/11, Caroline Robinson; 8/18, Rosalind                         at the 2022 Dudelange Organ Festival;                          contributions to the field. This gift estab-
                                          JOHN BISHOP                      Mohnsen; 8/25, Jennifer McPherson.                              second prize is €2,500; third is €1,250;                       lishes one of the largest endowments in
                                           In the wind . . .               All programs are livestreamed via the                           the audience prize is $750. Finalists                          the School of Music. The University of
                                                                           hall’s YouTube channel: youtube.com/c/                          not receiving a prize will receive €750.                                                                      ³ page 4
                                           GAVIN BLACK
                                             On Teaching
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WWW.THEDIAPASON.COM                                                                                                                                                                                                 THE DIAPASON              Q   MAY 2021        Q   3
T H E MAY 2021 - Christ Church Cathedral Cincinnati, Ohio Cover feature on pages 26-28
Here & There
³ page 3                                         harpsichord at University of St. Thomas.
Washington houses the Littlefield Organ          Other       professional    appointments
in the Walker-Ames Room in Kane Hall,            included conductor of Concert Chorale
which was finished by Fritts in 1990 and         of Houston, artistic director of Houston
has been the location of organ concerts          Masterworks Chorus, as well as an opera
over the past thirty years.                      coach for Houston Grand Opera.
   At the same time, the School of Music            In 2005, Brewer joined the faculty
has received a gift of $250,000 from an          of Rice University as an artist in opera
anonymous donor to create a four-year            studies. In 2006, he became organist and
organ competition for early-career               choirmaster of the Episcopal Church of
organists. The timing and details of this        the Epiphany, where he built a compre-
competition will be announced once it is         hensive Royal School of Church Music
possible again to schedule public events.        program for children and adults. Addi-
For information: music.washington.edu.           tionally, he served as principal accompa-
                                                 nist of the Houston Children’s Chorus,
                                                 primary organist of the Bach Society
Concert Management                               of Houston, and assisting organist of
   Concert     Artist     Cooperative            Temple Beth-Israel.
announces the addition of new artists to            From 2011–2018, Brewer worked in          Katherine Jolliff                          Simon Templet
its roster.                                      San Antonio as artist-in-residence of St.
                                                 Mark’s Episcopal Church and was music           East Carolina University School of Music, Greenville, North Carolina,
                                                 director and organist of Temple Beth-El,     announces the winners of its 15th Annual Young Artists’ Competition in Organ Per-
                                                 conducting its professional choir for ser-   formance, held virtually on March 13. Katherine Jolliff of Indianapolis, Indiana,
                                                 vices and concerts. As a faculty member      won the Cathee Jean Huber First Prize (sponsored by East Carolina Musical Arts
                                                 of University of Texas, San Antonio, he      Education Foundation) and was also awarded the Bach prize and the hymn playing
                                                 taught opera studies, organ, harpsichord,    prize. Simon Templet of Hahnville, Louisiana, won the second prize, sponsored
                                                 harp, and collaborative piano.               by C. B. Fisk, Inc. The adjudicators were Andrew Scanlon and Ann Labounsky. For
                                                    His discography includes three            information: ecu.edu.
                                                 recordings on commercial labels: Echos
                                                 of the American Cathedral with St.
                                                 Paul’s Choir, Return–Art Songs from                                                     Heinz Memorial Chapel in Pittsburgh,
                                                 Carolina with North Carolina School of                                                  Adolphus Busch Hall (Harvard Univer-
                                                 the Arts soprano, Marilyn Taylor, and the                                               sity), and the Fasor Reformed Church
                                                 chamber music of Dan Locklair. Cur-                                                     in Budapest, Hungary. A solo recording
                                                 rently, Brewer is organist of the United                                                on the Pro Organo label, French Éclat at
                                                 Church of Chapel Hill and an assisting                                                  Saint Thomas Church, is available.
Robert Brewer                                    organist at Duke University Chapel, and
                                                 he maintains a private vocal, organ, and
   Robert Brewer, a native of Houston,           piano studio.
Texas, is an organist, pianist, conductor,
and pedagogue with a varied career                  Jeremy S. Bruns is associate organ-
spanning more than 40 years. He greatly          ist and choirmaster at The Church of
expanded the music program at St. Paul’s         the Advent, Boston, Massachusetts.
United Methodist Church, Houston,                Bruns has previously held positions in
including an 80-voice choir that has sung        Dorchester, Massachusetts, Pittsburgh,
for multiple conventions of the Ameri-           Pennsylvania, and elsewhere, including
can Guild of Organists, American Choral          three years as associate organist of St.     Jeremy S. Bruns
Directors Association, and other regional        Thomas Church Fifth Avenue in Man-
festivals and served as choir-in-residence       hattan, where he worked with the late        and a Performer’s Certificate. Bruns
at Westminster Abbey, York Minster, Ely          John Scott and the St. Thomas Choir of       has won prizes in major competitions,
Cathedral, St. Alban’s Abbey, Southwark          Men and Boys. Bruns has also served as a     including the 2003 Dallas International
Cathedral, Thomaskirche (Leipzig),               visiting assistant professor in the School   Organ Competition. He was also one of
St. Thomas Church Fifth Avenue, and              of Music at Stephen F. Austin State Uni-     four North American finalists chosen to
Washington National Cathedral; and               versity, Nacogdoches, Texas.                 compete in the 1998 Calgary Interna-
was also the resident vocal ensemble                Bruns studied with David Higgs at the     tional Organ Festival and Competition,     Tyler Canonico
of Houston Ballet. Brewer has served             Eastman School of Music, Rochester,          and was a prize winner in the 1993
as instructor of organ at University of          New York, earning a Master of Music          International J. S. Bach Organ Competi-       Tyler A. Canonico is minister of
Houston and instructor of organ and              degree in performance and literature         tion held at the Kennedy Center for the    music and organist at Market Square
                                                                                              Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.        Presbyterian Church, Harrisburg, Penn-
                                                                                                 Bruns has been heard on the nation-     sylvania, where he leads a music program
                                                                                              ally syndicated radio show Pipedreams      that includes a children’s choir, two bell
                                                                                              and has accompanied the St. Thomas         choirs, the Sanctuary Choir, the Schola
                                                                                              Choir for regular broadcasts on BBC        Cantorum, and the Market Square Sing-
                                                                                              Radio, as well as recordings on the Pro    ers, a touring choir comprising amateur
                                                                                              Organo label. He has been featured at      and professional volunteers from the
                                                                                              the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charles-   church and greater Central Pennsylvania
                                                                                              ton, South Carolina, and has performed     community; he is also program direc-
                                                                                              recitals with engagements including St.    tor for Arts on the Square. Recently,
                                                                                              Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster Abbey     he led the Market Square Singers on a
                                                                                              in London, Canterbury Cathedral, Wash-     concert tour of Canada, and the group
     “one of this era’s                                                                       ington National Cathedral, St. James’s     is currently preparing for its 2022 tour
    most adventurous                                                                          Cathedral in Toronto, Grace Cathedral      to Scotland. Previously, Canonico was
       interpreters of                                                                        in San Francisco, Methuen Memorial         organist and assistant music director at
         the classical                                                                        Music Hall, St. Paul Cathedral and                                         ³ page 6
     organ repertoire”
         NY MUSIC DAILY

            MORE INFORMATION:   gailarcher.com    TO PURCHASE:   meyer-media.com

4   Q   THE DIAPASON      Q   MAY 2021                                                                                                                WWW.THEDIAPASON.COM
T H E MAY 2021 - Christ Church Cathedral Cincinnati, Ohio Cover feature on pages 26-28
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            con fuoco                Bickers         Borges         Brewer           Bruns          Canonico           Carr

 Joseph             Carson           Shin-Ae          Angela       Theo. S.          Laura            Faythe         Joy-Leilani
 Causby             Cooman            Chun          Kraft Cross     Davis            Ellis            Freese          Garbutt

Simone            Margaret                                                                            Justin           Sarah
Gheller            Harper                                                                             Hartz          Hawbecker

 Jacob           Christopher                                                                          Jason           Peter
Hofeling          Jacobson                                                                        Klein-Mendoza      Krasinski

 David              Mark              Colin         Katherine       Scott         Shelly             Brenda            Joseph
 Lamb              Laubach            Lynch          Meloan       Montgomery Moorman-Stahlman        Portman            Ripka

  Vicki           Patrick A.         Thomas           David         Richard          Beth                  Rodland Duo
Schaeffer           Scott            Sheehan        Von Behren       Webb          Zucchino                Organ & Viola

            www.ConcertArtistCooperative.com
                                                                               Faythe Freese, Director
                                    512.470.7782
                                                                           Colin Lynch, Assistant Director
                        ConcertArtistCooperative@Gmail.com
                                                                      Beth Zucchino, Founder & Director Emerita
T H E MAY 2021 - Christ Church Cathedral Cincinnati, Ohio Cover feature on pages 26-28
Here & There
³ page 4
Christ Episcopal Church and the accom-
panist for the Alabama Choir School in
Tuscaloosa. He also served as assistant
organist at the Cathedral of St. Paul,
Birmingham, Alabama.
   Canonico is organist for the Harris-
burg Symphony Orchestra; co-founding
member of Allegro con Fuoco Duo; and
is collaborative pianist for the Central
Pennsylvania Womyn’s Chorus. In 2011,
he was awarded first place in the Ameri-
can Guild of Organist/Quimby Region
III Competition for Young Organists. He
has performed Samuel Barber’s Toccata
Festiva with the Lebanon Valley College
Symphony Orchestra and performed for
the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charles-                      Vincent Carr                                    Paul Jacobs and Franz Welser-Most
ton, South Carolina, and at national and
regional AGO conventions.                                     organ competitions. In 2013 he took                On March 18 and 19, Paul Jacobs was soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra, con-
   Canonico is a graduate of the Uni-                         a sabbatical in France, studying in the         ducted by Franz Welser-Most, in performances of Poulenc’s Concerto for Organ,
versity of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, where                         tradition of Nadia Boulanger.                   Strings, and Timpani, which were streamed via the orchestra’s digital media plat-
he received a Master of Music degree                             From 2006 to 2013, he served the             form, Adella. Jacobs also performed by livestream the Poulenc with the Philadelphia
in organ performance and studied                              Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart,         Orchestra on January 14, conducted by Yannick Nezet-Seguin. For information:
with Faythe Freese. He earned his                             Newark, New Jersey; at a subsequent             pauljacobsorgan.com.
Bachelor of Arts degree in music with                         post at the Cathedral of the Incarnation,
a concentration in organ performance                          Garden City, New York, he recorded
and sacred music from Lebanon Valley                          A Year at Incarnation. Before joining
College, Annville, Pennsylvania, where                        the Indiana University faculty, he was a          Appointments
he studied organ and piano with Shelly                        professor at John J. Cali School of Music            Ryan T. Mueller is appointed
Moorman-Stahlman and orchestral con-                          at Montclair State University for nearly          tonal director of Berghaus Pipe
ducting with Johannes Dietrich. Visit his                     a decade.                                         Organ Builders, Bellwood, Illinois.
website at: www.tylercanonico.com for                            As a composer and improviser, he has           Mueller is a native of Milwaukee,
more information.                                             developed original music for keyboard,            Wisconsin, and has previously worked
                                                              choir, silent film, and musical theater.          for Grandall & Engen, LLC, and
   Vincent Carr is associate professor                        Currently, his areas of interest and              Dobson Pipe Organ Builders, Ltd.
of organ and sacred music at the Indi-                        research include improvisation peda-              A member of The Diapason’s 20
ana University Jacobs School of Music,                        gogy, the integration of artificial intel-        Under 30 Class of 2019, he is also a
Bloomington. In addition to maintain-                         ligence into organ instruction, and the           recitalist, scholar, and advocate of the
ing a studio of organ majors as well as                       career development of church musicians.           pipe organ and has served in various
teaching courses in church music and                                                                            offices at the local and national level
improvisation, he is known for his ver-                          Joseph Causby is director of music             for the American Institute of Organ-
satility as a performer and collaborative                     and organist for Chapel of the Cross,             builders, Organ Historical Society,
musician. From concert hall to church,                        Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and                  American Guild of Organists, and is
he has championed new music and the                           president of the Royal School of Church           also a member of the National Trust
works of underrepresented composers,                          Music in America. Prior to his appoint-           for Historic Preservation, Associa-
such as Black composers, especially                           ment in Chapel Hill, he spent 14 years in         tion of Lutheran Church Musicians, Ryan T. Mueller
Florence B. Price, in diverse concert                         Texas, most recently at St. Mark’s Epis-          and the Association for Preservation
programs. In 2020, he was elected                             copal Church, San Antonio, where he               Technology. Mueller will oversee the tonal department, provide artistic vision
national councillor for education for the                     built an active music program. Under his          for all projects, engage in new organ sales, and also maintain an active role in
American Guild of Organists.                                  direction, the St. Mark’s choir took part         the tuning & service department. For information: berghausorgan.com.
   He earned his undergraduate degrees                        in three English cathedral residencies,
in organ performance and Spanish                              performed major works with orchestra,
language from Indiana University, and                         and recorded and broadcasted live on
his graduate music studies were at Yale                       NPR and PBS. A dedicated collaborator,
University, where he was the recipient                        Causby has formed relationships with
of prizes from the faculty and in national                                                         ³ page 7

                                                                                                                Joshua Stafford

                                                                                                                   Joshua Stafford is appointed director of music ministries and organist for
                                                                                                                Riverside Presbyterian Church, Jacksonville, Florida. A native of Jamestown,
                                                                                                                New York, he earned a Bachelor of Music degree in organ performance from
           Proud builders

           pipe organ kit

                                                                                                                the Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 2010 as a scholar-
                                                                                                                ship student of Alan Morrison. In 2012 he received his Master of Music degree
                                                                                                                in organ performance and a certificate in sacred music from the Yale School of
                                                                                                                Music as a student of Thomas Murray in organ and Jeffrey Brillhart in impro-
           of the

                                                                                                                visation. While at Yale, Stafford was the recipient of the Robert Baker Award.
                                                                                                                   In 2016, Stafford was named the Pierre S. du Pont First Prize winner of the
                                                                                                                Longwood Gardens International Organ Competition. He is a member of The
                                                                                                                Diapason’s 20 Under 30 Class of 2017. In 2020 Stafford was named director of
                                                                                                                sacred music and the Jared Jacobsen Chair for the Organist of the Chautauqua
                                                                                                                Institution, Chautauqua, New York. He leaves his position as director of music
           follow                                                                                               for St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Morristown, New Jersey, where he has served
            us on                                                                                               since 2013. Joshua Stafford is represented by Phillip Truckenbrod Concert Art-
          facebook!
                                                                                                                ists. For information: concertartists.com.                                    Q
                                Photo courtesy of Eric Harrison

                                                                                                                                                           WEEKEND ORGAN
                                                  16355, av. Savoie, St-Hyacinthe, Québec J2T 3N1 CANADA
                                                  t 800 625-7473 mail@letourneauorgans.com
                                                                                                                                                            MEDITATIONS
                                                  Visit our website at www.letourneauorgans.com                                                            Grace Church in New York
                                                                                                                                                             www.gracechurchnyc.org

6   Q   THE DIAPASON        Q   MAY 2021                                                                                                                               WWW.THEDIAPASON.COM
T H E MAY 2021 - Christ Church Cathedral Cincinnati, Ohio Cover feature on pages 26-28
Here & There
                                               and a doctorate from the University of     freely from YouTube and his website            For bookings and information:
                                               Durham, UK, where he also served as        (carsoncooman.com).                          concertartistcooperative.com.
                                               the first American organ scholar of Dur-      As a composer, Cooman has created a
                                               ham Cathedral. His most recent organ       catalog of works in many forms ranging
                                               study has been with Gillian Weir.          from solo instrumental pieces to operas,     Publishers
                                                                                          and from orchestral works to hymntunes.         Breitkopf & Härtel announces a
                                                                                          His work has been performed on all six       new organ publication: Nicolaus Bruhns:
                                                                                          inhabited continents and appears on          Complete Organ Works, urtext edition
                                                                                          over forty recordings, including more        by Harald Vogel (EB 8663, 72 pp.,
                                                                                          than 25 complete CDs on the Naxos,           €27.50). In the preface, a commentary
                                                                                          Albany, Artek, Gothic, Divine Art,           offers a discussion of the authorship of
                                                                                          Métier, Diversions, Convivium, Altarus,      two dubious works that are included in
Joseph Causby                                                                             MSR Classics, Raven, and Zimbel labels.      the appendix. There are also two essays
                                                                                                                                       focusing on important aspects of nota-
universities and international organiza-                                                                                               tion, interpretation, and original instru-
tions including Snape Maltings Friday                                                                                                  ments. For information: breitkopf.com.
Afternoons project, the Royal Academy
of Music, and Cambridge University.
   Causby has worked with Duke Univer-
sity Chapel’s organ scholar initiative, pri-
vate and public school music education
programs, and the University of North
Carolina’s music department and faculty.       Carson Cooman
In addition to serving on the RSCM
board since 2017, he was co-chair of the          Carson Cooman, an American
2018 national conference of the Asso-          composer and organist, holds degrees
ciation of Anglican Musicians, former          in music from Harvard University and       Allegro con fuoco
board member of the Youth Orchestra of         Carnegie Mellon University and since
San Antonio, and former artistic director      2006 has held the position of composer        Allegro con Fuoco Duo was formed
of the Alamo Baroque Festival.                 in residence at Memorial Church, Har-      in January 2014 by Tyler A. Canonico
   As an organ recitalist, Causby has          vard University. As an organ recitalist,   and Jordan R. Markham. The piano and
presented concerts in the United States,       Cooman specializes in performance of       organ duo has been featured on many
Canada, England, and France. In 2019,          contemporary music. Over 300 new com-      concert series, including the Friday
he was a featured speaker for the 100th        positions by more than 100 international   Music at Midday series at National City
anniversary of the founding of the Choir       composers have been written for him.       Christian Church, Washington, D.C.,
School of St. Thomas Church, Fifth                Cooman has made many recordings as      and the Music at Grace Concert Series
Avenue, New York City. His disserta-           organist, including more than ten com-     at Grace United Methodist Church in
tion, “Who dares stand idle? Thomas            plete CD releases of music by Thomas       Baltimore, Maryland, where they gave
Tertius Noble, a life in church music,         Åberg, Paula Diehl, Carlotta Ferrari,      the world premiere of a piano four-hands
1867–1953,” was completed in 2015.             Lothar Graap, Eva-Maria Houben, and        piece, composed for and dedicated to         Creator Spirit
   A native of North Carolina, Causby          Andreas Willscher, along with several      them by Eric Whitehill. This duo has
holds a Bachelor of Music degree from          multi-composer albums. His recordings      performed at the governor’s mansion,           Fruhauf    Music   Publications
Appalachian State University, a Master         of more than 3,000 additional contem-      Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, for a diversity    announces a new and complimentary
of Music degree from Rice University,          porary organ compositions can be heard     event with the governor in attendance.                                       ³ page 8

          
             
          
                                                                                                                                      

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T H E MAY 2021 - Christ Church Cathedral Cincinnati, Ohio Cover feature on pages 26-28
Here & There

    Nunc Dimittis                              produced on the Raven label: French          voice (singing the Evangelist part in
                                               Éclat in the Roanoke Valley, Éclat           J. S. Bach’s St. John Passion), as well
                                               Encore, Christ Church Voluntaries,           as being inspired to compose and
                                               and a choral CD, Christ Church Cen-          to be trained as a church musician.
                                               tennial, 2017. He established a summer       While in Princeton, he was a member
                                               recital series and revived the traditional   of the barbershop quartet The Nas-
                                               Episcopal service of Choral Evensong         sau Blend and was director of the
                                               in the Roanoke Valley.                       barbershop chorus. On his return to
                                                                                            Charlotte after graduate school, he
                                                                                            served primarily as a section leader
                                                                                            in four Charlotte churches (including
                                                                                            Covenant Presbyterian) and worked
                                                                                            at the Rasberry Insurance Agency. For
                                                                                            a week each summer between 1971
                                                                                            and 1988, Johnston attended and later
                                                                                            was a faculty member of the Wildacres
                                                                                            Music Camp, Little Switzerland, North
                                                                                            Carolina, which his voice teacher Har-
                                               Michael Ray Johnston                         vey Woodruff founded and directed.
                                                                                               Johnston composed choral, vocal,
    H. Thomas Baugh, III                          Michael Ray Johnston, 64, of              instrumental, and organ music, includ-         Scott C. Weidler
                                               Charlotte, North Carolina, died              ing a cantata, The Mountain of the Lord,
       H. Thomas Baugh, III, died              February 22. Born July 3, 1956, in           for the chapel dedication at Wildacres         integral part in the ELCA’s Renewing
    December 6, 2020, in Roanoke, Vir-         Charlotte, he graduated from North           Retreat, and a triptych, Manifestations        Worship project and the develop-
    ginia, where he was organist and choir-    Mecklenburg High School in 1974.             of the Spirit, for the Ben Long fresco         ment of the hymnal Evangelical
    master of Christ Episcopal Church for      He received a Bachelor of Arts degree        dedication at St. Peter’s Catholic Church      Lutheran Worship (2006). He was
    34 years, beginning in October 1986.       from Mars Hill College, Mars Hill,           in Charlotte. He organized Ye Queen’s          also instrumental in shaping the vari-
    Previously, he had served Christ and       North Carolina, in 1978 and a Master         Carrollers, a vocal quartet dressed in         ous publications that complement this
    Grace Episcopal Church, Petersburg,        of Music degree in church music from         Victorian costume, for regional Yuletide       resource including: Musicians Guide
    Virginia, as director of music, and St.    Westminster Choir College, Princeton,        events. In 2001, Johnston founded              to Evangelical Lutheran Worship
    James’s Episcopal Church, Richmond,        New Jersey, in 1980. After piano study       Michael’s Music Service (michaels-             (2007); Worship Guidebook for Lent
    as assistant organist. He studied choral   with Flora Neely and vocal study as a        musicservice.com) with organist and            and the Three Days (2009); In These
    conducting at Westminster Choir Col-       teenager with Harvey L. Woodruff,            friend John Apple, primarily to restore        or Similar Words: Crafting Language
    lege, Princeton, New Jersey, and stud-     he studied voice with Julie Fortney          and publish organ music, continuing as         for Worship (2015); and Singing in
    ied organ with John Mueller, Bruce         and William Thomas at Mars Hill and          business and website developer/man-            Community: Paperless Music for Wor-
    Stevens, and Gerre Hancock, and in         Marvin Keenze at Westminster. His            ager until his death.                          ship (2017). Attentive to the needs of
    Lyon, France, with Louis Robilliard.       organ study was with Donna Robert-              Michael Ray Johnston is survived by         smaller parish choirs, he commissioned
    He was a graduate of Oklahoma City         son at Mars Hill and William Hays at         his mother, Katie McAllister Sigmon;           several composers for O Lord of Light:
    University, Union Presbyterian Semi-       Westminster, and conducting studies          his brother, Timothy Gray Johnston             Nine Two-Part Mixed Anthems for the
    nary, as well as Westminster Choir Col-    were with Joel Stegall at Mars Hill and      and wife, Ronda; a niece and a nephew.         Church Year (2013) that, in his words,
    lege. He was first appointed a church      Joseph Flummerfelt at Westminster.           His funeral service (including music of        were fashioned for “those times we
    organist at age 14 in Oklahoma.               Johnston exhibited interest in music      Bach and Johnston’s compositions) was          regularly need either learn something
       Baugh was born September 21, 1953,      from an early age and sang solos and         held on March 2 at Covenant Presby-            very quickly” or “sing with limited
    in Oklahoma City. He is survived by his    in the local children’s choir of Mallard     terian Church in Charlotte. Contribu-          forces because of holiday schedules.”
    wife of 38 years, Jane Roth Baugh; his     Creek Presbyterian Church. He was            tions in his memory may be made to                Beyond his work for the ELCA,
    sister, Barbara Baugh Laird; in-laws,      selected by Michael Pittard, his high        Bach Akademie Charlotte, 3527 Provi-           Weidler was involved in several orga-
    Katherine and Alan Riley; a niece and      school choral director, to attend the        dence Road, Charlotte, North Carolina          nizations that enriched the liturgy and
    a nephew.                                  Governor’s School of North Carolina          28211, bacharlotte.com.                        song of the church, as well as sup-
       At Christ Church in Roanoke, he         over two summer sessions. During this                                                       ported the vocations of its musicians.
    encouraged       interior   renovations,   time, he became the youngest member            Scott C. Weidler, 61, died January           He served the Lutheran Summer
    acoustical improvement, and replace-       and section leader of the Sanctu-            23. Born in the Los Angeles, California,       Music Academy and Festival in several
    ment of the existing Zimmer organ          ary Choir of Covenant Presbyterian           area on June 21, 1959, he completed an         capacities; was a charter member of the
    with C. B. Fisk, Inc., Opus 124 of 2004,   Church in Charlotte under Richard            undergraduate degree in elementary             Association of Lutheran Church Musi-
    which he designed. Playing the Fisk        M. Peek. It was here that he began           music education at what is now Con-            cians; an advisory council member and
    organ, he recorded four compact discs      to develop his tenor and countertenor        cordia University, Seward, Nebraska,           frequent presenter at the Institute of
                                                                                             and subsequently earned graduate              Liturgical Studies; a member of the
                                                                                               degrees in sacred music and liturgy         Lutheran caucus and liturgical music
                                                                                               from Wittenberg University in               seminar of the North American Acad-
                                                                                               Springfield, Ohio, and University of        emy of Liturgy; and a frequent work-
                                                                                               Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana.            shop leader and composer for Music
                                                                                               Between 1981 and 1995, he served            that Makes Community.
                                                                                               as a teacher and cantor at Lutheran            An online funeral attended by
                                                                                               congregations in Florida, New York,         more than 300 was held on January
                                                                                               and Pennsylvania.                           30. Memorials may be directed to
                                                                                                  From 1995 until 2016, Weidler            the Association of Lutheran Church
                                                                                               served the Evangelical Lutheran             Musicians (alcm.org/make-a-donation)
                                                                                               Church in America (ELCA) as                 and Music that Makes Community
                                                                                               program director for worship and            (musicthatmakescommunity.org/
                                                                                               music. In this role, he helped cul-         donate_to_mmc).
                                                                                               tivate worship resources, playing an                                         ³ page 10

                                                                                            ³ page 7                                        of J. K. F. Fischer’s Blümen-Büschlein,
                                                                                            three-verse hymn anthem for choir               opus 2, “Praeludium VIII;” the edition
                                                                                            and organ, “Creator Spirit,” available          will include a detailed realization of the
                                                                                            for printing and performance. Written           chorded introductory movement. For
                                                                                            for SATB, SAB, and unison voices with           information: frumuspub.net.
                                                                                            organ, it displays many traits present in
                                                                                            early 20th-century Anglican choral music.         MorningStar Music Publishers
                                                                                               In June a transcription for organ will be    announces a new organ publication:
                                                                                            posted, drawn from the keyboard music           African-American Organ Anthology,

                                                                                                                                                              Jacques Stinkens
                                                                                                                                                                       Orgelpijpenmakers B.V.
                                                                                                                                                                                    sinds 1914

                                                                                                                                                                                Flues - Reeds

                            www.ruffatti.com                                                                                                          Your personal wishes are in good hands
                                                                                                                                                                         www.stinkens.nl
                                                                                                                                                                         info@stinkens.nl

8   Q   THE DIAPASON   Q   MAY 2021                                                                                                                      WWW.THEDIAPASON.COM
T H E MAY 2021 - Christ Church Cathedral Cincinnati, Ohio Cover feature on pages 26-28
Here & There
Volume 9, edited by Mickey Thomas                                                                                                       2020 issue of The Diapason, pages
Terry (10-649, $20). Works include                                                                                                      16–19.) For information:
Variations on “There Is a Fountain,”                                                                                                    radiofrance.com.
by Undine Smith Moore; Toccata, by
David Hurd; Toccata on “Lift Every
Voice,” by Mark A. Miller; and Eleva-                                                                                                   Organbuilders
tion and Invocation, by George Walker.
For information:
morningstarmusic.com.

                                               Life Pictures: Scenes of the Life of King   L’Art de la Transcription
                                               Christian IV
                                                                                             Tempéraments Radio France
                                               1610 Esaias Compenius organ located         announces a new CD: L’Art de la              Rendering of Létourneau Opus 138
                                               in Frederiksborg Castle in Denmark.         Transcription (TEM316066), featur-           for St. Charles Avenue Presbyterian
                                               The instrument was a gift to the Danish     ing Vincent Genvrin performing on            Church, New Orleans, Louisiana
                                               King Christian IV from his sister Elisa-    the Grenzing organ of the auditorium
                                               beth. Compenius built it for Elisabeth’s    of Radio France, Paris. Compositions           Orgues Létourneau announces a
                                               husband in Hesse, and after his death,      include Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an          new organ to be built for St. Charles
                                               moved it to Frederiksborg. (For further     Exhibition, Wagner’s “Prelude” from          Avenue Presbyterian Church, New
                                               information on this organ see “Book         Tristan und Isolde, and Élisabeth Jac-       Orleans, Louisiana. This instrument
                                               Reviews,” in the December 2020 issue,       quet de la Guerre’s Sonata in G Minor.       will have divisions in all four corners of
                                               page 21.) For further information:          (For information on the Grenzing organ,      the church sanctuary to support a wide
                                               peterwaldner.at.                            see an article by the builder in the March                                  ³ page 10

Marcel Dupré: The Work of a Master
Organist
                                                                                                                                     NORTH AMERICA’S
  The Organ Historical Society                                                                                                    PREMIER PIPE ORGAN
catalog offers a new book: Marcel Dupré:
The Work of a Master Organist, second                                                                                            BUILDING, REBUILDING
edition, by Michael Murray ($85),                                                                                                  AND SERVICE FIRMS
marking the 50th anniversary of Dupré’s
death. The new edition, published by
Association des Amis de l’Art de Marcel
Dupré, is enlarged and contains more
photos. For information: ohscatalog.org.                                                                                                  OUR MEMBERS
                                                   WHY CHOOSE
Recordings                                         AN APOBA FIRM?                                                                          BUILDER MEMBERS:
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                                                     of the several generations who preceded them.                                                   Foley-Baker, Inc.
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Hymns of Kassianí                                    effectively, whether                                                            Patrick J. Murphy & Associates
                                                     purchasing an                                                                      Parsons Pipe Organ Builders
   Cappella Records announces a new                                                                                                          Pasi Organbuilders, Inc.
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CD: Hymns of Kassianí (CR422, $19.99),               a program for                                                                                 Schoenstein & Co.
featuring Cappella Romana, directed                                                                                                   Taylor & Boody Organbuilders
by Alexander Lingas. The disc includes
                                                     renovation or service.
                                                                                                                                                  A. Thompson-Allen
selections of the earliest surviving music
by a female composer, a ninth-century
nun, poet, and hymnographer, Kassianí              OUR VISION                                                                            SUPPLIER MEMBERS:
(Kassía). This is the first of a planned                                                                                        Integrated Organ Technologies, Inc.
series to record all of Kassianí’s surviving                                                                                       OSI - Total Pipe Organ Resources
                                                     Our vision is focused on the organ effectively serving                       Peterson Electro-Musical Products
works. For information:
cappellarecords.com.                                 the musical and liturgical needs of each congregation                                Solid State Organ Systems
                                                     for generations to come.                                                                   Syndyne Corporation
  Tastenfreuden announces a new CD:
Life Pictures: Scenes of the Life of King            Whether building a new organ or ensuring the
Christian IV, featuring keyboard works               longevity of your existing instrument,                                                   CONTACT US
by Sweelinck, Scheidt, Gibbons, Hassler,
Farnaby, Bull, Scheidemann, and others               APOBAwÀÃ>Ài>ÌÞÕÀÃiÀÛVi°
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    Gruenstein Award!                                                                                                                           Waterford, PA 16441

WWW.THEDIAPASON.COM                                                                                                                           THE DIAPASON      Q   MAY 2021   Q   9
T H E MAY 2021 - Christ Church Cathedral Cincinnati, Ohio Cover feature on pages 26-28
Here & There

         Nunc Dimittis
        John Borland Weaver, 83, died
     February 1. Born April 27, 1937, in
     Mauch Chunk (now Jim Thorpe),
     Pennsylvania, he began music studies
     at age six at the Peabody Conservatory
     of Music, Baltimore, Maryland. At
     age 14 he began to study organ with
     Richard Ross and George Markey.
     Soon thereafter, he became organist of
     a church in Baltimore and played his
     first organ recital.
        John Weaver earned his undergrad-
     uate degree from the Curtis Institute
     of Music, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
     where he was a student of Alexander
     McCurdy. After two years in the Army
     as organist and choir director of the
     Post Chapel at the United States
     Military Academy at West Point, New
     York, he earned a master of sacred
     music degree from Union Theological
     Seminary, New York, New York, where
     he studied organ with Robert Baker
     and composition with Joseph Good-
     man. He held honorary doctorates
     from Westminster College, New Wilm-
     ington, Pennsylvania, and the Curtis
     Institute of Music.
        Weaver taught at Curtis, serving as
     chair of the organ department between
     1972 and 2003, and also taught at
     Union Theological Seminary, Westmin-
     ster Choir College, and the Manhattan
     School of Music. He was chair of the        John Weaver at the Aeolian-Skinner console of the Curtis     John Borland Weaver at the M. P. Möller console of the Cur-
     organ department of The Juilliard           Institute of Music                                           tis Institute of Music
     School from 1987 until 2004.
        In 1959 John Weaver was appointed        States, Canada, Western Europe, the     Seattle, Washington. There was also a     honored by the Peabody Conservatory
     organist and choir director for Holy        United Kingdom, and Brazil. He was      release, The Organ and Choral music       with its distinguished alumni award.
     Trinity Lutheran Church, New York,          well known for presenting a large       of John Weaver, available on the JAV      He further received the distinguished
     New York. There he met his future wife,     repertoire of works from memory and     label, featuring a program of his own     alumni award from Union Theological
     Marianne, a flautist and choir member.      was featured on broadcast television    organ and choral compositions.            Seminary in 2008. (For an interview
     They would establish the Bach Vespers       and radio network programs in the          John Weaver performed at numer-        with John Weaver marking his 70th
     series at Holy Trinity in 1968, the first   United States and Germany. Weaver       ous regional and national conventions     birthday by Michael Barone, see the
     series in the United States where Bach      appeared in solo performances at        of the American Guild of Organists,       April 2007 issue of The Diapason,
     cantatas were performed in liturgical       Boston Symphony Hall, Alice Tully       a convention of the Organ Historical      pages 20–23.) In their retirement,
     context. John Weaver left Holy Trin-        Hall, the Philadelphia Academy of       Society, and at the 1987 International    John and Marianne Weaver lived in
     ity Church in 1970 to become music          Music, Orchestra Hall in Chicago, and   Congress of Organists in Cambridge,       Vermont, from whence he would con-
     director at Madison Avenue Presby-          Severance Hall in Cleveland. He made    England. At many of his appearances,      tinue to concertize and lead workshops
     terian Church, remaining until 2005.        recordings for Aeolian-Skinner, the     he concertized with his wife, Marianne.   and masterclasses.
     Among his many activities, he directed      Wicks Organ Company, Klais Orgel-          Among his compositions, Weaver            John Borland Weaver was prede-
     the St. Andrew Chorale in major works       bau of Germany, a CD released by        published Fantasia, Passacaglia on        ceased by his son Jonathan in 2008. He
     with orchestra.                             Gothic Records for the Schantz Organ    a Theme of Dunstable, and Toccata         is survived by his wife Marianne, one
        Weaver was represented by the            Company, and a recording on the Pro     with Boosey & Hawkes. He composed         daughter Kirianne, and two brothers,
     management of Karen McFarlane               Organo label on the new Reuter organ    choral works, as well as Rhapsody for     Robert and his wife Anne, and David
     Artists, Inc., performing in the United     at University Presbyterian Church,      flute and organ. In 1989, Weaver was      and his wife Barbara.                Q

                                                                                         ³ page 9                                   Cincinnati, Ohio. The layout, mecha-
                                                                                         range of liturgical music throughout       nism, console, control system, and relay
                                                                                         the space. Létourneau’s Opus 138, a        are all new. The project reused 31 ranks
                                                                                         four-manual organ of 79 ranks, will be     of the church’s 1971 Möller organ,
                                                                                         completed during summer 2024. For          revoiced, while 18 new ranks were
                                                                                         information: letourneauorgans.com.         installed, resulting in an instrument of
                             2020-2022 Projects                                                                                     49 ranks playable across three manuals.
                                                                                                                                    The existing non-speaking façade pipes
 86$LU)RUFH$FDGHP\3URWHVWDQW&DGHW&KDSHOĆ&RORUDGR6SULQJV&R                                                                were also cleaned and restored.
                    Rebuild III/83 Moller/Holtkamp                                                                                     Among the projects currently under-
                                                                                                                                    way is a rebuilding of the console from
 86$LU)RUFH$FDGHP\&DWKROLF&DGHW&KDSHOĆ&RORUDGR6SULQJV&R                                                                  Mount Hebron United Methodist,
                   Rebuild III/33 Moller/Holtkamp                                                                                   West Columbia, South Carolina, with
                                                                                                                                    a modern control system. Casters will
                           7KH)R[7KHDWUHĆ$WODQWD*D                                                                            be installed to allow the two-manual
                  Rebuild “Mighty Mo” Moller theater organ console                                                                  console to be movable, and several
                                                                                                                                    other minor mechanical revisions are
               %URDG6WUHHW3UHVE\WHULDQ&KXUFKĆ&ROXPEXV2K
                                                                                                                                    also being carried out on this instrument
               Build V-manual console with new windchests and more                                                                  built by Schantz in 1975. For informa-
                  6W$QGUHZ(SLVFRSDO&KXUFKĆ)RUW3LHUFH)OD                                                                     tion: schantzorgan.com.                Q
                              New III/31 pipe organ
          St Simons Island Presbyterian ChurchĆ6W6LPRQV,VODQG*D
                              New III/38 pipe organ
                                                                                                                                       THE DIAPASON thanks
               3OXVPRUHSURMHFWVIRUQHZFRQVROHVQHZIDFDGHV
               UHEXLOGLQJDQGUHVWRUDWLRQRIYLQWDJHLQVWUXPHQWV                        St. Mary Catholic Church, Cincinnati,
                                                                                                                                              APOBA
                                                                                         Ohio                                            for providing complimentary
                                                                                                                                              subscriptions to the
                       How can we help you?                                                Schantz Organ Company, Orrville,            20 Under 30 Class of 2021
                  ZZZSLSHRUJDQFRPĆ                                       Ohio, recently completed its project
                                                                                         #2336 for St. Mary Catholic Church,

10   Q   THE DIAPASON    Q   MAY 2021                                                                                                            WWW.THEDIAPASON.COM
On Teaching                                                                                                               By Gavin Black                                  By Gavin Black

Pedals: one more time                            it is not a good idea to track detritus of       much the shoes change the size. Agility         accustomed to be replaceable when they
    The aim this month is to wrap up             the outdoors onto the pedalboard, that           and flexibility are the important things:       wear out? The ones that I wear have not
a few loose ends about pedal playing,            tells us nothing at all about what sort of       any mismatch between the size of one’s          been made in a while. I purchased my last
including some interesting points that           shoes to wear or not to wear while play-         feet and the pedalboard can almost cer-         few pairs on eBay, and there are not any
I gleaned from readers’ feedback fol-            ing. For organ playing, one could bring          tainly be dealt with by angling the feet        available there now. What will I do when
lowing last December’s pedal-oriented            a second pair of the very same shoes in          more or less or in some different way.          these shoes wear out?
column. This will be the twelfth column          which one walks. I did this for decades,         Not that it is necessarily a mistake for this       One reader wrote of an early organ
that I have written over the years that is       although honesty requires me to admit            player to play in socks, if it works. This      teacher who tied their students’ knees
specifically focused on pedal playing.           that I also have sometimes let myself just       reminds me that one of my core beliefs          together for playing. This is a vivid way
    Numerous people are concerned and            keep my walking shoes on if it is dry out        about pedal playing is that everything to       of getting to the heart of what I want
sometimes perplexed about what sort              and I dust them off. (This seems to have         do with exact foot position—especially          the core practical center of this pedal
of shoes to wear when playing pedals.            been the approach of Marcel Dupré,               but not limited to the extent and exact         method to be about. In several columns
In fact, that issue alone generated the          as I mentioned in my December 2020               direction of any turning of the ankles—is       I have written about my skepticism of
majority of comments. One reader sent            column. I am not sure that we know how           a very individual matter. My quest is to        dictating in advance a particular position
me the following summary of quotes               much dusting off he did.) Since I wrote          give students guidance on how to work           for the knees or legs for pedal playing.
about the matter, with his comments,             that I play the organ in New Balance             that out without trying to prescribe an         It is not illogical or absurd to think that
that he had collected over the years:            walking shoes, I have stopped walking in         answer in advance.                              a stable position could be of assistance
    1) “I play in cowboy boots.”                 those shoes, in favor of something more             I tend to look at the issue of shoes or      in something that presents as being as
    2) “I can feel the pedals better in          appropriate in its orthopedic approach,          no shoes as being mainly about comfort          arcane and difficult as finding notes with
socks.”                                          but I still use them at the organ.               and secondarily about style and presenta-       the feet. I have plenty of respect for
    3) “I travel to Europe . . . . Organists        4) This is true for some people, and for      tion. But in a recent conversation my col-      anyone’s efforts to find solutions. And if
there wear street shoes.”                        me at this point in my life. I have never        league Thomas Dressler reminded me              I want my very different solutions to be
    4) “You can injure your foot if you          been particularly interested in playing          that it also ties in with a player’s approach   convincing, I must make it abundantly
don’t wear shoes.”                               without shoes, but I could do it in a pinch.     to using heels. Without shoes we are rely-      clear that they work and make it as trans-
    5) “I do not sit near the organist on        Sometimes around home I have wanted              ing on only the shape of our feet to reach      parent as possible how and why they
hot days.” (I assumed that said organist         to play just a little bit but have felt lazy     the keys. Even a pair of shoes that does        work. That is the absolute core.
is wearing only socks.)                          about finding shoes and socks. However,          not have a built-up heel gives the player           Other readers reminded me to make
    6) “The method books only mention            over the last few years I have noticed           a bit of an assist in reaching with the part    the method as systematic and logical as
to wear shoes.”                                  that if I do this even briefly, I get signifi-   of the foot that cannot extend far. This is     possible. This is my intention, and one
    7) [my favorite] “My first organ             cant pain in my feet. (This also occurs if       a bigger issue, as Dressler pointed out,        about which I am happy to be reminded.
teacher was a nice old sweet lady. She           I drive without shoes, by the way.) This         the farther toward the edges of the pedal       One issue is the number of exercises I
wore shoes but let me play in socks.”            is a late-middle-age medical/orthopedic          keyboard one goes. If a student wants           should include for each particular tech-
    8) “I have very big feet . . . . Shoes are   development, and it is not surprisingly          the assistance afforded by actual built-        nical point or stage. Should I rely on stu-
too big, I use socks.”                           one that I am not happy with. The point          up heels, then that renders the notion          dents to create their own exercises with
I added the numbers above for ease of            that I take away from this is that things        of playing without shoes moot and also          plenty of guidance? I believe that this is
reference to my comments below.                  change. This could in principle apply to         guides the choice of shoes.                     a good thing, but I want to be sure that
    These comments are intended to               anything and everything about the ques-             I realize that my own actual and             the guidance is sufficient. I will likely
be humorous, but each of these is also           tion of organ-appropriate shoes, and to          practical way of encountering this ques-        end up using more exercises than I have
really apt. I can relate to several of           everything about pedal playing as such.          tion of playing without shoes is a very         included as part of any pedal-playing
these remarks, either from personal              How does one write a pedal method and            specific one. If a student, either new to       columns, though certainly not enough to
experience or as something that I have           take into account changing needs? It is          the instrument or with some experience,         be exhaustive, if there is such a thing.
encountered with students or colleagues:         crucial to ponder that.                          indicated that they really want to play             Several readers suggested that I
    1) I have never played in cowboy                5) Presumably the “hot days” remark           in socks, my immediate impulse would            include a generous selection of actual
boots, but I have once or twice played in        is about aroma, and that is one particular       be to discourage that. I need to sort           pieces or substantial passages drawn from
snow boots. This came about for two very         circumstance. What we do in playing              out why that is my immediate impulse,           a variety of repertoire. That is also a good
different reasons. Once I had walked to          the organ is often bound up with inter-          what reasons there are for or against           idea, possibly as a separate volume of my
school in the snow in boots and unex-            relationships and appearances that have          that impulse, and what is the best way          method. But what I would not expect to
pectedly needed to play. I kept my boots         nothing to do with the music or the              to address this in writing, absent any          do is to provide pedaling for those pieces.
on—cleaning them thoroughly. The other           instrument as such. Some of the specifics        possibility for back-and-forth discussion.      Instead I would want to give a concise
time I had snow boots with me but had            when it comes to organ playing have to              (I noticed by chance right now in a          but thorough discussion for each piece
been walking in regular shoes through            do with religious services and the tradi-        brief break from writing a video of some-       of what some of the possibilities are for
the snow. That time I used the boots             tions and ethos of those situations. This        one changing stops with their feet while        thinking about whatever pedaling issues
because they were clean. Playing in boots        can be a pervasive issue. I believe that it      playing! This absolutely requires playing       the piece presents either typical of a type
was awkward: I would not recommend               is critical to use shoes or not use shoes        in neither shoes nor socks. I doubt that        of piece or peculiar to that one piece
it, and I do not know why the organist           in whatever way really works for playing         this technique will catch on.)                  in some way. This would also be a good
quoted above liked to do it. But it moved        and is free of any tension or pain. Style           Another reader wrote that she likes to       place to remind a student to notate pedal
me to think a lot about foot position and        and look must be secondary, even when            play in organ shoes because the sameness        markings exclusively in pencil!
how to maintain relaxation while playing.        they are important.                              of feel is important. It is disconcerting to        Another reader suggested that this
I come back to that memory frequently               6) This is very important, though not         have the feel of a foot on pedals be differ-    whole project could be or should be
while practicing or teaching.                    because of its own specifics. Rather, it is      ent from one time to another. This makes        produced as a video rather than as a
    2) I note that people have differing         important to remember that we have a             sense to me. Over the years, when I have        book. That seems like a great idea to me,
concepts as to whether feeling the pedals        strong tendency to believe what we read.         occasionally needed to plan on a different      though as a supplement, not a replace-
with tactile sensitivity while playing is a      It is utterly incumbent on anyone writ-          pair of shoes for a particular performance,     ment. I am daunted by video technology,
good thing. I find it interesting that I do      ing a method or any other authoritative          I have made a point of getting used to          or at least relatively inexperienced with
not have a clear idea as to what I think         work to ensure that what they write is           them over as long a period of time as pos-      it. I will tuck that idea away in my mind
about that. There are perhaps dangers            sound. But equally important is making           sible. This process has never quite worked      somewhere and return to it at some point.
to being too caught up feeling the keys          it clear that flexibility is almost always       to make me as comfortable as I would be             I have many notes on this project, in
by trying to caress the keys or hold on to       important, that nothing is engraved in           in my regular organ shoes. This principle       my head, in writing, in emails, indeed
them. If the latter leads to active use of       stone. This is most of what I have been          does not say anything about what exactly        in effect as the whole or certain parts of
the toes—curling them, for example—it            musing about in trying to settle on how          the shoes should be. It works just as well      some previous columns. I will now stir it
is probably in most cases a place where          to give my pedal method its final shape.         with any of the thoughtfully designed           all together and see what comes about. Q
problems could arise. On the other hand,         This brief comment suggests not that the         “official” organ shoes, my New Balance
any sense that the foot is inert or clunky,      methods in question actively discourage          shoes, or anything else that is intrinsically      Gavin Black is director of the Princeton
or that the shoes are a barrier to supple-       playing in socks or bare feet, but that          correct. However, it is worth bearing this      Early Keyboard Center, Inc., Princeton,
ness, is at least as great a danger.             they simply did not mention it. No one           in mind as it relates to the passage of         New Jersey (pekc.org). He can be reached
    3) The question of whether one may           should assume that a method book cov-            years. Will the shoes that you like and are     at gavinblackbaroque@gmail.com.
wear street shoes to play is a very big          ers everything. But we have an impulse
one. It encompasses all sorts of other           to assume that. How can a writer be
matters, starting with concern about             clear, emphatic, and honest about what
dirtying the pedals. It seems pretty             they think without inadvertently seem-
self-evident that it is a good idea not to       ing to close out other options?
allow a pedal keyboard to become dirty              7) I am a proponent for allowing stu-
or gritty, and especially not to scratch         dents to establish their own preferences.
it. Can this be achieved by walking into         This is a good model for students to
the room already wearing the shoes in            not necessarily do everything that your
which you are going to play but making           teacher does—or for the teacher not to
sure to clean them? That might depend            assume that what is right for you is also
on what is going on outside, particularly        right for everyone else.
when it comes to various types of inclem-           8) This gets back to the cowboy boot
ent weather. But it is also important to         thing. The question as it relates to shoes
keep issues separate. If we think that           is not what size one’s feet are, but how

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