Month: December 2013

"In His Mother's Arms for the First Time" W. Zeitler — flute & piano I well remember when I held my brand-new daughter in my arms for the very first time. And how her oh-so-tiny hand, try as it might, couldn’t wrap itself all the way around even one of my fingers. It was a…

"The Adoration of the Magi" W.Zeitler — brass quintet and organ   To me one of the noteworthy themes of the Christmas story is the prominence of dreams, and how seriously they were taken. We have Joseph’s two dreams – that it was O.K. to marry Mary after all, and that he should skip town…

Pastorale Charles Wesley (Jr.) (1757-1834) — organ Charles Wesley (Jr.), the son of the celebrated hymn writer Charles Wesley and nephew of the Anglican clergyman and founder of Methodism John Wesley, was an infant prodigy and, at the age of three, he was compared favorably to the young Mozart. In spite of family opposition, Charles…

Toccata, Adagio & Fugue in C, BWV 564 J.S. Bach (1685-1750) — organ Bach’s first official organ post was at Arnstadt, which featured a small instrument in a small town (population 3800) and a choir director noted for leaving in the middle of the sermon to visit a wine shop. In 1705 a 20-year-old Bach…