Author: william

Bureaucratic Sonatina E. Satie (1866–1925)  Narrator: Pat Morris [Text] He walks merrily to his office, full of himself. Contentedly he wags his head. He loves a pretty, most elegant lady. He also loves his penholder, his green lustrous cuffs, and his chines cap. He takes long strides; he hurries to the stairs and mounts them…

Invocation C. Gounod (1818–1893) Chorale Prelude on "Here, O Our Lord, We See You Face to Face" Prelude in Bb J.S.Bach (1685-1750) The concert pianist Charles Hallé visited Paris to give a recital, and afterwards went to a reception where he met Gounod. Gounod seized him by both hands and thanked him profusely for the…

Spanish Dance No. 2 E. Granados (1867-1916) Chorale Prelude on “I Love Thy Kingdom, Lord” Fugue in Gm Anonymous The Spanish composer Granados was ever the prankster, and after he became established in Spain the ‘brilliant’ idea occurred to him that he and his colleagues should form an orchestra in which everyone played an instrument…

“The Sower” W. Zeitler Fantasia J. Pachelbel (1653–1706) The Gospel appointed for this Sunday is the Parable of the Sower (found in Matthew 13, Mark 4 and Luke 8): the sower casts his seeds on the field. Some lands on the path where the birds eat it. Some lands on rocky ground, it grows quickly…

O Gott, du Frommer Gott J. Brahms O God, Our Faithful God O Gott, du Frommer Gott J. S. Bach Certain hymns have caught the imaginations of composers down through the eons more than others, and “O Gott, du Frommer Gott” — better known to us as “O God, Our Faithful God” is one of…

Theme and Variations on “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” L. Beethoven (1770-1827) “A Patriotic Tune” W. Zeitler In 1803 Beethoven was planning on visiting England for a piano concert tour. In general in England he found benevolent publishers and philharmonic societies which performed his compositions. A popular music format of the day was “theme and…

Sonata in D (K419) D. Scarlatti (1685-1757) Allegro from Concerto Grosso Op. 6, No. 4 G. Handel (1685-1759) At the time of Handel’s birth, what is now Germany was a loose confederation of feudal states known as the Holy Roman Empire. Handel was born in the state known as Saxony, and as he became famous…

Selections from “Notebook for Wolfgang” Leopold Mozart (1719-1787) Leopold Mozart was a German composer, conductor, teacher, and — the father and teacher of his spectacularly famous son Wolfgang. Leopold and his wife had seven children, of whom only two survived: Maria Anna (1751–1829) — better known by her nickname ‘Nannerl’, and her younger brother Wolfgang…

Prelude in C J.S.Bach (1685-1750) Chorale Prelude on “Spirit of the Living God” Psalm 104 W. Zeitler There are approximately 6000 to 7000 different human languages. The Guinness Book of World Records lists Ziad Fazah (b. 1954) as the world’s greatest living polyglot, fluent in 59 languages. As extraordinary as that accomplishment is, that’s still…

Prelude Op.28 No.15 "Raindrop" F. Chopin (1810-1849) Chorale Prelude on "God of Grace and God of Glory" "Ich Dank Dir, Lieber Herre" ("I Thank You, Dear Lord") S. Karg-Elert (1877-1933) In Chopin's day there was a gentleman of considerable musical abilities who played very well and was extremely fond of Chopin's music, playing many of…