No comments about Diane Bish Favorite Organ Selections.

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1 comments about Gellerman's International Reed Organ Atlas, Second Edition.

1. The Atlas is an excellent resource for those who wish to research a particular organ, or to acquaint themselves with the various manufacturers of Reed Organs. The book is arranged like a dictionary, and includes the names of the individuals involved in manufacture, as well as company names, and related suppliers. The volume lists US and International manufacturers. The book is very helpful for basic information, but does not give great detail on any one manufacturer, or provide information on the price or rarity of specific instruments. It does supply some serial numbers and the corresponding dates of manufacture. There are pictures (black and white) of organs, advertisements, and related items throughout the volume, but they are not extensive, and seem to be more for 'decoration' than reference. If you are looking for information on that dusty old parlor organ you found in Grandpa's barn, this is a great reference to get you started. The author has also published several other books that deal with the restoration of these instruments you might find helpful. Another excellent book (which is in Gellerman's bibliography) is Michel's Reed Organ Atlas, (1969) . It has more extensive photo plates, but is harder to find. (I found it in my local library) Good luck if you are researching a particular instrument. Chances are you will find SOME information about it in Gellerman's International Reed Organ Atlas.

1 comments about The American Reed Organ and the Harmonium: A Treatise on Its History, Restoration and Tuning, With Descriptions of Some Outstanding Collections, Including a Stop Dictionary and a Directory of.

1. This book offers an in-depth look into the history of the reed organ. This is the stregnth of the book. It discusses how the reed organ grew in popularity, why it flourished in the society of its time, and then describes its demise. The restoration information is also good. The workings of the organ are described in a fair amount of detail. The tuning section is quite good. It gives exact methods and tells how to make various tools. It includes stop faces, a stop dictionary, company logos, and other useful information. As I mentioned before, though, the real stregnth of this book is the history! A great read for anyone interested in reed organs.

1 comments about The Organ As a Mirror of I Time: North European Reflections, 1610-2000 Text & CD.

1. Do the names Cavaille-Coll, Cahman, Compenius, Marcussen, and Arp Schnitger sound familiar? If not, this book, most likely, is not for you. If you do recognize them, and are appreciative of their work, you will really enjoy The Organ as a Mirror Of Its Time, which is a collection of articles skillfully edited and arranged by Kerala J. Snyder. These prominent and historic European pipe organ builders, along with some of their more famous instruments, comprise the theme around which the contributors collectively construct an intriguing historical, cultural, political, and artistic context. The scope of the book spans four centuries, and concentrates on six specific representative instruments in Sweden, Denmark, and Germany. While the composite of all the articles achieves the intended overview, each article has a life of its own and can be enjoyed outside the surrounding framework of the book.

   After reading this book, you will have an insatiable desire to hear the instruments that you have just learned so much about. Fortunately, the book comes with a CD, which has performances on each of the six subject organs. One piece by Bengt Hambraeus, called Riflessioni (played on the Marcussen in Oscar's Church, Stockholm, Sweden) will blow you away.

   Obviously, this book is for real devotees of classical European pipe organs and their milieu. If you fit in that category, I highly recommend this book to you. However, you will find that a couple of the articles were written BY academics FOR academics (bless them....they can't help it), but the effect is softened by their being intermingled with articles written for the rest of the human race. The only other disappointment involves the last of the six instruments, the North German organ in Orgryte New Church, Goteborg, which was built with the combined efforts of several university research and development teams, scientists in the fields of Metallurgy, Fluid Dynamics, and Applied Acoustics, and all of it coordinated by an international team of organ designers, builders, and voicing specialists. The instrument was conceived as a composite of several Arp Schnitger organs in Hamburg, Zwolle, Lubeck, and Alkmaar. It was completed and subsequently inaugurated in August of 2000. From the picture of it on page 343, it looks magnificent. After such a build-up, you really want to hear what it sounds like, which you can do by listening to the last cut on the CD. However, due to the selection of a particularly dreary piece (a Chorale by Weckmann), and the organist's uninspired choice of registration, the organ unwittingly comes across sounding like what it really is.....an organ built by a committee.

1 comments about The Joy of Music: Organ Settings of Favorite Hymns, Vol. 2.

1. I was trying to purchse the CD of this & by my mistake I purchsed the sheet music. I cannot play the organ so I hae not been able to listen to it. Sorry I couldn't rate it.