Pachelbel was the most important South German composer of the middle Baroque, a generation before Bach. He composed a large amount of organ, keyboard, instrumental and vocal music. Pachelbel’s music tends to be very … [ More → ]

At the Prelude (10:45 am): Toccata and Fugue in D Minor Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) This amazing piece almost lives in a world of its own among the organ pieces of Bach. Its construction is the “loosest” of any of his large-scale organ works, and, indeed, there are other pieces more profound, more perfectly constructed. …  [ More → ]

It’s called a circular prelude because the melody just keeps coming back, over and over again, and that’s the “form” of the piece. I chose this work because it is a perfect vehicle for the French 19th century Fonds 8′. In that Romantic, symphonic era, the 8′ foundation tone included all the foundation stops the organ had – montres, flutes, gambes (strings) … [ More → ]

Frescobaldi was the first great composer of keyboard music in Italy. Prior to his time, the great composers were writing for voice (especially choral music) or small instrumental ensembles. At first, keyboard instruments were used primarily for improvisations. In each of the European countries … [ More → ]