September 2014

Temple Organs has built a new pipe organ for First United Methodist Church, Burlington, Iowa, to replace an earlier Temple organ destroyed in a catastrophic arson fire in 2007. The organ comprises 60 ranks, with a four-manual console, and includes a polished copper Trompette-en-Chamade. The exposed Great, Solo, and horizontal Trompette surround the unique rose window, which is six windows around one, whose concrete frame was salvaged after the fire. A large oak frame will enclose a future LCD screen.

From the organbuilder

In their search for an organbuilder, Memorial Presbyterian Church identified an ability to lead hymn singing as a priority for their new instrument. The accompaniment of the church’s choir and the needs of the organ repertoire were important but less significant considerations; this pipe organ’s raison d’être was to support a large congregation in song. As a result, our Opus 122 was designed to offer the perceptive player a wide array of colors and textures for leading hymns and word painting.

What happens when the pastor and organ committee in an active rural church challenge their congregation to support the purchase of a world-class pipe organ? Members at Zion Lutheran Church in Mascoutah, Illinois (adjacent to Scott Air Force Base and some thirty minutes outside St.

Unless you read the White House Blog daily, you no doubt missed a quiet but monumental announcement. On February 11, 2014, the White House issued an executive order essentially banning international trade in items containing ivory, as well as tightly controlling movement of personally owned items containing ivory. Two weeks later, on February 25, 2014, Dan Ashe, director of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, released Director’s Order 210 giving the draconian details of implementation.

One of the most interesting genres of music to arise during the 17th century was that of Portuguese and Spanish battle music written specifically for the organ. Iberian organs, highly versatile for their size and often equipped with formidable banks of horizontal reeds, were an inseparable factor in the development of this musical category, and still inform us how to play it.

Hand Distribution III

Continuing our trek through the Alla Breve section of Bach’s D Major Prelude and Fugue, BWV 532—looking closely at issues involving hand distribution—we come to a brief section that is influenced by something other than the music itself:

Photos of cats

Read recently on Facebook:

“We each have in our hands an instrument with nearly limitless computing power that gives me instant access to worlds of information, and we use it to publish photos of cats.”