Saturday, January 1, 2011

Music for the Pastor's Study: Part IX. The Organ

What would the pastor's study be without great organ music?  Unfortunately, so many organ CD's aim to represent the entire opus or several opera by a single composer in all its (their) rich variety or to the showcase the performance chops of a great organist. Would that there were more thoroughly contemplative records like this one by Todd Wilson who clearly has a highly developed sense of what is appropriate for worship. I know preachers don't have traveling theme music, and we would appear even more ridiculous if we did, but if every time I preached I could request one of the first half dozen pieces on Disc 1 of In a Quiet Cathedral, I could be quite content with that. Vaughan Williams' Prelude on 'Rhosymedre" in particular is, to my mind, the perfect prelude to worship, bar none. Note the way it breathes and, more importantly, what it does for your own respiration rate. That is the hidden key to a great prelude.

No comments: