Marcel

This is not intended to be organised as a church service or a concert performance per se, but rather, as the co-producer Carol Rosenberger states, 'this album is meant to recreate an experience many of us have treasured: slipping inside the doors of a cathedral and finding oneself alone in a vast, quiet space with light streaming through stained glass windows. The organist begins to play gentle music, and one is lost in contemplation...'

As a churchy person, I've often had the experience of working or sitting in an empty church while the organists or their students practiced. This recording in many ways reminds me of that experience. Of course, our organ is a far cry from the pipe organ in Atlanta's Cathedral of St. Philip, with over 5000 pipes (and our church does not have a 5-second delay reverberation, either), 4 manuals and 96 ranks. This Aeolian-Skinner organ is a genuinely stunning instrument, but as with any instrument, it takes the right performer to bring out the fullness of the sound from it.

Todd Wilson is just such a performer. His playing is solid and well-suited for this task, with occasional flashes of brilliance. Mozart's 'Adagio', Bach's 'Jesu, Joy of Many's Desiring', and Barber's 'Adadio for Strings' (here arranged for the organ) are truly wonderful pieces. The programme here is a diverse collection of pieces from Baroque, Renaissance, and later pieces, including folk tunes and a few modern compositions. Todd Wilson is a church organist and music director at Church of the Covenant in Cleveland, Ohio (a city with not insignificant music resources and life), and is also head of the Organ Department at the Cleveland Institute of Music. He has had an international performance and recording career.

I applaud the decision to make this a double-disc set - the producer writes that there was just too much good music to limit the selection. Thus, there is a method to the organisation, given the availability of two discs. The first disc has more simple pieces, easily recognisable melodies and well-known hymn/sacred pieces. The second disc has a bit more complexity of music.

There is a booklet that is particularly designed for young people, so that they may become more familiar with the organ as an instrument, and this type of music.

This is a truly wonderful recording.