Disc #1
Bach: Sinfonia from Cantata #29
Krigbaum: Processional for the President
A narrated introduction to the organ
The Diapasons
The Flutes
The Strings
The Reeds
Bright College Years
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Disc #2
Mozart:Fantasia in f minor, K. 608
Vaughan Williams: Two arrangements of Welsh Folk Songs-
Romanz- St. David's Day
Reger: Benedictus
Introduction and Passacaglia in d
Hindemith: Sonata I
Bonnet: Matin Provençale
Karg Elert: from Vorspiele
Werde munter, meine Seele
Mach hoch die Tür
Rimsky Korsakov: Procession of Nobles from the
opera Mlada
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Yale University has twin treasures embodied in the world renowned Newberry Memorial Organ and the resonant acoustics of the organ's home, Woolsey Hall. This documentary consists of two CDs and a 72-page book with a photo essay and numerous articles on the Newberry Organ. Disc One is a lecture with musical demonstrations of different organ stops and divisions of the Newberry Organ; the second disc is an organ concert recorded live. All performances are by Professor Thomas Murray, Professor of Music and University Organist at Yale.
The organ at Woolsey Hall, given by the Newberry family of Detroit, was originally built and later rebuilt by three of the finest organbuilders in the United States: the Hutchings-Votey Organ Company, the Steere Organ Company, and the Skinner Organ Company of Boston. These two rebuilds were unusually successful in creating an extremely beautiful and satisfying instrument. Nicholas Thompson-Allen and Joseph Dzeda are the Curators of Organs at Yale, and have kept the organ in immaculate repair, and today it is tonally and mechanically as it was left by the Skinner Organ Company some seventy years ago.
This pipe organ is among the largest organs in the world today with 12,617 pipes. The gigantic size of this instrument is not what makes it great, however; it is the almost infinite tonal palette of refined color that makes this organ very rare.
The music on these discs is widely varied to demonstrate the almost limitless tonal colors Professor Murray can achieve with this instrument. The massive earth-shaking thunder of the Newberry Organ is unleashed in the Reger Introduction & Passacaglia in d minor. The wide dynamic range of this instrument is heard in the Reger Benedictus by means of Professor Murray's masterful manipulation of the organ through a terrific crescendo to the full organ and back down to a hushed whisper. Paul Hindemith's Sonata is treated in a symphonic manner with warmth and varied colors not found in the typical performance of the piece. The Procession of Nobles is a grand march with heralded trumpeting on the numerous high-pressure reeds on the organ. Professor Murray exudes musicianship with each note and the Newberry Organ responds, giving him a rich color palette of sound found in very few other places in the world.
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