25 Mellow Piano Favorites CD

Unlike on the Continent, English organs remained fairly small until the 19th century, and pedals were almost unheard of. Although the Silbermann organ used for these recordings does have a pedal division, it consists of only a few stops and is thus not a complete division. The pedal was not used at all on this album, since all the music was written for manuals only.

The music, of course, was adapted to the instruments available. These are not grand works in the style of Bach, or even Buxtehude. Most of the pieces are essentially incidental music, intended to be used at the beginning or end of the church service or as a short interlude between sections. Indeed, this music still is very useful for this purpose, and, as my well-worn book suggests, I have used many of these compositions numerous times as preludes, offertories, and postludes.

About the organistI started piano lessons before I even started school, meaning that I actually learned to read music before I learned to read! My first music teacher, Mrs. Rittenhouse, instilled a love of music in me that remains to this day. When she became too old and had to quit teaching, I took lessons from Mrs. Hempel. She helped me continue to advance my knowledge of music theory, my piano-playing skills, and my ability to improvise beyond the written music. My third piano teacher, Mr. Hicks, was also my first organ teacher. He taught me to love classical music, and it was under his tutelage that I gave my first concert, a program that consisted of all 24 of Chopin's preludes, when I was only 16 years old.

A year before I started college, I began studying organ with Mr. Donald Vaughn, and I continued to study with him throughout my college years. From him I learned an immense amount about organs, about sensitive and musical playing styles, and about music theory. I can never play an organ piece without thinking of the methods of interpretation that he taught me.