Buffalo calls to mind the majesty of Niagara Falls and the border into Canada, our nation’s northern neighbor. Buffalo’s ascent as one of America’s great cities began in the 19th century with the opening of the Erie Canal and continued into the first half of the 20th century with the wealth and influence of the steel industry. Such times of prosperity generate wealth and with it, interest in the arts and architecture. Buffalo’s architectural grandeur is augmented by an amazing variety of pipe organs installed in area sacred and secular venues. This recording, highlighting the 2004 OHS National Convention, presents a lush assortment of instruments and styles of organbuilding in the 19th and 20th centuries, ranging from modest mid-1800s instruments to grand instruments of the romantic and symphonic period, and a healthy collection of well-designed organs at the beginning of the mid-20th century orgelbewegung movement.

Compact Disc 1

Saint Francis Xavier Catholic Church, Buffalo, NY
1932 Herman Schlicker
Tom Trenney, organist
Hymn: I sing the mighty power of God
Dudley Buck: Variations on The Last Rose of Summer

Kenmore Presbyterian Church, Buffalo, NY
1948 Schlicker Organ Co.
Gail Archer, organist
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck: Malle Sijmen
Johann Sebastian Bach: Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr, BWV 662

Trinity Episcopal Church, Buffalo, NY
1954 Schlicker Organ Co.
Stephen Schnurr, organist
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, attr.: Balletto del granduca
Dieterich Buxtehude: Toccata in d, BuxWV 155

Saint Paul Episcopal Cathedral, Buffalo, NY
1975 & 1988 Schlicker Organ Co.
St. Paul Episcopal Cathedral Choirs, Andrew Cantrill, Director; Andrew Scanlon, organist
Edward C. Bairstow: Blessed City, Heavenly Salem

Andrew Scanlon, organist
Paul Hindemith: Sonata II
Lebhaft
Ruhig bewegt
Fuge, Mässig (esset) bewegt, heiter

First Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, Tonawanda, NY
1966 Schlicker Organ Co.
Frederick Teardo, organist
Dieterich Buxtehude: Præludium in d, BuxWV 140
Johann Sebastian Bach: Allegro from Trio Sonata No. 5 in C Major, BWV 529

Saint Stephen Catholic Church, Buffalo, NY
1860 Garret House
Bruce Stevens, organist
Alexandre Guilmant: Introduction et Variations sur un ancien noël polonais
Niels Gade: Chorale Prelude on Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern

Forest Lawn Cemetery Chapel, Buffalo, NY
1933 Rudolph Wurlitzer
Justin Hartz, organist
Percy Fletcher: Fountain Reverie

Compact Disc 2

Central Park United Methodist Church, Buffalo, NY
1923 Skinner Organ Co.
Thomas Murray, organist
Max Reger: Introduction and Passacaglia in d minor

Baker Memorial United Methodist Church, East Aurora, NY
1928 Skinner Organ Co.
Peter Stoltzfus, organist
Girolamo Frescobaldi: Passacaglia per organo (trans. for piano, Ottorino Respighi; arr. for organ, Leo Sowerby) Louis Vierne: Clair de lune from Pièces de Fantasie, Deuxième Suite, Op. 53, No. 5

Westminster Presbyterian Church, Buffalo, NY
1959 Aeolian-Skinner
Felix Hell, organist
César Franck: Chorale No. 2 in b

1951 Aeolian-Skinner
Lorenz Maycher, organist
Georg Philipp Telemann: How Brightly Shines the Morning Star
Leo Sowerby: Whimsical Variations

Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Buffalo, NY
1949 M. P. Möller et al.
James Bigham, organist
Hymn: Go to Dark Gethsemane
Hymn: Rock of Ages

Saint Louis Catholic Church, Buffalo, NY
1903 W. W. Kimball
Will Headlee, organist
Marcel Dupré: Prelude and Fugue in f minor, Op. 7, No. 2
Hymn: Round the Lord in Glory Seated

Ascension Episcopal Church, Buffalo, NY
1934 W. W. Kimball
Stephen Roberts, organist
Josef Rheinberger: Vision

Compact Disc 3

Saint Joseph Catholic Cathedral, Buffalo, NY
1876 Hook & Hastings et al.
Ken Cowan, organist
Dieterich Buxtehude: Ciaccona in c, BuxWV 159
Hymn: Dear Lord and Father of Mankind
David Conte: Prelude & Fugue (in memoriam, Nadia Boulanger)

Saint Anthony of Padua Catholic Church, Buffalo, NY
1889 Hook & Hastings
Donald Fellows, organist
Hymn: If Now, Thou Seekest Miracles
Max Reger: Te Deum, Op. 59

Ascension Catholic Church, North Tonawanda, NY
1895 Felgemaker
Rhonda Sider Edgington, organist
Johann Pachelbel: Partita on Herzlich tut mich verlangen
Saint John the Baptist Catholic Church, Boston, NY
1901 Felgemaker
Tim Socha, organ; Melissa Stewart, flute
Antonio Vivaldi: Sonata in g for flute, Op. 16, No. 10
Vivace
Alla breve
Largo
Allegro ma non presto

First Universalist Church, Middleport, NY
1902 Barckhoff
J. R. Daniels, organist
William Harris: Prelude

Middleport Fundamental Baptist Church, Middleport, NY
1906 Barckhoff
Jason Alden, organist
Rudolf Friml: Echoes of Spring (trans. Edward Shippen Barnes)
Antonio Valente: La Romanesca

Jordan River Missionary Baptist Church, Buffalo, NY
1919 Votteler-Holtkamp-Sparling
Randy Bourne, organist
Felix Mendelssohn: Wedding March from A Midsummer Night’s Dream (trans. Edward Shippen Barnes)

Shea’s Buffalo Center for the Performing Arts, Buffalo, NY
1926 Wurlitzer
Scott Foppiano, organist
Oscar Straus and Stanislaus Stange My Hero
Sammy Fain, Ben’ee Russell and Irving Mills Turkish Towel

First Presbyterian Church, Buffalo, NY
1970 Robert Noehren
David Bond, organist
Hymn: Ye Watchers and Ye Holy Ones
Pietro Yon: Humoresque from L’Organo primitivo
Louis-Claude d’Aquin: Noël Etranger

Compact Disc 4

Saint Stanislaus Catholic Church, Buffalo, NY
1893 Johnson & Son
Frederick Swann, organist
Joseph Rheinberger: Sonata VIII in e, opus 132
Introduction & Passacaglia
Hymn: Holy God, We Praise Thy Name
C. Hubert H. Parry: Fantasia and Fugue in g

Delaware Avenue Baptist Church, Buffalo, NY
1895 Johnson & Son
James Hammann, organist
Dudley Buck: from Studies in Pedal Phrasing
II–Andante espressivo
VIII–Andante quasi Allegretto
XVII–Chorale Allein Gott in der Höh’ sei Ehr’!

Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church, Buffalo, NY
1896 Geo. S. Hutchings
Derek Nickels, organist
Sigfrid Karg-Elert: Harmonies du Soir from Trois Impressions
Hymn: Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah
Josef Rheinberger: Finale & Fugue from Sonata VII in f

Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, Wolcottsville, NY
1897 Hinners & Albertsen
MaryAnn Crugher Balduf, organist
Louis Lefébure-Wély: Verset

Karpeles Manuscript Museum, Buffalo, NY
1956 M. P. Möller
David Blazer, organist
Maurice Duruflé: Prelude from Suite, Op. 5

Our Lady of Pompeii Catholic Church, Lancaster, NY
1933 M. P. Möller
Mark W. DiGiampaolo, organist
Alexandre Guilmant: Processional March, Op. 41, No. 5; Communion in e, Op. 39, No. 5

Nativity BVM Catholic Church, Buffalo, NY
1853 Hall & Labagh
Scott Huntington, organ; Allison Alcorn, violin
Johann Sebastian Bach: Largo from Violin Sonata No. 5 in f, BWV 1018

Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society, Buffalo, NY
1911 Æolian Organ Co.
Æolian self-player organ
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy: Allegro moderato e serioso from Sonata I in f, Op. 65, No. 1