to Christopher Loemker for stepping in at the 11th hour to play for us today. Always a treat to have him on the organ bench. Reformation Sunday, though, brings our new organist, Carlo Van Ulft, and the musicians and I are all VERY excited to have the vacancy filled and filled with such a gifted organist. This coming Sunday's prelude will be "A Mighty Fortress" by Vaclav Nelhybel and the postlude Toccata in d minor by Gordon B. Nevin.
Man, if Loemker is your bench... :)
ReplyDeleteGordon B. Nevin ... well, that brings back some memories. My first organ teacher had studied with him. The advice from Nevin that he passed along, and that I've never forgotten: "The 3 most important things for an organist to do while playing: Listen, listen, listen."
ReplyDeleteWho is Nelhybel? In my decade plus of organ playing, I've never heard of him.
ReplyDeleteDo you realize that Concordia, Bronxville no longer has a MUSIC department? Nor does it teach organ anymore since Richard Heschke retired. I'm not sure why except that with all of the praise bands in the church, organ is no longer a priority.....
ReplyDeleteWe went for over a year without an organist at the manuals. However, thanks to modern technology, our Galanti Organ has a built in sequencer with a remote control. So each week I played the hymns, inputed (is that a word) them into the sequencer, and the organ played liturgy and hymns just as if someone were in the balcony playing it. It got me playing again, so that was a plus. But maneuvering the remote control, loading the hymns/ liturgy at the appropriate time for a seamless service got a little tiring.
God has given us two organists that now play 3/4 weeks a month. I am grateful for this, as it frees me from that extra step during the week and in worship.
Nelybel is a contemporary composer (not sure if he is still alive). My orchestral director in High School studied with him. We did some of his music for orchestra and it was beautiful.
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