Through the E.M. Skinner Organ at the Church of the Transfiguration in Orleans, Massachusetts, Dr. SharonRose Pfeiffer gives voice to works by master composers from the Baroque to the twentieth century. Recorded on Super Audio CD this disc creates a surround-sound experience, enabling listeners to hear the full effect of this organ. In a unique design by Nelson Barden & Associates of Boston, the organ pipes line the north and south side aisles the full length of the church, allowing the entire building to sing.
The program includes Resurrection: Lament, The Rising, The Ecstasy, Reflection by Larry King, Sonate der 94ste Psalm by Julius Reubke, Job for Organ, 6. Penitence and Realization by Petr Eben, Symphonie VI Op. 42: 1. Allegro by Charles-Marie Widor, Fantasia Super “Komm Heiliger Geist” BWV 651 by J.S. Bach, and Messe de la Pentecote: V. Sortie (Le vent d’Esprit) by Olivier Messiaen.
The inspiration for all of these text-based works is outlined in the detailed program notes, giving additional insight to the composers’ thoughts and intentions behind the music.
About the Artist
Dr. Pfeiffer received her Bachelor of Music degree from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey, summa cum laude. She earned her Masters degree and Doctorate in Organ Performance at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, where she was teaching assistant to David Craighead in organ and to Arthur Haas in harpsichord. During her time in Rochester, she was also Instructor of Organ and Harpsichord at Nazareth College, and Music Consultant for the Episcopal Diocese of Rochester. The winner of a Fulbright scholarship, Dr. Pfeiffer spent a year in Toulouse, coaching with the late composer Xavier Darasse, and researching organ restorations in southern France. During that year, she won first prize in the prestigious Concours Internationale des Arts. One reviewer described her playing as “exuberant…profoundly sensitive.” (La Depêche)
About the Organ and The Church of the Transfiguration, Orleans, MA
The E. M. Skinner organ in the Church of the Transfiguration has developed through an evolutionary and revolutionary process. The pipework is suspended in the north and south side aisles, running approximately one hundred feet along the length of the church, creating a unique “surround sound” effect. The organ has grown out of fifteen different E.M. Skinner instruments, consisting of pipework and components taken from organs built from 1903 to 1940, and restored to museum quality as a single instrument by Nelson Barden & Associates, Boston, Massachusetts. When completed, the organ will consist of eleven divisions and approximately 12,000 pipes, allowing for the flexibility through color and placement that is needed for worship services and concerts.
The Church of the Transfiguration is a contemporary expression of early Christian architecture that draws upon a fourth-century architectural heritage shared by Protestants, Catholics, and Orthodox. Constructed of Minnesota limestone the color of Cape Cod sand, it stands 55 feet high, 72 feet wide, and 182 feet long. Its architectural style is basilican and features a long, rectangular nave, a rounded apse at the east end, narrow side aisles, a peaked timber roof, and interior columns and arches along the side aisles. It was designed by William Rawn Associates of Boston and was dedicated June 2000. The art program for the Church of the Transfiguration combines fresco, mosaics, stone and bronze sculpture, and stained glass to present a cohesive narrative based on biblical history and church tradition. The Church of the Transfiguration recently won two awards from the American Institute of Architects Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art and Architecture: one for Religious Arts, Visual Arts and one for Religious Architecture, New Facilities.
Track Listing:
1. Resurrection: Lament, The Rising, The Ecstasy, Reflection
Larry King
2. Symphonie VI, Op. 42: I. Allegro
Charles-Marie Widor
3. Job for Organ, 6. Penitence and Realization
Petr Eben
4. Fantasia Super “Komm Heiliger Geist” BWV 651
J.S. Bach
5. Messe de la Pentecôte: V. Sortie(Le vent de l’Esprit)
Olivier Messiaen
6. Sonate der 94ste Psalm
Julius Reubke
Total run time: 65.53
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