Tom Trenney, winner of the 2006 AGO National Competition in Organ Improvisation, improvises two suites on hymn tunes and plays works by Bach, Schumann, Parker, Lemare, and Mendelssohn on a new three-manual organ by Patrick J. Murphy & Associates at St. Mark's Lutheran Church, Baltimore.

Neos gathers five musicians, each with broad backgrounds in classical, jazz, popular, ethnic, and improvisatory forms, and trains it on the task of creating something entirely unexpected. Founder and artistic director Matt Curlee has developed a reputation as a fresh voice in the organ world. Winner of the 1996 Grand Prix de Chartres, he has performed throughout North America and Europe in live, radio, and TV appearances, with symphony orchestras, and to debut new instruments. Since the release of Neos' debut album Mackerel Sky in early 2005, Matt has also been recognized for his talents as the producer of a record that has been called "terrific" and "definitely worthy of a Grammy" by reviewers. Matt's other recording credits include Syntax (2001), and An Austrian Neurotic in Graf Kaiserling's Court (1999), of which Bernard Durman (The Diapason) wrote, "This CD contains some of the finest Bach playing I have ever heard, from any artist, on any organ, period...prize-winning playing from a prize winning artist!"

First Prize winner of the 2002 AGO National Young Artists Competition, Olsen presents a recital on the Fisk organ at Downtown United Presbyterian Church in Rochester, New York on this Laureate Series recording on Naxos.

Praeludium in E minor / Bruhns
4 Variations on "Unter der Linden grune" / Sweelinck
Nun komm der Heiden Heiland, BWV 659 / Bach
A Quaker Reader / Rorem
Chorale No. 1 in E major / Franck
Scherzo, Opus 2 / Duruflé
Introduction and Passacaglia in D minor / Reger
Carmen (trans. Edwin H. Lemare) / Bizet

Calm on the listening ear of night... these simple words by the 19th century American hymn-writer Edmund Hamilton Sears capture much of the mystery and beauty of Christmas. The seasons of Advent and Christmas have inspired some of the most beautiful and spiritual choral music across the centuries. This CD presents some favorite selections for these high seasons of the liturgical year.

Toccata (in D-flat), Op. 104 / Joseph Jongen
Priere, Op. 37, No. 3
Sonata Eroica, Op. 94
Improvisata (1907) / Edgar Tinel
Sonata in G Minor, Op. 29
Fantaisie en la majeur / César Franck
Toccata, Fugue et Hymne sur Ave Maris Stella, Op. 28 / Flor Peeters

Toccata, Adagio & Fugue in C
Partita Sei Gegrüsset, Jesu gütig
Preludes & Fugues in A & a
Passacaglia in c
Chorale Preludes Schm¨cke dich & Wenn wir in höchsten

Works by Peeters, Vierne, Widor, Bach, and Sawyers on the 293-rank organ with 17,106 pipes at the Crystal Cathedral in California.

Douglas Reed plays the Fisk op. 110 at Minato Mirai Hall in Yokohama, Japan. The program includes two world premieres, and Michael Barone is narrator of the "King of Instruments," which is recorded a second time with Japanese narration. This two-CD set is the first in a series of recordings that will eventually include all of Albright's solo and ensemble organ music.

Was the pedal clavichord a cheap practice instrument or a teaching tool that helped contribute to the quality of organ playing in its golden age? This book documents an experiment in which Speerstra duplicates an 18th-century pedal clavichord from Leipzig, which is then used by students and teachers to generate information about the historical tradition.

The first comprehensive English-language account of Reger's oeuvre, this book emphatically revises misconceptions about his music. As Bittmann argues, Reger did not turn to historical models in order to preserve or reconstitute antiquated musical languages; rather, he appropriated the musical past for the most modern ends. Taking a strong interest in reception history, Bittmann reassesses Reger's work by drawing on a wide array of interdisciplinary sources in literary criticism, philosophy, and cultural history.