Raven announces a new CD, Summer Echoes: Ocean Grove Auditorium Organ (OAR166, $15.98), featuring Gordon Turk playing the five-manual, 205-rank organ at the Ocean Grove (New Jersey) Auditorium, a beachfront building constructed in 1894 to accommodate audiences of 10,000 or more at the Methodist camp meeting grounds. Originally built in 1908 by Robert Hope-Jones as “the largest organ in the world” with fourteen ranks of pipes playing on wind pressures of up to fifty inches and contained in four concrete swell boxes bearing thick, lead-covered swell shades, the organ was enlarged over the years to conform more closely to the expectations of musicians and needs of the concert series that occurs every summer at Ocean Grove.
As organist and artist-in-residence of the auditorium since 1974, Turk plays this organ for twice-weekly recitals in July and August and for Sunday services. The disc includes works by Gigout, Karg-Elert, Guilmant, Meyerbeer, Debussy, Dubois, and others.
For information: ravencd.com.
Other recent recording releases:
Thomas Trotter performs Duruflé
