Two new choral works by Frank Ferko to premiere in May and June

by Patricia G. Parker

It is quite uncommon in organ literature to find a
composition collectively based on the preexisting melodies and literary works
of another composer or writer, let alone one who was active almost 900 years
ago. This has occurred, however, in The Hildegard Organ Cycle, by Frank Ferko.1
Published in 1996 by E.C. Schirmer, the composition of this work was funded by
grants from the San Francisco chapter of the AGO and the District of Columbia
AGO Foundation. The organ cycle is based on the writings and songs of the
12th-century abbess, Hildegard of Bingen. In studying Ferko's organ
cycle, I decided to explore Hildegard's De Operatione Dei (Book of Divine
Works) in more detail. From studying Hildegard's writing, I hoped to
ascertain any additional connections which Ferko might have suggested in this
work beyond the scope of his descriptive notes in the preface to the organ
cycle. Through frequent correspondence with Mr. Ferko, who has been most
generous in sharing both details about his compositional background and his
thoughts on this work, I have learned much additional information about the
special qualities of this composition that make it truly distinctive.

One may be tempted to view Ferko's interest in
Hildegard as part of a larger trend towards the popularity of plainchant and
Medieval music in the New Age genre. In particular, Hildegard's music has
been given much attention in the last decades of the twentieth century, an era
when significant contributions in feminist scholarship have been made.
style="mso-spacerun: yes">  It is important to understand, however,
that Ferko's preoccupation with Hildegard came about through his own
individual interest and research, not through the general influence of
Hildegard's popularity at the end of the twentieth century. The end result
is an outstanding work in organ literature that is based on an intertwining of
the literary and musical accomplishments of one person--a person who
happens to be the first composer in Western music whose biography we know.

The Hildegard Organ Cycle is a work comprising several
levels of meaning, the foremost of which impresses the listener with musical
images that bring Hildegard's words to life. There is a wide variety of
compositional techniques. Some methods obviously suggest the influence of other
composers, some ideas can be related to musical styles from as far back as the
Middle Ages, and yet other impressions reflect compositional trends in
twentieth-century music, such as minimalism and aleatoricsm. Ferko puts his
individual stamp on this work by combining his own ideas with this wide variety
of styles to describe what Hildegard sees in her visions and to give some
understanding of Hildegard's theology.

Ferko has twenty-five years experience as an organist and
music director. He first began work as a church organist at age 14, and as a
choir director at age 16. Most recently he was director of nusic at the Church
of St. Paul and the Redeemer in Chicago. He earned a BM in piano and organ
performance from Valparaiso University, where he studied composition with Richard
Wienhorst and organ with Philip Gehring, a MM in music theory with a minor in
organ performance from Syracuse University, where he worked with Howard
Boat-wright and Will Headlee, and a DM in music composition from Northwestern
University, where he studied with Alan Stout. Aside from the twentieth-century
French composer, Olivier Messiaen, other composers who have impacted
Ferko's work are Béla Bartok, Arvo Pärt, and John Tavener.2

Two primary influences in the organ cycle are Ferko's
religious background in the Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod, and his
admiration of the compositional style of Messiaen. Growing up in a religious
denomination infusd with the Lutheran chorale gave Ferko
style="mso-spacerun: yes">  exposure to the use of theological
concepts such as numerology and symbolism in music, which are compositional
devices evident in chorale-based keyboard and choral works of many prominent
Lutheran composers including J.S. Bach and Hugo Distler.3 As one can see in
looking at excerpts from The Hildegard Organ Cycle, the Messiaen influence is
undeniable. It was not surprising to learn that Ferko's thesis for his
Master of Music degree at Syracuse University was an analysis of
Messiaen's piano cycle, "Vingt regards sur l'Enfant
Jésus." Also, while studying with Howard Boatwright at the same
institution, Ferko learned three movements from Messiaen's suite,
L'Ascension, and did a paper about this work.4

Ferko's specific interest in Hildegard first came
about during the years 1983–84 when he was working as a cataloger of
recordings in the music library at Northwestern University. This preoccupation
with Hildegard led him to compose an organ cycle in 1990, based both on
Hildegard's Book of Divine Works and specific chants by Hildegard.
style="mso-spacerun: yes">  His primary intention in composing the
cycle was to promote Hildegard and her contributions to literature and
music.  Ferko later composed a set
of motets which feature Hildegard's complete texts in the original Latin
(the collection is known as the "Hildegard Motets"). From one of
many e-mail conversations with the composer, Ferko stated that he was unaware
of the public's growing popular interest in Hildegard as he was becoming
familiar with her accomplishments.5

Hildegard of Bingen was an extraordinary woman for her day,
significant for her activity as a writer, theologian, composer, and healer. The
occasion of her 900th birthday was celebrated in 1998. Hildegard had numerous
holy visions from about age three through the rest of her life, which she later
came to record. Her Book of Divine Works relates ten visions that she claims to
have witnessed, ranging from the creation of the world, through the birth of
Christ, and to the end of time.

The literary basis for The Hildegard Organ Cycle is these
ten holy visions Hildegard described at length in the Book of Divine Works. The
order and number of the movements in Ferko's cycle match the order and
number of the visions in Hildegard's writing. The ten movements are
essentially musical descriptions of these visions. They are listed below, in order:

                  I.
The Origin of Life

                  II.
The Construction of the World

                  III.
Human Nature

                  IV.
Articulation of the Body

                  V.
Places of Purification

                  VI.
Meaning of History

                  VII.
Preparation for Christ

                  VIII.
The Effect of Love

                  IX.
Completion of the Cosmos

                  X.
The End of Time

In addition to basing the organ cycle on this literary work
of Hildegard, Ferko also incorporates five of Hildegard's songs from her
Symphonia armonie celestium revelationum (Symphony of the Harmony of Celestial
Revelation). This collection, a set of Hildegard's own poems that she set
to music, includes more than 70 musical pieces, most of which are antiphons and
hymns. She placed these songs at the end of her written work, the Scivias (Know
the Ways of the Lord) of 1141.6 The five chants that Ferko incorporates into
The Hildegard Organ Cycle are "O Magne Pater," "Spiritus
sanctus, vivificans vita," "O gloriossimi, lux vivens
angeli," "O Virtus Sapientiae," and "O splendidissima
gemma." The piece is cyclic in that these chant melodies, as well as
newly composed themes, are definite musical ideas that recur throughout the
work and serve to unify the composition.7

Ferko includes a detailed preface to the organ cycle in
which he describes what he is trying to depict musically in connection to
Hildegard's ideas. For each of the ten movements related to
Hildegard's Book of Divine Works, 
Ferko quotes portions of text from Hildegard's visions before
specifically addressing the musical descriptions.  Through my research and analysis of the organ cycle along
with my communications with Mr. Ferko, I have been able to formulate a keener
understanding of this work in relation to its focus on Hildegard of Bingen. In
particular, this new insight focuses primarily on movements 2, 3, 6, 8, and 9.
Programmatic aspects of the other movements of the organ cycle are either
self-explanatory, or information about them has been published elsewhere.

The second movement, "The Construction of the
World," deals with God as the omnipotent, overseeing creator.
style="mso-spacerun: yes">  The first way in which Ferko suggests
this thought is by using the chant, "O Magne Pater," which itself
is a supplication, or prayer to God. The first phrase of this chant acts as a
refrain throughout the movement. This refrain is meditative --much like
the repeated prayer of the Catholic rosary.8 Every appearance of this phrase
occurs in unison, except for the last in which the chant fragment is harmonized
by chords in parallel mo-tion. (Example 1.) The tendency towards unison writing
appears throughout the works of Messiaen. A prime example of the unison setting
of a melody can be found in "Subtilité des corps glorieux"
from the suite, Les corps glorieux of Messiaen. This entire movement features
unison writing.

Another Messiaen-like concept that Ferko uses is that of
chant paraphrase, which Messiaen described in his Techniques of My Musical
Language. Example 2 shows what Ferko calls a "chromatic commentary"
on the openingphrase of "O Magne Pater." Ferko follows the contour
of the chant phrase using chromatic pitches of his own choice--not those
from any particular scale or mode. He then presents extensions based on his
newly composed version of the original chant phrase.    After a second appearance of the unison
statement of the opening phrase of "O Magne Pater," a musical
statement in smaller note values (what Ferko calls an "elaboration on the
commentary") becomes the basis for more development by modulation.
(Example 3.) With the constant generation that occurs throughout this movement,
Ferko means to symbolize "the creeping and crawling and growth and
blossoming of life on the newly created planet."9 Perhaps the most significant
Messiaen influence can be seen in measure 67, about halfway through this
movement. (Example 4.) Here, Ferko uses Messiaen's "communicable
language" to spell out the Hebrew version of God's name,
"Yahweh," a motive that features the trumpet en chamade. This
technique, as well as the use of the "O Magne Pater" chant,
highlights God as the subject of the movement. In the ending section of
"Construction . . . ," the distinct use of minimalistic procedures
can be found.  Ferko uses the
gradual acceleration of two alternating chords in both hands to depict the
"spinning of the newly constructed world through the
universe."10  Example 5 shows
measures 86–92 of "Construction of the World."

In the third movement of the cycle,
style="mso-spacerun: yes">  "Human Nature," Ferko
musically describes Hildegard's opinions on hu-manity and the ever
influencing presence of sin. This movement is for pedals alone, partly, as the
composer told me, to give the performer's hands a rest from the rapid
playing of the two alternating chords from the end of the previous
movement--one of the most technically demanding sections of the entire
organ cycle.11 The idea of the sinful nature of mankind is suggested by a
primitive musical subject that employs much syncopation. (Example 6.) The first
three measures of the subject show a rhythmic palindrome--a statement in
which the note values are the same both backwards and forwards. By using a
palindrome as the basis for this movement, Ferko means to show that man, who
was created by God, is a mirror image of the creator.12 Messiaen was also fond
of rhythmic palindromes, which he referred to as "non-retrogradable
rhythm."

This movement also borrows a motivic idea from J.S. Bach
which can be seen in the chorale prelude, "Dies sind die Heiligen zehn
Gebot" (BWV 679) from the third part of the Klavierübung. Example 7,
which is from the beginning of Bach's work, shows a motive made up of a
number of repeated notes. Example 8 features mm. 15–19 of Ferko's
movement. Ferko describes the hammering motive in this piece as "a German
father banging his fist on a table as he ‘laid down the law' to his
children." He also went on to say about this movement of the cycle and
its connection to BWV 679, " . . . the chorale is all about the Ten
Commandments, which are God's law, and ‘Human Nature' is all
about transgressions of God's law in everyday experience . . . ."13
From the Book of Divine Works in general, Hildegard often speaks about the
sinful nature of mankind and the constant need to repent. This
fire-and-brimstone theology is a perpetual theme that appears throughout her
writing. The repeated notes that appear in example 8 might suggest the
obstinacy of wickedness in human nature.14

The one redeeming means of assistance to mankind, according
to Hildegard, is the power of the Holy Spirit. It is this, she says, that
removes or cleanses impurity from the soul. Ferko depicts the Holy Spirit in
several different ways in this movement. First, the rising triplet featured at
the end of the palindrome each time the palindrome is presented, is based on the
first three notes of the chant, "Spiritus Sanctus, vivificans vita"
(the bracketed notes in Example 6).15 Then, in measure 36, the first two
phrases of "Spiritus Sanctus . . . " are presented on a 2¢
flute stop with rhythmic interjections based on the palindrome. (Example 9.)
The text of this chant reiterates the idea of the Holy Spirit as the purifier
of creation.16 At the end of this movement, there is a series of 16th-note
triplets that start at the interval of a 17th which eventually close inward to
a minor 2nd. (Example 10.) Recently, Ferko suggested to me that this intervalic
closure symbolizes a bridging of the gap between man and God. The triplets are
also significant in that they reflect yet another representation of the Holy
Spirit--this time as part of the Trinity suggested by the number
"3." Because Ferko often uses mystical numbers and proportions
where he feels it is appropriate, the appearance of the number "3"
in this section is intentional.17

Movement number six, "The Meaning of History,"
comprises many levels of musical symbolism. In this movement, Ferko combines
two chant melodies--the previously quoted "O Magne Pater" and
"Spiritus Sanctus"--with a newly composed line of his own, to
form a trio texture. (Example 11.) "O Magne Pater" appears in the
pedal in relatively long note values, while the middle voice contains the
chant, "Spiritus Sanctus," in smaller note values.
style="mso-spacerun: yes">  Here Ferko is showing Hildegard's
idea of God being a force ever present in the background of human lives
throughout all history--hence, this chant is set as a background voice in
this movement by the use of long note values and by its placement in the lowest
part. The Holy Spirit, whom Hildegard sees in a more active role in the
creation of history, is depicted as closer to the foreground in this movement
by the use of smaller note values and by its placement in a higher register.18
The line that Ferko quotes at the beginning of this movement from vision six of
Hildegard's Book of Divine Works is, "Nothing that has existed from
the very beginning of the world until its end is hidden from God." How
appropriate it is that Ferko uses such a transparent texture to allude to this
concept. Also, in choosing a trio texture, Ferko again suggests the idea of the
Trinity.

But what about the top voice in this movement, which is
Ferko's own creation? In his prefatory notes to the organ cycle, Ferko
describes the top voice as being an isomelic construction --a series of
pitches in a particular order that appear throughout the piece in the same
order, but with different rhythmic values in each repetition. Octave
equivalence can be invoked at any time in a presentation of the isomelic
construction. Starting in measure 3, the top voice has the following pitch
sequence (Example 11): C - D - B - C - D - E - F# - G# - A# - C - F# - E - C# -
C natural - A# - D - G# - F# - F natural, and E. Beginning again in measure 8,
these pitches are repeated in the same order as in their initial presentation.
It so happens that this isomelic construction appears seven times in this
movement, the invoking of yet another mystical number.19 Something interesting,
however, happens in the seventh and final presentation of the isomelic
construction: it is incomplete! (See the bracketed notes in example 12.) The
top voice in the penultimate measure includes the pitches G# - F# - and F
natural, but no E--the pitch that was used to end the isomelic
construction as presented in the first eight measures. In leaving the isomelic
construction unfinished, Ferko relates the idea that history, which continues
to unfold, is not yet completed.20

In the eighth movement of the cycle, "The Effect of
Love," Ferko melodically suggests the folk-like tunes that might have
been heard among the vineyard workers in the Rhine valley around Bingen during
Hildegard's time.21 This melody, which is Ferko's original
creation, appears unaccompanied at the beginning of the movement on a light
8¢ reed. In measure 8, the newly composed folk melody is combined in
two-voice counterpoint with a particular fragment of the chant, "Spiritus
Sanctus," which states "suscitans et resuscitans omnia"
("you waken and reawaken everything that is"). This particular text
refers to the Holy Spirit as emanating from God who rekindles and resurrects
all life through loving power. Later in the piece, the folk melody is
harmonized by ninth chords, creating an impressionistic effect. To end the
piece, the previously mentioned fragment of "Spiritus Sanctus" is
then combined with the folk melody, and both are harmonized by ninth chords.
The use of the impressionistic ninth chords, especially when played on a
celeste stop, creates a warm, rich, and luscious sound that Ferko uses to
describe God as a God of love. Also, by the juxtaposition of sacred and secular
elements in this movement, Ferko is representing love as a two- faceted entity:
the folk song, representative of human love, is an imperfect reflection of
God's love (the chant fragment), which is perfect.22

The ninth movement, "Completion of the Cosmos,"
is framed, at the beginning and end of the movement, by a setting of the entire
chant melody "O gloriosissimi . . ." in two-voice counterpoint.
(Example 13.) In choosing this two-voice texture, a parallel can be made
between this movement and the second movement ("Construction of the
World"), which also includes a two-voice setting at the beginning of the
movement. Each of these movements is one movement away from an end of the whole
organ cycle, so they can be viewed as complementary movements.23

The text that accompanies this movement, from
Hildegard's ninth vision, says, "I will let all my splendor pass in
front of you, and I will pronounce before you the name of Yahweh." Ferko
uses these sections in two-voice counterpoint at the beginning and end of this movement
to symbolize this approach and passing by of Yahweh, according to
Hildegard's description. She relates in this vision that the face of
Yahweh is too bright to gaze upon directly. The relationship of the text of
"O gloriosissimi" to this text is somewhat peripheral, in that
Hildegard describes in this antiphon the "living light" of the
angels, and this light is also meant to refer to the bright face of God.24

Following this exposition is one of the most striking
moments of the entire cycle--the Yahweh motive from the second movement
("Construction of the World") and the rhythmic palindrome from the
third movement ("Human Nature") are combined. (Example 14.) Here
Ferko is depicting Hildegard's ninth vision: the beginning of a major
battle between good and evil, or as Ferko puts it, "Yahweh trouncing on
the sinfulness of the human soul."25 This battle heats up in measure 16.
(Example 15.) Here, through the quotation of fragments of the chant "O
Virtus Sapientiae" in the pedal against thick, dissonant note clusters in
the manuals,  Ferko symbolizes the
power of Wisdom being revealed, and it wins the battle!26

It would be far too easy to say that Ferko's
techniques are restricted to ideas reflected in the work of Olivier Messiaen.
What can be found throughout The Hildegard Organ Cycle is a wide range of
technical devices, and if stylistic features of Messiaen are invoked, Ferko
utilizes them to suit his purpose. Ferko combines these devices with his own
ideas to creatively express Hildegard's theology. The implementation of
techniques ranging from medieval cantus firmus technique to 20th-century
minimalism contributes to a sense of universality in this work, as the composer
himself relates. One can also associate this free selection of compositional
styles with a timeless quality in Hildegard's theological ideas.27

In considering the literary and musical basis for The
Hildegard Organ Cycle, this work stands in a category by itself. The idea of
modeling a composition after both pre-existing literature and melodies that
emanate from the same person, yet which were not conceived as a set, is
extremely rare in organ literature. Though the movements of The Hildegard Organ
Cycle may themselves be pleasing to the listener without some brief
understanding of who Hildegard was, one can develop a deeper awareness of the
symbolism embedded in this composition by exploring Hildegard's Book of
Divine Works and the Symphony of the Harmony of Celestial Revelation in more
detail.

 

Notes

                  1.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>              It
may be noteworthy to mention that an errata sheet for the organ cycle exists,
and that ECS Publishing will provide a copy of the sheet upon request for
anyone who has bought the score. Furthermore, a new, corrected edition of the
score will be available later this year.

                  2.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>              Frank
Ferko, "Biographical Information," Home page, 12 May 1999.

http://pubweb.acns.nwu.edu/~dahling/other.html

                  3.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>              Frank
Ferko, interview by author, Electronic Mail, 10 and 13 August, 1999.

                  4.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>             
Marcia Van Oyen, "Portrait of Composer Frank Ferko and His Hildegard
Works," The Diapason, Eighty-ninth year, No. 6, Whole No. 1063 (June
1998): 14.

                  5.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>              Ferko
interview.

                  6.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>              Frank
Ferko, The Hildegard Organ Cycle, Boston: E.C. Schirmer, 1996, preface, I.

                  7.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>              Ferko
interview.

                  8.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>              Ibid.

                  9.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>              Ibid.

                  10.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>           Ferko,
The Hildegard Organ Cycle, preface, ii.

                  11.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>           Ferko
interview.

                  12.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>           Ibid.

                  13.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>           Ferko
interview.

                  14.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>           Ibid.

                  15.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>           Ferko,
The Hildegard Organ Cycle, preface, iii.

                  16.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>           Ferko
interview.

                  17.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>           Ibid.

                  18.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>           Ibid.

                  19.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>           Ibid.

                  20.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>           Ferko,
The Hildegard Organ Cycle, preface, iv.

                  21.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>           Ibid.,
vi.

                  22.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>           Ferko
interview.

                  23.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>           Ibid.

                  24.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>           Ibid.

                  25.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>           Ibid.

                  26.
style='mso-tab-count:1'>           Ferko,
The Hildegard Organ Cycle, preface, vi.

27.               
Ferko interview.

 

Patricia G. Parker holds both a DMA and MM in organ
performance and literature from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY.
She also earned her BM degree in organ performance from Salem College in
Winston-Salem, NC. Her teachers have included Dr. Katharine Pardee, Dr. Michael
Farris, David Higgs, and John Mueller. In particular, Dr. Parker would like to
publicly thank the following individuals for their guidance in this project:
Frank Ferko, and from the Eastman School of Music: Dr. Katharine Pardee, and
Dr. Jürgen Thym.

by Marcia Van Oyen

Marcia Van Oyen earned both master’s and doctoral degrees in organ and church music at the University of Michigan, where she studied organ with Robert Glasgow. Marcia currently serves as Director of Music and Organist at Glenview Community Church and is Dean of the North Shore AGO Chapter. She also writes reviews of organ music and books for The Diapason.

“Frank Ferko inhabits a unique and unusual musical world.  In the background is his love of the music of Olivier Messiaen. In the foreground appears mystery, and thus his intense interest in the visions of Hildegard, her music, and the world of medieval chant. None of this is unique or unusual in the decade of the 1990s, but his vivid musical imagination, sometimes terrifying, in other instances timelessly static and meditative, is unique.”1

The preceding quotation offers a microcosmic portrait of Frank Ferko as a composer. Elements of his compositions have evoked comparisons to Poulenc, Messiaen, James MacMillan, and Arvo Pärt, yet Ferko’s style defies neat categorization.  His coloristic approach, especially in his organ works, links him with the French.  His bent towards ethereal sounds and other-worldly texts allies him with the current phenomenon of “CD spirituality,” as evidenced by the popularity of Gregorian chant recordings and the music of Pärt and Tavener.2 The portrayal of programmatic themes, especially those of a symbolic and spiritual nature, looms large on his agenda. On the other hand, he is very aware of the need for practical liturgical music, and bears that in mind when writing sacred compositions.

The catalog of Ferko’s works includes choral anthems on liturgical, chant, and hymn texts; settings of poems by symbolist writers Rimbaud and Mallarmé; hymn preludes and programmatic works for organ; a symbolist one-act opera and a sprinkling of compositions for various solo instruments and ensembles, including an intriguingly titled piece for horn, clarinet and piano, “The North Side of Heaven (Near the Rotunda).”  He has been commissioned to write works for Valparaiso University, His Majestie’s Clerkes, and the Dale Warland Singers, as well as many churches. He has been the recipient of annual ASCAP grants since 1987 among other grants, and has won awards for his compositions, including the 1989–90 Holtkamp/AGO award for “A Practical Program for Monks,” a song cycle for tenor and organ.

Although Ferko now spends most of his time composing, he has twenty-five years of experience as a church musician, most recently serving as director of music at the Church of St. Paul and the Redeemer in Chicago, and continues to perform as an organist. Ferko received his Bachelor of Music degree in piano and organ performance from Valparaiso University. He received the Master of Music degree in music theory with a minor in organ performance from Syracuse University and holds a doctorate in music composition from Northwestern University, where he studied with Alan Stout. His teachers have included Richard Wienhorst (composition) and Philip Gehring (organ) at Valparaiso, and Howard Boatwright (theory) and Will O. Headlee (organ) at Syracuse University. This traditional foundation, an openness to diverse influences, and a willingness to experiment combine to create Ferko’s unique style.

I spoke with Frank Ferko about his compositional style and two of his most recent works, the Hildegard Organ Cycle and the Hildegard Motets.  Excerpts from that interview follow.

When did you start composing?

I got started dabbling in composition as a teenage church musician at a little country church in Ohio. I started playing organ at fourteen, directing the choir at sixteen, and began exploring different kinds of church music, especially new music. My earliest compositions were take-offs on Richard Wienhorst’s works. I later studied composition with him at Valparaiso. He guided me into writing my own modes and writing pieces using those modes. Wienhorst encouraged me to explore Bartok (who wrote his own modes) and that eventually led to study of the music of Messiaen.

I also studied sixteenth-century counterpoint with Wienhorst. As a final project, we had the option of writing a 5-voice motet or taking the principles of sixteenth-century counterpoint we had learned and writing a modern work. I opted for the latter, and I’ve been building on that ever since, taking ideas from early music and working them into a modern context.

Have you always had a strong interest in new music?

I have been very interested in new music. While in the doctoral program at Northwestern, I was encouraged to stay in touch with what living composers were doing. But being a church musician, I’ve also been very interested in chant, so there are these two polar ends of things—the very early music and current music—that fascinate me.

Besides Messiaen, what other composers do you look to for inspiration?

Many different eras have influenced me. I’ve played Bach, and Bach’s counterpoint has been a very strong influence. Having a strong piano background, I’ve played Chopin and Brahms. These large sounds and rich harmonies have always stuck in my mind, but I’ve veered more towards the French as time has gone on. What I like to listen to most are French pieces from the twentieth century. Some people say there are elements of Poulenc in my sound, and of Messiaen from time to time. The Messiaen influence is strong because my master’s thesis was an analysis of his piano cycle, “Vingt regards sur l’enfant Jésus.” I studied his compositional techniques very thoroughly. There are techniques that he invented, explored up to a certain point, and stopped. Why not take those further and do something else? Or take a particular technique and combine it with minimalism and see what happens? I like many of the early works of Philip Glass and I don’t mind exploring that territory. I pull ideas from all over the place.

What do you have in common with composers like Arvo Pärt and John Tavener?

I feel a common bond in terms of the philosophical approach, the way I’m approaching writing music. Arvo Pärt very definitely is an intensely religious person. John Tavener also. In that respect, I’m approaching the writing of pieces in the way that they are.  We all use common modality in our writing, and there are certain ways that we form melodic lines that may be similar, but we’re putting things together in different ways.

I hear some similarity with Tavener in the way you approach writing for voices.

I know what you mean.  I think this has to do with the fact that we have learned how to write for the human voice. Many composers have learned instrumental writing and try vocal writing and don’t understand the voice. You have to understand the limitations.  You have to be very careful how you set text, especially vowels. That comes from studying early music and counterpoint—examples of glorious music for the voice. In that sense, there’s a certain similarity between Pärt, Tavener, James Macmillan and myself in the use of the materials. We all write well for voices.

As I’ve listened to your music, I’ve noticed that acoustics seem to a play a key role. Are live acoustics required for a true performance of your works?

I like live acoustical settings, the reverberance. This goes back to my love for chant and how a single line can spin and create other sounds. I can take a single line, a choral sound or an organ sound and create some interesting ear perceptions with the acoustics. The reverberance needs to be there. I’ve played the organ cycle successfully in relatively dead rooms, but there’s a whole dimension that’s missing. For example, the first movement of the organ cycle has a water drop idea, intended to reverberate through the room. It’s written at a very slow tempo to allow that to happen.

Do you have a special affinity for writing for the organ? What is there about it that works especially well for your music?

One of the reasons I’ve written so much for the organ is because it is my instrument and I like writing things that I can play, though I don’t write with myself as performer in mind. I understand it, and I’m very well aware that there aren’t that many composers today who feel comfortable writing for the organ. I enjoy it, so I’ll write pieces for the organ. With the organ, if I’m unsure about something I’ve written, I can sit down and try it out.

The musical ideas presented in the Hildegard Organ Cycle could best be presented successfully on the organ. The colors of the instrument and the acoustical setting in which organs are often found make it possible to express certain ideas in a way that cannot occur in other situations. The organ works are usually tailor-made with the tonal colors of the organ in mind. The approach I use in incorporating specific colors into my organ works allies me closely with the French composers who have always been colorists.

Do you think you almost have to be an organist to write music for the organ?

I tend to think so, although there are some people out there who are not organists and yet have written some very fine music for the organ. I’ve tried to get composers I know to write for the organ. They’re a little interested and they think the various colors and stop names are interesting, but it’s complicated for them. How do you deal with all these keyboards and these pedals? The thing that’s usually the biggest stumbling block is the registration—they don’t know what to suggest.  Some composers leave it up to the player. I object to that. I think it really is the composer’s responsibility to inform the performer as to what tone colors to use, because there’s so much choice involved there. Particularly when writing interesting harmonies, chromatic lines, and dense textures, I think it behooves the composer to let us know just what kind of color he wants. A composer wouldn’t write a piece for orchestra and give the conductor a piano score, leaving it up to him to decide who’s going to play what.  It’s not the conductor’s job to do that. An organ composer has to be the orchestrator. Composers usually have colors in mind, but are reluctant to write them down because they’re unfamiliar with stop names and know it’s going to differ from one instrument to another. Poulenc sat down with Duruflé and registered the organ concerto. Composers should sit down with organists and do that. Somebody who does play the organ knows the instrument and its capabilities so well that they can incorporate things that a non-organist wouldn’t do. But the same thing happens with writing for other instruments. A player can write more intimately for an instrument than a non-player.

You also perform as an organist, playing your own works.  What else do you perform?

On an upcoming recital, I’m doing one movement from the Hildegard cycle along with works by Bach, Brahms, Helmut Walcha, and Heinz Werner Zimmerman. Mostly Germans because it’s a germanic organ. Yes, I play other people’s music—especially when a church organist. I still improvise, that’s one thing I’ve always done—postludes—that’s kind of fun.

I studied improvisation with Philip Gehring, and he improvises all the time. He always said you can’t really teach it, but every Sunday in chapel services we heard him doing it. It was the best example. His postludes were always improvisations on the last hymn. When I became an active organist, I started doing the same thing. The early ones I did I’m sure were just horrors, but you just keep doing it and you learn. I would hear something I thought was interesting and I would work that into a Sunday morning improvisation and just see where it would lead, combining the idea with a hymn tune, which I always used as the basis. It was a good way to pick up ideas I was hearing and develop them into my own compositional style.

Was the organ cycle composed through improvisation or sitting down and writing?

Some of it came from improvisation, some from just sitting down and writing. Actually, the tenth movement, the terrifying one, did begin as a postlude for a church service. I started the postlude with the repeated chord figure with big gaps between the chords. Heads went up. It was a gripping effect. I remembered that later and thought it would be a good way to end this organ cycle.

The music and writings of Hildegard von Bingen are currently receiving attention. 1998 is also the 900th anniversary of her birth. What prompted you to write music based on her writings?

I wrote most of the organ cycle back in 1990, before Hildegard became a big cult thing. I wanted to do something that would make people aware of who this woman was, what she did, and what she experienced.

What led you to choose Hildegard’s “Visions” as the basis for your works?

In the late 80s, my church choir in Hyde Park did a concert every spring.  There were a couple of women in the choir who were vocal feminists, and they said, “We never sing any music written by women composers.” I started exploring, finding music written by women composers. I had discovered the name Hildegard in the early 80s. In putting together this concert, I started researching her music and transcribed chant melodies into modern notation. The choir was fascinated. I found other women composers from the sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries. We did an evensong and concert in which all the music was written by women. That got me looking into Hildegard, and I wanted to find out more. I did more research and looked at her last book,  “De Operatione Dei,” which includes the ten visions. I had been wanting to write a large work for organ, and later that year I decided to write an organ cycle based on the ten visions.

You've written a detailed preface, a “guidebook” if you will, which provides information as to what’s being portrayed in each of the movements of the organ cycle. Without this guidebook, what can an average listener discern?

Most of the music I write is written on at least three levels—there’s the surface level, where anybody can just walk in and they will hear something they can appreciate. It will wash over them and they’ll either like it or hate it. They’ll form an opinion right away, but they’re really not appreciating what’s in the music.

The second level at which I write is an assocation with technical devices, for example writing numbers rhythmically or pitch-wise into a piece of music. There are other numerical phenomena which have also found their way into my music such as the Fibonacci series and certain kinds of numerical proportions such as 2:1, 3:2, or 4:3—proportions that were used for tuning in the medieval period.

The third level is extra-musical assocations—the programmatic elements. The whole organ cycle is program music: specific depictions of ideas that Hildegard presented in her descriptions of her visions. Most people haven’t read the “Visions,” which is why I wrote the “guidebook.” I thought I should condense some of these ideas into a concise format and provide the information for people so they have some idea of what the basic program is.

What are the most effective means for communicating ideas through music?  Without knowing the program, what images in the organ cycle can a listener recognize?

There are certain obvious techniques that can be built into the music. The water drops [in the first movement] come across pretty clearly. The fifth movement with the repeated clusters has a tendency to sound like somebody’s angry, and Hildegard was. She was talking about the anger and judgment of God. I wanted to show that anger. Writing great big clusters that are very dissonant and shaking away with full organ is a way of doing that. Another technique is to present thematic material in an obvious way, such as an unaccompanied single line melody, repeated. Repetition is an important way to impress a musical idea on people. In the organ cycle there’s one chant melody that comes back throughout the cycle—and people remember that. They recognize it in different guises and are aware of it

What was the impetus for composing the Hildegard Motets? How were the texts selected?

The fifth one was the first one to be written, and that came about purely as an experiment. I was in a group, now defunct, called Chicago Composers Consortium, and we did three concerts a year at the Three Arts Club. In 1991, His Majesties Clerkes had done the first Chicago performance of Arvo Pärt’s “Passio,” at Orchestra Hall. One of the people in the consortium had heard the concert, raving about the Clerkes’ performance of the Pärt. We decided to do a whole concert of choral music and hire His Majesties Clerkes to perform seven new works. Since I had been working on the Hildegard Organ Cycle, I had also looked at some of her poems in the back of the book which contains the visions. I bought a critical edition of the poems and found them amazing. I wanted to write a substantial piece for the Consortium program, so I was looking for a longer text. The Holy Spirit text, a sequence hymn, seemed like a good choice. I knew what the Clerkes were capable of, and figured they could do just about anything. I wanted to take advantage of that and wrote a fairly challenging piece. They really liked it and asked to keep the copies of the piece to perform again in their regular season. That was in the fall of ’91. In February ’92, I decided I wanted to write a whole cycle on these texts because they’re so vivid, intense, and wonderful. I decided on the number nine as a mystical number, then chose the texts. The Clerkes were celebrating their tenth anniversary, and decided to commission the set of works for their final concert in 1993. The texts were selected with liturgical use somewhat in mind, variety in terms of the language Hildegard used and variety of lengths—some long and some short. I wanted some continuity and some contrast.

Are the Hildegard works liturgical music or concert music?

The Hildegard pieces were originally intended to be concert works I knew when I wrote them that people—particularly church organists with the proper instrument, acoustics and a good choir—would probably want to use these pieces in the liturgical setting. Many of the pieces in the organ cycle are fairly quiet and not terribly long. They could work as prelude music. The first movement could be used with a baptism, with the water symbolism. There’s an implication of Advent in the seventh movement, the slow, lush movement with the long melody in the celeste chords. Even though the motet cycle was written as a concert cycle for His Majestie’s Clerkes, I thought people might want to use the individual movements in church settings, so I found texts of Hildegard that had assocations with liturgical settings and outlined that in the preface notes. These pieces have crossover quality—they can work in concert or in a church setting.

Widor once said “To play the organ properly, you need to have a vision of eternity.” Does that statement apply to performing your Hildegard works?

Yes, I think there’s truth to that statement. There’s a certain amount of that with the Hildegard pieces. Performers will have a much better understanding and be able to bring out what’s in the music much better if they have the textual associations, the implied ones in the organ cycle or the expressed ones in the motets, if they know where Hildegard was coming from, they have a good translation to work from, and they understand the texts. The performance will be much, much better. Many little musical points are strongly associated with the texts.

Some people have used the term “organist-theologian” to describe composers such as Widor, Tournemire, and especially Messiaen. Do you identify with that role, being an organist and composer yourself?

To a certain degree, yes. I think I’m creating similar kinds of things, at least with the Hildegard pieces. When I perform those works, I know exactly what is going on there because I’ve read all the visions and commentary of Hildegard. Reading them was a very intense, moving experience. It  moved me to write the organ cycle. I wanted to put the theology into music. I want people to know about what I felt from reading the texts when they perform or hear this music.

I was intrigued by the statement in the liner notes of the Hildegard recordings, “Frank Ferko inhabits a unique musical world . . .” (quoted at the beginning of  this article). What is your response to that?

I was flattered. The remark addresses the organ cycle specifically. When I was practicing in preparation for recording it, the producer came up to the organ loft and said, “I want to hear the last movement on this instrument. This is the most terrifying thing I’ve ever heard. I want you to use as much organ as you can, a lot of reeds.” I agreed, that’s what the movement really needs. That last movement is terrifying, and yet there are other movements that are gentler that take you off into some ethereal land somewhere. I think that he was thinking of all the different moods that are created in that work and how different they are when you stop and think about them from beginning to end.

Every now and then I do pull in, into my own little world when I’m writing. There are a number of people who’ve taken an interest in my writing and they’ll ask me if I’ve heard the latest recording of James MacMillan because they find a similarity between his style and mine. I tell them I can’t listen to that for a few months because I’m working on something of my own. I have to completely pull myself away from other things and just immerse myself into my own little world while I’m writing. I don’t want to listen to anybody else’s music while I’m doing that. There is a little bit of reclusiveness that’s implied in that statement, but not to an excessive degree. I try to be sociable.

Would you describe your music as mystical?

There is definitely an ethereal quality that I try for. “Mystical” carries with it some other connotations, and I suppose that the things that I’ve written have a certain amount of that because of the text associations, especially Hildegard’s texts. There is mysticism involved in it, but generally, I’m coming at the music from a technical viewpoint. I’m trying to create a certain mood.

I noticed several settings of poetry by Mallarmé and Rimbaud in your list of works.  Is their poetry of particular interest to you?

I like symbolism, and Mallarmé is very symbolistic. Rimbaud wrote very colorful poetry. The symbolist poems are particularly interesting to me.

You seem to have a strong preference for ineffable ideas and symbolic texts.

I’ve always been fascinated by that kind of thing—the intangible things that we perceive in some way, either through an association or imagination. When we are thinking of intangible things, such as God, angels, saints, good, evil, love, and so on, I think it is natural for us to try to represent these intangibles in some tangible way. That’s why we have church buildings, stained glass, religious paintings, statuary, and religious drama. These are ways in which artists have tried to represent things which are in a way abstract. Music is perhaps the best way to express or represent abstract ideas. Music has the capability of expressing things that words or pictures just cannot accomplish. By connecting music with symbols it is possible to create a very powerful form of expression. Is there such a thing as a symbolist musician? Maybe that’s what I am.

•

Frank Ferko’s compositional style is woven from diverse threads: ancient mystical texts and medieval compositional techniques, minimalism and Messiaen, ineffable mysteries and concrete images, the highly complex and the startlingly simple. The result is a musical tapestry of exceptional depth and beauty, a vibrantly spiritual contribution to the musical palette of both concert hall and sanctuary.

Musical examples are reprinted by permission of E. C. Schirmer Music.

For more information about Frank Ferko and his music, visit his web-site: 

http://pubweb.acns.nwu.edu/~dahling/biography.html

Notes

                        1.                  The Hildegard Organ Cycle, Arsis CD 101, a statement made by producer Robert Schuneman in the liner notes of the recording.

                         2.                Patrick Russill, “Cantos Sagrados: Patrick Russill reflects on the holy songs of James MacMillan,” The Musical Times 1837 (March 1996): 35–37.

                        3.                  Philip Greenfield, “Review of The Hildegard Motets” The American Record Guide  6 (Nov./Dec. 1996):  p. 122.

Cicely Winter

Cicely Winter grew up in the state of Michigan, but has lived in Oaxaca since 1972. She studied piano and harpsichord at Smith College and the University of Michigan, where she obtained a B.A. in music and an M.A. in European history. She later studied piano performance at the post-graduate level in the School of Music at Indiana University. She presents organ, piano, and harpsichord concerts regularly, many of which benefit community service projects. In the year 2000 she co-founded el Instituto de Órganos Históricos de Oaxaca A.C. (IOHIO) and since then has served as its director. The IOHIO focuses on the protection and promotion of the sixty-nine historic pipe organs known to date in the state of Oaxaca.

The eighth International Organ and Early Music Festival took place October 21–27, 2010 in Oaxaca, Mexico, with the theme, “Celebrating the Bicentennial of the National Independence and the Centennial of the Mexican Revolution.” To honor the two most significant events in Mexican political history, the IOHIO (Institute of Historic Organs) presented its grandest festival yet. For the first time, music lovers were able to hear concerts on all seven restored organs, a unique opportunity to appreciate the richness and diversity of Oaxaca’s collection of Baroque instruments.
In addition, there were three all-day field trips to visit 12 unrestored instruments in village churches, most of which are usually inaccessible to the public; two masterclasses with Swiss organist and musicologist Guy Bovet; two choral concerts, one of which presented choral works that have not been heard for centuries from the early 18th-century notebook of Domingo Flores from San Bartolo Yautepec; the opportunity for organists to play the organ in the Basílica de la Soledad; guided tours of two archeological sites; an exhibit of historical material related to the organs from various Oaxacan archives; a talk about the organs and the work of the IOHIO; a view of Oaxaca’s splendid and varied scenery during field trips to the Tlacolula Valley and the Mixteca Alta; and a chance to sample the local cuisine and revel in the fiesta traditions in the villages.

October 21, Thursday
The festival began with the first of two masterclasses in San Jerónimo Tlacochahuaya given by Guy Bovet. Thirteen Mexican organists and organ students from Oaxaca, Mexico City, Puebla, Queretaro, Morelia, and Toluca, as well as one from the U.S., played for Bovet and a group of some 20 auditors from Mexico and abroad. Participants benefited immensely from Bovet’s explanation of the fine points of Spanish repertoire and performance practice. He carried out an important survey of Mexican organs in the 1980s and 90s sponsored by UNESCO and Pro Helvetia.
That evening, Mexican artists José Francisco Álvarez (organ) and Juan Carlos Murillo (trombone) offered the first concert of the festival in the Basílica de la Soledad. This is the first time the trombone has been featured in a IOHIO festival, and the sound blended brilliantly with the organ in a varied program based on arrangements by José Francisco. The magnificent polychromed case of the organ has the date 1686 inscribed on the side of the case, making it the oldest extant organ in Oaxaca.

October 22, Friday
The second organ masterclass by Guy Bovet in Tlacochahuaya once again focused on the Iberian repertoire of the 16th and 17th centuries. Participants presented works by Correa de Arauxo, Cabanilles, Bruna, Aguilera de Heredia, Cabezón, and Durón.
That afternoon, everyone gathered in the elegant space of the Francisco de Burgoa Library in the former convent of Santo Domingo de Guzman for the inauguration of the eighth festival.
IOHIO director Cicely Winter introduced Ricardo Fuentes and Beatriz Domínguez from the Coordinación Nacional de la Conservación del Patrimonio Cultural (CNCPN) who spoke about the goals of their institution and future collaborations with the IOHIO. Next, Alberto Compiani and Josefina Benavides from the “Radio Monterrey” station spoke about the weekly radio show “His Majesty the Organ,” which Compiani initiated as a result of his ongoing collaboration with the IOHIO. It is hoped that starting next year these programs may be broadcast in Oaxaca. Cicely Winter then offered a presentation about “The Historic Organs of Oaxaca and the Work of the IOHIO.” Her talk was prefaced by special recognition of the initiative of Don Alfredo Harp Helú in support of the restoration and maintenance of the organs.
This was followed by an exhibit of documents related to organs from various Oaxacan archives, “Ad maiorem Dei gloriam, el órgano oaxaqueño al servicio del altar,” which afforded an excellent overview of Oaxacan organ history. The exhibit was curated and presented by Polish researcher and IOHIO collaborator Ricardo Rodys.
The second concert of the festival took place in the Capilla del Rosario (ex-convento de San Pablo) and featured the Capilla Virreinal de la Nueva España directed by Aurelio Tello in the presentation of “Music from the Domingo Flores Book (18th century) of San Bartolo Yautepec.” This notebook was part of a treasure of manuscripts discovered by the IOHIO in Yautepec in 2001.

October 23, Saturday
The all-day field trip to the Mixteca Alta began with the third concert of the festival in Santa María de la Natividad. Barbara Owen opened the program with Baroque dance pieces. Later Guy Bovet improvised a sonata on a Mexican patriotic tune in the style of Sor María Clara and played a Fandango with guitarist Vladimir Ibarra. Gabriela Edith Pérez Díaz enchanted the audience with several pieces by J. S. Bach on the marimba. The Ibarra/Díaz duo then closed their program with a piece for marimba and guitar. At the end of the concert, each of the two IOHIO organ scholarship students from the community played a piece. We did not know that the Pan American Races would take place that day and that the highway was blocked. We were waved through by a police car but did not find out until the end of the day that the friends who drove their own cars to the concert were not allowed to pass.
The fourth concert of the festival in Santo Domingo Yanhuitlán was especially important because this organ has not been played for years due to ongoing restoration work in the church. The audience was transported by the combination of the program “The Splendor of the Cathedrals of Mexico in the 17th century,” presented by the Capilla Virreinal de la Nueva España directed by Aurelio Tello, the setting in one of Mexico’s most magnificent 16th-century Baroque churches, and the acoustics in the vaulted stone space. The renowned Uruguayan organist Cristina García Banegas accompanied the choir and enhanced the program with several magnificent 17th-century solo works.
Thanks to the ongoing support of the Federal Road and Bridge Commission, a special entrance was opened from the super highway, allowing us direct access to San Andrés Zautla and saving us over an hour of travel time. The fiesta and concert in Zautla are always a highlight of the festival. We were received in the atrium of the church by the local band with noisy fireworks, mezcal, and dancing, with the elderly women of the town dressed in their traditional skirts and blouses. We enjoyed a delicious stew with squash seed sauce, a special local recipe, served in the patio behind the church. After dinner, we filed into the church to hear the fifth concert of the festival, presented by organist Cristina García Banegas in alternation with Gabriela Edith Pérez Díaz, percussion, and Vladimir Ibarra, guitar. Banegas’s program combined light 18th-century dances with more modern works, including one of her own compositions, while Díaz and Ibarra offered modern works for guitar and complete percussion ensemble. The case decoration of this 4′ table organ (1726) is among the most elaborate in all of Mexico.

October 24, Sunday
This day was dedicated to visiting unrestored organs in the Tlacolula Valley. Our first stop was in San Matías Jalatlaco, located just on the edge of the historic center of Oaxaca City. This lovely 8′ organ, painted blue, was built in 1866 by Pedro Nibra and though missing some pipes, is quite restorable.
We continued on to San Andrés Huayapam and its lovely country church with a splendid gilded altarpiece. The 4′ table organ (1772) is in nearly perfect condition and would require little to make it playable. We were refreshed by a drink of tejate, a specialty of this community.
We made a brief stop at the famous tree in Santa María del Tule before proceeding to Santa María Tlacolula. It was market day and a local saint was also being celebrated, so the streets were packed and it was difficult to get one’s bearings because of the tall tents and rides. First we viewed the little 2′ 18th-century processional organ, the smallest in Oaxaca, which was built for a small chapel. Then we climbed up to the choir loft to see the 8′ organ in the choir loft. Dating presumably from the mid-18th century, this stately organ is nearly complete and has the most elaborately painted façade pipes in all of Mexico.
We were all set to proceed to Mitla for lunch, but a police car was blocking our vans and it took at least a half hour to track down the driver and convince him to move. As a result we had to rush through the rest of the day. After our midday meal in Mitla, we zoomed to San Dionisio Ocotepec to view one of Oaxaca’s earliest and most important organs (1721). This 4′ stationary instrument, though missing its pipes and keyboard, is the closest relative to the Tlacochahuaya organ. Its doors, which were removed from the organ, framed, and hung in the sacristy, were brought to the choir loft for viewing. One of them depicts King David playing his harp and the other, Santa Cecilia playing the Ocotepec organ, showing the bellows behind and the original façade decoration.
We arrived in San Jerónimo Tlacochahuaya just in time for the sixth concert of the festival. Guy Bovet offered an elegant program combining serious works of the Spanish repertoire with lighter pieces such as verses from the Sor María Clara notebook. His program ended with an improvisation on the Oaxacan tune “Amor Juvenil,” with Antonio de Jesús Hernández, the 15-year-old son of the sacristan on the trombone. This organ (ca. 1735) is the jewel in the Oaxacan crown. Its gorgeously decorated case and façade pipes make it a work of art in its own right and it synchronizes perfectly with the acoustics and exuberantly painted decoration of the church.

October 25, Monday
Participants had the choice of playing the organ in La Soledad or going on a guided tour of archeological site of Monte Albán with Marcus Winter of the INAH (Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia). There was free time for the rest of the day until the seventh concert of the festival presented that evening in the Oaxaca Cathedral by Cristina García Banegas. Her concert was varied and exciting, and included pieces from the Jesuit mission in Chiquitos, Bolivia. There was an excellent turnout for this concert.

October 26, Tuesday
We departed early in the morning for our two-day journey through the Mixteca Alta. This was only the second time that a concert had been programmed on the organ in Santa María Tlaxiaco, because its three-hour distance from Oaxaca City requires an overnight stay.
Our first stop was in Santa María Tinú. This small stone church houses an organ (1828) that is disproportionately large for the interior space. The organ, completely intact and played just a generation ago, still grunts and wheezes when the bellows located in the loft above are pumped. It is possible that it could be made to play again with just an overall cleaning and patching of the winding system.
We proceeded to San Mateo Yucucuí. The organ (1743) was never painted but is richly carved. The floor of the high side balcony on which the organ sits is much deteriorated, but the custodian had laid down some planks so that participants could get a closer look at the organ. The situation has been evaluated by the INAH and a repair project is under consideration.
Santa María Tiltepec is one of several extant organs located near Yanhuitlan. Appreciated by art historians for its richly carved façade, this 17th-century church houses one of Oaxaca’s oldest organs (1703), unique in both its construction technique and whimsical carved and painted decoration.
After lunch in Teposcolula, we ascended up through the pine forest to Santa María Tlaxiaco. Guy Bovet’s presentation of the eighth and final concert of the festival included some of the most stirring pieces of the 17th-century repertoire and ended with an improvisation on the “Canción Mixteca.” This beautiful 8′ organ, the only 19th-century restored instrument in Oaxaca, offers a broad palette of sound possibilities, which resounded throughout the beautiful church.

October 27, Wednesday
After breakfast, we departed for the late pre-classic and classic Mixtec archeological site of San Martín Huamelulpan for a guided tour by Marcus Winter of the INAH and a visit to the community museum.
From there we went to the nearby village of San Pedro Mártir Yucuxaco. The table organ here (1740) is complete and in excellent condition, even though its bellows no longer exist. It closely resembles the organ in Zautla, though without the painted decoration, the carved pipeshades include faces in profile, and the keyboard is one of Oaxaca’s most exquisite.
The open chapel, church, and ex-convent in San Pedro y San Pablo Teposcolula comprise one of the most amazing 16th-century Dominican complexes in Mexico. A project is nearing conclusion to gild the carved decoration of the 18th-century monumental organ in areas where there was no evidence of former gilding. The IOHIO was not notified of this project and it is being investigated. The organ has a similar profile to that of Yanhuitlan but was painted a cream color rather than polychromed, probably because of lack of funds at the time of the construction.
After lunch, we continued on to Santiago Teotongo, where we could admire the organ as part of one of the most splendid Baroque churches in Mexico. The organ seems to date from the mid-18th century because of the resemblance of its profile to the organ in San Mateo Yucucuí (1743). Even though it lost all its pipes and keyboard during the Mexican Revolution, the magnificent gilded and polychromed case still exists.
Our Mixtec tour culminated with a visit to the church and organ of Santiago Tejupan. This lovely polychromed organ (1776) is the last extant Oaxacan instrument to exhibit religious imagery on the case. Even though it no longer has its pipes or keyboard, the community is most interested in having it reconstructed some day. The name of the donor, cost of the organ, and date of construction appear inscribed on decorative medallions on the façade. Just before getting in to the vans to return to Oaxaca City, Cicely Winter announced that she had a surprise for everyone . . . a visit to one more organ! (just kidding!)

Everyone agreed that the Eighth Festival was spectacular. All the planning and organizational work beforehand really paid off and there were no major glitches, at least within our control. For the first time, we set up a screen and projected the concerts in the church below so that the audience could see the organist and the rest of the activity in the choir loft—this proved to be enormously successful. Three of the organ concerts included pieces from the notebook of the Oaxacan nun Sor María Clara del Santísimo Sacramento. The group of participants could not have been more congenial and included organists, organbuilders, organ students, anthropologists, academics, musicians, teachers, restorers, cultural promoters, and other professionals. It will be a pleasure to maintain contact with these wonderful new members of our growing IOHIO community. During the coming year we look forward to presenting more concerts, producing more CDs, continuing our documentation and conservation project, and writing a book about the Oaxaca organs. So when we organize our Ninth Festival sometime in 2012 we will have a lot to celebrate! 

 

Articles, Reports, and Reviews

by author (boldface) and subject

 

Albert Schweitzer Organ Festival/USA. See Spicer.

American Cathedral in Paris. See Ebrecht.

American Guild of Organists. See Palmer.

Andrews, Colin. New Recordings. July 10-11

Apple, Warren. New Organ Music. Mar 13, Apr 12-13, Nov 15, Dec 12-13

Arias, Enrique Alberto. Arthur C. Becker: Sonus Epulantis. Jan 15-17*+

__________. Gregorian Chant Review. May 8-10

 

Bach, J.S. See Crowell.

Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. See Latona.

Becker, Arthur C. See Arias.

Bethards, Jack. Frederick A. Lake obituary. Sept 6

__________. Organ Design and the Kraft Music Hall. Oct 18-21*†#

Book Reviews. See Collins, Hartman, Marigold, Ogasapian, Speller.

British Organ Music Seminar. See McAfee.

Bulgarian Organs. See Levi.

Butera, Jerome. In Memoriam Wesley Vos. July 2

Butera, Jerome, William Osborne, J. Bunker Clark, Haig Mardirosian, and Ronald E. Dean. Robert Noehren: In Memoriam December 16, 1910-August 4, 2002. Oct 14-17

 

Canadian Organists. See Hartman.

Carillon News. See Swager.

Cavaillé-Coll. See Zuiderveld.

Choral reviews. See McCray.

Coleberd, R.E. Stevens of Marietta: A Forgotten Builder in a Bygone Era. June 18-21*†#

Collins, John. Book Reviews. Feb 8, 10, Nov 11-12

__________. New Organ Music. Dec 12

__________. New Recordings. Mar 11-12, July 11, Oct 10, 12

Continuo. See Crowell.

Crowell, Gregory. New Organ Music. Mar 13, Nov 14

__________. New Recordings. Apr 10, May 12, June 12, Nov 13, Dec 10, 12

__________. Registration and Sonority in J.S. Bach's Continuo Practice. Feb 19-21*†

 

Dickinson, William. University of Iowa Institute for Sacred Music 2002. Aug 20-21*

Distler, Hugo. See Palmer.

 

Ebrecht, Ronald. Lenten series at the American Cathedral in Paris, 1949 and 1950. Dec 20-21*†

Editor's Notebook. Jan 2

Ellis, Laura. New Organ Music. Aug 13, Sept 14, Oct 13

 

Ferko, Frank. An Extraordinary Musical Odyssey: Paul Jacobs' Messiaen Marathon. Apr 14-15*

Fisk Opus 116. See Palmer, Zuiderveld.

French Organ Music Seminar. See McAfee.

 

Gault, Robert. 1878 Sagar Organ, Central Presbyterian Church, Eugene, Oregon. June 16-17*†

Geffert, Johannes. Toe or Heel? Evidence of Baroque Practices. July 15-17+

Gell, David A. New Organ Music. Jan 12, Feb 14, Aug 13-14, Sept 14, Oct 12-13

Gregorian Chant Review. See Arias

 

Hardwick, Peter. New Organ Music. Apr 12, May 13, June 12-13, July 12-13, Aug 12-13, Nov 14-15, Dec 12

__________. New Recordings. Nov 12

Harpsichord News. See Palmer.

Hartman, James B. Book Reviews. Feb 10, Apr 8, June 8, 10, Aug 8, 10, Sept 12, Oct 10, Nov 10-11, Dec 8, 10

__________. Families of Professional Organists in Canada. May 14-15

__________. Seven Outstanding Canadian Organists of the Past. Sept 15-17

Holland, Jon. New Recordings. Nov 13-14, Dec 10

Huestis, Herbert L. Tech Lines. June 15#, Aug 14, Dec 22*

Hughes, Sarah Mahler. New Organ Music. Feb 13-14, June 14, July 13

 

Jacobs, Paul. See Ferko.

Johnson, Brent. Martin M. Wick obituary, Aug. 6*

Johnson, Jane. See Palmer.

 

Kuhlman, William. Organ Teaching in the Small Liberal Arts College. Dec 17-19*

 

Landrum, Mary Fisher. Sewanee Church Music Conference. Dec 22*

Latin American organs. See Wyly.

Latona, Peter, Robert Grogan, and Geraldine M. Rohling. The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception Upper Church Organ Renovation Project, Goulding & Wood, Inc. Mar 21-23*†

Lawrence, Arthur. 2001 Summer Institute for French Organ Studies. Oct 22-25*†

Leaver, S. Christopher. Augustana Arts - Reuter Undergraduate Organ Competition. June 14*

Letters to the Editor. Feb 2, Apr 2, May 2, June 2, July 2, Aug 2, Sept 2, Nov 2

Levi, Sabin, and Hristo Buzhev. Organs in Bulgaria. Sept 18-21*†

 

Marigold, W.G. New Recordings. Jan 10, 12, Feb 12-13, Mar 12-13, Apr 10, 12, May 11-12, June 10, 12, Aug 10-12, Sept 12, 14, Nov 12

__________. Book Reviews. May 10-11, June 10, July 10-11, Dec 10

McAfee, Kay. British Organ Music Seminar. Feb 16-18*

__________. French Organ Music Seminar 2001: Paris Week, July 2-9, 2001. Mar 18-20*

__________. French Organ Music Seminar 2001: Alsace Week, July 10-14, 2001. Apr 18-19*

McCray, James. Music for Voices & Organ. Jan 8, Feb 8, Mar 8-10, Apr 7-8, May 8, June 8, July 8-10, Aug 7-8, Sept 10, 12, Oct 8, 10, Nov 8, 10, Dec 8

Messiaen Marathon. See Ferko.

Music for Voices & Organ. See McCray.

 

Nelson, Lee. New Handbell Music. Jan 14, Mar 13, May 12-13, Aug 14, Nov 15

New Handbell Music. See Nelson.

New Organ Music. See Apple, Collins, Crowell, Ellis, Gell, Hardwick, Hughes, Robinson, Schou, Smith.

New Recordings. See Andrews, Collins, Crowell, Hardwick, Holland, Marigold, Speller.

Nigerian music. See Sadoh.

Noehren, Robert. See Butera, et al.

 

Oaxaca. See Wyly.

Oberlin College. See Palmer, Zuiderveld.

Ogasapian, John. Book Reviews. Feb 10, 12, Mar 10-11

Organ Design. See Bethards.

Organ Historical Society. See Wechsler.

Organ Pedagogy. See Kuhlman.

Organ Recitals. Jan 25-26, Feb 28-29, Mar 28, Apr 28-29, May 27-29, June 28, July 24-25, Aug 28-29, Sept 32-33, Oct 32-33, Nov 28-29, Dec 28-29

Organ Restoration. See Wyly.

Overall, Jason. An Interview with Robert Powell. Nov 18-21*

 

Palmer, Larry. Drawings by Jane Johnson: A Retrospective and an Appreciation. Aug 18-19*

__________. Fan-fare: AGO in Philadelphia, July 1-6, 2002. Sept 22-25*

__________. Harpsichord News. Mar 6, 8, Apr 6, June 6-8

__________. Hugo Distler SIXTY Years Later. Nov 22

__________. Jurow Harpsichord Competition, SEKHS, MHKS in Bethlehem. July 14*

__________. Oberlin College opens its new Fisk Organ, Opus 116. Jan 18-19*†

Performance practice. See Crowell, Geffert.

Pickering, David C. The Organ Works of Leroy Robertson (1896-1971). Dec 14-16*+†

Powell, Robert. See Overall.

 

Robertson, Leroy. See Pickering.

Robinson, Joyce. New Organ Music. Jan 12, Oct 12, Dec 12

 

Sadoh, Godwin. The Creative Process in Nigerian Hymn-Based Compositions. Aug 15-17+

Sagar Organ. See Gault.

Schou, Larry. New Organ Music. Feb 14

Sewanee Church Music Conference. See Landrum.

SIFOS. See Lawrence.

Smith, Domecq. New Organ Music. Jan 12, 14, June 13-14, July 12

Speller, John L. Book Reviews. Jan 8, 10

__________. New Recordings. Feb 12, Apr 8, 10, May 11, Aug 12, Nov 12-13

Spicer, David. Albert Schweitzer Organ Festival/USA. Feb 14-15*

Stevens. See Coleberd.

Summer Institute for French Organ Studies. See Lawrence.

Swager, Brian. Carillon News. Jan 6, 8,* Feb 6, 7,* Mar 6,* July 8,* Sept 8, 10, Oct 6-8, Nov 6, 8, Dec 6-7*

__________. 2002 Summer Carillon Concert Calendar. June 24-25

 

Taylor, Herman D., and Williams, Donald W. The University of Michigan 41st Conference on Organ and Church Music. Mar 14*

Tech Lines. See Huestis.

 

University of Iowa. See Dickinson.

University of Michigan. See Taylor, Wagner.

 

Vos, Wesley. See Butera.

 

Wagner, James. University of Michigan 22nd International Organ and Church Music Institute. Jan 14*

Wechsler, Malcolm. Organ Historical Society 46th Annual Convention. May 16-22*

Wyly, James. The Oaxaca Congress 2001: "The Restoration of Organs in Latin America." Mar 15-17*

 

Zuiderveld, Rudolf. Cavaillé-Coll in Oberlin: June 12-15, Oberlin College. Nov 16-17*

Appointments

Ball, Steven,* to Plymouth Congregational Church, Lansing, MI. Nov 3

Basch, Peter J., to St. Ann's Church, Hoboken, NJ. Feb 3

Beck, Janice,* to St. John's Episcopal Church, Detroit, MI. Mar 3

Britanyak, Tom, to authorized service director, Wicks Organ Company, Highland, IL. July 3

Brown, Thomas,* to University Presbyterian Church, Chapel Hill, NC. Nov 3

Budzynski, Eric James,* to the Parish Church of St. Luke, Evanston, IL. Jan 3

Charneski, Jason,* to First Church of Christ (Center Church), Hartford, CT. Apr 3

Christie, James David,* to professor of organ, Oberlin College Conservatory of Music, Oberlin, OH. Aug 3

Coldwell, Maria, to executive director, Early Music America. Dec 3

Cowan, Ken,* to St. Bartholomew's Church, New York, NY. June 3

Decker, Pamela,* to associate professor, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ. Apr 3

Dexter, Jeffrey D.,* to vice-president, tonal director, Schantz Organ Company, Orrville, OH. Mar 3

Forbes, James A., Jr., to AGO chaplain for 2002-2004. Oct 3

Gastier, Eric J., to vice-president, design and engineering, Schantz Organ Company, Orrville, OH. Mar 3

Giesbrecht, Marnie,* to Professor of Music, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Dec 3

Hamner, William,* to tonal department, Wicks Organ Company, Highland, IL. July 3

Kemper, Margaret,* to Kenilworth Union Church, Kenilworth, IL. Mar 3

Lee, Daewon (David),* to Korea area sales manager, Wicks Organ Company, Highland, IL. Oct 3

Leister, Jason, to assistant to executive director of the AGO. Jan 3

Malinka, Melanie,* to director of music, The Madeline Choir School, Cathedral of the Madeleine, Salt Lake City, UT. Feb 3

Mangel, Curt,* to Curator of the Wanamaker Organ, Philadelphia, PA. Sept 3

Mann, Timothy H.,* to vice-president, marketing, Schantz Organ Company, Orrville, OH. Mar 3

Miller, Charles,* to Asylum Hill Congregational Church, Hartford, CT. Mar 3

Montgomery, Krista, to director of sales and marketing, Shawnee Press, Inc., Delaware Water Gap, PA. Dec 3

Morrison, Alan,* to head of the organ department, The Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia, PA. Aug 3

Moser, Rich,* to Ohio and Pennsylvania area sales manager, Wicks Organ Company, Highland, IL. Oct 3

Perlow, Kenneth R., to interim director of Early Music America. Jan 3

Porter, William,* to faculty, Eastman School of Music. June 3

Potts, Nigel,* to St. Peter's-by-the-Sea Episcopal Church, Bay Shore, NY. Nov 3

Rakich, Christa,* to New England Conservatory, Boston, MA. May 3

Ridgell, Robert P.,* to Philadelphia Cathedral, Philadelphia, PA. June 3

Robinson, Joyce Johnson,* to associate editor, The Diapason. Nov 4

Rowley, Naomi, to First United Methodist Church, Appleton, WI. Feb 3

Scanlon, Andrew,* to Fellow in Church Music, Christ & St. Stephen's Church (Episcopal), New York, NY. Oct 3

Schantz, John, to chairman of the board and manager, service department, Schantz Organ Company, Orrville, OH. Mar 3

Schantz, Victor B.,* to president, Schantz Organ Company, Orrville, OH. Mar 3

Shorney, John L.,* to president, Hope Publishing, Company, Carol Stream, IL. Feb 3

Sievert, Jack,* to executive vice-president, Schantz Organ Company, Orrville, OH. Mar 3

Stowe, Linda Morgan,* to School Organist/Director of Chapel Music, St. Paul's School, Concord, NH. Oct 3

Suter, Erik Wm.,* to Washington National Cathedral, Washington, DC. Nov 4

Swist, James, to area sales director, Wicks Organ Company, Highland, IL. Aug 3

Sykes, Peter,* to New England Conservatory, Boston, MA. May 3

Tadlock, Cherry, to Music Editor for Piano and Choral Music, Carl Fischer. Oct 3

Thoene, Marijim,* to St. Paul's Episcopal Church, New Orleans, LA. Jan 3

Trenney, Tom,* to First Presbyterian Church, Birmingham, MI. June 3

Tucker, Dale,* to First Wayne Street United Methodist Church, Fort Wayne, IN. Feb 3

Urban, Christopher,* to First Presbyterian Church, Arlington Heights, IL. Apr 3

Unsworth, Andrew,* to Cathedral of the Madeleine, Salt Lake City, UT. Feb 3

Honors and Competitions

Abrahamson, Dan,* retires from the Reuter Organ Company. Mar 3

Apkalna, Iveta, wins 2002 Royal Bank Calgary Competition Bach prize. Nov  3

Ashdown, Franklin D.,* receives ASCAP awards. Sept 3

Baglivi, Anthony, receives 2002 AGO President's Award. Oct 3

Benedum, Richard, retires from Dayton Bach Society. Feb 3

Blair, Nancy Jane,* honored at retirement from Briarlake Baptist Church, Atlanta, GA. Oct 3

Bolcom, William, and Joan Morris, receive MTNA Achievement Award. June 3

Brunelle, Philip, honored with Minnesota "Sally Award." Mar 3

Carrasco, Laura A.,* receives Mader Fund organ music research grant. June 3

Driskill-Smith, Clive,* wins 2002 Royal Bank Calgary Competition concerto gold medal and Duruflé prize. Nov 3

Dubois, Vincent,* wins 2002 Royal Bank Calgary Competition recital gold medal. Nov 3

Ensemble Amarcord,* wins German Music Competition. July 4

Fassang, László,* wins 2002 Royal Bank Calgary Competition improvisation gold medal. Nov 3

Fedak, Alfred,* awarded prize by John Ness Beck Foundation for composition. Apr  3

Gardiner, Rev. Robert, wins Macalester-Plymouth United Church hymn writing contest. May 3

Harbach, Barbara,* awarded honorary degree at Wilmington College, Wilmington, OH. July 3

Harmon, Thomas, retires from UCLA and First United Methodist Church, Santa Monica, CA. Sept 4

Hocdé, Emmanuel,* wins 2002 Grand Prix de Chartres, J.S. Bach performance prize, and Prize of the Audience. Dec 3

Jordan, Alice Yost, inducted into the Iowa Women's Hall of Fame. Oct 4

Khvoshchinsky, Sergey, wins Plymouth Music Series and the American Composers Forum Christmas carol contest. Jan 3

Kilstofte, Mark,* wins 2002 Choral Ventures program. Sept 4

King, Robert Burns,* honored at fortieth anniversary as organist-choirmaster, First Presbyterian Church, Burlington, NC. Nov 4

Muncaster, Clive, wins Plymouth Music Series and the American Composers Forum Christmas carol contest. Jan 3

Oldengarm, Jonathan, wins 2002 Royal Bank Calgary Competition RCCO prize and encore prize. Nov 3

Olson, Timothy, wins first prize in AGO National Young Artists Competition. Oct 3

Pearson, Kate, wins Bowling Green State University organ competition. May 4

Porter, Emily Maxson, wins Holtkamp-AGO Award in Organ Composition. Feb 3-4

Reuter Organ Company receives Kansas Chamber of Commerce & Industry Excellence in Manufacturing award, Nov 3, and award from Kansas Department of Commerce & Housing. Dec 4

Rose, John,* honored for 25 years service as college organist by Trinity College, Hartford, CT. July 4

Schalk, Carl, to receive AGO Distinguished Composer Award. May 4

Sitton, Michael,* wins first place in Cantate "Signature Anthem" competition. Dec 3

Stringham, Phyllis,* honored at retirement from Carroll College, Waukesha, WI. Dec 4

Sullivan, Daniel,* awarded first place in Gruenstein Memorial Organ Competition. Oct 2-3

Swann, Frederick,* honored as Performer of the Year by New York City AGO chapter. Dec 4

Thornock, Neil, wins second prize in 2002 Carillon Composition Competition. Sept 3

Trapp, Lynn, receives 2002 Spirit and Truth Award from University of Notre Dame. Oct 4

Trotter, Thomas,* receives Royal Philharmonic Society's Instrumentalist Award. Aug 6

Truckenbrod, Phillip Agency,* celebrates 35th year of operation. Sept 6

Unger, Johannes,* wins St. Albans International Organ Competition. Jan 4

Wallace, Edward A.,* honored at retirement by the Church of St. Michael and St. George, St. Louis, MO. Jan 4

Warland, Dale,* receives Chorus America's Louis Botto award. Aug 6

Wikman, Thomas,* receives honorary degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, July 4.

Obituaries

Bales, Gerald Albert.* Dec 6

Banta, Lorene S. Feb 6

Bruun, Lewis C.* Dec 6

Goode, Jack C. May 6

Gotwals, Vernon Jr. June 6

Herz, Eric. Aug 6

Holzgraf, Lloyd.* Jan 6

Hume, Paul. Feb 6

Kelone, Earl V.* Sept 6

Lake, Frederick A. Sept 6

Lehnerer, Paul Francis. Aug 6

Lohmann, Heinz. Feb 6

Noehren, Robert.* Sept 8

Plummer, Ruth.* June 6

Radford, Jeffrey Paul. Nov 6

Rodgers, John. July 6

Schoenstein, Lawrence L.* May 6

Sherman, Elizabeth Birkshire Brothers. Oct 6

Vos, Wesley M.* July 6

Wick, Martin M.* Aug 6

Organ Stoplists

Austin

Christ Church Cathedral, Hartford, CT. Antiphonal 2/7,* July 1, 18

 

Berghaus

St. John's Ev. Lutheran Church, Chicago, IL. 2/34,* Feb 24

 

Bigelow

All Souls' Episcopal Church, Oklahoma City, OK. 2/22,* July 18

 

Buzard

North Shore United Methodist, Glencoe, IL. 2/17,* Nov 24

St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, Denver, CO. 2/17,* June 1, 22

St. David's Episcopal Church, Glenview, IL. 2/29,* Dec 1, 23

 

Dobson

United Lutheran Church, Red Wing, MN. 2/20,* May 1, 23

 

Edwards

Episcopal Church of the Nativity, Fort Oglethorpe, GA. 2/16,* Aug 1, 22-23

 

Fabry

St. Mary's Catholic Church, Spring Lake, MI. 2/21,* Feb 23

Fabry (Aeolian-Skinner)

Marytown Kolbe Shrine, Libertyville, IL. 3/29,* Mar 24

 

Fenris

Ascension Lutheran Church, Albert Lea, MN. 2/12,* Aug 23

 

Fowler (Casavant)

St. Mary Cathedral, Lansing, MI. 3/50,* Sept 27

 

Goulding & Wood

The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, DC. 4/210,* Mar 1, 21-23

St. John's Episcopal Church, Crawfordsville, IN. 2/9,* Sept 27

Meridian Street United Methodist Church, Indianapolis, IN. 2/14,* June 23

 

Harris and McDonough

St. Augustine By-the-Sea Episcopal Church, Santa Monica, CA. 3/38,* Oct 28

 

Hendrickson

Church of St. Peter, St. Peter, MN. 3/40,* Nov 1, 23

 

Jaeckel

Christ Lutheran Church, Superior, WI. 2/10,* Apr 22

 

Lauck

St. Peter's Cathedral, Marquette, MI. 3/33,* Aug 24

 

Lewis & Hitchcock

First Presbyterian Church, Cumberland, MD. 3/30,* Apr 22-23

 

Lively-Fulcher

St. Olaf Catholic Church, Minneapolis, MN. 3/67,* Oct 27

 

Marceau

Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church, Gig Harbor, WA. 3/58,* Feb 1, 22-23

 

Muller, J.W. (Schuelke)

St. Mary's Catholic Church, Columbus, OH. 2/38,* July 19

 

Murphy

Falkner Swamp Reformed Church, Gilbertsville, PA. 2/14,* Jan 22

 

Nordlie

St. Barnabas Lutheran Church, Plymouth, MN. 2/19,* May 24

 

Quimby

SkyRose Chapel, Rose Hills Memorial Park, Whittier, CA. 4/65,* Oct 1, 26

 

Reuter

Trinity United Methodist Church, Wilmette, IL. 3/63,* Jan 1, 20-21

 

Rieger-Kloss

First Congregational Church, Beloit, WI. 4/65,* Sept 1, 26

 

Schlueter

Lumpkin United Methodist Church, Lumpkin, GA. 2/9,* Dec 24

Stella Maris Catholic Church, Sullivan's Island, SC. 2/23,* Nov 24

 

Schoenstein

Bishop Spencer Place, Kansas City, MO. 2/6,* June 23

Covenant Presbyterian Church, Madison, WI. 3/46,* Sept 28

First Church of Christ, Scientist, Belvedere, CA. 2/11, Dec 24

 

Visser

Concordia University, Austin, TX. 2/22,* Apr 23

St. Luke's Episcopal Church, Alexandria, VA. 2/31,* May 24

 

Wicks

Christ Church, Episcopal, Plano, TX. 3/22,* Apr 1, 20-21

 

Zamberlan

St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, Greencastle, IN. 2/23,* Aug 24-25