Song List: Thee We Adore Praise to the Lord the Almighty In Christ There Is No East Or West O Thou In Whose Presence Once More My Soul Lead Kindly Light Toccata on Ein Feste Burg Toccata on Boylston Take My Life and Let It Be Consecrated

Song List: Crimond Duke Street Faithfulness Foundation Gordon Hendon Italian Hymn (Moscow) Open My Eyes (Scott) Solid Rock Ville du Havre All to Christ O When The Saints

Matthias Weckmann, born in Niederdorla near Muhlhausen (Thuringia) in 1616 and died in Hamburg in 1674, was trained as a musician by Heinrich Schutz in Dresden among others. He worked as an organist in Dresden (Schlosskirche) and Hamburg (St. Jakobi). It is particularly for the Jakobi organ that he wrote his elaborate and virtuoso organ works. Our new edition in the renowned series 'Masters of the North German Organ School' faithfully transfers the works which survived in letter tablature, providing a reliably edited urtext. Volume 1 contains the cantus firmus-based works, 8 authentic verse cycles with 2-7 movements each in which chorale melodies such as 'Es ist das Heil uns kommen her', 'Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ)' or the 'Magnificat' are varied, as well as a cycle on 'Ach wir armen Sunder' attributed to Weckmann. Volume 2 proves him to a master of concertante organ music, containing 3 works with pedal (Fantasia, Fuga and Praeambulum in D) as well as several moderately difficult works to be played on manuals only (6 toccatas, 5 canzonas). Reliable standard edition of the music by one of the great (North) German organ masters.

Certainly the most adventurous organ piece so far, this toccata on the well-known Palm Sunday hymn will send the congregation out with a spring in their step - or make your concert audience wonder how you got all those semiquavers! Descending arpeggios throughout drive the piece forward with the tune soaring out on a Tuba, Trumpet, or whatever you have available. A decent pedal section will underpin the main section - 32' reeds will make all the difference in the final few bars. (Don't panic - it can also be used on more modest instruments.).