Mailbag: “Organ PLUS Cat prrr…”

April 16, 2013

Dear Michael,

Just a message to share with you some of the unique combinations of organ plus I wish someone would try. Organ with: cat purrs, flowing streams, and here's the big one for me, I'd absolutely love to hear a piece combining organ with native American Indian chants. .

Best Regards,

Wallace Versluis

Dear Wallace,

Thanks for the interesting suggestions. Paul Halley has recorded some tracks that include nature sounds with the organ of St. John the Divine in NYC. I don't know about the cat-purrs (though I could record plenty at home…and my older cat does seem to love sitting on the floor between the big living-room speakers when I blast away with the organ recordings).

Halley and Paul Winter did a piece with Native American chanting...you can hear it in the second hour of this program (Organ Plus, #0912).

And I encouraged the creation of a nifty piece by William Beckstrand a few years ago, for organ and Native American women's drumming chorus…it was premiered a few years ago at Sacred Heart Music Center, Duluth, MN, where the church's founder, Fr. John Chebul, had been an advocate for and supporter of the Native population. Though we recorded it, the recording did not prove to be broadcast-ready, and I am hoping to reschedule a performance of the piece and get it on the air.

Thank you,

JMB

 

 

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