Old Fashioned Christian Radio Music Store
Grand
Prairie, Texas
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Old Fashioned Christian Radio Music Store
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J. Richard Szeremany, Organist -- For The Beauty Of The Earth
One Other CD by J
Richard Szeremany, Organist This recording is listed under:
The message
inside the CD cover
reads... Once again we had the privilege of returning to Longwood Gardens to tape a fifth volume of hymns on their magnificent organ. Unlike a large cathedral instrument which usually has pipes in many different parts of the building, the 10010 pipes of Longwood are located in chambers along one wall. What a thrill for an organist to be able to hear the tremendous tonal resources speaking directly from one location. This awesome power has been captured on this recording thanks to the wonder of digital technology. We are grateful to Colvin Randall, Director of Public relations, for having the foresight to preserve and restore a musical instrument that would be irreplaceable today. After the taping session, we toured the pipe chambers and saw batteries of trumpets, the rank upon rank of string pipes, as well an many flutes and diapason stops. The five sets of thirty-two foot pedal stops span several stories and dwarf the viewer. Listen to the last few chords of How Great Thou Art to hear their incredible power. I like to arrive at Longwood several hours before the recording to get a feel of the organ as well as to enjoy the beauty of the thousands of flowers in bloom. There are about 14,000 varieties of plants, and I was particularly impressed by the many kinds of orchids. Yes, there was the type that comes to mind when one thinks of Mother's Day, but there seemed to be countless others of all sizes, colors, and shapes. Impressed by the beauty of God's creation, I decided to select hymns that reference to nature. Trivia questions seem to be popular these days, so why not see if you can find words that refer to such natural wonders as storms, clouds, floods, rocks, stars, moonlight, and planets in each selection. Perhaps a few remarks about the recording session would be of interest. After listening to the previous Longwood recordings, several listeners have asked to hear more of the beautiful chimes. This is one stop that classically trained musicians don't think of, and the producer of this series has threatened to hang a large banner over the console reading, "THINK CHIMES." It was my intention to sue them for many of the hymns; however, the chime mechanism developed an air leak after taping just one selection and could not be used for the part of the evening. The hymn How Great Thou Art is normally performed with majestic chords, but I chose to add one verse in minor which some listeners may question. Read the words to the third verse and see if you feel this is fitting. Sitting at the magnificent console makes one feels as if he has been transported to the cockpit of a jumbo jet. While playing Immortal, Invisible, I was searching for a particular stop and accidentally changed keys. Our associate producer, Karen Van Zweden, quickly pointed out that in music this called a tonal shift and adds interest to the music. It does seem to work! I hope that you enjoy these hymns as much as we enjoyed recording them and that the words will prove a blessing during times of mediation and praise. About J Richard Szeremany Dr. J. Richard Szeremany serves the Second Presbyterian Church of Newark, New Jersey, in a unique role -- he is the congregation's preaching minister as well as organist and choir director. As a musician, he possess the amazing ability to bring out a rich variety of tones for]from the organ and can improvise hymns without prior thought or practice. When working with this gifted artist, our staff gives him a packet of selections at the start of the recording session. Dr Szeremany takes three or four minutes to contemplate the meaning of the text and set registrations before telling us to start the tape. His on-the-spot arrangements reflect an authority gained from many years of service playing as well as a deep feeling for the message behind the music which is best summarized by the following comment from a listener, "As an organist, Dr. Szeremany plays the instrument the way a preacher would proclaim 'THUS SAITH THE LORD.'" This
album marks the seventeenth volume in this organ series. The complete collection
contains 300 hymn improvisations and 30 sacred classics such as The Lord's
Prayer, Bless This House, and The Holy City. All recordings have been
taped on location using large churches and concert halls to achieve a spacious
sound and several different organs have been used to give variety of tone.
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