THE WANAMAkER ORGAN Centennial ConcertPETER RICHARD CONTE, ORGANSyMPHONy IN C • ROSSEN MIlANOv, CONDUCTOR

MUSIC FOR ORGAN AND ORCHESTRA

t rackl is tSymphony No. 2 in A Major, for Organ and Orchestra, Opus 91 Félix Alexandre Guilmant1 | I. Introduction et Allegro risoluto 10:182 | II. Adagio con affetto 5:563 | III. Scherzo (Vivace) 6:494 | IV. Andante Sostenuto 2:395 | V. Intermède et Allegro Con Brio 5:55

6 Alleluja, for Organ & Orchestra, Opus 112 Joseph Jongen 5:58

7 Hymne, for Organ & Orchestra, Opus 78 Jongen 8:52

Symphony No. 6 in G Minor, for Organ and Orchestra, Opus 42b Charles-Marie Widor8 | I. Allegro Maestoso 9:219 | II. Andante Cantabile 10:3910 | III. Finale 6:47

TOTAL TIME: 73:16

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the music

FÉLIX ALEXANDRE GUILMANT Symphony No. 2 in A Major for Organ and Orchestra, Op. 91

Alexandre Guilmant (1837-1911), the renownedParisian organist, teacher and composer, wrote this five-movement symphony in 1906. Two years before itscomposition, Guilmant played an acclaimed series of 40recitals on the St. Louis World’s Fair Organ—the largestorgan in the world—before it became the nucleus of thepresent Wanamaker Organ. In the Symphony’s firstmovement, Introduction et Allegro risoluto, a sprightlytheme on the strings is offset by a deeper motif. That pavesthe way for the titanic entrance of full organ, with fugatoexpositions and moments of unbridled sensuousness,building to a restless climax. An Adagio con affetto followsin A-B-A form, building on the plaintive organ with silkenstrings that are soft, lovely and soaring. The familiarScherzo (Vivace) is graced with a noble melody ofconsiderable energy, undergirded here and there by brass.It is followed by an Andante Sostenuto that beginspensively on the organ and is soon joined by the orchestra.In the Intermède et Allegro Con Brio, the string sectiondraws the curtain to Beethoven-like bursts of sunshine asorgan and orchestra unite in a towering dialogue that isboth crisp and frenetic.

JOSEPH JONGEN Alleluja, for Organ and Orchestra, Op. 112Hymne, for Organ and Orchestra, Op. 78

Joseph Jongen (1873-1953), a Belgian organist-composer, penned only three works for organ andorchestra. Alleluja, written in 1940 for the inauguration ofthe new organ in Belgian Radio’s concert hall, is a modallyinflected work that opens in solemnity. Its energeticpassages bring to mind the composer’s masterpiece, hisSymphonie-Concertante (opus 81), which was written forthe Wanamaker Organ.

Hymne for organ and string orchestra was composed in1924. In it, the organ provides a foundation for a moodymeditation by the strings, later joined by other voices.

CHARLES-MARIE WIDOR Symphony No 6 in G Minorfor Organ and Orchestra, Op. 42b

Charles-Marie Widor (1844-1937) was the organist ofSt. Sulpice in Paris, where he presided for 54 years overwhat is still the largest pipe organ in France. In 1919 thiswork received its American Premiere in this venue, theGrand Court of Philadelphia’s John Wanamakerdepartment store, under Leopold Stokowski and thePhiladelphia Orchestra. As many as 15,000 listeners werepresent. The work was dedicated to Charles M. Courboin,organist for the occasion. As Wanamaker Stores musicdirector Alexander Russell wrote in 1919: “the SixthSymphony is a massive work. Competent critics considerthe first movement, Allegro Maestoso, one of the mostnoble in the entire organ literature. The opening theme isone of great stateliness, broad and virile. The AndanteCantabile possesses great charm, with certain reminiscencesof the recitative of the first movement. The Finale is one ofthe most brilliant of all organ compositions, and woulddoubtless equal the popularity of the famous toccata fromthe Fifth Symphony, if played more frequently.” After the1919 concert, Dr. Russell wrote that in the first and lastmovements the organ and orchestra produced “a perfectNiagara of sound.” Since that occasion ten-thousand pipeshave been added to the Wanamaker Organ.

—RAY BISWANGER

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the organ

Built by the Los Angeles Art Organ Company for the 1904St. Louis World's Fair, the Wanamaker Organ was designed byrenowned organ architect George Ashdown Audsley, author ofThe Art of Organ-Building. This heroic instrument had morethan 10,000 pipes, and its construction was on such a lavishscale that costs soared to $105,000, bankrupting the builder. In1909, Philadelphia merchant-prince John Wanamaker boughtthe instrument for his new Philadelphia emporium. Thirteenfreight cars were required to ship the entire organ from St.Louis, and installation took two years. Despite its immense size,the tone was judged inadequate to fill the huge court.Wanamaker's opened a private pipe-organ factory in the Storeattic, employing up to 40 full-time employees to enlarge theinstrument. More than 8,000 pipes were added to the Organbetween 1911 and 1917, and from 1924 to 1930 an additional10,000 pipes were installed, bringing the total number of pipestoday to 28,677 (463 ranks).During the lifetimes of John Wanamaker and his son

Rodman, the world's finest musicians were brought to theStore for brilliant after-business-hours concerts, among themFrance's Marcel Dupre, Louis Vierne and Nadia Boulanger,Italy's Fernando Germani and Marco Enrico Bossi, andEngland's Alfred Hollins.A complete stoplist is available on the Gothic Catalog Web

site. Further information about the history of the Wanamakerorgan can be found in G-49240, “The Wanamaker Legacy”with Peter Richard Conte, organ.

< THE WANAMAKER ORGAN IN ITS ORIGINAL PAINTED COLORS

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the art is ts

Peter Richard Conte is celebrating his 25th year as Wanamaker Grand Court Organist. He is only thefourth person to hold that title since the organ first played in 1911. He performs concerts twice daily, sixdays each week, on the largest fully-functioning musical instrument in the world. Mr. Conte is alsoPrincipal Organist of Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, PA, and, since 1991, has served as Choirmasterand Organist of Saint Clement’s Church, Philadelphia, where he directs a professional choir in anextensive music program catering to the Anglo-Catholic tradition. Mr. Conte is highly regarded as a skillful performer and arranger of organ transcriptions. He has been

featured several times on NPR and on ABC television’s “Good Morning America” and “World NewsTonight.” He has two radio shows: “The Wanamaker Organ Hour”, which airs on the first Sunday of eachmonth, at 5:00 PM (ET), and can be heard via the internet at WRTI.ORG; on each Wednesday evening at7:00 PM, his Grand Court concert is streamed live on YesterdayUSA.com. Mr. Conte performs extensivelythroughout the United States and Canada under the management of Phillip Truckenbrod Concert Artists,

and has appeared as a featured artist atAmerican Guild of Organists’ National andRegional Conventions. He has performedwith the Philadelphia Orchestra, Peter Neroand the Philly Pops, and with numerousorchestras around the country. Peter Richard Conte is an Adjunct

Assistant Professor of Organ at RiderUniversity’s Westminster Choir College,Princeton, NJ, where he teaches organimprovisation. He is the 2008 recipient ofthe Distinguished Alumni Award from theIndiana University School of Music, Bloomington. The Philadelphia Music Alliance awarded him a BronzePlaque on the Avenue of the Arts in 2011. This is his sixth recording for Gothic Records.

Rossen Milanov is the Music Director of Symphony in C. He is the Principal Conductor of OrquestaSinfonica del Principado de Asturias in Spain, and also serves as the Music Director of the Princeton SymphonyOrchestra. Mr. Milanov has collaborated with some of the world’s most prestigious artists, including Yo-Yo Ma,Itzhak Perlman, Joshua Bell, Midori, Christian Tetzlaff and André Watts, as well as with some of the world’smost esteemed vocalists such as Nikolai Ghiaurov, Vesselina Kasarova, Ghena Dimitrova and KrassimiraStoyanova.During his eleven-year tenure with The Philadelphia Orchestra he conducted more than 200 performances

with that great orchestra, both as Associate Conductor and Artistic Director of the Orchestra’s summer home atThe Mann Center for the Performing Arts. Rossen Milanov studied conducting at The Juilliard School (where he received the Bruno Walter Memorial

Scholarship), the Curtis Institute of Music, has a degree in Oboe from Duquesne University and the BulgarianNational Academy of Music. Former Chief Conductor of the Bulgarian National Radio Orchestra (2003-2008),Mr. Milanov is a recipient of the Bulgarian Ministry’s Award for Extraordinary Contribution to BulgarianCulture and an ASCAP award in 2011 for his programing with Princeton Symphony Orchestra. In 2005, he waschosen as Bulgaria’s Musician of the Year.

CONTE

MILANOV

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Catalog Number: G-49293www.gothic-catalog.como&r 2014 by Loft Recordings, LLC All Rights Reserved

credi ts

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MUSIC FOR ORGAN AND ORCHESTRA

THE WANAMAKER ORGAN: CENTENNIAL CONCERTMACY’S CENTER CITY, PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA

PETER RICHARD CONTE, ORGANSYMPHONY IN C • ROSSEN MILANOV, CONDUCTOR

Recorded on October 1, 2011

Executive producer: Roger W. Sherman

Recording engineers: Charles Gagnon and James StemkeEditing and mastering: Charles Gagnon

Organ curators: Curt Mangel, Sam Whitcraft and Anthony Nichols

Chief organ tuner: Anthony Nichols

Booklet editor: Roger W. ShermanGraphic designer: Dominic AZ Bonuccelli (azfoto.com)Photographs: Jeffrey Holder

Acknowledgments: Friends of the Wanamaker Organ, Ray Biswanger, the Wyncote Foundationand Macy’s Center City.

All rights of the producer & the owner of the work reproduced are reserved.Unauthorized copying, hiring, lending, public performance and broadcasting ofthis recording are prohibited.

G-49293 www.gothic-catalog.com