1} John Weaver: Toccata
2} Dietrich Buxtehude: Praeludium in D
3} Robert Hebble: Festival Piece on "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God"
4} Patrick A. Scott: Improvisation on Nicaea
5} Dan Locklair: Swing Low
6} Max Reger: Toccata & Fugue in D minor, Op. 59
7} Patrick A. Scott: Improvisation on The Ash Grove
8} William Walton: Crown Imperial
9} Paul Halley: Outer Hebrides
10} Henri Mulet: Tu es Petra
11} Patrick A. Scott: Improvisation on Rustington

Here's one for your bucket list. I mean you haven't really lived until you've heard some of the pieces on this new recording played on this magnificent pipe organ. It's the Op. 14 build by the Parkey Organ Builders of Duluth, Georgia, with added components from the Aeolian-Skinner Op. 1472 from the Kennedy Center, relocated and revised. It sits in the Providence United Methodist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. And somewhat like Dr. Frankenstein's creation, this instrument built with old, new, and replacement pipes is a monster. It includes 62 stops ranging from a 2' Spitzflote to a 32' Subbass and Contra Posaune, with everything in between including Fanfare and State Trumpet stops. This thing will stop your heart for a second.

And organist Patrick A. Scott knows a thing or two about putting all those various stops and combinations to good use. For example, his own Improvisation on Nicaea which begins with the simple tune intoned by a solo principal over a bed of soft bourdon stops but eventually builds to become a towering giant on full organ that can't but bring a smile to your face. What a beautiful contrast is the Swing Low by Dan Locklair again using soft flute and foundation stops. It demonstrates that even a powerful instrument like this one can have a soft, angelic side. Henri Mulet's Tu es Petra is a Widor inspired work full of momentum and energy that just spills over effusively at the end. And when Patrick A. Scott pulls out what sounds like the State Trumpet stop near the end of Walton's Crown Imperial you'll feel like running for cover, but fear not, if you have a powerful sound system that can do it justice, the final massive chords will make you glad to be alive.

My only very minor quibble about this recording is the lack of air around the sound. Either the size of the building is too small for such an instrument or, it was miked too closely. The sense of a large space around the organ is somewhat lacking. But then again, I'm not a recording engineer and I'm sure the people at Raven would have accounted for that if at all possible. Nonetheless, it's definitely a recording to hear if you are a pipe organ enthusiast.

Below is a clip from 2011 of Patrick A. Scott performing the Henri Mulet - 'Tu es Petra' on a French organ.

Jean-Yves Duperron - January 2016