AMERICAN HYMN PRELUDES: ORGAN MUSIC OF SAMUEL...

AMERICAN HYMN PRELUDES: ORGAN MUSIC OF SAMUEL ADLER, WILLIAM SCHUMAN AND GARDNER READ. Barbara Harbach, organ. Rochester Singers. Samuel Adler, conductor. Gasparo GS-258. Pierre Boulez has admired the tendency of Bach’s music to “sprout and proliferate like a weed,” which the master then trimmed to final form. For this same reason, one must admire the 11 organ preludes of Gardner Read on this disc. They are short. They are superbly designed. They are the principal attraction of this record. The melodic fragments with which they begin quickly grow and multiply, forming a splendid garden of sound which this composer has carefully pruned. Their conclusions have the force of logic.