David Schrader - Organ Music by Frank Ferko & Leo Sowerby

Versatile keyboard virtuoso David Schrader, heard on more than two dozen Cedille Records albums, performs attractive 20th- and 21st-cen tury solo organ works by Frank Ferko (b. 1950) and Leo Sowerby (1895�1968), prolific composers known for their organ mastery and closely associated with the city of Chicago. Ferko�s works, all world-premiere recordings, are heard on three different mechanical-action organs at The House of Hope Presbyterian Church, St. Paul, Minnesota. The intimate Music for Elizabeth Chapel is performed on the organ it was written for: the 19-rank Jaeckel, Opus 41. Variations on a Hungarian Folk Theme, also written for the textures and colors of a small instrument, is heard on an authentic Romantic-era French organ, with 13 ranks, built by Joseph Merklin in 1878 for a church in southern France. Ferko compositions performed on the 97-rank C.B. Fisk Opus 78 (1979) include Variations on �Veni Creator Spiritus,� based on a ninth-century plainsong hymn; Angels � Chaconne for Organ, Missa O Ecclesia: Communion, and Mass for Dedication, all based on chants by 12th-century abbess, composer, and Christian mystic Hildegard von Bingen; Symphonie br�ve, dedicated to Schrader; and Tired Old Nun, a novelty piece scored for pedals alone, with waltz, slow blues, and boogie variations.