November 2025

The Accompanist-Orchestrator: Getting the Best out of Stanford and Korngold

When listening to one of the old Hollywood soundtracks, our ears instantly recognize hallmarks of the era. There are the singing melodies, the rich orchestrations, and the ingenious musical devices. (To say nothing of the fantastic playing.) We remember the great film songwriters and composers, and our modern minds often forget the many talented orchestrators responsible for two of the three hallmarks listed above.

Olivier Messiaen (1908–1992), a musical synesthete, recorded observations of his experiences in so much detail that one would assume the role of synesthesia carried great influence in Messiaen’s compositional language. To provide my audience a glimpse of his synesthetic world and yet another entry into his harmony, I performed Messiaen’s La Nativité du Seigneur (1935) at Christ Church Cathedral (Episcopal), Cincinnati, Ohio, on January 28, 2023, with programmed lighting in the space.

On September 9, for the first time in modern history, the pipes of a Medieval organ have been heard again, just as they sounded a thousand years ago. And it was with the eleventh-century liturgical chant, Benedicamus Domino Flos filius, performed by David Catalunya on the original bronze pipes of the Organ of Bethlehem.

See Part 1

See Part 2

See Part 4

Joseph Edgar (Joe) Clipp