Benjamin Sheen_Bach G Major Prelude 541

Covering all the basses

I remember the first time I went to Fenway Park in Boston with my father to see a Red Sox game. I had watched many games on television, but those of us “of a certain age” remember what televisions were like in 1965 with foil-wrapped rabbit-ear antennas, bulbous black-and-white picture tubes, and fuzzy pictures. When Dad and I came out of the tunnel into the sunshine at Fenway, the outfield grass was the greenest I had ever seen. I was dazzled.

BACH: The Gamut from A to G (AF2304)

J. S. Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, by Colin Booth, harpsichord. Soundboard, Book One, SBCD-218, $16.98; Book Two, SBCD-219, $16.98. Available from ravencd.com and
colinbooth.co.uk.

Some thoughts on owning pipe organs

The organ has been sitting in the rear gallery for a hundred years. The organist climbs the stairs every week, turns on the blower, and starts to play. The tuner comes a couple times a year, otherwise no one thinks much about it. It sounds great, but many assume it is part of the woodwork, part of the fabric of the building. They have no idea how complex it is or how delicate its components can be, but when something goes wrong with it, it can become a hot issue in a hurry.