About the Organ Preludes & Postludes at St. John | San Juan

by Nickolas Carlson, Director Music Ministry

When Good Shepherd worships at St. John | San Juan Episcopal Church during the 5-Sunday Lenten Pilgrimage “Sanctuary Swap” on March 9 through April 6, the pieces I will be playing for preludes and postludes will be largely pieces of organ performance literature rather than pieces based on the tunes we are singing in hymns that day. Part of the reason for this is that the organ that St. John | San Juan has in their sanctuary is a much larger, more eclectic instrument. Our organ at Good Shepherd was designed to be a copy of an instrument from the 16th or 17th centuries. This means that it is not designed to play music written more recently. I often do play music written more recently, but music written before 1750 really shines on our instrument. Therefore, to show off the range of possibilities on the larger, more eclectic organ at St. John | San Juan, I will be playing some extended preludes and postludes from later time periods that their organ is more capable of handling. I hope you will enjoy some of these extended pieces during our time of swapping worship spaces. The preludes will begin at 9:56 am before the start of the worship service.

Special Organ Prelude for Sunday, April 6

Symphonie Gothique - Andante Sostenuto, Charles-Marie Widor: Widor was a French organist, composer, and teacher in France. His toccata from his Fifth Organ Symphony is very popular, and often used as a recessional for joyful celebrations. He was the longest-serving organist of Saint-Sulpice in Paris, serving the congregation for 63 years. He was an organ and composition professor at the Paris Conservatory.