The Organ: A Whistle-Stop Tour

14h00-15h00 on Sundays during April, May and June 2009
on Fine Music Radio 101.3 FM and streaming live on www.fmr.co.za

The Organ: A Whistle-Stop Tour, a series on the organ and its music, will be broadcast on Fine Music Radio on Sunday afternoons (14h00-15h00) from April to June. The series is presented by The Cape Organ Guild, with young presenter and organist John Woodland behind the microphone. Programmes will be compiled by members of The Cape Organ Guild.

Each episode of the 13-part series will focus on a particular aspect of the instrument and its music. The aim of the series is to promote an awareness of the extensive repertoire and versatility of the instrument, and to dispel some of the (negative) stereotypes associated with organ music.

The organ has been described as both the ‘King of instruments’ and a ‘confounded box of whistles’. Mozart, to whom the former quotation is attributed, did not write much music for the organ but appreciated the versatility and scope of the instrument – one of the oldest in the Western musical tradition. By the eighth century it had overcome early associations with gladiatorial combat and assumed a prominent place in the liturgy of the western church, and more recently it has re-emerged as a dazzling secular and recital instrument.

Queries about the programme or works played? Contact the presenter.