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RECORDING PROJECTS:
The complete organ works of Rene Louis Becker at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament, Detroit.
René Louis Becker was the first organist at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Detroit, Michigan. His tenure as organist spanned 12 years (1930-1942) and his prolific talent as a composer for organ, voice, violin, cello and piano generated more than 425 scores in a compositional style which is both a deeply complex and elegant expression of the late romantic atheistic. His style, although soaring and elegant, does not lack substance- his countrapuntal style is masterful and bold. This project is being funded by a grant from the State of Michigan through the office for the Vice President of Research at the University of Michigan.
2011 (completed)
Album Leaf Ab
Album Leaf Bb
At Sunrise
Bridal March Bb (Processional) From Wagner
Bridal March in F
Chanson Pastorale (Shepherds’ Song) for Organ
Fantasy in c Minor
Festival Prelude
Fugue in c Minor
Lyric Idyll
March in A on “In Virtute tua, Domine”
March in A for Organ
March in D for Organ
March in G
March Funêbre
March Gothique
Melody for Organ
Postludium for organ
Prelude in F
Theme and Variations for Organ in c Minor
Wedding March for Organ (C Major)
Wedding March in F (Processional)
Untitled in F Major
2012
Toccata in F Minor
Toccata in D Minor
Toccata in E Minor
Toccata in G Minor
Pieces without an assigned opus number but which are dated:
Marche Pontificale (1915)
Legend (1916)
Festival March (1917)
Chanson sans Paroles (1920?)
Chanson sans Paroles (1920)
Sur le Nil (Séré nade Orientale – 1920)
Serenata (1923)
Chanson Céleste (1926)
Consolation (1926)
Elegie (1926)
March in G (To my daughter Catherine - 1926)
Scherzo (1926)
Pieces with assigned opus numbers:
Song of the Seraphin 001 No. 1, 1916
March Nupitale 001 No. 2, 1916
Melodie Elégiaque 002, 1916
Dance of the Elves 011a, (not known)
Chanson Bretonne. Offertory 011b, (not known)
Twelve Compositions for Organ 016, 1908
Postlude and Requiescat 016 No. 10, (not known)
Wedding March (A Major) 016 No. 12, (not known)
Crépuscule à l’Orient 030, (not known)
Prelude for organ (Eb Major) 031 No. 1, (not known) See Sonata IV
Finale II. Pomposo 031 No. 2, (not known)
Toccata in D for Organ 032, 1910
At Eventide 034, (not known)
Sonata I in G Minor 040, 1912
-I Praeludium Festivum
-II Dialogue
-III Scherzo
-IV Prayer
-V Toccata
Sonata II in F 041, 1912
-I Prélude
-II Pastorale
-III Finale
Cantilena 042, 1912
Sonata III in E 043, 1913
-I Prelude
-II Adoration
-III Finale: Toccata
2013
Toccata 045, 1912
Chanson matinale (Pastorale) 047 No. 1, 1914
Chanson du Soir 047 No. 2, 1914
Lullaby 051 No. 2, 1915
Reverie (Morceau pour Orgue) 051 No. 4, 1915
Meditation 051 No. 5, 1915
Cannzonetta. Morceau pour Orgue 051 No. 1,1915
Summer – Idyll 051 No. 3, 1915
Sonata IV 052, (not known)
Sonata IV is attributed to the following compositions which are not marked, but probably identified with the following individual compositions as the work was broken up for publication of separate movements.
-Prelude (Eb Major) 031 No. 1, (not known)
-Finale (not assigned), (date not known)
Marche Militaire 062, 1918
Cantilène 063, 1918
Toccata (Benedicamus Domino) 068a, 1919
Allegro Risoluto 068b,1919
Marche Triomphale “Ite Missa Est” 06, 1912
Prélude pour orgue (D major) 069a, (date not know)
Fantasie pour Orgue (B Minor) 069b, (date not known)
Toccata (Bb Major) 069c, 1923
Postlude in F-Sharp Major 069d, 1923
Sortie Solennelle 070, 1922
Idylle Angélique 071, 1923
Postlude in D Minor 075a, 1923
Clair de Lune 075b, 1924
March in D Minor 076a, 1923
Prière. Morceau pour Orgue 078 No. 1, (not known)
Fantasie pour Orgue 078 No. 2, (not known)
Supplication 081a, 1927
Pastorella 081b, 1927
Plantation Melodies 081c, 1927
Song of Joy 081e, 1927
Marche de Fete 081f, 1927
Fugue in A Minor 082b, (not known)
Fugue in F sharp minor 083, (not known)
Invocation 084a, (not known)
Reve des Anges 084b, (not known)
Toccatina (C minor) 086, (not known)
Romanza 088, (not known)
Marche Funèbre (F minor) 090a, (not known)
2014
Meditation 090b, (not known)
Improvisation en Fore d’un Prélude 092, (not known)
Oiseaux Volants 097, (not known)
Laudate Dominum Omnes Gentes 098 No. 1, (not known)
Marche Solennelle (Grand Choeur) 098 No. 2, (not known)
Processional March 098 No. 3, (not known)
Toccata in A Minor 098 No. 4, (not known)
Mountain Idyll 099, (not known)
Suite for Organ I 100, (not known)
-I Preludio Majestico
-II Andante Grazioso
-III Marcia
-IV Finale (Toccata)
Suite for Organ II 101, (not known)
-I Prélude
-II Intermezzo
-III Lament 106 No. 4
-IV Andante Cantabile
-V Marcia
Arietta. Morceau Pour Orgue 102, (not known)
A Retrospection 106 No. 2, (not known)
Melodie Paysanne 106 No. 3, (not known)
Feuillet d’Album 106 No. 5, (not known)
Melodie Lyrique 106 No. 6, (not known)
Intermezzo 106 No. 7, (not known)
Scherzo à l’Antique 106 No. 8, (not known)
Volksleid 106 No. 9, (not known)
Noël en Alsace 107 no. 1, (not known)
Noël en Loraine 107 No. 2, (not known)
Intermezzo 108 No. 1, (not known)
Toccatina (A Minor) 110, No. 2, (not known)
A new recording on the former New York Paramount Wurlitzer opus 1458, now installed at Century II Exhibition Hall in Wichita KS.
Wurlitzer Organ Company
North Tonawanda, N.Y. – Opus 1458 (1926)
Electro-pneumatic action
4 manuals, 36 ranks
The Wurlitzer Organ built in 1926 for the Paramount Theatre was considered to be the company's masterpiece. Installed in shallow chambers and speaking through virtually unobstructed grilles, the organ was tonally finished by Dan Papp under the direction of Jesse Crawford, noted theatre organist who had been lured from Chicago to be chief organist at the Paramount, a position he held from 1926-1933.
Although many enthusiasts referred to the Paramount organ as the "Crawford Special," due to the organist's close association with the instrument, Mr. Crawford insisted that he did not design the organ but "specified only that the organ was to include certain ranks: the three Tibia Clausa, certain of the string and diapason ranks and the four Vox Humana... Someone at the Wurlitzer factory made up the specifications." The Paramount organ was the first by Wurlitzer to include 2-2/3' and 2' Tibia pitches.
Regarding the Paramount organ, Edward Millington Stout III, the incomparable organ builder, curator and historian based in Hayward, Calif., posted this statement (June 26, 2004) on the Cinema Treasures web site:
"The thirty-six rank Wurlitzer in the Times Square Paramount was based on Wurlitzer's largest standard model, the 285, such as the magnificent example installed in the San Francsico Granada Theatre in 1921. The Style 285s were known as "two-pressure" organs, meaning the blowers supplied 15" & 25" pressures. The 285's "Brass" division, consisting of an English Horn (Post) on 15" pressure and a 25" Tuba Mirabilis, became the "Orchestral" division on the 4-manual specials. The Paramount was the first of the five instruments falling under that classification."
In 1929, a slave console was added and installed on the other side of the orchestra pit, allowing Helen Crawford to perform in duo with her husband. Two skeleton consoles for use on the stage were added in 1931, making it the only Wurlitzer organ that could be played simultaneously by four organists at four different consoles.
The Paramount organ was so successful that Fox Studios placed an order in 1928 for four identical organs to be installed in their theatres in Detroit (Op. 1894), Brooklyn (Op. 1904), St. Louis (Op. 1997) and San Francisco (Op. 2012). Known as the "Fox Special," each organ was equipped with two four-manual consoles (master and slave) and 36 ranks of pipes (except for the Brooklyn Fox organ which had 37 ranks due to the addition of a Concert Flute Celeste). In 1929, a fifth "Fox Special" organ was ordered for the Fox Theatre in Newark, N.J., but this theatre was never built and the organ contract was cancelled. In David L. Junchen's book, The Wurlitzer Pipe Organ – An Illustrated History (American Theatre Organ Society, 2005), we read, "As a curious coincidence, the Wurlitzer ledgers disclose that in 1929 the company acquired $91,950 worth of stock in Fox Film Corporation. This amount is about the cost of a Fox Special organ; perhaps it was a payoff of the defaulted contract."
Prior to the demolition of the Paramount Theatre, the organ was acquired by Richard Simonton of Los Angeles. In the 1970s, the organ was moved to the Century II Convention Center in Wichita, Kansas. (extracted from an article by the NYCAGO)
