Frank Taylor

Frank Taylor, who studied under Melville Smith among others, was a professor at LaSalle College in Newton, Massachusetts, and died in 1986. He did not have a very active career in performance or recording, and these are the only two published works by him, and as such they are singular treasures - as magnificent as they are obscure. The sessions, performed on a gorgeous Charles Fisk organ at Old West Church, Boston, were flawlessly recorded by David Griesinger, and they capture both the majesty of the selected works and the superior qualities of the organ itself. Numerous recordings have been made of these works over the last seventy five years, but most seem dry and mechanical by comparison to Mr. Taylor's emotionally charged approach to the material. These recordings have a remarkable quality of presence, seemingly placing the listener directly in front of the organ's massive registers; one can almost feel the air moving. The Grand Jeu from DuMage's Livre d'Orgue literally takes one's breath away.

The DuMage-D'andrieu recording and Taylor's other published work, the Complete Works of Louis Marchand, were originally released in the 1970's on a local independent label, Elysee Editions, which has been defunct for decades. The recordings received no promotion or publicity, and went largely unnoticed. These releases offer a second chance for devotees of the genre to experience a truly remarkable treat. Whether you are new to classical organ music, or an experienced dilettante - prepare for a thrill. These albums have been released on Itunes, Amazon, Emusic, YouTube, and several streaming music portals.