Music for a Sunday Afternoon

Recitals from the Cathedral of St. Philip, Atlanta
William J. Weisser, Organ
Available at: Edenton Street United Methodist Church; Ridgewood Classic CDs; Millennium Music; Burrage Music Company; amazon.com; CDBaby.com. About $16

William J. Weisser , Minister of Music at the Edenton Street Methodist Church in Raleigh, has put together a collection of his favorite organ music played on the organ at St. Philip's Cathedral in Atlanta. His selection includes music written over the past 100 years, nearly all of it liturgical.

In the liner notes, Weisser states that he was particularly excited about the opportunity to record this CD on a first-rate Aeolian Skinner organ within a large Gothic space, and, indeed, the quality of the sound in this CD is excellent. Particularly impressive is the organ's and Weisser's capacity to play softly. Many of the selections are contemplative, lending themselves to an understated interpretation. Weisser's performance of Leo Sowerby's "Carillon" is probably the quietest rendition of a "bell piece" in the repertory.

This CD will appeal primarily to those who have an affinity for modern church music. Although Weisser entitles his CD "Music for a Sunday Afternoon," this is not the kind of music you'd want to take on a picnic. It is more appropriate for folks who want to extend the Sunday morning atmosphere into the rest of the day.

The first three selections, "Phoenix" and "The Peace May Be Exchanged" by composer Dan Locklair and "Carillon" all are written in the musical language of John Rutter-tonal and sentimental. On the opposite end of the scale is Marcel Dupré's "Crucifixion," from the Symphonie-Passion. Here the thick chromaticism builds on a centuries-long tradition of using jarring dissonance to portray the death of Jesus.

The only quasi-secular work in the collection is Rodomontade, a four-movement suite of which only one movement, Gigue, is clearly a dance. The Fanfare and Finale would fit well into a service as a processional and recessional, and the Adagio for silent prayer. Henry Walford Davies's "Solemn Melody" and another work by Dupré, "Lamento," both add to the solemnity of the CD, which concludes with Aberto Ginistera's Toccata,Villancico y Fuga, the final movement being, appropriately, another attempt at the BACH subject.

Ellizabeth Kahn