FREDERICK SWANN: THE RIVERSIDE YEARS
Frederick Swann, organist
The Riverside Church, New York City

Frederick Swann was Director of Music and Organist of the Riverside Church in New York for 25 years, prior to assuming a similar position at the Crystal Cathedral in California. (His New York friends reportedly sent him off to the glass cathedral with several cases of Windex).  This CD is a re-mastering of two recordings he made at Riverside in 1978 and 1979. 

The church is monumental in size, with a 395-foot tower and nave which is 215 feet long, 100 feet high (aproximately 9 stories) and a seating capacity of 2500.  For this gargantuan sized room, there are two appropriately sized Aeolian-Skinner organs, which together total 203 ranks and more than 11,000 pipes.

Franck:

     Piece Heroique

     Chorale No. 1 in E major
     Chorale No. 2  in b minor

     Chorale No. 3 in a minor
Langlais: Te Deum
Farnam: Toccata on “O Filii et Filiae”
Karg-Elert: Symphony Chorale “Ach, bleib mit deiner Gnade,” Op. 87, No. 1
Gigout: Grand-Choeur Dialogue