A Musical Feast
Grant Edwards, Organist
Bond Organbuilders Opus 23
St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church
Seattle, Washingto
Bond’s own Tonal Director, Grant Edwards, plays our Opus 23 at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Seattle (2 manuals, 36 stops, 1994).
The delightfully varied program ranges from Beauvarlet-Charpentier’s Messe Royale du Dumont (complete with bass drum and cymbals!) to William Albright’s Sweet Sixteenths, and includes a little of everything in between.
This recording was made in 2004 in celebration of the tenth anniversary of Bond’s “Big Romantic Instrument” and shows this organ’s sumptuous variety of colors and powerful ensembles to perfection. The recording is superbly engineered and the sound leaves nothing to be desired.
Grant Edwards has worked as a craftsman on the staff of Bond Organ Builders since 1993, and he was recently promoted to the position of Tonal Director, successive to the tenure of Richard Bond. His own Opus 1 organ serves the Episcopal Church of the Nativity in Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia. He is also organist at Portland’s First Congregational Church and the tonal designer of the church’s III / 51 organ.
Reviewing this release in the June 2009 issue of The Diapason, Charles Huddleston Heaton praised Grant's sensitive playing and fine sense of registration. Of the Bond organ, he writes, “This rather larger two-manual instrument can handle any repertoire beautifully.”
This recording is available for $15. Please contact us at mail@bondorgans.com for purchasing information.