April 2005 News Archive
Page last updated December 2 2005
CONTENTS
Don Preddy is the new Secretary of the Dvořák Society
After 18 years service to the Dvořák Society in the role of Secretary, Shawn Pullman stepped down from the post at the recent Annual General Meeting (held in London on 23rd April 2005). Mr Don Preddy was nominated to replace Shawn and duly elected to the position.
A presentation was made to Shawn in appreciation of his exceptional service to the Dvořák Society. He will continue to serve as a Committee Member and may also arrange future Society members’ trips to the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Petr Eben’s complete organ works recorded for the first time, by German organist Gunther Rost
The Dvořák Society has long recognised the importance of Petr Eben’s music, as will be evident from the publication of a substantial 70th birthday tribute in 2000 in our own Occasional Publications series. We were therefore delighted to learn that the distinguished German organist, Gunther Rost has just completed his project—begun some three years ago—to record Petr Eben’s complete organ works in cooperation with the Czech composer himself.
The 30-year-old German organist studied with Günther Kaunzinger (Würzburg) and Marie-Claire Alain (Paris). He is the winner of numerous international organ competitions and currently professor for organ in Graz, Austria. For these important recordings he chose five different contemporary instruments, including the new Goll-organ in Memmingen, the Kleuker-Steinmeyer organ in the Zurich Tonhalle and the Schuke organ in the university church of Würzburg. Spoken passages in vol. 2 and 5 (for Job and The Labyrinth of the World and the Paradise of the Heart) were recorded with the late Gert Westphal, one of Germany’s most renowned reciters.
When publication is completed, the series will encompass five volumes. Two of these were published in 2002: the third has just been released. Publication of the last two volumes is planned within the next twelve months. The project is a coproduction of two German radio stations with the Motette Label (Duesseldorf, Germany). Volumes three to five have been recorded in multichannel SACD quality. The CD-booklets, written in German and English, enclose a comprehensive commentary by Gunther Rost on all compositions, containing music examples.
Further information and listening samples may be found on Mr. Rost’s web site www.gunther-rost.de.
Motette’s site is www.motette-verlag.de. www.dvorak-society.org