Spreckels Organ Society

don’t agitate – APPRECIATE

Posted on January 8, 2021 by spreckelsorgan

Click the image or the line below to see the concert on YouTube, premiereing 2 p.m. Sunday.

Take a breather – CLICK HERE FOR THE LINK to enjoy this Sunday’s online concert presented by Raul Prieto Ramirez on the Spreckels Organ. His hour-long exploration of music is an invitation to listen and appreciate the wide-ranging expressions of this versatile instrument. Join the live chat this Sunday, January 10, at 2 p.m. Pacific Time for this week’s premiere of the online concert, and come back later to watch again — if the spirit moves. Here’s the musical program:

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Concerto in G Major BWV 571-1

John Philip Sousa (1854-1932)
Semper Fidelis
-trans. Raúl Prieto Ramírez

Louis-Nicolas Clerambault (1676-1749)
From Suite du premier ton
Basse et dessus de trompette ou de cornet séparé en dialogue
Récits de cromorne et de cornet séparé en dialogue
Dialogue sur les Grands Jeux

Léon Boellmann (1862-1897)
Suite Gothique oP.25
I-Introducion-Choral
II-Menuet gothique
III-Prière à Nôtre-Dame
IV-Toccata

Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921)
Improvisation Op.150 N.7

Félix Alexandre Guilmant (1837-1911)
Pastorale, from Sonate N.1 in D minor Op.42

Félix Alexandre Guilmant (1837-1911)
Finale, from Sonate N.1 in D minor Op.42

Star Spangled Banner

Category: Concert Programs, Sunday Concert Videos

Sunday, January 3 Online Concert

Posted on January 2, 2021 by spreckelsorgan

Sunday already?! You know what that means — get ready to enjoy another of the wonderful concerts on the Spreckels Organ performed by Raúl Prieto Ramírez! CLICK HERE FOR THE LINK to the Sunday concert that premieres at 2 p.m. Pacific Time.

Musical Program:

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Toccata & Fugue in D minor BWV 565

Movie Time!
That’s Entertainment, La-La-Land, I Could have Danced all Night
-arranged for organ by Raúl Prieto Ramírez

Gaston Litaize (1909-1991)
Prélude et danse fuguée (1964)

Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Golliwog’s Cakewalk, from children’s corner
-transcribed for organ by Raúl Prieto Ramírez

Jesús Guridi (1886-1961)
Triptyc of “The Good Shepherd”
I-The Flock
II-The lost sheep
III-The Good Shepherd

The Star Spangled Banner

Category: Concert Programs, Sunday Concert Videos

Happy New Year! Jan. 1 concert

Posted on December 31, 2020 by spreckelsorgan

1 Comment

Celebrating the new year with an concert on Friday, January 1 that premieres at 2 p.m. Pacific Tme. CLICK HERE for the link to the concert, which will remain posted for your viewing.

Program:
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Sinfonia from Cantata BWV 29 -arr. Marcel Dupré

Johann & Joseph Strauss jr.
Pizzicato Polka -arr. Raul Prieto Ramírez

Fred Stansfield
EXPO
official March 1915 Exposition

Raúl Prieto Ramírez
Paraphrasis on EXPO for pedals alone

Dimitri Schostakovich (1906-1975)
Lyrical Waltz, from Ballet Suite N.3
-trans. Raúl Prieto Ramírez

Johann Strauss jr.(1825-1899)
Trish-Trash Ploka -arr. Raul Prieto Ramírez

Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962)
Caprice Vienois, Op.2 (arr. Raúl Prieto Ramírez)
-arranged for organ by Raúl Prieto Ramírez

Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin (1810-1849)
Nocturne Op.9 N.2 in Eb Major

Johann Strauss jr.(1825-1899)
Furioso Ploka -arr. Raul Prieto Ramírez

Johann Strauss jr.(1825-1899)
An der schönen blauen Danau
-arr. Raul Prieto Ramírez

Category: Concert Programs, Organist Schedule, Special Events Tags: Viennese

Attention, Last-Minute Shoppers!

Posted on December 23, 2020 by spreckelsorgan

2 Comments

New biography of John D. Spreckels – the first in decades
Now available for the history buff, music lover, or social critic on your gift list.

Here’s the inside story on a cantankerous dad and his five children, among them industrious John Diedrich, the eldest, and his playboy brother Adolph.

Portrait of John Diedrich Spreckels (1853-1926)

This is the family that made sugar a centerpiece of the Hawaiian economy… operated the main steamship line between Hawaii and the US mainland… exerted major influence on the cultural tone and tenor of both expositions that California held in 1915 to celebrate the opening of the Panama canal… and so much more.

The book is called Empire Builder because when John Spreckels first came to San Diego, he was inspired to get busy.

He invested, he planned, and he dreamed. After the 1906 earthquake and fire devastated his home town of San Francisco, he became a San Diegan for good.

By the time John D. donated the great Spreckels Organ to the citizens of San Diego as a centerpiece of the 1915 exposition here, he was paying a significant percentage of the County’s property taxes. By 1915, he had built San Diego’s extensive trolley line, funded the lower Otay dam, developed land and businesses, and was owner and publisher of the San Diego Union morning newspaper.

After San Diego suffered a huge land bust in the late 1880s, Spreckels cash came to the rescue of many an enterprise and could also pick some juicy plums – among them, the Hotel del Coronado, all of North Island (which was later sold to Uncle Sam) and a string of blocks along the south side of Broadway, from Fifth Avenue to the waterfront. You’ll read about it — and so much more! – in this fascinating, breathtaking new biography of a man who had plenty of power and did things with it.

Here’s a link to the book review. The hefty 440-page biography was written by local author and historian Sandra Bonura and released this fall.

**And since you’re in a hurry, here is the Elves’ Direct Link to the publisher at the University of Nebraska.**

Category: San Diego History Tags: leading citizen, San Diego history, Spreckels family, sugar prince

Onlne Concert set for Sunday, Dec. 27

Posted on December 23, 2020 by spreckelsorgan

Raúl Prieto Ramírez will be joined by soprano Tasha Koontz for a seasonal concert that’s sure to warm your weekend on Sunday, December 27 premiering at 2 p.m. Pacific Time and available for re-viewing afterward.

CLICK HERE FOR THE LINK to take you to the YouTube posting of the hour-long concert that features Raúl’s artistry on the great Spreckels Organ in combination with the vocal stylings of classically-trained Tasha Koontz.