When I listen to Roger Sherman’s “The Organ Loft” tonight, it seems I will touch her soft lips and part for the last time. “Touch her soft lips and part” from William Walton’s film score for “Henry V” serves as the closing theme for Sherman’s program, which he has produced for Seattle’s KING-FM since 1993. It has become part of my Sunday evening routine since my own shows have been picked up by KWAX Classical Oregon (which airs the “The Organ Loft” in syndication).
Alas, as Schiller tells us, even beauty must die. Today will mark the final broadcast of “The Organ Loft,” always an enjoyable balance of organ and choral music. Sherman, Associate Organist Emeritus at Seattle’s St. Mark’s Cathedral and Artistic Director Emeritus of Orcas Choral Society, is also CEO of Loft Recordings. Loft manages The Gothic Catalog and Clarion Records, among others. Unsurprisingly, many recordings on those labels have been presented on the program.
Gothic has left a big footprint in Princeton, NJ (where I live and work), through its recordings of Princeton University Chapel’s Aeolian-Skinner/Mander organ, organist Joan Lippincott at Princeton Theological Seminary, and Westminster Choir College alumni, such as organist Peter Richard Conte.
Sherman has further distinguished himself as executive producer of well over 100 choral and organ recordings and has engineered, edited, and mastered dozens of recordings for the Loft, Clarion, Gothic, and reZound labels.
Yet again, I thank my lucky stars for my internet radio, which brings so much beauty into my living room and into my life from around the country and around the world. Sherman’s show has been a warm and welcome visitor on Sunday evenings.
Walton’s wistful music is often the last thing I hear on Sundays before heading off to bed. For those 90 seconds, I stop whatever I’m doing and make sure that I am wholly present. Whenever I listen to this arrangement for cornet and organ (at the link), I will think of Roger Sherman.
“The Organ Loft” airs on KWAX Classical Oregon at 6:00 p.m. PDT, but when I stream it here on the East Coast it’s 9 PM.
I know from experience that a lot of love and a lot of sweat goes into producing a satisfying and polished radio program every week. Thank you, sir, for all your hard work and for sharing your knowledge and life’s passion with thousands of listeners you will never meet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OU9-M_zch6Y
Tag: Choral
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The Last of “The Organ Loft”
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Adieu to John Bertalot
It’s tough for me to keep up with everything sometimes, especially on a weekend when I want to promote my shows and I’ve got to be in New York for the day. So it’s only now that I’m getting around to posting about English organist and choir director John Bertalot, for 15 years director of music at Princeton’s Trinity Episcopal Church. Bertalot, who died on Saturday, founded the Princeton Singers in 1983.
Across the pond, he was organist and director of music at St Matthew’s Church, Northampton (1958-1964) and Blackburn Cathedral (1964-1982). He wrote several books on choral directing and singing.
In 1998, Bertalot was succeeded as director of the Princeton Singers by composer-conductor Steven Sametz. Under Sametz, the group, a professional chamber choir based at Trinity Church, also served as resident ensemble for the Lehigh University Summer Choral Composers Forum. The organization folded in August, after 41 years, due to “ongoing financial challenges… significantly intensified by the pandemic.”
At the time of his death, Bertalot, who was born in Maidstone, Kent, in 1931, was 94 years-old. It was difficult for me to find a good or interesting photo (beyond those that have already been shared by others), as sadly, it appears his website has expired. Here’s something of an informal one, with Bartelot in neither gown nor tie. Thankfully, there are still some decent videos posted on YouTube.
R.I.P.
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Bertalot at Blackburn (complete program in the description)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiSEicR9lt0&t
Bertalot at Trinity
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22FS_48V6fE
With the Princeton Singers, Herbert Howells’ “Take Him, Earth, for Cherishing,” to the memory of JFK
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3tXoLC2Fqg
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