All Glory Be to God on High – Triune Music
American organist-composer Charles Callahan, who has spent a career in church music with hundreds of compositions in print, recently completed this project featuring the organ at St. Michael Church in Wheaton, Illinois.
The album represents literature that uplifts and reminds one that the organ is still a force in church music.
The versatile tone pallet takes the listener from dramatic and full sounds to gentle and warm, featuring twenty musical jewels from Handel and Bach through selections from the late 19th and early 20th century. Callahan completes the recording with four of his own hymn reflections including “Jesus Loves Me,” a tender rendition that features rich strings with the melody rising above on a single, pure flute stop. Similarly, “Prelude on Three Hymntunes” conveys Callahan’s ability to write with simple colour and clarity, allowing the listener to reflect on the meaningful texts associated with these tunes. Completing the recording, a joyous fanfare based on “Now Thank We All Our God” allows the cathedral to really shine with acoustics that are not often found in American churches.