Jonathan Dimmock plays organ music composed by Christopher J. Hoh (1959 - ), a native of Reading, PA, and long-time resident of the Washington, DC, area, who is best known for his choral music. The recording is the first of the three-manual, 38-stop, 53-rank, Taylor & Boody organ, op. 34, completed in 2000 at Trinity Episcopal Church, Staunton, Virginia, where most of the organ shop workers are parishioners, including the principals.

Chorale Prelude on Crucifer
Chorale Prelude on Kirken den er

Chorale Prelude on Veni Emmanuel
Chorale Prelude on Christ ist erstanden
Chorale Prelude on St. Anne
Chorale Prelude on Herzliebster Jesu
Voluntary on Truro

Assorted Airs for Organ, Vol. 1
i. Allemande
ii. Fantasia
iii. Sarabande
iv. Allegretto

ix. Elegy
x. Fughetta
xi. Pastorale
xii. March

This album presents Assorted Airs for Organ Vol. 1 along with seven chorale preludes on various hymn tunes. The triumphant Crucifer receives a vigorous, quasi fantasia treatment ending with a strong trumpet solo. Kirken den er offers contrast in a meditative setting featuring a gentle counter­melody.

The next pair of chorale preludes comes from a collection based on chant-inspired hymns (published by Lorenz in 2024 as Thee We Adore). Veni Emmanuel opens with the “rejoice” refrain of the advent song before presenting the well-known hymn juxtaposed with the original Gregorian chant. Later, strong phrases in the Pedal are followed by rapid high passages that descend — humankind’s plea for the Messiah answered by heaven above. The organ opens up at “rejoice” again and moves to a majestic, expectant end.

Christ ist erstanden arose in the 1500s from an 11th-century Easter sequence. Tonally ambiguous, this setting begins in quiet mystery, with high organ notes like dawn breaking. Next comes a low countermelody against the slow cantus firmus above. At “Alleluia,” the music turns quick and joyful, like the women running to share the good news. Throughout, syncopation and harmony allude to the melody’s medieval origins.

The next four airs offer a mix of styles. The opening and closing are more Baroque updates. Passacaglia in E Major starts with a slow 3/4 melody in unison. In five variations that follow, it recurs in the bass line for the first and fifth, in the melody in the second and fourth, and in all parts of the canonic third variation. Air in G-sharp Minor is Romantic, quiet, and pretty. This key fits the set and offers more color on unequal temperament instruments. Alternatively, the performer could imagine it in two flats to play it down a half step. Meditation in F-sharp Major is calm and short. Similarly a player could read it in F instead. Gigue in G Major concludes this group with a lively tune that starts by recalling the Passacaglia theme. Then it takes off as a two-part round for most of the piece.

The four airs involve mostly minor keys. Inverted from the second suite, here the neo-Baroque movements are in the middle. Elegy in D Minor sounds homophonic and deliberate; its modern dissonances create tension but retain a mournful mood. Fughetta in B-flat Minor is three-part counterpoint on a stately theme contrasted by a straightforward and livelier middle section. Pastorale in A-flat Major uses a gentle rocking approach to lyrical melodies in ABA form. March in C Minor is a vigorous trumpet tune. Set off by a slower middle section, its compelling music delivers a strong end to the suite.

Voluntary on Truro (published by Lorenz), presents another well-­known tune tied to various texts in a big, rhythmic setting that makes for a festive prelude or postlude.

The magnificent Taylor & Boody organ, Op. 34, at Trinity Episcopal Church in Staunton, Virginia, provides an ideal vehicle for this album’s music. In the hands of maestro Jonathan Dimmock, the instrument’s diverse palette and unequal tuning create a kaleidoscope of colorful and stirring sound.

Taylor and Boody Op. 34, 2000
Trinity Episcopal Church Staunton, Virginia

Great 56 notes C-g'''
16' Bourdon
8' Principal
8' Rohrflöte
8' Viol da Gamba
4' Octave
4' Spielflöte
3' Twelfth
2' Fifteenth
IV Cornet
IV-V Mixture
16' Fagott
8' Trumpet
Ch/Gt (shove)
Rp/Gt

Rückpositive
8' Gedackt
8' Quintadena
4' Principal
4' Rohrflöte
3' Nasat
2' Octave
2' Waldflöte
II Sesquialtera
III-IV IVarff
8' Dulcian
Choir
8' Gedackt (oak)
8' Viol & Celeste (Double draw; Celeste from tenor f)
4' Principal
4' Blockflöte (oak)
2' Octave
8' Trechterregal

Pedal 30 notes C-f'
16' Principal
16' Subbass
8' Octave
4' Octave
2' Nachthorn
V Mixture
16' Posaune
8' Trompet
4' Trompet
Gt/Pd
Rp/Pd
Ch/Pd

Tremulant
Cymbelstern
Nachtigal
Wind Stabilizer

Mechanical key and stop action
Metal pipes of hammered lead-tin
Natural keys of polished cow bone
Sharps and stop knobs of ebony
Case of black walnut
Temperament: Kellner
Pitch: a' = 440
Choir division in Brustwerk position behind doors

The organbuilding firm Taylor and Boody has been located in Staunton, Virginia, since 1979, having moved from Middletown, Ohio, two years after the firm‘s founding in 1977. The founders, George K. Taylor and John H. Boody, worked together in the Middletown shop of John Brombaugh & Co. until the Brombaugh firm relocated to Eugene, Oregon. Earlier, Taylor apprenticed with Rudolf von Beckerath in Hamburg, Germany, and Boody in the Georgetown, Massachusetts, workshop of Fritz Noack.

In a renovated and enlarged school building located in the rolling hills on the outskirts of Staunton, the firm had built 85 new pipe organs by 2024, with contracts for seven more awaiting construction. The firm has also restored several important historic pipe organs. Each new organ is designed mechanically, tonally, and visually for its location, and each is meticulously crafted by a crew of about a dozen artisans. They build pipes of metal that they cast in the workshop as well as of seasoned wood, most of which is harvested from trees felled and prepared by Boody’s sawmill. They build organ cases in methods of the finest cabinetmakers. The mechanisms are mechanical for the key action and either mechanical or electric for the stop action.

Both George Taylor and John Boody, as well as many associates of the firm (including the present director of it, John’s son, Erik Boody), are members of the parish of Trinity Episcopal Church. There, the firm completed in 2000 their Op. 34, the organ recorded here. It has 53 ranks, 38 stops on three manuals and Pedal.

Congregants of Trinity Church, founded in 1746, occupied the present and third building in 1855. The first known organ was built for the parish by English immigrant Henry Pilcher (1798-­1880) and supplied to the previous building from his New York or New Jersey shop in 1848. Shortly thereafter, Henry Erben of New York shipped a new organ of one manual, Pedal, and 12 stops from his Baltimore workshop on March 16, 1853. The Erben* was replaced in August, 1881, with a  two-­manual and Pedal organ built in Baltimore by the Pomplitz Church Organ Co. In 1903, a three-manual organ with pneumatic action was built by Emmons Howard of Westfield, Massachusetts, to replace the Pomplitz.** The organ immediately preceding the Taylor and Boody was built in 1958 by Austin Organs, Inc., of Hartford Connecticut.

*The 1853 Erben organ, taken in trade by the Pomplitz firm, was immediately relocated to the Episcopal Church of Our Saviour in Baltimore. When that church acquired a new Estey pipe organ about 1908, the Erben was moved third-hand to the Chapel of the Holy Evangelists, Episcopal, Baltimore. It played there until the church closed in 1996 and the organ was acquired by the parish organist, David Storey, an organbuilder who sold it to a keyboard maker in Littleton, Rhode Island.

**The Pomplitz organ was moved ca. 1903 to the Village Congregational Church in Cummington, Massachusetts.

Jonathan Dimmock
Organist Jonathan Dimmock is well-known internationally as a concert artist with probing intellect, warm stage presence, and love of communicating. An innovative programmer, he plays weekly in San Francisco at the Legion of Honor Museum where he is the Principal Organist. He is also the Organist for the San Francisco Symphony (since 2005) and is in constant demand as an organ accompanist. Touring frequently, he has performed on six continents.


A graduate of Oberlin and Yale, he is the only American to serve as Organ Scholar of Westminster Abbey after which he continued his career in the United States, serving three cathedrals:  St. John the Divine (New York City), St. Mark’s (Minne­apolis), and Grace (San Francisco).


Jonathan has recorded more than fifty CDs including a Grammy Award-winning CD of Mahler Sym­phony 8 with the San Francisco Symphony as well as Raven OAR-917 A British Organ Sounds of an Empire featuring the 1871 Henry Willis three-manual organ restored in Göteborg Sweden at the Örgryte New Church. In addition to hundreds of listings on YouTube, iTunes, Spotify, and other online music sites, he has been interviewed and featured on numerous radio and television stations including National Public Radio, Radio France, BBC3, ABC (Australia), MTV2 (Budapest), BCC (Barbados), and SABC (South Africa).
His teachers and mentors include Olivier Messiaen, Gillian Weir, Jean Langlais, Simon Preston, Peter Hallock, Haskell Thomson, William Porter, Thomas Murray, and Harald Vogel.




Jonathan has founded five nonprofit organizations, including the highly acclaimed American Bach Soloists (ABS), Artists’ Vocal Ensemble (AVE), and, most recently, The Resonance Project – using live music to transform conflict and find common ground. This project (www.Music-Resonance.org) has led him to interview some of the greatest musicians in the world, all of whom share his excitement about the interface between music and neuroscience. The project has garnered attention from the United Nations, the U.S. Dept. of State, and President Obama. Jonathan is deeply committed to sharing the transformative power of music with the whole world.
—www.JonathanDimmock.com

Christopher J. Hoh

”Full of charm and shapely allure” (Opera News) and “a tapestry of immense grace” (Textura) are some of the praise for music of Christopher J. Hoh. He composes for voices and instruments, separately and combined, in a modern classical vein. Performers have presented his music in Europe and Latin America and throughout the USA and Canada. Grammy-winning ensemble The Crossing, as well as Vox Futura and others, have recorded his works on eleven albums so far. His first string quartet is featured on a video release shot in an old Czech factory and played by the Benda Quartet. His vocal music sets compelling texts, while all his work contains engaging counterpoint and intriguing harmony. Project Encore endorses twelve of his works for excellent use of choral forces and exceptional programmability. Worldwide radio airplay includes Pipedreams, broadcasting Concertino Corona for organ and chamber orchestra.
Notable commissions include
The Stuttgart German-American Chorus Ero Cras: The O Antiphons Advent concert piece for SATB & organ
The Alexandria (Virginia) Choral Society and Kinderchoir:  Away We Go, sailing triptych for semi-chorus, SATB & piano
GenOUT Youth Chorus (Washington D. C.): I Still Am Free, pride song for SAB & piano
 Carnuntum Archaeological Park (Austria): Ecumenical Meditation, for SATB, flute, clarinet, cello & piano
Solmaaz Adeli & Friends (international): My Love, folksongs arranged for mezzo-soprano, cello & piano
Meistersingers of Orange County (California): My Mistress’ Eyes, Shakespeare poem for SATB; Ein Kind Geborn in Bethlehem, Christmas motet for SSATBB
King’s Chapel Boston: Aromimcha Adonai, Psalm 30 for solo tenor & SSAATTBB



The professional vocal ensemble, The Thirteen, premiered Chris’ Musica Dei Donum for 12 voices in Washington, D. C. The first performances of his Mass on When Jesus Wept took place with King’s Chapel Choir in Boston and of the art song, A Little More Peace, on the bi­coastal tour of mezzo-soprano Solmaaz Adeli.
Helena (Montana) Choral Week, Kerry Krebill, director, selected Chris as Composer-­in-Residence, premiering Holy Holy Holy Is The Lord God of Hosts and giving a concert devoted to his music. The William & Mary University Choir, Musikanten, and others have taken his music on tour.
During the pandemic, Chris pivoted to the pipe organ — the perfect social-distance instrument. Since then, Lorenz has published several of his pieces, including a collection on eight chant-inspired hymns, Thee We Adore. His setting of Amazing Grace won a place in the 2023 competition and publication of England’s Beauty In Sound, with another Lorenz book of American folk hymn settings in preparation. Another recent focus has been lighter settings of Christmas carols for chamber orchestra, with a suite performed in holiday concerts and recorded for Navona’s “Dashing” Vol. 5 album.
Chris grew up in Reading, Pennsylvania, where he studied with conductor/organist/ composer Donald Hinkle. As a young singer and accompanist, he was influenced learning great contemporary works under directors in Pennsylvania, New York, and Washington. He has been a fellow in Alice Parker’s composer seminar and attended workshops with Jean Berger, Daniel Moe, and Craig Jessop. Chris’s formal education and career were in international affairs before retiring from the U.S. Foreign Service after thirty-some years. He is a member of American Composers Forum, American Choral Directors Association, American Guild of Organists, and ASCAP as both publisher and composer.
Much of Christopher J. Hoh’s work is available at www.HohMadeMusic.com. He maintains active pages on YouTube and Facebook.

REGISTRATIONS
Crucifer
Ch F8 P4
Gt P4 R8 Rp/Gt
Pd P16 O8 O4
Rp F8 P4 O2 IV
later Gt +P8 V
Pd +Pos16 R8 Rp/Pd
Rp +R8
Gt +Fag16

Kirken Den Er
Ch F8
Gt F8 VG8
Pd O8 S16
Rp Q8 F4
later Pd -O8 +Ch/Pd

Allemande
Ch F8 F4
Pd P16 O8 O4 S16
Rp F8 P4
later Pd -P16 O4


Fantasia
Gt B16 P8 O4 O2 V Rp/Gt
Pd P16 O8 O4 V R16
Rp F8 P4 O2 IV R8

Sarabande
Ch F8 F4
Gt P8
Pd S16 O8
Rp R8 Q8
later Gt +O4
Pd +P16

Allegretto
Gt F8 F4
Pd S16 O8
Rp F8 F4 F2

Veni Emmanuel
Ch V-Cel8
Gt F8
Pd S16 O8
Rp P4 R8
m. 41 (new regis.):
Gt P8 O4 O2 Rp/Gt
Pd P16 O8 Pos16 Rp/Pd
Rp F8 P4 O2 IV R8
later Gt +V Reeds
Pd +R8

Christ ist erstanden
Ch F8 V8
Gt VG8 F4
Rp Q8
later Rp F8 P4 O2 IV

Passacaglia
Ch F8 P4
Gt B16 P8 O4 O2 V R8
Pd P16 O8 O4 R16 R8 R4
Rp F8 P4 O2 IV
later Pd -Tr4 Reeds

m. 49 (new regis.):
Gt P8 F8 VG8 O4
Pd S16 O8
later Pd +P16 Gt/Pd
Gt B16 O4 O2 R8 Rp/Gt
Pd R16 R8 Rp/Pd


Air
Ch R8
Gt VG8
Pd S16 Rp/Pd
Rp F8

Meditation
Ch F8
Pd S16 Rp/Pd
RpF8
m. 19 +Trem.
m. 34 -Trem

Gigue
Ch F8 P4 O2
Gt P8 O4 O2
Pd S16 O8
Rp F8 P4 O2

March
Ch F8 P4 O2
Gt R8 Cornet
Pd P16 O8
Rp F8 P4 O2 IV
m. 33 (new man. regis):
All F8 VG8 coupled trem
(Pd tacet)
m. 52 (new man. regis.):
Gt Cornet R8
Rp F8 O4 O2 IV

St. Anne
Ch R8
Gt VG8
Pd S16 Gt/Pd
Rp F8 F4

Herzliebster Jesu
Ch F8 F4
Gt B16 P8 O4 O2
Pd S16 Ch/Pd
Rp R8 Q8
m. 23 -39 +Gt/Pd

Elegy
Ch F8 P4
Gt B16 P8 O4
Pd P16 O8 Gt/Pd
Rp F8 P4
All manuals coupled

Fughetta
Gt P8 O4 F2
Pd S16 P16 O8 O4
Rp F8 F4 F2
later
Pd -P16 O4
(m. 34-47) -Rp/Pd
Gt +B16 V
Pd +R8

Pastorale
Ch V8 C8
Gt P8
Pd S16 Ch/Pd
Rp F8 N3

Truro
Gt B16 P8 O4 O2 Mix
Pd P16 O8 O4 Mix
Rp F8 P4 O2 R8
later Rp/Gt Rp/Pd Gt/Pd
Gt +R8
Pd +R16 R8
Rp +IV