“Jatamansi” ROPEK: Sonata; JOB: House of Jatamansi; DECKER: Chaconne; MACOUREK: Duo; BARABAS: “Jody” Suite for flute alone; ROGG: Sonata – Due Solist (Zofie Vokalkova, flute/ Kathleen Scheide, organ) – Raven

by | Jul 6, 2013 | Classical CD Reviews

“Jatamansi” – ROPEK: Sonata;  JOB: House of Jatamansi; DECKER: Chaconne; MACOUREK: Duo; BARABAS: “Jody” Suite for flute alone; ROGG: Sonata – Due Soloist (Zofie Vokalkova, flute/ Kathleen Scheide, organ – with Jennifer Elaine Young, soprano/John Cook, narrator) – Raven OAR-922 (Distr. by Albany) [6/11/13] ****:

The CD’s name comes from a story found in The Gospel of John in the Bible, and is by South Dakota composer Lynn Job. It is named after a precious Himalayan herb which Mary poured on the feet of Jesus at his last rest stop before arriving in Jerusalem. The gift was worth a year’s wages and was seen as a prophetic funerary gesture. Narrator John Cook tells the story briefly just before the three movements of the work.

The Jody Suite was a manuscript left behind by a Polis Jew composer in Prague who died in WWII. It is in three movements: Fantasie, Meditation, and Con brio. Lionel Rogg, whose quarter-hour Sonata closes the CD, launching his career by playing the complete organ works of Bach at Victoria Hall in Geneva, where he is now Resident Organist. The movements of his work are: Allegro giocoso, Adagio and Con spirito. The credited soprano is only heard in a 26-second-long Chant, and the notes credit the narrator as being a baritone. Two organs are employed in the recordings: one at a Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia and other at an Episcopal Church in Radnor, PA.

The flutist was first chair in the Prague Symphony Orchestra and is soloist with them, as well as the Virtuosi di Praga. Organist Kathleen Scheide teaches harpsichord at Westminster Choir College in New Jersey and plays organ in the stone barn at Church of the Loving Shepherd in West Chester PA.

TrackList:

Jirí Ropek: Sonata for flute and organ 
Allegro · Lento · Allegro
 
Sung Chant Ave caeli janua Jennifer Elaine Young, soprano
Pamela Decker: Chaconne on Ave caeli janua 
 
Lynn Job: House of Jatamansi for flute and organ 
John Cook, narrator
Twilight · Moonsong · Reverie
 
Michal Macourek: Duo Andante maestoso 
 
Yen Barabas: “Jody” Suite (for flute alone)
Fantasie · Meditation · Con brio
 
Lionel Rogg: Sonate for flute and organ 
Allegro giocoso · Adagio · Con spirito

 —John Sunier

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