Carl Weinrich (July 2, 1904 – May 13, 1991) was an American organist, choral conductor, and teacher. He was particularly known for his recitals and recordings of Bach's organ music and as a leader in the revival of Baroque organ music in the United States during the 1930s.[1]
Although primarily known for his performances of Baroque music, Weinrich also performed many 20th-century organ works, including the premieres of Samuel Barber's Prelude and Fugue in B Minor,[6]Louis Vierne's Organ Symphony No. 6 in B minor,[7] and Arnold Schoenberg's Variations on a Recitative (Op. 40).[8] Carl Weinrich died in Princeton, New Jersey at the age of 86 after suffering from Parkinson's disease for several years.[1] Amongst his students were the composer Betsy Jolas,[9] the composer and organist George Lynn,[10] and the musicologist and critic Joseph Kerman.[11]
Recordings
In 1951, Weinrich was signed by the MGM Records label to record a multi-volume series of LPs comprising all of Johann Sebastian Bach's organ compositions.[12]
While MGM did begin this series, recording Weinrich at Princeton Chapel in New Jersey, they only recorded and released a small sampling of Bach's organ works. However, several years later, Weinrich began the process of recording Bach's complete organ works for Westminster Records, this time on Vårfrukyrka church's organ in Skänninge, Sweden. The recordings completed in 1956[13] and were released over several years; they included most of Bach's published works for organ, including the major chorale collections and free works. Later LP volumes appeared on Westminster's successor label Music Guild/ABC.
A sampling of Weinrich's other recordings includes:
^Galvin, Kitty; Segal, JoAn; Volpe, Cassandra M. (November 2005). "Guide to the George Lynn Collection"(PDF). University of Colorado at Boulder. p. 5. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2015-11-23. Retrieved March 25, 2015.
