Today I finally found what I was looking for at the Kiwanis Sale: a complete edition of E. Power Biggs' "Golden Age of the Organ". This 2 LP boxed set from Columbia is a tour of organs built by the master baroque organ builder Arp Schnitger in the last half of the 17th century. Biggs plays mostly Bach, and included is an informative booklet with photos and a nice essay by Biggs advocating Schnitger's organ design over that of more modern instruments, for performance of organ music from any period.

This LP was a huge influence on me. My mom was a church organist and I really liked church music. I was in the choir and my first paying job at about 12 or so was sweeping a church, where I often used to waste time playing spacey pedal chords on the piano in the empty sanctuary. At that time I was also getting acquainted with Bach fugues at Blue Lake band camp, and of course I was really into Iron Butterfly. The tiny Reed City Public Library had a small LP collection, and I remember 2 that really made an impression on me: Jefferson Airplane's "After Bathing at Baxter's" and "The Golden Age of the Organ". If you just think of organ music as stale and churchy you should really check this out.

Here is a scan from the booklet with our new scanner/printer and:
Johann Sebastian Bach - Prelude and Fugue in D Minor Number 2
Bach - selections from the Anna Magdalena Notebook
Bach - "Fanfare" Fugue in C major
Bach - Antonio Vivaldi - Concerto in D Minor "l'estro harmonico", arranged for organ by J.S. Bach.