Music For Organ And Orchestra: Festival Prelude For Organ And Orchestra Op. 61 - Organ Concerto In G Minor - Toccata Festiva, Op. 36

Released by CBS in the 1960s under the catalog number BRG 72364, this album serves as a prestigious anthology of mid-20th-century organ works. It captures iconic performances by E. Power Biggs, a central figure in the mid-century American organ revival, performing alongside the New York Philharmonic under Leonard Bernstein and The Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy. The collection represents the intersection of the symphonic organ repertoire and high-fidelity recording techniques characteristic of the Columbia Masterworks era.

The selection features three distinct twentieth-century masterpieces: Richard Strauss’s 'Festival Prelude', Francis Poulenc’s 'Organ Concerto', and Samuel Barber’s 'Toccata Festiva'. These pieces were specifically chosen to highlight the technical capacity and tonal variety of the concert organ when integrated with a full orchestra. The recording is historically significant for its documentation of Biggs’s technical prowess and the collaboration between legendary conductors and two of America’s most prominent orchestras, capturing a period when symphonic organ music saw a renewed surge in concert hall popularity.