The organ concerto tradition goes back to the 17th century and the Baroque era, but composers have constantly adapted this age-old genre to their own expressive ends – this recording provides ample evidence of its appeal today. The Organ Concerto by Horatio Parker, today remembered as Charles Ives’s teacher, emerged at a time when composers were seeking an authentically American voice and was hailed by one critic as “imposing and brilliant”. Dedicated to Paul Jacobs, Christopher Rouse’s Organ Concerto is notable for its contrasting dark and light sonorities both in instrumentation and harmonic colour. Wayne Oquin’s Resilience reflects the human capacity for tenacity and perseverance; the composer describes it as “a 13-minute exploration of two seemingly limitless spheres.” The programme ends with Ives’s Variations on “America” – a piece for solo organ composed for the Fourth of July celebrations in 1892.

Organist Paul Jacobs has performed in all 50 United States and all over the world. The only organist ever to have won a Grammy Award (in 2011 for Messiaen’s Livre du Saint-Sacrement on Naxos 857243637), he is a fierce advocate of new music and combines a probing intellect and extraordinary technical skills with a repertoire that spans the gamut of music written for his instrument, both old and new.

Led by six-time Grammy Award-winning conductor and music director Giancarlo Guerrero, the Nashville Symphony performs more than 160 concerts annually, with a focus on contemporary American orchestral music through collaborations with composers.

The Nashville Symphony is one of the most active recording orchestras in the US, with more than 40 releases, the majority on Naxos. Together, these recordings have earned a total of 25 Grammy Award nominations and 13 Grammy Awards, including two for Best Orchestral Performance.