Aria, Op. 51

From 1976 through 1981, I had the wonderful opportunity to study theology at the University of Leuven/Louvain, Belgium. Although I never heard Flor Peeters himself play this piece, I did on several occasions hear him accompany the weekly Gregorian high mass at the Sint-Rombouts Kathedraal in Mechelen, Belgium--after which service he customarily welcomed the public to the organ loft for a short recital of about 30 minutes. In my mind's ears, I can still hear the bold sounds of that mid-twentieth-century instrument, as well as the various other organs of similar vintage (post-World War II) that I was privileged to play during my time in Belgium. In recording Flor Peeter's Aria, I have tried to capture a similar boldness of sound by choosing registers that would approximate what Peeter's suggested registrations would have produced on organs like the one at the Mechelen cathedral.