This week’s music is the magnificent Toccata in F Major (BWV 540) performed here by Jonathan Scott in Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, England. He was filmed by his brother Tom Scott. Together, the siblings form the Scott Brothers Duo, a classical keyboard duo who perform internationally on piano, organ, and harmonium.

BWV 540, a toccata and fugue (that some believe was combined with the toccata only later), is one of Bach’s outstanding pieces. The Toccata is remarkable for its massive scale and unusual architecture. A canon opens over a very long, sustained pedal point which is held for an extraordinary length (an entire minute). It then goes over into a pedal solo. The Toccata’s middle section requires virtuosic hand crossings of precise control.

But it is that repeated long pedal point that is one of the most instantly recognizable features in all of organ literature—and it was the reason why one of our subscribers suggested this piece. In recognition of Catherine’s trailblazing contributions, the subscriber says: “My analogy for you and Solari is a pedal point in Bach organ music: persistent no matter what.”

Indeed, a fitting metaphor for Catherine’s indefatigable work and lifelong vision of a free and inspired life.