LP version. When ‘Pipe Dream’ was issued on vinyl for the first time by Blume in 2017, it was effectively the first time many of us clasped ears on Mary Jane’s music, finally placing her work in its correct historical context amid the searching Downtown milieu of Julius Eastman, Arthur Russell, Arnold Dreyblatt, Ellen Fullman, Philip Corner, Daniel Goode, and Peter Zummo - most of whom being artists that Leach collaborated with at one point or another, either in Downtown Ensemble or guesting on their records. Now, finally, Pipe Dreams II and III arrive, recorded in 2023 and 2024 at Miry Concertzaal, Gent, Belgium and Kunst-Station Sankt Peter, Cologne, respectively.

“When I was a young child, my family lived next door to a church, where my mother was the organist. I spent many hours lying on the floor of the sanctuary listening to the music, letting the sound of the organ envelop me. I also liked to play the piano loudly with the pedal down, producing clouds of sound, much to my family’s annoyance. These two organ pieces feature and explore some of my earliest musical interests and aesthetics. In 1989 I lived in a tower attached to St. Peter’s Church in Cologne where I had access to its organ, which had two sets of pipes, front and back, which could create antiphonal effects. I spent countless hours exploring the possibilities of all the permutations of notes, space, and the sound phenomena that resulted. I wrote Pipe Dreams (1989) for that organ.

Fast forward to 2023, when I was asked to create a piece for organ for a concert at the Miry Concertzaal in Gent, Belgium (Pipe Dreams II). I had a few days to familiarize myself with the organ – what stops were available and the layout of the console. I choreographed stop changes for a volunteer, as I couldn’t reach any of them. Some amazing sounds began to happen, and at one point the sound was so visceral that I felt as though I was taming a wild beast. Pipe Dreams III was performed in 2024 on the organ that I had spent so much time playing in 1989-90. One big difference, though, was that the console was totally new and now computerized. Having access to the organ for only a few hours ahead of the concert, I decided that I didn’t have enough time to feel comfortable with the console, and that I should not attempt to recreate the piece I had written in 1989. I would now use the same sequence of stops and perform an improvised piece. I loved the sounds that were being created, and I was having so much fun that at one point I even started to laugh (quietly). I began to visualize the beating notes as if they were atoms, opening them up to expose their innards, with the beating, higher-pitched notes (neutrons and protons) shimmering at the top, and the lower notes (the electrons) throbbing away at the bottom. I was playing notes not so much for their pitch value, but for how they affected the notes and sound phenomena already being played. Instead of a time signature, I was timing the entries by listening to the beating patterns, waiting for the right time to enter. And no, I wasn’t hallucinating.”

Mary Jane Leach, 2026