Organ meats

[leigh.bess.toad]

Thx for the Elliott references. Again, a pleasure!

 

... Separately, here one of many links to creditable performances of Bach's absurdly difficult 'Wedge' fugue in E minor, and the prelude preceding. One of the most, if not THE most, profound pieces in the Western literature. I melt into air every time I hear it.

 

 

Adam -- thank you so much for that post. You are right. The Wedge is absolutely one of the most magniificent and profound pieces of music in the literature. And I certainly appreciated being reminded of that. Thank you again.

[gp0560]

This performance by the formidable Ton Koopman might make it into the running. You think?

 

Certainly works for me! Merci, monsieur le comte.

[AdamSmith]

Adam -- thank you so much for that post. You are right. The Wedge is absolutely one of the most magniificent and profound pieces of music in the literature. And I certainly appreciated being reminded of that. Thank you again.

 

My pleasure. I just adore this piece more than practically anything else on earth. Here's the version I was looking for but could not previously find -- my idol Michel Chapuis performing the Wedge on the magnificent Schnitger organ in Zwolle:

 

[video=youtube;P2qVyOFXi-0]

[OneFinger]

...I think of it as the Carnegie Hall of the West. ...I was taken aback a little with your 'seating 10,000' number, because I see it as a 'small venue'. I checked the stats and it seats 7,000 including choir area and gallery (balcony). Seems like you'd need a shoe horn to get that many butts in there.

I had never thought about the Tabernacle being the Carnegie Hall of the West. It really fits and that's a good comparison.

 

You are correct about the seating capacity. About 5 years ago the Tabernacle was closed while they did some seismic renovations and updating the interior. They actually removed a few rows of the bench seats to provide more leg room and the capacity did shrink.

 

I didn't realize there was a temple in Vernal. But, don't feel bad, they won't let me in either.

[gp0560]

Hybrids - a step off topic

 

Hybrids may be bastards in some views, but personally, I've always enjoyed the combination of ballet and Bach in Le Jeune Homme et La Mort, a ballet by Roland Petit, choreographed in 1946 to Bach's Passacaglia in C Minor, BWV 582, (omitting the fugue) with a one-act libretto by Jean Cocteau (info from Wikipedia). I've gone a touch off topic in that the music is heard in an orchestral transcription.

 

You can find performances by various artists on YouTube. (BTW, the young man is always shirtless.) There is one by Nuryev, but my favorite is Baryshnikov's. It was used as the opening ballet in the 1985 movie White Nights. Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ECCfvx7z00

[AdamSmith]

the long, devilishly difficult pedal passage early in the Bach Toccata, Adagio & Fugue in C Major.)

 

Just ran across video of a rehearsal/recording session of this piece on the Silbermann organ at Arlesheim. Interesting to watch the organist work through the pedal solo, and the rest of it.

 

[video=youtube;w4d4R3NI4fo]

[AdamSmith]

Also just noticed this vid of Bach's Gigue fugue. Not a great performance, but the organist cracks me up. Is he channeling Borat?

 

(Nonetheless, always nice to listen to a Silbermann instrument; this one in Wasselonne, Alsace.)

 

[video=youtube;vO2_Hiv01Y4]

[Diverdan]

Adam,

Thanks to you and others for these great posts and videos. I am determined to get my great stereo system back up and playing all of those great organ CDs that I have in my posession. I have promised you some recommendations and I still plan to do that. Thanks again for making these past few weeks so enjoyable. There aren't many of us classical organ nuts around here (no pun intended) but it is great fun to share this passion.

DD

[AdamSmith]

DD, please do! I would love to know some of your favorites.

 

Just remembered another great resource -- the web site for the American Public Radio series 'Pipe Dreams': http://pipedreams.publicradio.org/

[whipped guy]

DD, please do!

While not exactly a "classical organ nut".... I am told that my tastes are somewhat unconventional... it would be interesting to hear about recordings that would give a high-powered stereo rig a good workout...

[adriano46]

And for those of us unrepentant Virgil Fox admirers, there's the new "Virgil" who threatens to become even bigger than Fox, because he's both openly gay and very, very cute - Cameron Carpenter. Check out his youtube videos.

 

WOW thanks for this reference to Cameron Carpenter. I just downloaded quite a few pieceshe played (all over the repertoire), and I have to say he is extremely talented with an excellent eaqr for subtlety on the organ not heard for many years. And yes... he is quite cute to look at while listening. Imagine what he will be life in 10 or 20 years as his already amazing talent grows from more experience!!!!

[adriano46]

On another vein, as an organist myself I have always enjoyed BOTH E. Power Biggs (for true classicism and interpretation), and Virgil Fox just to watch his showmanship while playing. I have had the real pleasure of listening to some amazing pipe organs in the Baroque churches of Germany, and some of the great organs in churches in France, and in the surroundings of the acoustics of those vaulted spaces, it is a tru joy to hear the KING or CZAR OF INSTRUMENTS.

[Diverdan]

Hey Adriano,

When can we hear you play the organ?... in concert, I mean!!! Seriously, do you play on a regular basis? Give concerts? Another excuse for me to get to NYC or where ever you live.

DD

[AdamSmith]

So, putting aside one's aversions to the performer Marie-Claire Alain, whom I always found to be pretty weak tea, what do people think about her brother the brilliant composer Jehan Alain?

 

[video=youtube;SVbUVI1eDl8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVbUVI1eDl8

[whipped guy]

M-C Alain plays J Alain...

 

So, putting aside one's aversions to the performer Marie-Claire Alain...

I have always considered M-C A to be a member of the B team. I guess I would say the same for her brother... sounds like a nice improvisation though... the hardest part being actually writing the actual notes down on paper... In fairness... and perhaps I have been under a rock all these years... but this is the first time I have knowingly heard of him much less any of his compositions. Also, if confronted with the last name on its own I would honestly have never made the connection. Still it is a pleasing piece...

[AdamSmith]

I have always considered M-C A to be a member of the B team. I guess I would say the same for her brother...

 

Agree completely re Marie-Claire. But with respect to her bro -- please re-listen and reconsider! Maybe I am deluded, but on disc he is one of my idols, coming somewhat close (OK, indulge me, but still, not too much exaggeration) to JSB himself.

 

Am I being taken in by pure sound bombast? I don't think so.

[whipped guy]

Well I never give out high grades... but in fairness the piece did remind me of JSB in a toccata sort of way... so perhaps I was a bit harsh. Still regarding M-C... and perhaps I was a bit harsh on her as well... it just seems that there is something bland about her playing. I usually think of French musicians as being less flashy, urbane, and sophisticated (think Jean Pierre Rampal vs. James Galway for example), but M-C always struck me as being proper but without any compensating elegance that would elevate her to a higher level.

[uwsman2]

Daniel Roth - French organist. Yesterday I picked up a new CD by him in the St Saens Organ Symphony with his son, Francois-Xavier Roth, conducting a "period instrument" chamber orchestra. (Coupled with St Saens 4th Piano Concerto performed by Jean-Francois Heisser.) Haven't listened yet, but the idea of this symphony played on period instruments is interesting. The symphony is a live recording from Saint-Sulpice in Paris, taken down during a Paris organ festival in May 2010.

[adriano46]

Diverdan - thanks... believe it or not, play in churches mostly (OK hold back the comments), and have found some really HAWT guys in the NY area and elsewhere who do the same (kind of a real underground underground club), but NEVER EVER touch the choir or altar boys so get your minds out of the gutter.

[Diverdan]

Adriano46.... now what would make you think my mind would be in the gutter ?????? Nice to hear about your underground, underground club too, and I am not surprised, as a lot of the guys whom I know play the pipe organ (I was just going to say organ) are very HOT. After all, they are messing with the King Of Instruments, and it helps to have long strong fingers and great flexability in the legs to play the pedals! Most people don't realize how challenging it is to play a pipe organ really well.

 

As a side note to all of this, I was very impressed by some of the young men who were featured at a "young organists concert" recently. Not only were they very good organists at a relatively young age, but most were very good looking, had a real mature attitude about them and had a real "presence" with the audience and the judges. It was obvious that they loved what they are doing, and it gives me a lot of satisfaction for the future of your profession.

 

Looking forward to meeting you in person one of these days when I get to NYC.