Bach Reverberations

[Satzaroo]

Every Sunday at 5:00 p.m. there is an organ concert at Eglise St. Eustache in Paris. The church's organ is the largest one in France, and it has such a stupendous sound that Mozart saw to it that his mother's funeral (accompanied by organ) took place at that venue. The first selection that my wife and I heard was the inimitable Bach Toccata and Fugue in D Minor (BWV 565). I have always enjoyed listening to many recordings of this war horse played on increasingly sophisticated equipment. But nothing so far can match the tonal intensity and fiendish intricacies of the work as played by the incomparable organist at St. Eustache. The Toccata and Fugue felt like a sonic boom at the beginning and the end; and the cascading middle sections were playfully exuberant. The rest of the concert consisted of some awfully dissonant music by an easily forgettable composer. But even amid that horrendous ultra modern piece, I was content because the god-like force of Bach was with me.

[Scarpia]

Every Sunday at 5:00 p.m. there is an organ concert at Eglise St. Eustache in Paris. The church's organ is the largest one in France, and it has such a stupendous sound that Mozart saw to it that his mother's funeral (accompanied by organ) took place at that venue. The first selection that my wife and I heard was the inimitable Bach Toccata and Fugue in D Minor (BWV 565). I have always enjoyed listening to many recordings of this war horse played on increasingly sophisticated equipment. But nothing so far can match the tonal intensity and fiendish intricacies of the work as played by the incomparable organist at St. Eustache. The Toccata and Fugue felt like a sonic boom at the beginning and the end; and the cascading middle sections were playfully exuberant. The rest of the concert consisted of some awfully dissonant music by an easily forgettable composer. But even amid that horrendous ultra modern piece, I was content because the god-like force of Bach was with me.

Actually, I'm a lot more interested in who the "easily forgettable composer" was.  Don't recall the name?

[Satzaroo]

I'll check on the church's website. Maybe I'll get lucky. I've had no success at all either at the church's website or at Paris organ concert repertoire sites. I'm stumped. Sorry. Whoa! I just found the program info after I gave up. DIMANCHE 13 JUIN 2010 – 17H30 – Vincent CROSNIER

•Girolamo FRESCOBALDI – Toccata per l'Elevatione (extrait des « Fiori Musicali »)
•Johann Sebastian BACH – Toccata et Fugue en Ré mineur BWV 565
•Jean GIROUD – Toccata pour l'Elévation
•Jean GUILLOU – Toccata - opus 9
Either the Giroud or the Guillou were the works I didn't care for.

[Antoine Marchand]

•Johann Sebastian BACH – Toccata et Fugue en Ré mineur BWV 565
•Jean GIROUD – Toccata pour l'Elévation
•Jean GUILLOU – Toccata - opus 9

BTW, Jean Guillou is the titular organist of the organ of St. Eustache.

On You Tube you can listen to several pieces played by him on the Van den Heuvel organ , including the Toccata and Fugue in D minor.

He is also a quite famous improviser.   

[Satzaroo]

Before I had my eureka moment, I had gotten a lot of such info about J.G. It would have been a treat to have heard him play on any of the Sundays in June that I attended the organ concerts.

[prémont]

BTW, Jean Guillou is the titular organist of the organ of St. Eustache.
On You Tube you can listen to several pieces played by him on the Van den Heuvel organ , including the Toccata and Fugue in D minor.

He has made a complete Bach set (other than the incomplete on Dorian).
I think I can hold back easily.

[Satzaroo]

I went to another organ concert last week, this time in the Netherlands (Delft). An excerpt from Bijster's Variaties op een Oud-Nederlands lied and Batiste's Elevation no.6 in As were pedestrian; Franck's Choral no. 2 en si mineur was awfully lugubrious. But I was very fond of Guilmant's Offertoire sur 'O Filii' and his Sonata no. 5 en ut mineur. The last work especially moved me.  It had fast-paced, vibrant, rousing sections alternating with wistful, poignant interludes. The organist, Jaap Kroonenburg, redeemed himself after a listless first half.

[DavidW]

Bach organ music sounds so fantastic live.  By contrast, it sounds so dead on cd.  Still I listened to some Preludes and Fugues earlier this week, and I did enjoy it.

[jowcol]

Bach organ music sounds so fantastic live.  By contrast, it sounds so dead on cd.  Still I listened to some Preludes and Fugues earlier this week, and I did enjoy it.

I'll take Bach's Organ music either way.  Even in recordings, I probably listen to more of his organ music than any other type.

In the 70s E Power Biggs recorded 4 toccattas and Fugues at a cathedral with 4 antiphonal organs controlled by a master console, and it was recorded  in Quadraphonic.  A friend of mine in College had a Quadraphonic stereo setup, and we had great fun with that album-- when we weren't cranking the likes of the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Black Sabbath, or the Sex Pistols...