The Organ, Master of them all - general organ thread

[XB-70 Valkyrie]

Thank you. Yes, it's 16$ here, and it looked to have some interesting instruments as well as unfamiliar pieces (to me any way).

[Marc]

Thank you. Yes, it's 16$ here, and it looked to have some interesting instruments as well as unfamiliar pieces (to me any way).

Go for it!

[jlaurson]

You mentioned the Naxos series. I presume you've seen this:



Both Reger and Fugatto are working on the series as well, but I don't think that either are complete.

I am looking for a complete box set of Reger's organ music. I have a few of them on Naxos, but would like a complete (or nearly complete) set.

I have some (maybe 5, 6 volumes) of the Naxos. Good stuff. Not great. But what is great in Reger organ works? What makes them work?
Rosalind Haas (MDG) certainly doesn't; have that, too, but it's dry as dust -- a few wonderful touches here and there notwithstanding.
So along came Bernhard Buttmann (I know, unfortunate, isn't it) on Oehms and although I only have v.1 of so far three volumes (each 4 CDs, I think), it just totally blew me away. So much color, so flowery no: fruity... a real joy in the listening!

[Marc]

Just to enjoy:

Sietze de Vries: Partita in Baroque Style on Psalm 86 (a prayer for help by David).

Zielman organ, Reformed church Die Kandelaar, Pretoria, South Africa.

https://www.youtube.com/v/mwvgQyyJF3A

[Mandryka]

Just to enjoy:

Sietze de Vries: Partita in Baroque Style on Psalm 86 (a prayer for help by David).

Zielman organ, Reformed church Die Kandelaar, Pretoria, South Africa.

https://www.youtube.com/v/mwvgQyyJF3A

Nice organ, the music was OK -- maybe over long. But what do you think of the idea of projecting his hands and feet on a screen as he's playing?

[Marc]

Nice organ, the music was OK -- maybe over long. But what do you think of the idea of projecting his hands and feet on a screen as he's playing?

Some organs in NL have a mirror, which means the listener can watch ('reversed') action, though it's often difficult to see, and I've experienced a projector once (in the Der Aa Kerk, Groningen), where one could only see the player's hands.

For me, it doesn't change much and it takes away a bit of the 'mystery', but I heard some younger visitors afterwards who really appreciated it, so I think it's a nice add-on. I guess it will make organ concerts more expensive though, because camera's, projectors et al are not for free.

[XB-70 Valkyrie]

Just received the Cornet 2 CD set (Arnaud Van de Cauter), recommended in this thread, and am enjoying it a great deal. Also, today, I stumbled across this set, which looks very intriguing. Does anyone have this?





My German is crap (I'm barely an A2 speaker after all my efforts), but I will try to get through this review:

http://de.brilliantclassics.com/2015/12/various-500-years-of-organ-music/

[Cato]

Just received the Cornet 2 CD set (Arnaud Van de Cauter), recommended in this thread, and am enjoying it a great deal. Also, today, I stumbled across this set, which looks very intriguing. Does anyone have this?





My German is crap (I'm barely an A2 speaker after all my efforts), but I will try to get through this review:

http://de.brilliantclassics.com/2015/12/various-500-years-of-organ-music/

It is not really a review, but more of a promotion as to why you should buy the set.

[Mandryka]

There is a revolution afoot in stylus fantasticus. Gone are the days when Buxtehude and Bruhns were seen as just writers of bravura. First William Porter for Bruhns, them Hans Davidsson for Buxtehude and now Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra for Tunder present a stylus fantasticus which is sweet, soft, singing, introverted, reflective, rapt, humane, poetic, oneiric, mystical, hermetic, ecstatic, spiritual. Everything but virtuosic in fact. Que - avoid.

The organ, the Göteborg über-Schnitger,  mean-tone, is fabulous of course.

Part of the origin of Ruiter-Feenstra's vision lies in her having gone back to the oldest tablatures to create her own edition -- apparently previous editions were a dog's dinner. In some pieces, the combination of the organ and Ruiter-Feenstra's approach and the authenticity of the versions she uses produces something which is musical magic. An example is Was kann uns kommen un fur not version 1, The Lord is my Shepherd,  with its strange ending.

Are there any secret Tunder recordings by Walter Kraft?

[Mandryka]

Karl Maureen plays the Steigleder variations. The recording is organologically interesting because the instrument, Jörg Ebert/Innsbruck, is very much in the style that Steigleder would have been used to. Maureen is a performer/scholar who has specialised in South German music. There's nothing didactic or academic about his performance.

The performance uses voices and organ. Given the HIPness of the approach, I guess that that means that what Berben does isn't justifiable historically. Tuning is a modified meantone, and is attractive I think.  Karl Maureen prides himself on the historical authenticity of his interpretation. The booklet is exemplary, with extensive discussions of the composer, the music, the tabulature and the organ.

[XB-70 Valkyrie]

Thanks for these recommendations. The Tunder CD is on my wish list--I will buy it soon--and eventually most of the other recommendations on this thread.

[Mandryka]

Discussion of baroque temperament, and organ practice more generally, here.

https://list.uiowa.edu/scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind0301&L=HPSCHD-L&D=0&P=37504


It's an early music message board from Iowa University, if you search you'll find some interesting comments from David Moroney (on L. couperin organ music for example, which taught me that the area of attribution isn't something an amateur should ever get involved in: it's a job for the professionals. Maybe Glen Wilson is an amateur, who am I to say!

https://list.uiowa.edu/scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind1109&L=HPSCHD-L&P=R1050&1=HPSCHD-L&9=A&J=on&d=No+Match%3BMatch%3BMatches&z=4

And on Fugue,

https://list.uiowa.edu/scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind1208&L=HPSCHD-L&D=0&1=HPSCHD-L&9=A&J=on&d=No+Match%3BMatch%3BMatches&z=4&P=61909)

[Marc]

Tunder, Dirksen/van Laar,, Groningen.

http://www.pieterdirksen.nl/Recordings/Tunder.htm

There are sample downloads here, which I haven't had the chance to hear yet.

http://www.groningenorgelland.nl/index.php?action=extra&extra=A_downloads_tunder_cd&lang=EN

Bought this issue last Saturday, and did the dishes today whilst listening to it: it's a great disc!
(And so are the downloads.)

[prémont]

Discussion of baroque temperament, and organ practice more generally, here.

https://list.uiowa.edu/scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind0301&L=HPSCHD-L&D=0&P=37504


It's an early music message board from Iowa University, if you search you'll find some interesting comments from David Moroney (on L. couperin organ music for example, which taught me that the area of attribution isn't something an amateur should ever get involved in: it's a job for the professionals. Maybe Glen Wilson is an amateur, who am I to say!

https://list.uiowa.edu/scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind1109&L=HPSCHD-L&P=R1050&1=HPSCHD-L&9=A&J=on&d=No+Match%3BMatch%3BMatches&z=4

And on Fugue,

https://list.uiowa.edu/scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind1208&L=HPSCHD-L&D=0&1=HPSCHD-L&9=A&J=on&d=No+Match%3BMatch%3BMatches&z=4&P=61909)

Thanks for drawing attention to these interesting discussions and to the webpage in general, which I did not know.

[prémont]

Karl Maureen plays the Steigleder variations.

Where did you find this unattainable recording??

[Mandryka]

Where did you find this unattainable recording??

Amazon in Germany, going for a song! I'll let you have it tomorrow.

[prémont]

Amazon in Germany, going for a song! I'll let you have it tomorrow.

That would be great. 

[Mandryka]

Bought this issue last Saturday, and did the dishes today whilst listening to it: it's a great disc!
(And so are the downloads.)

I shall buy it, I thought the phrasing, touch and the intimacy was unusual in Pieter Dirkesn's download.

[Marc]

I shall buy it, I thought the phrasing, touch and the intimacy was unusual in Pieter Dirkesn's download.

I haven't done a thorough comparison with f.i. Ruiter-Feenstra or Flamme, but I really enjoyed Dirksen's approach, with a nice and delicate use of all kinds of beautiful 'Martini' stops.

[Mandryka]

I haven't done a thorough comparison with f.i. Ruiter-Feenstra or Flamme, but I really enjoyed Dirksen's approach, with a nice and delicate use of all kinds of beautiful 'Martini' stops.

It's hard to order that CD because he doesn't respond to his emails and as far as I can see his website is the only source. Where did you get your copy from?

On the other hand I'm happy to announce that, after a certain amount of argy-bargy, I've managed to order Harald Vogel's Boehm CD.