The Organ, Master of them all - general organ thread

[atardecer]

I've been following Wayne Marshall for a while now, he is a very gifted improvisor on piano and organ. I've seen some jaw dropping performances from this guy. I guess I understand where the phrase "pulling out all the stops" comes from now. There is a video of him literally doing that with stops while performing, but I couldn't find that video on youtube. This one is also impressive.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Well, from the player's point of view you pull a knob in or out. There's a bunch of knobs with labels on telling you what effect they will have. In preparing to play the music, the organist decides what timbres he'd like to create, and when. 


Internally, when you push the knob in or out, it determines which pipes the air will flow through -- organs are pipes, wind instruments. There is a lot of plumbing in an organ.

I used to love the names of the stops at school -- especially the Latin ones

Oh, when you had said about changing the stops, I originally thought that you meant that you were working on the organ--as in doing repairs! lol  But, seriously, I thought that the organist did that by themselves?  Or on the big ones, do organists normally have assistants?

PD

[Mandryka]

Oh, when you had said about changing the stops, I originally thought that you meant that you were working on the organ--as in doing repairs! lol  But, seriously, I thought that the organist did that by themselves?  Or on the big ones, do organists normally have assistants?

PD

I think  I only got to do it because my friend liked having me in the organ box. We used to make each other giggle in a schoolboyish way.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

I think  I only got to do it because my friend liked having me in the organ box. We used to make each other giggle in a schoolboyish way.

PD

[prémont]

Today I listened to this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TNoUoG5IeA

Peter Waldner playing renaissance music and early baroque music on a newly restored Belgian baroque organ.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

I've been following Wayne Marshall for a while now, he is a very gifted improvisor on piano and organ. I've seen some jaw dropping performances from this guy. I guess I understand where the phrase "pulling out all the stops" comes from now. There is a video of him literally doing that with stops while performing, but I couldn't find that video on youtube. This one is also impressive.

That was quite interesting!  Surprised to hear the can-can early on.    Very modern-looking organ.  Looks like there was some sort of electrical cord that somehow or another transmitted signals to the pipes?  I haven't seen anything like that before.

In any event, he's certainly very talented. 

PD

[atardecer]

That was quite interesting!  Surprised to hear the can-can early on.    Very modern-looking organ.  Looks like there was some sort of electrical cord that somehow or another transmitted signals to the pipes?  I haven't seen anything like that before.

In any event, he's certainly very talented. 

PD

Yes, the instrument has the more modern stops that are switches. I'm not really sure what other ways that kind of organ differs from the older ones.

As far as Wayne Marshall I find his improvisational talents quite impressive. He recently performed a concert with nothing prepared ahead of time and just took requests on the spot from audience members for themes to then improvise on. He can take those themes and improvise in various styles. For example someone could say - Jingle Bells in the style of Mozart, and he does it.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Yes, the instrument has the more modern stops that are switches. I'm not really sure what other ways that kind of organ differs from the older ones.

As far as Wayne Marshall I find his improvisational talents quite impressive. He recently performed a concert with nothing prepared ahead of time and just took requests on the spot from audience members for themes to then improvise on. He can take those themes and improvise in various styles. For example someone could say - Jingle Bells in the style of Mozart, and he does it.

Wow!  Quite impressive!  And, yes, I did see the switches on his organ.

PD

[Mandryka]

Roland Götz plays Froberger at Klosterneuburg. Passionate performances and a passionate essay - presumably by Gôtz himself - about  the organ and the music, uploaded to discogs.

https://www.discogs.com/release/17716093-Johann-Jakob-Froberger-Roland-Götz-Roland-Götz-Spielt-Johann-Jakob-Froberger

Götz has a knack for choosing programmes for recordings - I find myself wanting to listen to a whole CDs worth of his music quite often with him.

[Mandryka]

Jean Rondeau looking for sponsorship for a complete Louis Couperin series of recordings

https://www.clavecin.org/couperin/

The mention of "organs" made me pay attention.

There are only four significant selections of the organ music on record that I know of -- Moroney, Pieter Dirksen, Willem Jansen and Laurent Beyhurst -- and only Moroney's is more than one CD's worth. David Ponsford in his book on French baroque organ music makes out a good case for its quality and importance. I'm very keen to get to know it better.

[prémont]

There is a fifth from the 1960es by Chapuis on the Cliquot organ in Souvigny, but I have never seen it on CD. It's played in Chapuis' usual flamboyant style IIRC.

[Mandryka]

There is a fifth from the 1960es by Chapuis on the Cliquot organ in Souvigny, but I have never seen it on CD. It's played in Chapuis' usual flamboyant style IIRC.

 

https://archive.org/details/lp_selected-works-by-louis-couperin-first-pub_louis-couperin-michel-chapuis-ensemble-voc_0

[LKB]

Hot off the griddle, a fun duet  ( four hands and two feet ) uploaded within the last hour:

https://youtu.be/zxYB8MNeLGg?si=gPp8f_rIDzpCpRNw

[prémont]

Hot off the griddle, a fun duet  ( four hands and two feet ) uploaded within the last hour:

https://youtu.be/zxYB8MNeLGg?si=gPp8f_rIDzpCpRNw

This is a bit over the top. They make the excellent Svendborg organ sound like a barrel organ.

[LKB]

This is a bit over the top. They make the excellent Svendborg organ sound like a barrel organ.

It's an arrangement of a folksong, not a Bach chorale prelude. Not an inappropriate choice for demonstrating an excellent instrument's capabilities, and a solid little piece of local marketing for getting people in to listen to, say, some Bach chorale preludes.

[Anooj]

Maybe someone has asked already, but are there any good organ recordings performed on this type of Spanish organ? I love the sound of it very much.

[prémont]

Maybe someone has asked already, but are there any good organ recordings performed on this type of Spanish organ? I love the sound of it very much.

The Trompettes en chamade which are used here were introduced in Spanish organs in the late 17th century, and their use is for that reason substantiated for Spanish late baroque composers. I'm not much into this era, finding the music too showy, Cabanilles being the only partial exception. 

[Mandryka]

Wonderful "grand manner" Grigny hymns at Marmoutier from Melville Smith - clear counterpoint too. Why does this noble, proud, radiant, joyful way of playing no longer exist?

[prémont]

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Wonderful "grand manner" Grigny hymns at Marmoutier from Melville Smith - clear counterpoint too. Why does this noble, proud, radiant, joyful way of playing no longer exist?

Yes, Smith was special - or was he? I think Alain, Saorgin, Bardon e.g. played in much the same style. But the younger generation's Grigny (Nicolas Bucher, Olivier Houette) is more "informed" and rather impressive too.

[Mandryka]

Enjoying Mikkelsen's Grigny mass this afternoon - partly because of the singing, which I remember not liking when it was released, but which now seems to work very nicely. I think I prefer Mikkelsen to Coudurier on the same organ - Coudurier grand and noble but somehow Mikkelsen seems to capture a bit of introspection, prayerfulness.