The Organ Forum

HAH!  I'm currently working on an audition just to get into college-level organ playing, and my biggest piece at the moment is the little Prelude and Fugue in C Major (The cadances on that piece are evil)  I only picked up piano three years ago, and organ two.  Nevertheless, I enjoy bashing my head against the wall with stupidly hard pieces (Seriously.) and I'll definately try to do it during my 'throwaway' time I give myself during long practice sessions.

 

 

Don't think I'll tell my teacher what I'm doin' though....

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'It isn't that difficult. All one has to do is press all the right keys at the right time and the organ plays itself.'
Yeah RIGHT.

Well, my current dream / goal is the Widor Toccata.  Tried it once, took me about an hour to get through! LOL.  But it was still fun trying to figure it out.

As long as we're dreaming though, I'd LOVE to play just about anything on the Atlantic City Convention Hall Organ:

A favorite demonstration of mine

That organ is just incredible.  It's too bad it's not being restored.  The site mentions bent pipes and ciphers.  Seems there just isn't enough money to restore it.  Somehow the Wanamaker got restored! 

I think there isn't enough public awareness of this organ.  Perhaps if there were, it would stand a better chance of being restored.  The Wanamaker was once in a deplorable state, but is now mostly restored.

-Jon 

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"Unit" is a four letter word!

Vercus, I just love that rendition of Abide with Me on the ACCHO. By the end of the clip my 40W subwoofer is blowing the mail of my computer desk!

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First they came for the ABC consoles, then they came for the older consoles. When they finally got to the spinets, they were all gone.

Yeah that is an impressive piece.  By the end, he's activated the 64' Diaphone, so you do have to be careful!

I'd like to buy the CD so I can hear it at better quality.  Also in the CD, I'm told there is a demonstration of the 64' alone as well as some of the reeds, which can run on as much as 50 or 100" of wind pressure!

-Jon 

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"Unit" is a four letter word!

Vic Ferrer produced a fantastic documentary on that organ, as well as covering most of Boardwalk Hall. It's called "The Senators Masterpiece", and if you think you love that organ now, you'll be scratching at the door to get to it by the time the credits roll. 

 The reed you speak of is the Grand Ophicleide, which does operate on 100". I think that stop alone qualified this organ as the world's loudest (as well as largest) instrument.

 

 

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Nathan Wilcox

Hey Nate,

    Yes, I believe you're right about the Ophicleide- I heard the same thing.  Thanks for mentioning the documentary, I watched the trailer and now I definitely want to buy it!  I just have to get some of these bills paid off first!  I do plan on buying the cd, and it looks like I'll be adding the DVD as well!

Thanks,

    Jon
 

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"Unit" is a four letter word!

Lots of pieces come to mind:
- Baroque: torn betwen Marchand "grand dialogue" on the Dom Bedos in Bordeaux and Bach "Fuga in c" (Legrenzi) on a decent Snitger
- romantic: Padre Davide da Bergamo "Le sanguinose giornate di marzo ossia la Rivolutione di Milano" on the Serassi in Piacenza

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Expert in non-working solutions

Dupre P&F in B major. It ain't gonna happen, sadly...

Jason E:

andyg:

If I can't have [the Saint-Saens], I'll go theatre organ and say 'Slaughter on 10th Avenue'. I can play part of it, but never learnt it all, and never played in on pipes.

Do you have a favourite or recommended recording?  I have a nifty recording with George Wright (Boston Skyline 122), but, myself, I have only played it on the piano. 

Sorry Jason, I haven't looked at this thread in a while! I'll go with the GW version on this one, too, but one of my theatre organ mentors, the late British theatre organist Jackie Brown, wrote a superb arrangement of this when he was working with the Farfisa company of all people. In those days Farfisa were also marketing accordions and electronic accordions like their Cordovox, and had artistes like Pearl Fawcett playing for them. The arrangement I heard was for two organs and Cordovox, and this must have been in the very early 1970's. The artistes were Jackie Brown and Graeme Wright (I think) on organs and John Scott on accordion. I did record it on my trusty Philips cassette recorder, but the quality was, of course, dire and the tape is long gone.

Andy

 

 

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It's not what you play, it's not how you play. It's the fact that you're playing that counts.

Richard Fairhurst:

Dupre P&F in B major. It ain't gonna happen, sadly...

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Soubasse32

Oh, the Fugue would be worth it for that fff pedal entry not too far from the end. I have to resist waving my hands around a lot (or, worse, trying to mimic it on the pedals) when I'm driving and that comes on the CD player.

I've done the Prelude, but not the Fugue (and probably never will....).

I'd rather like to perform the Toccata by Maurice Durufle at Notre-Dame, or the final movement of the Symphonie-Passion by Marcel Dupre at St.Sulpice. I'm currently working on the second work, which appears to be going well, but doubt I'll ever play the first, that's for sure...

My two-pence worth.

Hmmm - Middelschulte's *Passacaglia in d* or Demessieux's *Meditations sur Saint Esprit*.

I had a "fun" dream in the past, something which I always wanted to do, and I actually did. During an Offertory when I began performing at a Church, I decided to perform Virgil Fox's arrangement on "Now Thank We All Our God" entirely from memory on the organ. I really enjoyed performing it; not particularly difficult, but a great sounding piece.

 Now, I'd have to say Vierne's Cathedral from his Fantasy Pieces, and Durufle's Prelude and Fugue Op. 7 ALAIN.

stentordiaphone64:

Hmmm - Middelschulte's *Passacaglia in d* or Demessieux's *Meditations sur Saint Esprit*.

Ah, my mate, you set yourself up for the highest challenges!  Hats off... a genius... and I thought the Percy Whitlock Sonata difficult?  

But do me a favour: don't ever attempt Elgar's Enigma Variations on the organ.  Lately this transcription has had some currency on other forums.  Blimey, no.  An organ transcription sounds like nothing more than a Reger monstrosity.  Just terrible.  For those of us who are alert to Elgar's utter and uncontested genius for orchestration, playing this piece on the organ removes all the subtleties of his psychological take on life and the friends in one's circle.

Don't laugh.  It happened in Hereford a few weeks ago.  The organist -whom I have met- played the finale of Enigma after Evensong.  Impressive playing, but about as convincing as an organ rendition of the 4th P&C march.  The latter, with its flying tassels on the hat and self-satisfied British supremacy, just doesn't work on the organ.  Elgar knew that.  He knew everything. 

Cheers!