The Pipe Organ Thread

[ska invita]

Ive said this before on the boards but 20 years ago I was in France and stumbled in to Notre Dame in pure tourist mode and chanced on an organ recital....its was amazing....bigger basslines than a dub soundsystem and at times a din of notes that would make aphex twin seem tame.... blew me away....

since then Ive always taken a bit of an interest in pipe organs... have been to some recitals at St Pauls (theres one every sunday at 4pm, free entry) and have dug out some recordings here and there.

But ive not even scratched the surface and am going to try and find some more pieces that I like and experience more over the coming years. Would love any recommendations, links, places to visit, whatever.

To kick the thread off something happened the other day that was a big deal in the organ world Notre Dame reopened, lots of world leaders were there, and there was a blessing of the restored organ and some pieces got played....

Got to love the French because rather than choose something more mundane (tbh nothing could sound that mundane on that organ), they decided to let some of their top organists play improvisational pieces... Supposedly that's a particularly French thing, organ improv.....and they went in HARD

Listen for yourself:

to skip the clergy waffle :
first piece at 2min 44 ("all the notes at once please")
next one at 4.48 ("heres a little number i call Existential Dread")
then 6.26 (aka "have some of that you cunts")
and goes on after that too
...have to imagine just how loud this would've been in the room - it really pumps



Has caused some debate, was this the time and the place for this kind of thing etc. All good I think. I hope everyone there squirmed

 

[SpookyFrank]

Sounds fucking ghastly to me.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

I went to a concert at the cathedral recently which featured the organ - it was magnificent. Can't beat a massive organ.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

 

[ska invita]

Sounds fucking ghastly to me.

I was a bit shocked on first listen but they've grown on me

 

[farmerbarleymow]

She's got some nice videos on her channel

Anna Lapwood

Anna Lapwood is an organist, conductor, and broadcaster. She is Director of Music at Pembroke College, Cambridge having previously been Organ Scholar at Magdalen College Oxford, the first female in the college’s 560-year history to be awarded the Scholarship. In 2022 she was appointed Associate...

www.youtube.com

 

[Happy Tree]

My lasting memory of my mum's funeral is standing in the crematorium listening to an organist play some standard hymns, but with those additional weird notes that pipe organ music has. Sounded really off. I remember thinking that mum wouldn't mind as she was tone deaf and wouldn't have noticed.

 

[petee]

(my parish church)

 

[blossie33]

Birmingham Town Hall pipe organ is pretty impressive...

Town Hall Organ | B:Music

The organ was originally commissioned and owned by the General Hospital of Birmingham, with the instrument being handed over to the City of Birmingham in M

bmusic.co.uk

 

[ska invita]

Its a classic for a reason...
I was reading the wiki about it...written in the early 1700s, a single copy of the manuscript only found a century later and then only came to prominence much later than that...Disneys Fantasia elevated it to legendary status
A piece that could so easily have been lost

What I love about these kind of organ pieces is how dark and transcendental they are...thats true now, but for the early 1700s even more so...and in a pre-electronic era there is no other musical experience you could have that would be so loud and powerful.... the way it reverberates around big stone cathedrals adds to the din and the immersion

 

[ska invita]

Sub bass in the place

#

 

[xenon]

I can't help associate the reedy pipe organ sound with funerils. Not sure what settings create that tone but you know what I mean. As opposed to the more saw tooth sounding church organ.

Years ago, went into Bath cathedral and I guess the organist was just practising or jamming. They were playing this amazing dissonant horror film style stuff.

Kinda obvious I know but I think about how powerful the experience of going to a large church or cathedral must have been for the average person in the middle ages. No where else, outside a battle field maybe, would you be able to hear something so loud as the organ. Resounding music you can feel in your gut. Then you have the stained glass windows, pure coloured light, the gravity defying arches...

 

[JimW]

Lay off the pipe, ska.

 

[Zapp Brannigan]

Its a classic for a reason...
I was reading the wiki about it...written in the early 1700s, a single copy of the manuscript only found a century later and then only came to prominence much later than that...Disneys Fantasia elevated it to legendary status
A piece that could so easily have been lost

What I love about these kind of organ pieces is how dark and transcendental they are...thats true now, but for the early 1700s even more so...and in a pre-electronic era there is no other musical experience you could have that would be so loud and powerful.... the way it reverberates around big stone cathedrals adds to the din and the immersion

I played Toccata and Fugue for my GCSE music performance piece. Dad had to load up our electronic organ (Yamaha HS8 for those interested!) in the back of the car and take it to school. My teacher had suggested using a bog standard keyboard, no chance - it needs the pedals and volume, it's a piece with such musical presence.

Marks were awarded for performance standard and difficulty - I can't remember my overall score, but the difficulty multiplier was (unsurprisingly) a 3.0 out of 3. 30 years on, I can still play it through nothing but muscle memory.

 

[ska invita]

I can't help associate the reedy pipe organ sound with funerils. Not sure what settings create that tone but you know what I mean.

Yes for sure these are the much smaller church organs, often not even pipe organs i dont think. The bigger the better with organs.

Theres a whole thing about historic organs from different European countries and how they have different tones.... Im only just discovering all this so can only repost something i read on an organ forum

"There are significant tonal differences between typical English, German, French, and Spanish organs, but I'm not sure how to describe them. Spanish reeds will peel your scalp off. English diapasons are very "plump" and solid. German principals are fairly thin and bright. French organs are brash. (My characterizations, YMMV)"

Reading about that lead me to this Virutal Organ website

Sonus Paradisi Sonus paradisi

www.sonusparadisi.cz

which amongst other things records organs from different countries and churches

and for example this early example of an English organ sounds closer to a clarinet meets squeezebox accordion steam fairground ride - a bit naff - (you have to clikc on DEMOS to get to the audio samples)

Sonus Paradisi Adlington Hall Organ - England - Organs

Bernard Smith (?)<br /> ca. 1693, 13 stops<br /> English oldest organ<br /> <strong>surround</strong><br /> Released: 12/2022<br />

www.sonusparadisi.cz

so yeah theres a huge variety of instruments and sounds out there

Lay off the pipe, ska.

its good strong shit....cant put it down now

 

[kittyP]

I suppose it depends on who's playing it.
Whenever I have been in St Martin in the Field (in Trafalgar Square no less) the organist, while not terrible, has always hit quite a few bum notes and the Organ Voluntary at the end has always been chaos... but not in a good way.

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

I have one in my office at work

 

[ska invita]

I have one in my office at work

View attachment 454870

do you ever do straight organ recitals there?
Id love to go to hear one in Festival Hall or Albert Hall (big ones)... I dont go out of my way to look but they dont seem to get programmed much

 

[Zapp Brannigan]

The bigger the better with organs.

Waheeeeeeeey!!!

 

[ska invita]

One of the most interesting pieces I found on that smaller church/organ website is this
Alphonse Mailly's Fantaisie Dramatique played by W. Syré on the Organ of the St. Etienne Abbey in Caen, France
If you've got 17 minutes give it a go

Its not a major piece if you google it nothing much comes up, just the score....but I've taken a liking to it

its goes quiet, then loud, mysterious, dark, uplifting, calm, all over the place... dramatic fantasy indeed! Quite christmasy in a way

https://www.sonusparadisi.cz/data/demoplayed/1652801473-Alphonse_Mailly_Fantaisie_dramatique.mp3

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

do you ever do straight organ recitals there?
Id love to go to hear one in Festival Hall or Albert Hall (big ones)... I dont go out of my way to look but they dont seem to get programmed much

Sometimes, yes. It’s also used extensively for teaching. It’s one of two pipe organs on campus, we have another in the Great Hall as well.

 

[nogojones]

I guess the one in Coventry cathedral is pretty nu skool as organs go, but I've caught a couple of recitals there that were pretty mind-blowing



Feel the bass

 

[xenon]

'Eccentric' Bristol house with built-in pipe organ is sold

The previous owner built the huge instrument into the house so his wife could practise at home.

www.bbc.co.uk

I think the organ has now been put in a museum but it's a nice story.

 

[xenon]

Yes for sure these are the much smaller church organs, often not even pipe organs i dont think. The bigger the better with organs.

Theres a whole thing about historic organs from different European countries and how they have different tones.... Im only just discovering all this so can only repost something i read on an organ forum

"There are significant tonal differences between typical English, German, French, and Spanish organs, but I'm not sure how to describe them. Spanish reeds will peel your scalp off. English diapasons are very "plump" and solid. German principals are fairly thin and bright. French organs are brash. (My characterizations, YMMV)"

Reading about that lead me to this Virutal Organ website

Sonus Paradisi Sonus paradisi

www.sonusparadisi.cz

which amongst other things records organs from different countries and churches

and for example this early example of an English organ sounds closer to a clarinet meets squeezebox accordion steam fairground ride - a bit naff - (you have to clikc on DEMOS to get to the audio samples)

Sonus Paradisi Adlington Hall Organ - England - Organs

Bernard Smith (?)<br /> ca. 1693, 13 stops<br /> English oldest organ<br /> <strong>surround</strong><br /> Released: 12/2022<br />

www.sonusparadisi.cz

so yeah theres a huge variety of instruments and sounds out there



its good strong shit....cant put it down now

Cheers. Tangentially I'm doing a free online intro course to music theory ATM. I know a lot of it but wanted some reminders about modes and all that stuff. It's from Edinburgh university. They have a keyboard museum there I discovered. Would love to visit

Planning Your Visit - St Cecilia's Hall

Discover the history of musical instruments and music performance with a visit to St Cecilia's Hall. Located in Edinburgh's Old Town, right off the Royal Mile, St Cecilia's Hall is a 'hidden jewel' in the heart of Edinburgh. Opening Times Travel Accessibility Tours Learning Opening Hours &...

www.stcecilias.ed.ac.uk

 

[ska invita]

Cheers. Tangentially I'm doing a free online intro course to music theory ATM. I know a lot of it but wanted some reminders about modes and all that stuff. It's from Edinburgh university. They have a keyboard museum there I discovered. Would love to visit

Planning Your Visit - St Cecilia's Hall

Discover the history of musical instruments and music performance with a visit to St Cecilia's Hall. Located in Edinburgh's Old Town, right off the Royal Mile, St Cecilia's Hall is a 'hidden jewel' in the heart of Edinburgh. Opening Times Travel Accessibility Tours Learning Opening Hours &...

www.stcecilias.ed.ac.uk

Good luck with it, Id love to know that stuff too. Im no expert on the terminology...I dont know what modes are and despite best efforts I dont understand want modal jazz really is, but I do recognise the sound....

what i love about the big organ pieaces is theres barely a track that doesnt go dischordant (i know what that is!) at some point - theres sometheng about the instrument that I think makes going there like catnip to the composers

I was listening to this one random piece this morning ....overall calm, serene and heavenly....what you might expect to be played in a church....lulls you into that zone....then towards the you get a whacks of dischordant bass heavy chords to remind you about the raw nature of reality! Have some fear of god in yer ya bastads!!

and in a big cathedral where notes hang around reverbing for ages even those loud dischordant bits layer up and make an even more beautiful din.

 

[xenon]

Good luck with it, Id love to know that stuff too. Im no expert on the terminology...I dont know what modes are and despite best efforts I dont understand want modal jazz really is, but I do recognise the sound....

what i love about the big organ pieaces is theres barely a track that doesnt go dischordant (i know what that is!) at some point - theres sometheng about the instrument that I think makes going there like catnip to the composers

I was listening to this one random piece this morning ....overall calm, serene and heavenly....what you might expect to be played in a church....lulls you into that zone....then towards the you get a whacks of dischordant bass heavy chords to remind you about the raw nature of reality! Have some fear of god in yer ya bastads!!

and in a big cathedral where notes hang around reverbing for ages even those loud dischordant bits layer up and make an even more beautiful din.

Just remembered I tried to do something with that massive organ sound last year It was meant for an online RPG game I play with some mates. We haven't actually got round to making it. Was going to be an English folk horror type theme. Played on a Roland synth module and I'm not a very good keys player but once you wack on the reverb it's a lot of fun playing this stuff.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/kqt3i5x8270m04cpu10qi/organ-interlude-1.mp3?rlkey=tstyxwagun2n2rt6nm4vwwspl&dl=1

 

[xenon]

Good luck with it, Id love to know that stuff too. Im no expert on the terminology...I dont know what modes are and despite best efforts I dont understand want modal jazz really is, but I do recognise the sound....

what i love about the big organ pieaces is theres barely a track that doesnt go dischordant (i know what that is!) at some point - theres sometheng about the instrument that I think makes going there like catnip to the composers

I was listening to this one random piece this morning ....overall calm, serene and heavenly....what you might expect to be played in a church....lulls you into that zone....then towards the you get a whacks of dischordant bass heavy chords to remind you about the raw nature of reality! Have some fear of god in yer ya bastads!!

and in a big cathedral where notes hang around reverbing for ages even those loud dischordant bits layer up and make an even more beautiful din.

Interesting, there's a sort of low pass filter effect on that piece. You can hear it at around 58s. I didn't know organs could do that. You know what I mean. The higher frequencies coming in then softening again.

 

[WouldBe]

Sub bass in the place
View attachment 454858
#View attachment 454856
View attachment 454855

You want some 128 foot pipes.

 

[ska invita]

Interesting, there's a sort of low pass filter effect on that piece. You can hear it at around 58s. I didn't know organs could do that. You know what I mean. The higher frequencies coming in then softening again.

look in awe at this modern organ - its incredible the things it can do - it don't understand half of what hes talking about!



the flexible wind sound demo at 11mins30 is some amazing ambient noise creation

i love all the microtone noise creation aspects of this kind of thing - as well as microtonal stoppers it has a microtonal keyboard! destroy the 12 note orthodoxy and destroy it at volume!



that video only hints at what it kind of sounds can actually come out of it

Id love to experience that

 

[SpookyFrank]

She's got some nice videos on her channel

Anna Lapwood

Anna Lapwood is an organist, conductor, and broadcaster. She is Director of Music at Pembroke College, Cambridge having previously been Organ Scholar at Magdalen College Oxford, the first female in the college’s 560-year history to be awarded the Scholarship. In 2022 she was appointed Associate...

www.youtube.com

I like Anna Lapwood. I know she's an internet famous person but I feel like she's used that platform to promote loads of music people wouldn't hear otherwise, and she communicates in a way that's educational and engaging.

Also seeing the mechanics of playing an organ, it's a really physical thing. Particularly the pedals. Lapwood is tiny so she needs to really work just to reach the pedals.