David Briggs Improvisations

[ArthurWoolsey]

Hi everyone

I just wanted to share with you some quite remarkable improvisations by the living legend that is David Briggs. I have since tried to improvise so brilliantly and failed quite spectacularly...
I think these two videos show how great an organist David Briggs is. Even the great Daniel Roth, observing on one side, seems impressed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOQvxK813J0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaKVu...eature=related
Hope you enjoy - please do say what you think!

[Ghekorg7]

Hi Arthur, welcome to the forum !

Improvising like this needed deep knowledge of harmony, fugue, contrapunctus, modern stuff, high technique on both hands and feet, coming to master after many many years of practice and of course great talent.

David is a great musician and Daniel (another great) indeed must pay respects !
Also the organ at Ste Soulpice is the catalyst to be possible such an event to shine .

Thanks for sharing those, I found more on the right.

Best
Panos

[Corno Dolce]

Yep, Briggs can do superb improvs - So can Naji Hakim........

[Soubasse]

Briggs is also quite the gentleman, I had the great pleasure of being page turner and registrant for him some years back. He's one of those "just watching him play is inspiring" sorts of performers. He has an amazing set of ears too (which of course is a big help when improvising), as I talked with him at length about his transcriptions of Cochereau's improvisations - what an undertaking, not just transcribing them, but recording them afterwards - Superb! Little wonder he (Briggs) is so great at improvising.

[Corno Dolce]

Soubasse,

Hear, hear.........Briggs did a great service with Cochereau's improvs, no doubt about it.