Digital Organ Choice

[FelixLowe]

At Xmas 2004, I took a trip to Israel, my first pilgimmage, so to speak. There is an interesting place called St George's Anglican on Nablus Road, up the slopey hill just outside the Old City of Jerusalem. I think it may have been about 25 minutes' walk from Damascus Gate. I attended a church service there one Sunday. There is a Rieger in there, and I want to show you a short clip I saw on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71DyK0kjXqs on that organ playing. Here is an introduction and the stoplist provided by the Israel Organ Society: http://organ.org.il/pws/page!5417. It is quite shocking to match those long lists with the relatively small organ in the picture. It's amazing -- I guess there are considerable inter-rank and intra-rank borrowings.

The church interior is quite elegantly neat and nothing gaudy or ostentatious.

 

[FelixLowe]

Here is a presentation of someone playing persuasively in Italy the BUXWV 139: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghGFF8W1ugY. Although he does not mention the brand of his digital organ, it is so obvious that it is a South German Baroque tradition, which means it can be either a Viscount or the Ahlborn in most cases. But I think the latter is more likely. As I said before, Ahlborn is not bad at all. That's what I mean when I said it has a lot of potential. It is a Silbermann imitation and is basically Austro-German stuff. Ahlborn is originally an Italian-German joint venture. But I don't know about it now. It is definitely not of Italian intonation -- because the Italian organs have white-coloured mixtures, but the South German mixtures are golden.

 

[Ghekorg7 (Ret)]

Thanks for the link Felix !
Nice sounding organ, close to Silbermann sound, but,.. I'm not shure...
Stefano has uploaded a lot of Bux and with Piet Kee at Alkmaar
Very good registration.

He played extra good !

 

[FelixLowe]

Thanks for the link Felix !
Nice sounding organ, close to Silbermann sound, but,.. I'm not shure...
Stefano has uploaded a lot of Bux and with Piet Kee at Alkmaar
Very good registration.

He played extra good !

Almost the same registration as the performance recorded with the St Georgenkirche Silbermann soundfont samples on James Pressler's Virtually Baroque website: http://www.virtuallybaroque.com/track818.htm . But the recording microphone the guy in Italy used has made that recording sound quite lousy. But one can still appreciate that he got it right with the registration, and that organ is definitely South German Baroque.

Felix

 

[Clarion]

Although he does not mention the brand of his digital organ, it is so obvious that it is a South German Baroque tradition, which means it can be either a Viscount or the Ahlborn in most cases.

The sound and appearance have Viscount written all over it.

 

[FelixLowe]

About the Kleuker organs I mentioned previously, there were three of them in Hong Kong. At the moment, there are two and one of them, believed to have 14 or 15 stops, is found at the Kowloon Methodist Church on Gascoigne Road. You can view and hear the organ in this video containing a few familiar hymns: (1) Mit Freuden Zart, (2) Ein Feste Berg and some more. The organ is clearly South German Baroque, even more so than the one in Causeway Bay with 13 stops. But the one in Causeway Bay always sounds better to me, that had a late Rennaisance to Reformation flavour to it. Maybe it had to do with the acoustics there. The one in Causeway would have had a bigger Cymbel, I guess, even in excess of three ranks.

http://media.klnmethodist.org.hk/main.php?g2_itemId=5549

 

[FelixLowe]

About the Kleuker organs I mentioned previously, there were three of them in Hong Kong. At the moment, there are two and one of them, believed to have 14 or 15 stops, is found at the Kowloon Methodist Church on Gascoigne Road. You can view and hear the organ in this video containing a few familiar hymns: (1) Mit Freuden Zart, (2) Ein Feste Berg and some more. The organ is clearly South German Baroque, even more so than the one in Causeway Bay with 13 stops. But the one in Causeway Bay always sounds better to me, that had a late Rennaisance to Reformation flavour to it. Maybe it had to do with the acoustics there. The one in Causeway would have had a bigger Cymbel, I guess, even in excess of three ranks.

http://media.klnmethodist.org.hk/main.php?g2_itemId=5549

If you examine this Kleuker and the other one whose picture was affixed, you would know why this one could sound considerably worse than the other one of 13 stops. This one has more stops or maybe the same stops, but all the pipes were thrusted into a corner of about a storey's headroom. The other one was two-storey high. So the one in the photo I had affixed must have had mainly or even all independent stops. It also had a heavier 8' flutes. So I guess that could be what is lacking in terms of adequate 8' flute stops in the one on Gascoigne Road, preventing it from sounding as full as the other.

 

[FelixLowe]

I wonder if anyone who has an organ to see if the English Tuba can be imitated by using a combination of Bourdon 16' + Cromorne 8' + Rohrflote 8'/ Bourdon 8'. I just feel that maybe these could create a close imitation but am not so sure.

For instance, the Spanish Chamade trumpet can be quite effectively imitated, it seems, by combining the Trompette 8' with the Fagotto 16'. At least if no comparison is made on the spot, people would imagine that they are hearing some kind of Chamade reeds.

So I would like to hear a response to say whether the combination for the English Tuba gives an expression that they are hearing some kind of a Tuba.

 

[FelixLowe]

Excellent composition with an innocent, pastoral character in this song titled Freu dich sehr, o meine Seele by J. L. Krebs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcR3kdScvf0. But the extensive use of Vox Humana has ruined and destroyed some of those qualities in that presentation. The ideal presentation is found in Content organ's demo CD on the D5000/6000 series. And you can download a copy of Content's presentation of this song here: http://www.classicalorganscornwall.co.uk/music.html. It seems that the use of Bourdon 8' and Cornet IV alternating in the trio with the Rohrflote 4' is far more agreeable for the context of a mix of prayer and petition.

There is information about this tune being traced to being a Genevan Psalmody. It is probably a Calvinist composition set to biblical verses.

Source of chorale tune: Trente quatre pseaumes de David (Geneva, 1551)
Earliest associated text: "Comfort, Comfort These (All or Ye or Now) My People;" "Praise and Thanks and Adoration;" "Praise to You (Thee) and Adoration;" "For Jerusalem You're Weeping;" "O'er Jerusalem Thou Weepest;" "Signs and Wonders Lead the Dancing"

 

[FelixLowe]

This organ version of String Quartet for Canon in D by Johann Pachelbel is by far the best I have heard performed on a pipe organ: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvBc0TeGoTA. The composer clearly wants to impart a sense of timeliness or eternity, which is the reason why so many marrying couples want to have it played during their wedding services. Contrary to a comment left on Youtube that this performance lacks expression, the performance features good time keeping and unhurried nonchalance is required, particularly a quality required and, as expressed in this music, to face the changing times during the Protestant Reformation. The composition clearly intends to impart a sense of faith during the changing times -- faith that difficulties will be overcome. The organ seems to sound nothing spectacular, but at least there is no out-of-tuneness.

 

[FelixLowe]

Excellent composition with an innocent, pastoral character in this song titled Freu dich sehr, o meine Seele by J. L. Krebs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcR3kdScvf0. But the extensive use of Vox Humana has ruined and destroyed some of those qualities in that presentation. The ideal presentation is found in Content organ's demo CD on the D5000/6000 series. And you can download a copy of Content's presentation of this song here: http://www.classicalorganscornwall.co.uk/music.html. It seems that the use of Bourdon 8' and Cornet IV alternating in the trio with the Rohrflote 4' is far more agreeable for the context of a mix of prayer and petition.

There is information about this tune being traced to being a Genevan Psalmody. It is probably a Calvinist composition set to biblical verses.

Source of chorale tune: Trente quatre pseaumes de David (Geneva, 1551)
Earliest associated text: "Comfort, Comfort These (All or Ye or Now) My People;" "Praise and Thanks and Adoration;" "Praise to You (Thee) and Adoration;" "For Jerusalem You're Weeping;" "O'er Jerusalem Thou Weepest;" "Signs and Wonders Lead the Dancing"

CORRECTION: It would have been with a Gedeckt 8', not Rohrflote 4' in the Content version.

 

[FelixLowe]

Recent research on the organ has resulted in my focus on this piece by Francois Couperin: the Offertoire sur les Grands Jeux. There seems to be three very obvious themes woven into this single composition: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBkjf2u0AK8. The last of the three themes is obviously about the wedding or a kind of celebration, but not before some misfortunes had to befall. Remember after Couperin wrote this during Reformation, two countries had to suffer in the next centuries -- both monarchies of the Germans and French were eventually removed, for the obvious things they had done. Thanks to Napolean and Hitler, those monarchies have not been revived as yet. Their nations, however, have lived on, but they don't have monarchies any more for now.

I must say the first theme in the piece is about celebration, then some deaths occurred and then there is celebration again afterwards, presumably some kind of celebration on resurrection. To look at it from a philosophical point of view, the piece is about the progression from life to death to resurrection or consummation with God. The fixed Catholic musical liturgical forms in the piece are identified to be the Plein Jeu in the beginning, the Duos on manuals and the Basse de Trompette, which were all hatched during the High Baroque era in France and Lower Netherlands, this according to Barbara Owen in her monumental work titled The Registration of Baroque Organ Music.

And don't the colour of the yellow-lit stop tabs say something about the brand of the organ? Johannus?

 

[FelixLowe]

Just now, I have discovered a video about the song titled Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates. A message under the video says it is a Lutheran Church performing. But the atmosphere and the organ is nothing German about it. The organ is possibly a Rodgers or an English Victorian era Baroque and Romantic organ. Ideally this kind of organ's tonal quality is greatly enhanced by its majestic reeds. When I attended my first church service in OZ, I was greeted by this kind of sound. But the vicar never did admit that the organ in that Anglican church was a pipe organ. He said it was a reed organ, for some reasons. But with the English organ, even a smaller one tends to contain that Clarion 4', and together with the English Tuba and the Trumpet, that's how they create the majesty and the dignified tone, as heard at the beginning of this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBP1_b127rs&p=89F1A0A3136B3D13&playnext=1&index=78. Basically to appreciate this kind of tone, you have to imagine you are in the 19th century in the midst of the Industrial Revolution or a beneficiary of the British Empire in any corner of the Earth overseas.

 

[FelixLowe]

Phoenix has released a traveling organ of one manual: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_XCX90sE8s. The accompanying stop machine with the touch screen seems to be a marvel. The organ sounds quite unlike the Conacher. I guess it may be a digitised Father Willis.

 

[Ghekorg7 (Ret)]

Phoenix has released a traveling organ of one manual: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_XCX90sE8s. The accompanying stop machine with the touch screen seems to be a marvel. The organ sounds quite unlike the Conacher. I guess it may be a digitised Father Willis.

Hallo Felix !
Thanks for the link. I'm in love with this little gem. It's just beautifull.
And as Donald said it can be built in stack to a 4 or more manual....
Great screen and solid music stand all wood. Excellent.

I went Phoenix site, but there isn't any price for it.... I found it not in products but on installations page...
Must be very new, do you know the price for?

regards
Panos

 

[FelixLowe]

Danish digital organs

A new website is discovered featuring a shop called Skandinavisk Orgelcentrum, with plenty of music on its digital organs: http://www.churchorgans.com/DA/DA_musik.htm. They seem to sound like the old Danish baroque organs, such as the one at Roskilde Cathedral, which was restored by Marcussen and Sons. But those digital organs do sound more like the historical Danish instruments, not the average Marcussen and Sons. They sound a little more churchy than the Content D5000 and D6000 series, which seem to faithfully reproduce the Marcussen and Sons, the modern ones, which belong to a class of fairytale and wonderland-esque voices, which are secular but have somewhat sweetened-up nuances and shades. I guess the modern Marcussen and Sons must have evolved from the older slightly churchier voices.

 

[FelixLowe]

Allen organ has uploaded a brand-new series of Christmas music on their website, that features creative vocal and orchestral voices from their symphonic organs, as well as live performances: http://www.allenorgan.com/. Click on the "Play Music" icon. The new series even features the Walt Disney tune of When You Wish Upon the Star.

 

[wljmrbill]

THanks for the links FelixLowe.. Enjoying very much ..Many of my favorite pieces for the season they are playing. Best Wishes to you.

 

[FelixLowe]

A Wyvern organ clip

I just spotted a British Wyvern organ playing clip -- a pretty lengthy one online. It quite interests me because I'd never found any sound clips from the Wyvern site proper. Hear this: http://vimeo.com/3250978, and you will notice that it is not too different from Phoenix organs. Both, I believe, are Father Willis type of sampling, which is different from Rodgers'. Rodgers' ordinary voicing is more likened to the Baroque-Victorian British imperial/ chapel voicing. You could say that in a low-church setting, it would be more likely that the Rodgers' type of voicing was used in Britain, but in a Cathedral or high-church setting, it would be the Father Willis type of voice that is more often heard. Father Willis somewhat comprises some French Classical elements in it. The so called ''English Cathedral'' voicing is almost similar to French Classical voicing, in a way, which can also appreciated as German Romantic.

You could say: English Cathedral = French Classical = German Romantic.

There is also something called French Romantic, which is different.

 

[Clarion]

I just spotted a British Wyvern organ playing clip -- a pretty lengthy one online. It quite interests me because I'd never found any sound clips from the Wyvern site proper. Hear this: http://vimeo.com/3250978, and you will notice that it is not too different from Phoenix organs.

YEEEEOOOOOOW!!

Felix, you couldn't get a Phoenix to sound that bad if you ran over it first with a big truck!!

While Wyvern does employ Phoenix technology for some of their high end organs, this organ is definitely NOT one of them! This one sounds like road-kill.

The organ in the video has to be a pretty old electronik-sounding analog organ. Listen to the "tuning" on this thing. It only has two sets of tuning oscillators for the entire organ! That's only 192 pitch sources compared to modern organs where each note of each stop is independently tuned, yielding over 4,000 pitches.

Just to refresh your memory, this is what a Phoenix sounds like:
http://www.organ.dnet.co.uk/phoenix/messiaentransports.mp3