• Welcome to the Pipe Organ Forum! This is a part of the open community Magle International Music Forums focused on pipe organs (also known as "church organs"), organists, organ music and related topics.

    This forum is intended to be a friendly place where technically advanced organists and beginners (or even non-organists) can feel comfortable having discussions and asking questions. We learn by reading and asking questions, and it is hoped that the beginners (or non-organists) will feel free to ask even the simplest questions, and that the more advanced organists will patiently answer these questions. On the other hand, we encourage complex, technical discussions of technique, music, organ-building, etc. The opinions and observations of a diverse group of people from around the world should prove to be interesting and stimulating to all of us.

    As pipe organ discussions can sometimes become lively, it should be pointed out that this is an open forum. Statements made here are the opinion of the poster, and not necessarily that of the forum itself, its administrator, or its moderators.

    In order to post a new topic - or reply to existing ones - you may join and become a member by clicking on Register New User. It's completely free and only requires a working email address (in order to confirm your registration - it will never be given away!). We strive to make this a friendly and informative forum for anyone interested in pipe organs and organ music.

    (Note: If you wish to link to and promote your own website please read this thread first.)

    Many kind regards
    smile.gif

    Frederik Magle
    Administrator

    Krummhorn
    Co-Administrator

Smallest and Biggest you've played?

falcon1

New member
Hi falcon1 ...

Wow - that's one impressive facade, case and pipe display. When was this organ built and/or installed? Hopefully this is in a good acoustic environment.

KH
Hi Krummhorn,

it was installed 1992 and is build by Klais. The acoustic is very good for this big organ. Maybe I will try to record some performance by me on that organ this summer or fall and post it here. :)
Btw. it has also a moveable console on the floor. But the "attached" console is located under the Chamade's, so you really need some airplugs if you're gona use that stop there. hehehe... :D

We Icelanders are also going to get another big organ in next few years because we are finally building a big concert hall and that will include a big organ. But organ builder hasn't been choosed yet. :)
 

Krummhorn

Administrator
Staff member
ADMINISTRATOR
Falcon1, being the curious person I am, I have done some reading about Reykjavic on the internet (wikipedia has some of the best info) and in particular it's weather. How on earth does one keep an organ of this magnitude in tune all year round? I would think the great temperature variations would certainly wreak havok with the reeds, especially.

Kh
 

falcon1

New member
Falcon1, being the curious person I am, I have done some reading about Reykjavic on the internet (wikipedia has some of the best info) and in particular it's weather. How on earth does one keep an organ of this magnitude in tune all year round? I would think the great temperature variations would certainly wreak havok with the reeds, especially.

Kh
Krummhorn, our churches are warmed up with heating utility just like normal homes in Reykjavik. So we can keep the temperature stable. But certainly if that fails then the reeds are gone hehehe... :)
 

Soubasse

New member
Good thread. I'm with giovanni in terms of favourites - I very much doubt anything will better St Sulpice. And it's also the largest I've played. The largest I've played publicly (ie, recital or mass) would most likely be Durham Cathedral.

The smallest would be a locally made continuo organ (chap named Roger Jones). 1-manual with 8, 8, 4, 2 (or it may have been 8, 8, 4, 1 1/3, can't quite remember).

Matt
 

AeroScore

New member
My smallest: a 2 manual, 13 stop Williams & Sons in St James Episcopal, Oakland CA. I played there for a year in the late 80's. This organ is historic in that Williams & Sons built several well-regarded instruments in the San Francisco Bay Area, all of which were destroyed by the 1906 earthquake...except for this one; Shoenstein came and "modernised" it in the middle 50's, electrifying it, and removing the Trumpet (which Father Jim described as sounding like "a herd of angry Buicks").

Largest: the 4/38 (at the time I recorded it, now a 4/40) Wurlitzer at the Berkeley Community Theatre, belonging to the Nor-Cal Chapter of ATOS.

38 ranks may not seem like much, but the principle of unification (thank you, Robert Hope-Jones) provides a 4 manual console with over 350 stops. In a 3500 seat theatre, the sound just cascades down from heaven, thanks to a chamber layout that has all three chambers in a row far above the stage...glorious! Here's a pic...

Dean:cool:
 

Sylvie Pacey

New member
7 years ago I toured the south of England playing 28 organs to raise funds to purchase an organ for the church I attended. The Largest I palyed was the Great Father Willis at Whippingham Curch on the I.O. Wight (Installed for Prince Albert who sadly died brfore he could hear it.)
A really enjoyable experience, and the smallest I played was at Godshill, also on the I.O. Wight, with only 8 stops but lovely to play. I raised enought to buy an organ, and here I know many of you will shudder, but due to the size of the church it had to be an electronic instrument. A two manual Electone. Sadly it is not played by either of the church organists who prefer a one manual keyboard. If there are any churches or chapels in the U.K who would be interested in acquiring this instrument please get in touch
with the Rev Bernard Joy at St. Francis Church, Bridgwater Somerset. I think it will not be expensive. I should so love to think of it being used once more. I am not a classically trained organist and arrange my own music as I have difficulty reading two staves at once due to astigmatism
in the left eye. So I write out treble stave and use Chord symbols which serves me very well for the church I play in now. Sylvie
 

giovannimusica

Commodore de Cavaille-Coll
Hi Dean,

Wow - that reminds me of the console at Radio City Music Hall - the only difference being that the Radio City Console is high gloss ebony. Thanx for submitting the pic.

Regards!

Giovanni:tiphat:
 

Contratrombone64

Admiral of Fugues
Smallest and Largest ... kind of an interesting as, I think, most of us possibly have not made it a quest to play instruments falling into this category, so our experiences will be diverse.

Largest: Sydney Town Hall (a monster)

Smallest: St. John's Anglican church, Mudgee (central New South Wales, 4 hours due west from Sydney)

my two cents worth
 

Piggy

New member
My biggest so far - can't remember whether Westminster Chapel (not Abbey, or Cathedral) , or Truro Cathedral. Both 4 manual, both Willis (no idea about the renovations and who by. Then there was Llandaff Cathedral, which , thankfully, was hit by lightning a few months back and will never be heard again.

But the BIGGEST , if I am spared and well, will be The Grand Organ of Sydney Town Hall (not opera house ;) ) in 2010, and that, I think will qualify for a whole new thread all of its own.

The smallest - my lovely little c. 1860 french harmonium - Alexandre Pere et Fils, now in the care of the BBC Welsh orchestra ( I think! - detail never was a forte of mine)

It has 4 ranks, and I could make it sing above the loudest of Welsh congregational singing (and that IS loud) in the little chapel at Miskin, Pontyclun, but reduce it to a whisper to accompany the Lord's Prayer, or 'Abide with me' ,on Troyte's Chant, at the close of evening worship.

That was 30 years back now. I am getting old.................
 

Sylvie Pacey

New member
Contratrombones 64 I hope to be in Sydney in October so will try to look in the town hall if possuble to see the Giant organ. Sylvie
 

Contratrombone64

Admiral of Fugues
Sylvie ... where are you visiting from? You can actually play the beast, (the City of Sydney charge a fee for the priviledge). If you look at the City of Sydney's website it also shows times for the monthly recitals given on the monster. www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au

ok?
 

Sylvie Pacey

New member
Contratrombone64 Thanks for the info. re Sydney Organ. I shall be visiting from England (Bridgwater in Somerset)
Have relatives in Canberra and hope to spend a couple of nights in Sydney, see the Floriade in Canberra and then on to visit in Queensland on the Gold Coast. Should be a wonderful time. I've never been to Australia before so I am looking forward to it with great anticipation.Sylvie Pacey
 

Piggy

New member
Hi Dean,

Wow - that reminds me of the console at Radio City Music Hall - the only difference being that the Radio City Console is high gloss ebony. Thanx for submitting the pic.

Regards!

Giovanni:tiphat:

Um - where do I click to see the pic pls?
 

methodistgirl

New member
The smallest organ to the largest

I will have to say a child's toy organ and the largest ever is the wicks
pipe organ at church. It has 24 ranks to it. I will have to say that's
pretty impressive for a small pipe organ. It sounds great!
judy tooley
 

Arvin B

New member
I've never really made it a point so far to play the biggest organs around. But it is an interesting question.

I think the biggest would be the 133 rank instrument in the Olive Drive Church in Bakersfield. The core of the instrument is the old Harvard Aeolian Skinner.
The smallest would be a Flentrop practice organ of I think two ranks.
 

Violinschlüssel

New member
The largest organ I have played on so far is the organ in the First Church Congregational, Los Angeles, California (USA).

OMG! I'm lost in admiration, really! Right at this moment, I'm listening to a Prologue and Fugue by J.S. Bach performed by Michael Murray at the Organs at First Congregational Church in Los Angeles.
Gosh, please, forgive my very off-topic post, but I just wanted to say that I can hardly believe I have had the chance to meet, even virtually, someone able to accomplish such a thing! :)
 

Udyret

New member
Great thread this one.

The smallest i've ever played a 3-stop Fredrik Nielsen (19-century) organ, and the largest was Vestervig Church, a 4-manual 58-stop organ. The Vestervig-organ is superb, and the acoustics of the church are simply marvellous
 

methodistgirl

New member
I will have to say a child's toy organ and the largest ever is the wicks
pipe organ at church. It has 24 ranks to it. I will have to say that's
pretty impressive for a small pipe organ. It sounds great!
judy tooley

Listen to this!:rolleyes: Really the smallest instrument anyone has ever played
is a whistle. I've had one of those like the police and football coaches
blow. Mine was a toy. The smallest one that played music was the
harmonica.
judy tooley
 

Corno Dolce

Admiral Honkenwheezenpooferspieler
Lets see now: The largest I've played is the five manual at St. Sulpice - the smallest one being the one I own of 64 non-unified or borrowed stops spread over 4 manuals.
 
Top