Virgil Fox Legacy | Middleshulte in Japan | Pedal Solo

[yttreblemaker]

"Honest humility"? Well, Fox himself said that he was anything but modest. He knew he was good, he knew what he was doing, and he enjoyed every single moment. He loved his audiences. But humility? He might probably disagree. Like an "elderly Liberace" (great point, btw), he reveled in his notoriety. And like Lee, he knew he'd be remembered by more people than his competition (like Biggs, for example).

[jgraif]

god bless virgil. i have never seen this film before and i must say the thiing that struck me most was the honest humility on his face as he accepted the generous and well-deserved applause. compare that to the look on pavarotti's face at the end of ANY performance of "nessun dorma". total conceit!!

[silverstartrucker]

Cameron Carpenter (Who people love to criticise) plays the pedals like this. Virgil looks like an elderly Liberace here.

[19shea85]

I am playing this at a concert on Sunday and I can't wait! This is such a crowd pleaser. Does anybody know what kind of organ this is? It looks and sounds an awful lot like a Schuke organ i used to practice on in college. Any idea?

[jtingyz]

@19shea85 its a modern concert hall organ in the NHK concert hall in tokyo, japan

[ItzDELILAHyo]

haha i love how he stands! :P thats so awesome!

[organo429]

This reminds me of the video of organist Diane Bish here on youtube performing the "Variations on a Theme by Paganini" for the pedals. God bless them both. What legends.

[DSM1G90]

I saw this score of the Middleshulte "Moto Perpetuo" for pedals and, indeed, it's quite the "mouthful", so to say! Granted, this piece was Fox's trademark performance piece, but it's still a piece to be played by anyone and it should be performed by those who wish it so.

[Messjuh1]

Virgil was so amazing. This is incredible!

[DAOFB]

This is so awesome! He looks like he´s thinking: "That´s funny! My feet do some crazy stuff! Lets add some more stops so I can hear better what they are playing!" xD

[billynoful]

i'm teaching myself this piece, its crazy hard, but sounds fun

[cybershadow58]

Fox's interpretations of many accents and phrasings are to his credit, i believe! I do not believe that he ever harmed any classical pieces, but enhanced their original content for a more superior expression...especially, this Middleshulte piece for "Pedals alone!"

[metagicmos]

He had talent, but talent doesn't just come. I'm sure he practiced and practiced and practiced.

[organEd]

If you read his biography that was written by Ted Alan Worth it states that Virgil was very disciplined at practice and rehearsal. Practicing 8 hours a day (night and early morning for Virgil). He had prodigious talent and technique, but it was honed and refined by diligent practice. Concert organists and pianists must absolutely dedicate themselves to practice. To memorize as well as refine the color and nuances of their repertoire, it is essential to spend hours each day at their craft.

[willowthebored]

I love that he can still play that thing when he's obviously well into his cancer. Damn fine work there, even if his tempo choices and registration on a lot of his stuff are too eccentric.

[BearGifu]

Precious video,thanks for upload!

When I was a teenage boy,I saw this concert on TV.

"NHK" (Japanese public broadcasting association) broadcasted it.

But I couldn't record,because in these days there wasn't video recorder in my home.

Is this concert released on DVD or VHS?

[tamiasthechipmunk]

O.O How any one can move their feet all over the pedal board so fast is mind blowing. VIrgil was a force of nature in mastery of the organ.

[gedeck4foot]

GO VIRGIL!!!!! If Middleshulte were alive today I would love to see and hear him play this pice.

[PerrrfictKats]

I would very much like to see more videos of Virgil,s Light Shows with the Rogers Touring Organ posted. I did,nt get to see these. I would like to see the Light Show! Thanks! PerrrfictKats

[Fozzymaple]

Is this instrument digital or is it pipe?

[Capricornboy]

pipe - concerthall in japan

[Fozzymaple]

Yah...I found that out months ago, it's a German organ, and Fox refused to play the concert unless they moved a coupler. rather petty if you ask me.

[latribe]

Brilliant! The epitome of apparent eccentricity . . . but seriously, couplers can be important and on a 5 manual particularly so!

[caddyorganist]

@Fozzymaple I think it was more than just a coupler. My understanding is that everything was in odd places, at least compared to what we're used to in America with AGO standards.

[Fozzymaple]

@caddyorganist You're probably right, Fox could be petty, but I think that a coupler would be petty even for Fox.

[praisethelord333]

virgil vox is realy good but sometimes he get lost in only show and lost conctact to real music. but when he do serius work he is realy good!

[doctordeath82]

I met him many times and he was always happy to sign autographs (at least, when I saw him, it was well before the illness that killed him).

I have the music for this piece, and it's most definitely NOT random. He was also known for screaming out "B! A! C! H!", one letter after each big pedal chord at the end of the piece.

Dear old Virgil. I miss him.

[polgarfan]

what was the illness that killed him?

[doctordeath82]

Prostate cancer, I believe. Most men die *with* prostate cancer, but only the unlucky die *of* it. Prostate cancer felled both Virgil and Frank Zappa.

[BeFrSc]

Where can I get the music for this, I can't find it anywhere.

[trevjr]

I am not even an organist and I miss him. I saw a show in 1972, it was so great, I loved Bach after that.

What is this music? I can't believe his pedal is so fast and to play chords with feet, wow.

[vinniecaruso]

such a great performer. excellent talent to be able to play at that speed. despite that though it was a bit too fast. it's so fast that you can't even really hear and understand the actual song and it just sounds like random notes all over the place. takes some talent though.

[paulbinko]

Saw Virgil only once -- 4 months before he died at Wolf Trapp Farm, VA. Very ill, but still could play.

[ShandyHall]

I was at that concert as well. I stood in line with my fiancee to introduce her to Vrigil after the show but he was too ill to come out. He would sign an autograph if you bought something. I have 3 of them.

[PointyTail]

You know, I shook his hand like 10 times, but nothing on Earth would make him sign an autograph!