I remember back in the '70s, if you didn't play this piece, you were nowhere, man. I was thinking about it the other day, and wondering that I had not heard it in a long time. What a superb recording - I remember what all the fuss was about!
Great piece, and great sound, on one of the most beautiful Cavaillé-Coll Organs existing, when it still was a GREAT instrument... Could you please provide full details of this recording? Thanks.
Sorry, I don't have many detals. The recording was an old LP (Solstice label, maybe?) I bought in France in the early 1980's. When I transferred all my old LP's to CD several years ago, I didn't keep the covers or the LP's, so I can't go back into the archives. I know some of the Solstice productions were imported to the US, but I can't remember who the importer was (Harmonia Mundi, perhaps). Maybe George Baker would know. He's living in Texas, I think, & might be Google-able.
@a55b47 As I recall, it was on the Delos label. Dr. John Obetz played this piece any number of times on his "Auditorium Organ" radio program. The Aeolian-Skinner organ at what is now the Community of Christ headquarters, in Independence, MO, has an absolutely STUNNING Trompette en Chamade, as well as a powerful 32' Contra Bombarde in the Pedal, and the combination of the two, in the final measures of this work, almost literally smacks you right in the guts!
You know, I have to disagree about the 'most beautiful Cavaille-Coll' part. The great man himself has been stated as never being satisfied with his work at Saint-Sernin, and I think he tried to be suggestive of the Spanish tonal design, which I don't think works at all (especially the chamade. I died a little bit when they decided to model the new Notre Dame de Paris chamades on these...)
The publication was H. W GRAY G.B 298 MY copy was $2.00 a long time ago. It was copyrighted in 1961. A student played this and Roberts was present and he was a fine gentleman.
Sheet music for Roberts' music is hard to find. I Googled him, & discovered a graduate student out at the University of Nebraska who's done some research on him. Maybe she could help. Or try SheetMusic Unlimited
Un des meilleurs instruments de Cavaillé-Coll, très équilibré, avec un remarquable ensemble de jeux. De plus, l'organiste exploite parfaitement les possibilités de cet orgue. Merci beaucoup pour ce bon moment de musique. Thanks a lot!
Many years ago I purchased the Telarc CD recording of Micheal Murry's performance of Ceasar Frank's organ works played in St. Sernin. This instrument is what sparked my interest in pipe organ. The dynamic and colorful sound and the exquisite case work is why the St. Sernin organ is still my favorite instrument.
St. Sernin is one of my all-time favorite instruments, but I was not particularly happy with the Murray recording. He's technically superb, but the sound had that over-engineered Telarc dryness that robs pipe organs of much of their color. I can't put my finger on it, because I'm not an audiophile, but I've noticed it in other Telarc organ recordings -- such as Murray's performance @ St. John the Divine in NYC.
I do agree Telarc is some what dry in sound quality. For real good organ recordings I tend to like Gothic and Delos. Both labels do a fantastic job at capturing both the organ and surrounding acoustics. I must note both labels tend not to use infrasonic filters in their recording chains thus allowing the lowest registers to be captured. This is great for organ buffs. But do have a substantial audio system when playing any organ material from these labels.
@theblackhand2 I agree with you aboout the quality of Delos and Gothic (especially). Telarc, I believe, mikes the organ too close to the pipes (for clarity), but they lose ambience. I have several Gothic recordings of the Washington Cathedral, The National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, and others, and the sonics are excellent, full frequency range and vibrant. To those two, I would also add the newer labels of JAV and Raven. They also do an outstanding job of recording organs.
Yes, the Murray Telarc recording is slightly problematic as usual, but the performance and the organ are the nectar of the gods. The finest organ in the world for my money.
One of the best recordings I've heard of this organ. George Baker extracts the best out of it. Not my favourite CC organ, but after listening to this I may need to revise my opinion.
But this recording was made before some revisions to the organ in (I think) the late 1990's. I haven't delved into the details of the revisions, but I undertsand there are folks who think the organ sounded a lot better pre- rather than post-work.
The 'revisions' to St-Sernin were the reversal of some minor neo-Baroque changes on the Positif. When I played it briefly three years ago the organ sounded better than ever, and it's equally magnificent in the recent recording by the titulaire Michel Bouvard.
Neat piece - - never heard this before. Love these Cavaille-Coll organs! Used to have a marvelous recording of this organ and a very spirited performance of Widor's Symphony # 5, and Vierne's Symphony # 1 performed on it. The first movement of the Widor 5th was beyond stunning in its marchlike rythm on this marvelous instrument. Wonderful reeds!!
Would the Widor 5 have been Chorzempa? A cracking performance of the opening Allegro. Dodgy moment (in my view) in the last movement (sorry), where for half a bar, the flues are exposed without any reed support. Always baffled by that moment!
Not that I know of. I've been trying to avoid uploading any old recordings that have been re-issued (& there have been a lot), because of copyright issues. And I'm not uploading anything that's a current CD issue, for the same reason.
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The 2rd rank 32' Contre Bombarde of CCs. 1st is Rouen...!
HONGYOUNGEUN 1 week ago in playlist Liked videos
I remember back in the '70s, if you didn't play this piece, you were nowhere, man. I was thinking about it the other day, and wondering that I had not heard it in a long time. What a superb recording - I remember what all the fuss was about!
Charlestheverger 1 year ago
The French ruined this beautiful masterpiece!
It shall be difficult to restore it to its former glory!
They cut the reeds to get a nowadays pitch. The people who "restore" this instrument are to blame!
I won't call their names!
miauw777 2 years ago
I consider Myron Roberts as a sort of Aaron Copland of the pipeorgan.
Sesquiltera 2 years ago
Great piece, and great sound, on one of the most beautiful Cavaillé-Coll Organs existing, when it still was a GREAT instrument... Could you please provide full details of this recording? Thanks.
musichiere70 2 years ago
Sorry, I don't have many detals. The recording was an old LP (Solstice label, maybe?) I bought in France in the early 1980's. When I transferred all my old LP's to CD several years ago, I didn't keep the covers or the LP's, so I can't go back into the archives. I know some of the Solstice productions were imported to the US, but I can't remember who the importer was (Harmonia Mundi, perhaps). Maybe George Baker would know. He's living in Texas, I think, & might be Google-able.
a55b47 2 years ago
@a55b47 As I recall, it was on the Delos label. Dr. John Obetz played this piece any number of times on his "Auditorium Organ" radio program. The Aeolian-Skinner organ at what is now the Community of Christ headquarters, in Independence, MO, has an absolutely STUNNING Trompette en Chamade, as well as a powerful 32' Contra Bombarde in the Pedal, and the combination of the two, in the final measures of this work, almost literally smacks you right in the guts!
GlamRockCowboy 2 weeks ago
You know, I have to disagree about the 'most beautiful Cavaille-Coll' part. The great man himself has been stated as never being satisfied with his work at Saint-Sernin, and I think he tried to be suggestive of the Spanish tonal design, which I don't think works at all (especially the chamade. I died a little bit when they decided to model the new Notre Dame de Paris chamades on these...)
willowthebored 2 years ago
The publication was H. W GRAY G.B 298 MY copy was $2.00 a long time ago. It was copyrighted in 1961. A student played this and Roberts was present and he was a fine gentleman.
russeflat13 2 years ago
Awesome piece on my favorite organ.
theblackhand2 2 years ago
Wow, where can I get the sheet music for this fantastic piece?
BeFrSc 3 years ago
Sheet music for Roberts' music is hard to find. I Googled him, & discovered a graduate student out at the University of Nebraska who's done some research on him. Maybe she could help. Or try SheetMusic Unlimited
a55b47 3 years ago
Can you send me her contact details in a message please?
BeFrSc 3 years ago
I know he also published some music for Oxford University Press.
Sesquiltera 2 years ago
Un des meilleurs instruments de Cavaillé-Coll, très équilibré, avec un remarquable ensemble de jeux. De plus, l'organiste exploite parfaitement les possibilités de cet orgue. Merci beaucoup pour ce bon moment de musique. Thanks a lot!
valderande 3 years ago
Many years ago I purchased the Telarc CD recording of Micheal Murry's performance of Ceasar Frank's organ works played in St. Sernin. This instrument is what sparked my interest in pipe organ. The dynamic and colorful sound and the exquisite case work is why the St. Sernin organ is still my favorite instrument.
theblackhand2 3 years ago
St. Sernin is one of my all-time favorite instruments, but I was not particularly happy with the Murray recording. He's technically superb, but the sound had that over-engineered Telarc dryness that robs pipe organs of much of their color. I can't put my finger on it, because I'm not an audiophile, but I've noticed it in other Telarc organ recordings -- such as Murray's performance @ St. John the Divine in NYC.
a55b47 3 years ago
I do agree Telarc is some what dry in sound quality. For real good organ recordings I tend to like Gothic and Delos. Both labels do a fantastic job at capturing both the organ and surrounding acoustics. I must note both labels tend not to use infrasonic filters in their recording chains thus allowing the lowest registers to be captured. This is great for organ buffs. But do have a substantial audio system when playing any organ material from these labels.
theblackhand2 3 years ago
If you want to hear woofer-exploding bass, get Mottete's 2 recordings of Winfried Bónig @ Cologne Cathedral. Absolutely stunning.
a55b47 3 years ago
@theblackhand2 I agree with you aboout the quality of Delos and Gothic (especially). Telarc, I believe, mikes the organ too close to the pipes (for clarity), but they lose ambience. I have several Gothic recordings of the Washington Cathedral, The National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, and others, and the sonics are excellent, full frequency range and vibrant. To those two, I would also add the newer labels of JAV and Raven. They also do an outstanding job of recording organs.
trompettechamade1 7 months ago
Yes, the Murray Telarc recording is slightly problematic as usual, but the performance and the organ are the nectar of the gods. The finest organ in the world for my money.
ReillyDieffenbach 3 years ago
One of the best recordings I've heard of this organ. George Baker extracts the best out of it. Not my favourite CC organ, but after listening to this I may need to revise my opinion.
ds1868 3 years ago
But this recording was made before some revisions to the organ in (I think) the late 1990's. I haven't delved into the details of the revisions, but I undertsand there are folks who think the organ sounded a lot better pre- rather than post-work.
a55b47 3 years ago
I wonder what the revisions were? Why can't they leave these instruments alone?
ds1868 3 years ago
The 'revisions' to St-Sernin were the reversal of some minor neo-Baroque changes on the Positif. When I played it briefly three years ago the organ sounded better than ever, and it's equally magnificent in the recent recording by the titulaire Michel Bouvard.
MEPPO06 3 years ago
I think that you can revise your opinion, but it is possible taht this organ has been too much modified after rebuilding.
You can easily compare it with Saint-Ouen in Rouen, very near about composition (Cavaillé-Coll too), and also Saint-Omer.
But still treasures !
organum74 3 years ago
Neat piece - - never heard this before. Love these Cavaille-Coll organs! Used to have a marvelous recording of this organ and a very spirited performance of Widor's Symphony # 5, and Vierne's Symphony # 1 performed on it. The first movement of the Widor 5th was beyond stunning in its marchlike rythm on this marvelous instrument. Wonderful reeds!!
skyler6290 3 years ago
Would the Widor 5 have been Chorzempa? A cracking performance of the opening Allegro. Dodgy moment (in my view) in the last movement (sorry), where for half a bar, the flues are exposed without any reed support. Always baffled by that moment!
marsvltor2 3 years ago
Have those old LPs been remastered on CD?...
Elhombresombra 3 years ago
Not that I know of. I've been trying to avoid uploading any old recordings that have been re-issued (& there have been a lot), because of copyright issues. And I'm not uploading anything that's a current CD issue, for the same reason.
a55b47 3 years ago
Have those old LPs been remastered on CD?...
Elhombresombra 3 years ago
This organ is phantastic.
JoachimEssig 3 years ago 2
Great CC organ. Of course an incredibly important stop on the organ is St. Sernin itself. Thanks for posting. 5*'s
joenwayne 3 years ago 5
You can't beat those big old vaulted stone rooms, can you?
a55b47 3 years ago
I love this organ!
dtrajer 3 years ago 3
That's great! This recording sounds good: we are able to hear the very brilliant mixtures and very clear chamades. Music is good to!
jeanseborg 3 years ago 4