Washington National Cathedral Organ

[conmacca]

stick to the day job mate

[09papajo01]

Dat war wohl nix

[joeyboi87]

sounds like piece heroique by Franck, ..great piece!

[1401JSC]

Pièce Héroïque de César Franck.

Ford, étati-il héro????

[oguaayouthchoir]

just like the Christ church Anglican cathedral in cape coast Ghana. GOOD

[SteigmiraufsDach]

also ich will ja nichts sagen aber die amerikaner verstehen nichts von guten orgelun und nichts von guter kirchenmusik

[Krumpansack]

da hast du recht, die orgel hört sich viel zu unnatürlich und elekronisch an

[CecilWard]

Sie sind harsch :-) Man versucht in Amerika mit echter Freude Orgelmusik vorzustellen, dass mag ich. (Schlimmes Schuldeutsch entschüldigen.) Und ich bin ja kein Amerikaner. :)

[TurtleShroom]

Four keyboards...

Our church's electronic version has three.

[winstonpitts]

yea electronic this is nothing but wind and pipes.

[RonaldReagan7]

haha...awesome!

[KCMDButcher42]

I hear that they are getting rid of most of the skinner (all but 40 ranks) and replacing it with a Dobson. That instrument should be protected as a landmark, one the less and less remaining instruments making up the Skinner group. It seems that everywhere here in the states people want to throw away good stuff and replace with what is popularm, while in Europe instruments are maintained and remain protected. What a damn shame.

[hunthearin]

Saint Thomas Church in Manhattan is doing this with their 1913 Skinner. They have also selected Dobson to completely replace the previous instrument. Fact of the matter is, most of these Skinners have been renovated and added upon so much that they are not only unreliable, but they barely represent Skinner's original symphonic voicing. I will agree that it's a shame, but perhaps this is a good thing for Dobson - they must be doing something right to get all of these high profile contracts

[cromorne]

I agree completely. You don't see anyone messing around with the 5 Manual Cavaille-Coll in St. Sulpice do you? It's a crime to destroy such beautiful Romantic instruments. As much as I hope they don't completely discard the St. Thomas Skinner, I know at the very least Dobson is very good organ builder.

[organscholar15]

The worls biggest organ is in Atlantic City

[ahmelmahe]

Yes and no. Yes the largest organ in the world is in the AC Convention hall - BUT - it is NOT playable. Finito. Next we go to John Wanamaker in Philly. Finally, the absolute largest organ in a church, and in fabulous condition), is in the Cadet Chapel at West Point!!!

[edders05]

The largest completely PIPE organ (as the Cadet Chapel has loads of digital stuff) is in the First Congregational Church of LA.

[ahmelmahe]

Forgetting any digital stuff; The Cadet Chapel at West Point, today:

1) 874 speaking stops.

2) 380 ranks.

3) Approx. 23,236 pipes.

[tomandsueh]

I agree. I had the pleasure of hearing Frederick Swann play this magnificent instrument during First Congregational's Tuesday and Thursday recitals during the noon lunch hour. What a great instrument. Swann is no longer there and I am not sure they even have the noon time performances any longer.

[compton357]

Right stage chamber of the A.C convention hall is now operational, and magnets are being replaced! Soon at least a 3rd of it will be playing!

[KCMDButcher42]

That's great news, any new media on the acchos website?

[passacaglia28]

That is excellent news! I look forward to the day it is fully operational. I would love to hear and "feel" that thing on tuti. :D

[YogaNate79]

The largest operational pipe organ, with 28,541 pipes and 462 ranks, is the Wanamaker Grand Court Organ in Philadelphia. It is also the second largest organ yet built and the largest completely functional musical instrument in the world. It is played twice a day, six days a week, and there are many recordings of this organ.

[organplayer89]

Ah yes, Erik Suter. I got to meet him at his final performance at the Cathedral. And now that he no longer works there, he practices the organ at the same church I do!

[jsbach82]

It's the Pièce heroique by Franck... not the Grande pièce symphonique

[Salmagundiii]

la cathédrale anglicane

[wurli815]

Well, that makes sense. All the National Cathedral organ console needs is a radar and it will have as many controls as a 777 ... :-).

[ShawnGlory]

i believe i'd rather fly a 777 than play an organ.

[GBJPhotoWorks]

Erik Suter has now either just left or is about to leave the organist position at Washington National Cathedral to pursue a career as a commercial airline pilot. He's probably pretty comfortable sitting at a complex console.

[pianoandpipes]

I believe he studied with my teacher...or maybe that was one of the other organists for one of the other funerals.

[2468HOTROD]

Wow, that was beautiful but way too short...MORE MORE

[jdp0136]

This was taken at a totally impromptu moment- right after mass...  I don't think I was really supposed to be recording because someone started coming over to the console with a not very happy look on their face. That's why it is so short.

[GrandeChoeur]

Well I'm glad you got as much footage as you did. You can hear this guy playing this at the funeral; it's broadcast on YouTube. Search for Gerald Ford or something. Thanks for posting!

[contratromba858]

Well if you didn't have Erik's (the organist's) permission, you can imagine why he wouldn't like a camera in his face.