Rededicated Cathedral of St. John The Divine, NYC

[Dansorganmusic]

I would love to see that trumpet solo at the beginning made into its own piece; those trumpets sound fantastic

[mrstevecbournias]

I would like to see an NAVE section located behind the State Trumpet as follows: Grand Principal 16,Grand Principal 8, Grand Octave 4, Grand Fifteenth 2 II, Grand Mixture X,Major Posaune 16,Major Trumpet 8,Major Clarion 4,Eclat X; Nave Pedal: Majorbass unit 32-16-8 ,Trombone Magna unit 32-16:note; all of the Grand Principals to be of 2/7 mouth design, all of the reeds harmonic on 25'' with open parallel shallots;the aforementioned would add a ''splash'' to any full organ combination !!!!!!!

[deei2]

wow, what an organ, I regret terribly that I didn't attend a worship when I was in New York

[BigDaddyOldDude]

What beautiful music to the Lord. It was a thrill for me to see Cardinal Eagan in the procession. Was that Archbishop Dolan next to him? I would love to attend Eucharist in this holy place!

[railfanatic844]

listen to that state trumpet. I underestimated before that's for sure

[cjbusboi]

I recently heard this renewed organ in person...WOW! The organ at St. Patrick's Cathedral is still my favorite in NYC, but man is this an organ. The fact that the great Bruce Neswick plays it, makes it even better. And that En Chamade will blow you out of your seat. Would've loved to hear them open that baby up on Easter Sunday.

[thelamb777]

What a demonic roman catholic place...

[livzdave]

@thelamb777 Um, not sure what you mean by demonic, but this is an Episcopal cathedral - it is not RC. Maybe you are thinking of St. Patrick's?

[califdad4]

what a rude coment! its a Episcopal Cathdral !

[thelamb777]

@califdad4 There's no discrepancy between the two churches...They BOTH originate from Rome...Once you understand that church is the reason for all the oppression in NYC, it's not such a rude comment anymore...

[livzdave]

@thelamb777 This isn't the proper forum for this type of discussion. Please stop posting such rude comments...

[ms103127]

@thelamb777 LOL wow what a childish and uneducated troll you are.....the Episcopal Church has it's roots in ENGLAND if you want to get technical/historical. Also, another LOL if you're grouping St Patrick's Cathedral and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine together and as "demonic." You clearly don't have a clue what St. John's/the Episcopal Church is all about. :)

[mpsnknox]

@thelamb777

Now a-days it takes five seconds to do an incling of research; your comment is a non sequitur and completely ignorant.

[chrisstrudley]

@thelamb777 To "The Lamb"...lol You just called a non catholic cathedral demonic!!!!! LOL classic! Alas, how true is your comment about this place being demonic..everything non-catholic is because it is separated from the true Church of Christ, that is the Church in Rome.

[pulvaris]

can I ask...why the flag of st george is hanging from the State Trumpet? and the Virger at the START of the procession appears to be carrying a Mace...Who does it belong to?

[pulvaris]

@pulvaris or are the vergers just carrying their virges the wrong way round?

[Bigu47]

Morningside Heights is a nice section of northern Manhattan, Columbia University is nearby. I visited Saint Johns about six years ago and it is a truly beautiful and massive Gothic Cathedral.

[notredameswarrior1]

now that is a festive trumpet. its ashame why its in the bad section of new york..its a heck of a place and a heck of a organ

[livzdave]

@notredameswarrior1 Um, Morningside Heights is not a 'bad' section of NYC....

[notredameswarrior1]

@livzdave oh..well i heard it was. i have never bin there so i dont know what its like. sorry if i affended you

[edlatar]

@livzdave Bad reputations die hard. M'side Heights was a no man’s land back in the 1970’s thru early 90’s. It was part of the dirty, scary, gritty NYC you see in films of that era. Scenes from Death Wish were filmed nearby - Yes, Charles Bronson chased thugs right behind the cathedral. Low rents $300 a month and under for spacious pre-war apts and people still left in droves! How things have changed!

[edlatar]

...When Philippe Petit walked a high wire across Amsterdam Ave to commemorate the restart of construction the Daily News commented that the performer was safer up in the air than the spectators on the streets below!

[philomela100]

@notredameswarrior1

Morningside Heights is NOT a bad section of New York! What the hell is the matter with you???

[hleerose]

HAHA--I love it when stupid people spout stupid regurgitated garbage at the drop of a hat toward anything ceremonial. What about the Cathedral (or the organ--which is what this video is ABOUT) makes it an illuminati shrine?

[william98683]

god you are all so disilusioned and damned, ITS A FOOKIN ILLUMINATI SHRINE, check out the symbolism, if the symbolism displayed here is synonymous with God, then i don't want part of that god.

[OrganoPleno105]

Did you take that picture at the beginning? It's a great picture of the State Trumpets.

[livzdave]

@OrganoPleno105 Thanks. Yes I did take that picture.  I took it before the service, and since it came out so well I had to include it in the video.

[OrganoPleno105]

@livzdave Ahh ok. I wanted to save it to my computer and was searching all over the internet for it. You took a wonderful shot of it!

[Harberton1]

Well, you can't beat that.

[Bigu47]

One of the two great Cathedrals in New York City, yours truly has been fortunate to be in both Saint John The Divine and Saint Patricks. Both are classic examples of Gothic Architecture, the restored Organ at Saint John The Divine is incredible, the Trumpet Stop blows one away!

I don't care what Religious Preference you may have, Saint John The Divine is beautiful and well worth visiting.

[fitzsimmonsable]

what is the name of this hymn tune? i haven't heard it before

[gusmanj14]

@fitzsimmonsable The tune name is: "LLANGLOFFAN"

[organfreak23]

What an amazing interlude to the hymn, and it makes me want to play it just to hear how long it'll take the horizontals to reach the console.

[JDWP254]

I would love a CD of ths piece thats being played

[JDWP254]

I wounder if a recording of this is on CD?

[thegreatbasher]

That trumpet stop is flippin loud and oh so glorious! I'd love to vist this might caathedral one day.

[sophelet]

Fantastic! What a great joy to hear this.

[kempedkemp]

thanks so much for posting this... that IS a precious little camera. I can't believe you cut off the reverb at the end though!!

[StuC777]

I thought I had thanked you before for posting this, but I guess I didn't. So thanks! I was in the congregation on this glorious day and I'm so glad someone had the foresight to record it.

[falaqdad15]

What a joy to hear!

[dw154515]

How could you hear/see something like this and not definitively KNOW that a God exists!?

[organfreak23]

The intro to the hymn and the interlude after the first verse are awesome

[richard50000]

C'est pas de la schnoutte à Grandmaison!

[emilewyn]

Can anybody tell me what the tune of this hymn is? I love it - would like to do it in my church.

[philomela100]

@emilewyn

The tune is Llangloffan, found at #607 in Hymnal 1982. It may be in other hymnals,

too.

[octavebasse8]

The man at the very front of the procession, what would his title be, what is his role in the service and what is he carrying?

[CaptainWill1989]

I would guess he is one of the Vergers, assuming St John's have Vergers. I know that verger's aren't quite as widespread as they are here in English Cathedrals.

IF he is a verger, his role during the service is simply to 'escort' or lead the procession. There will be several in a procession, depending on the number/importance of clergy in it.

[CaptainWill1989]

There should always be one for cross/lights and/or choir and then as many as needed for clergy. Deans/Bishops will usually get their own one as well-you can, in a big service, end up with 6 or so divided into the procession...

The title itself comes from what he is carrying - a 'verge' from Latin 'virge'. It originates from Medieval times when clergymen would be preceded by a man with a rod who would if necessary use it to protect said clergymen. Also a tool to use against unruly choristers :p

[TeddyDutch1]

@CaptainWill1989 His name is Rev. Tom Miller, and he is the Canon for Liturgy and the Arts at the Cathedral. For this special occasion, he served as the lead Verger. We do use vergers regularly at the Cathedral.

The woman following in the orange vestments is the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, Kathleen Jefferts Schori . Also in the procession was the Bishop of NY, Mark Sisk, and an unusual visitor, the Roman Catholic Cardinal of NY.

[codeman2008]

He may be the Dean of the Cathedral...

[dleimkuehler]

Mike Quimby and his staff did a wonderful job on the wonderful instrument--And think, Quimby Pipe Organs is from little ol Warrensburg , Missouri!!

[SweetSounds4u]

Your Canon S5 is sweet! Whether you had it on auto, or tweaked the settings, the light sensitivity and color reproduction are superb, the sound pick-up is nothing short of phenomenal; really enveloping. Your opening and closing stills of the Great Rose Window and State Trumpet are gorgeous (were those video frame-grabs?). As for the Great Organ; WELCOME BACK! New York, and the world, went far too long without you. And as for Tim; his playing speaks for itself. Great job all around!

[livzdave]

The opening and closing pictures were just normal still shots with the same S5 taken before the service started. And this video was the first time I used the S5 to capture a major event - I hadn't even tested out the camera's video capabilities before - I just placed it on the highest movie resolution and began filming...I was very impressed with the results!

[anajencia]

@livzdave nice camera!!

[arpschneider]

Your S5 camera blows me away with how well it records audio! Thank you so much for capturing this so magnificently. I'm now looking for one of these cameras myself on EBAY. I have a cannon digital camera but it doesn't record audio. So, how long are you able to record on the same SD card with this camera doing both video and audio? Best audo I've gotten before is with a H2 digital recorder but the audio response of this camera is simply amazing!

[livzdave]

Maximum clip length is 4GB or 1 hour, whichever happens first. All of my Cathedral clips here on YouTube were recorded with my S5. It is a great compact camera!

[jorgecarrillo2]

a little dark , this gothic church needs more windows lik those from germany, e.g. Cologne.

[ksmith610]

You have no idea. In 1965, when I was five, my mother and I were sightseeing while my father was at Columbia, and we went in. It was a cloudy day, I guess, because the immensity of the place scared the hell out of me. I've gotten over it, but it is just an massive space.

[Nateness01]

Yeah understood, it's the largest cathderal as far as volume in the world the accoustics are amazing

[dacatholicbandorgan]

WOW those Anglicans love incense.

[wyldecut]

The State Trumpet is an awesome stop! Does anybody happen to know the actual DB output that this rank of pipes produces? listening to the crowds of people I am guessing that it must be over 90db from the position that the film was taken. Please post more videos of this US heratige!

[bikdav]

@wyldecut That is a good question. I can't give you any numbers, because it depends on the church sanctuary acoustics and also the organ builders taste. I visited a church in Boston that has a set up somewhat like this and I can tell you that this one CAN easily out-blast a full congregation.

[Kyousuke687]

Now that was just sick, lol. I need to get here. Too bad I live on Long Island

[bikdav]

@Kyousuke687 I know that feeling. Nevertheless, consider yourself lucky. I'd have to "commute" all the way from Boston.

[Organistcomposer21]

And I would have to fly all the way from San Diego!

[pipeup1]

The procession is backwards. The order of precedence dictates that the Presiding Bishop should be the last to enter with hierarchy ranking up from the back not down from the front. Unusal organisation for a procession i would say.

[caluschter]

You're right!

greetings from the sacristan to the cathedral St. Mary Assumption, chur, switzerland

[MTheChequeGuy]

We so need organs like this back in our churches! This is what makes the experince.

[bikdav]

@MTheChequeGuy You are so right. There is NOTHING like a good pipe organ.

[PennnSmith]

The most powerful men of America fainted when the pillars were unveiled. This cathedral, the largest in the world, is a tribute to all faith, regardless of religion.

I heard Judy Collins read the scriptures on Easter in 1997 here. I wept. Never shall I experience a more sublime moment.

Pity the atheists.

[buxtehudeorganist]

This sends shivers down my back. What an experience to be there in person!!!

[2468HOTROD]

This organ sounds like no other organ I've ever heard. Truly one of the world's very best.

[etbuk]

Fantastic! The State Trumpet is very loud, loud, loud and the Hymn is one of the most beautiful anglican hymns. Sorry for my very poor English... I'm Italian! *****

[organnut]

Caio Stefano,

Your English is perfect!! Greetings to you and your beautiful country Italy! This is a beautiful anglican hymn. If only the words could come to be! Oh to hear Luca on this awesome organ! :o)

Best Regards,

Roy

[falaqdad15]

@etbuk

Wouldn't you love to tune them?

[terragirl9527]

@etbuk No worries, your English is great!

[davbear221]

How Glorious!!! This is the way church should be always! Fantastic improvisation!! What a wonderful sound!

[mickthejoker]

How come Cardinal Egan is attending the service?

[codeman2008]

Is that Frank Griswold who passes by at about 3:00?

[emeryja23]

maybe the stop during the processional was intended?? it was a rededication...so maybe they were incensing the alter and there would be a prayer....after that, the music would start up again and the processional would continue?? just a thought...

[jmmles1]

Just as the bishop of another church would attend St Patrick's so they attend other events. Do not forget that the Anglican Church broke from the Roman Catholic Church! In respect, it is the Roman Church just not affiliated in that manner. Also, we have a bigger hierarchy which makes Catholic processions a bit more in order. Lastly, all visiting denominations would usually not process in the Catholic church but have a seat up front!

[suzieq181218]

Who was the bishop vested in cope and mitre processing next to Cardinal Egan? Who were the bishops in rochet and chimere who were near the back of the procession? It looked like there were four of them. It was nice to see the Presiding Bishop wearing a different set of vestments.

[gbmtmas]

Awesome! I love the sound of the organ and enchemade trumpets, the hymn, the acoustics, the procession and incense. Beautiful...absolutely beautiful!

[2468HOTROD]

Wow! Truly one of the greatest organs in the world, and what a space for it!

[sfpdxboy]

The organ at St. Patty's was never very good.  In

no way does it compare with any of New York's

really great organs.

[codeman2008]

You're not talking about the Kilgen at Saint Patrick's Roman Catholic Cathedral are you?! It's one of the great organs of the world! It is a VERY, VERY good organ, and a wonderful representation, if not the best representation, of the style of organ building that Kilgen subscribed to. It's right up there with the organs at Saint John the Divine, Saint Bartholomew, Riverside, and better than the organ at Saint Thomas, though that is indeed a great organ at Saint Thomas.

[AllenOrganCrazy]

Very true! haha wow.

[cjbusboi]

Thank-you codeman

[topper2142]

Those state trumpets are simply amazing,hearing them in person is sure to make you get goosebumps,outstanding audio/video!Thanks for posting this!

[emotiiii]

I never heard anything more beautiful in my life... This organ is great, extraordinary, magnificent, splendid!..... Just wow !!!

[pulvaris]

Three mace and no virgers?? why did the procession halt in the nave?

[Mefactor]

no not all churches use virgers. And as for the halt....it takes a while to bow turn and move out of the way so others can bow (at the crossing/alter.

[pipeup1]

If I was master of ceremonies in that cathedral I would regard the beginning of the Liturgy as something of a disaster and would call a meeting of the vergers and servers team to review what happened and to try and prevent it happening again. A Cardinal and Archbishop should Never be left standing in the middle of a Nave - the procession must keep moving or fan out at the crossing. This looks like real bad planning. I'm very surprised at the ECUSA!

[Mefactor]

I'm NOT

[philomela100]

@pipeup1

Yes, it was either bad planning or simply some unforseen "something" that

we can't see on the screen.

[bradtaylor32]

It doesn't take that long. Certainly not long enough for the whole procession to stop for over a minute. Hopefully they cranked the music back up to reduce the awkwardness of that moment

[posaune16]

It's a long nave - I'd need a break, too ;-)

[callierocks6]

What is the name of the tune?

[sovereign254]

The hymn is "O God of Every Nation", whereas the tune for the hymn is called "Llangloflan", a welsh melody.

[alcarinius91]

so help me understand.... this is a Anglican cathedral? and those in the isle are priests or bishops? (I"m confused because it is so similar to the end of a Catholic Mass the way the exit)

[livzdave]

It is an Episcopal Cathedral, so it is closely linked to the Anglican church. The nickname for Episcopal is 'Light Catholic'. You see clergy from all denominations in the video - St. John The Divine is very inclusive. That is why Edward Cardinal Egan was there,.

[alcarinius91]

so why was a catholic bishop there?

[pipeup1]

He's not a bishop, his Eminance is there in his capacity as Archbishop in ecumenical friendship with his ECUSA counterpart.

[OrganistGraemer]

WOW, enormous !!!

[tamiasthechipmunk]

I'm happy to see that St. John's and its organ has been refurbished considering how much damage the north transept fire had done. To hear the majestic sound of the State Trumpets once more is such a wonderful treat. God bless the people who put in the hard work to repair that church its organ.

[kottmeier]

Being a big fan of Paul Halley's Nightwatch CD, I visited this cathedral in Nov 2000 and on arriving learned to my dismay that I had just missed hearing the great organ - doh! Unfortunately, I wasn't able to come back another day but I will definitely visit again - and call ahead to make sure I visit at the right time, lol! Cheers from Canada

[organist99x]

State Trumpet is AWESOME!!!!

Love it, I have to go to hear this magnificent organ sometime!

[lustful2]

The Organ is magnificent. However the singing is weak u get the impression that the congregation don't know this Hymn. Would of been better to start with Praise to the lord thee almighty the king of creation or O praise ye the lord both rousing hymns instead of this dull hymn.

[CoutureOrganiste]

Keep in mind that this was during Advent. You still have to keep in mind the season and sing hymns that are appropriate for that time.

[2468HOTROD]

@lustful2 "DULL HYMN"? What are you talking about?

[lustful2]

@2468HOTROD

O God of every nation . None of the congregation knew it . All we hear on this video clip is the Organ and some people attempting to sing it. Therefore it was dull sorry.

[philomela100]

@lustful2

Your assessment of this is wrong; it's not that no one in the congregation knew

O God . . . It's that self-conciousness and the emotion of the moment kept

some from singing and we musn't forget that in a huge building, even if

singing is fairly good, it won't be picked up due to extraneous noise, etc.

[JDWP254]

The great organ is magnificent!!!!!!!!!! The opening part makes me think if the mighty Rockie Mountains

[TheEcumenator]

Amazing! Was the Cardinal also there?

[livzdave]

Edward Cardinal Egan was there - you can see him process with the rest of the Clergy in this video and my other video - Part 2...

[dank1280]

From the reaction of some in the congregation, it seems some had forgotten just how powerful that state trumpet is. Whenever I am able to finally visit New York, this is one place I must see, and one organ I must surely try to hear.

[Vergergc]

State trumpet = 50 inches of wind!!! I stood right beside it in 1989 while it was being tuned - deafening. If you think hearing a recording is something, wait until you're actually inside that space.

[hitidesin]

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! Viewing this now MANY times... this awesome instrument has always been a favorite! The CD by Paul Haley is AMAZING as is the Dorothy Papadakus CD. Pomp and Circumstance at its ABSOLUTE BEST!

Now... we look forward to new recordings of this sensational instrument and acoustic and artist?

WOW!

tc

[organflick]

I agree with the Paul Haley CD. Its my absolute favorite recording. I'm trying to get him to come back to do another recording of improvisations. I have the feeling that with the success of this instrument, he will.

[bombarde1701]

Yeah the Paul Halle CD Improv CD had me high for over a week! Has he said anything about returning to do another organ recording?

[organflick]

He said if he is given the chance he would love to. Right now though he is in Nova Scotia as the Director of Chapel Music for King's College and St. George's Anglican Church. He has a lot of projects including overseeing a new organ for the chapel. Did you happen to catch the live performance of "Triptych" at St. Ignatius Loyola 2 years ago? Amazing!

[Vergergc]

OMG - another Paul Halley organ improv CD at St John the Divine - glorious... breath-taking... awesome!!!

[vanillabeannoel]

wow now I really need to go there! amazing organ-thanks for the video. what a sound!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[bobjohnson001]

Hi livzdave... your video is magnificent... thanks for sharing it... how much chip memory was necessary to hold this video in your canon s5...

[livzdave]

I have a 4Gb SDHC card in the camera, and it gives me about 55 minutes of recording at the highest quality settings. There is a hard 1 hour clip size limit in the camera anyway...These clips were around 350 Mb to 400 Mb each...

[arpschneider]

So, what do you do if you have a longer service? Can you change SD cards and carry forth?

[organimagister]

Woooow!!! It's really incredible!

[keg646]

thank you so much for posting this. very beautiful!

[a55b47]

WOW !! 3,300 views in just 4 days.  That old Skinner must be more popular than I thought. It really does sound magnificent, doesn't it?

[cwwacko]

The orgainist, Tim Brumfield, went to high school and college with my children and we know him and his family well. I am so glad you chose to show his work here. We are so very proud of him and his talent! This is one of the many reasons we are Episcopalians: the music, the parade and the smells and bells. Great job Tim. As Harold would say, quoting a former boss "You done good!". Love to you and

your family from the Smiths in Indianapolis.

[philomela100]

@cwwacko

Budget cuts at the Cathedral forced them to cut out Tim's position; he is now

at Manhattan's CHurch of the Intercession at Broadway/155th.

[philomela100]

@philomela100

There is a new associate organist, who I replaced Tim Brumfield. Very likely

the salary was cut at that time. You may know that the music salaries at

the Cathedral were always well below the ones offered at St. Thomas' or

St. Bartholomew's.

[patfennig]

Did anyone record (Audio or video) in the introit of the evensong later that day at 4. I had a solo and my mom missed it by 10 minutes. If I could find it, it would make her day! thanks.

-patrick

[danielwh1881]

Ahh, that brings tears of joy to my eyes, the emotions the sound brings to me is memories of 2001 in June when I heard the Organ Live at evensong. THat organ is tonally awesome and grand

[livzdave]

I am so happy this video has brought back your June 2001 memories of the live Evensong. There is no comparison - I have been around this Organ since 1976 until the December 2001 fire. The sound of the Organ now is by far and away the best I have ever heard it!! And it will only get better as the Quimby technicians continue to tweak it over the coming weeks....

[firesong75]

Now THAT is an ORGAN! Gorgeous sound and fine playing especially use of the state trumpet.

[KCMDButcher42]

Good to see and hear it back!

[Gball223]

Wow- I live in NC, and am a mere fan of the organ (not an organist), so have been out of the loop regarding the rededication date. But when I read the NYTimes article Sunday about the rededication I knew something this awesome would be posted on YOuTube. This recording is just great. Thanks so much for posting this! I can't wait to go to St. John the Divine to hear the organ, live! LIVZDAVE, we can't wait to hear another recording!!!!!

[stormkingfan]

livzdave... thousands of 'thank you's to you! I was hoping to hear that Processional again and, here, I found that it had been posted.

I was seated in the second row of the white ticket area, so, not only was I closer to the State Trumpet, but where it and the rest of the organ are acoustically in sync. I was choking up during this. An old, mighty friend returns from the Quimby company much happier.

btw... has anyone noticed that the Tierce Mixture wasn't used at all during both services?

[livzdave]

Not sure about the Tierce Mixture - I know that Doug Hunt told me after the 11AM service that the Quimby technicians were still making slight adjustments. All that I can say is that even without the 'slight adjustments' the Organ is sounding as good now if not better than in 1953 when G. Donald Harrison finished the rebuild! Exciting times at St. John The Divine!!!! I can't wait to do a 'real' recording one of these days!! This video was an 'experiment'!!!

[philomela100]

@livzdave Did you know that Quimby "re-positioned" the Great upperwork

for greater tuning stability and tonal cohesion with the rest of that division's

stops. In 1953/1954 GDH and Aeolian-Skinner had to squeeze the upperwork

around un-moveable, large Pedal pipes. As I recall it, all of the Pedal Open

Bass 32', is now on the North side, making more room on the South Side,

where the Great division is

[livzdave]

@philomela100 - yes, I was aware of the Great division modifications within the South chamber. Quimby took their time, with the assistance of Doug Hunt, to correct a few of the 1950's 'deficiencies' within both chambers - this has allowed the entire instrument to sound more cohesive. These past 6 live recitals (Oct. 2009 and April 2010) have been nothing short of amazing - the organ has never sounded better, and I have been listening to this organ since 1976.

[philomela100]

@livzdave

I leave for Gotham tomorrow (5/14) and will hear participate in the 11:00 service

on 5/16 and hear a recital there that afternoon. I've been promised time

on the instrument during my visit. They are willing to do that if one persists!

I'm also "doing" the stair climb clear out to the outside roof! Quite strenuous and

not for the faint-hearted or those with vertigo - fear of heights, etc.

I'll get back in touch when I return.

[kmdpiano25]

Thank you so much! I wish I could have been there, but being a church organist myself, I have my own church duties. This really makes me happy!

[a55b47]

LD, don't worry about the camerawork, you're providing an invaluable service to give us the sound !! Are those State Trumpets hair-raising, or what ?? Simply splendid !!