Saint Eustache - Bach Preludium & Fugue in C Major

[twtilla2011]

he's so handsome!!!!!

[ludwig123456789]

Viriginia Organbuilder--obviously you have never been to Paris and even if you have you have never gone into St. Eustache. What you are complaining about are the great acoustics of this church which are great! Adjust your playback system! Perhaps the recording engineering of its sounds is wrong + playback system which playback clearly 16 hz sounds which most speakers cannot do which is one thing Organs can over a piece of glass posing as a million dollar diamond (i.e.electronic fake 'organ').

[virginiaorganbuilder]

@ludwig123456789 OK, I believe you. I love 32' stops too (I'm currently voicing an organ which will have four of them...NOT electronic!)

[ludwig123456789]

Ok Folks!!! Obviously most of you know absolutely nothing about the Organs that Bach played. Bach greatly admired 32' stops on the Organs that he played. The stops available were a Posaune 32, which is a reed and a Principal 32'. These sound the lowest bass most humans can hear. If the 32' Bombarde reeds (subbing for the Posaune 32) sound bad on your system ---that is not the Organs fault but your system because you do not have speakers that can generate16 hz sound! Bach use 32" in perform'g

[1floss1]

yeah you definitely want to have the organ in a wide,sound reflective,open area for the maximum affect.

[OrganPianoMusic]

@OrganPianoMusic Before people are saying something about my comment: No, I can't play the Fugue better because I can't play it at all. The Organist here is pretty good at playing Bach. It is hard to play such Fugues so I accept this and I honor it very much. The only thing is that I don't like the Registration. I might have used hard words there but it does not sound good.

So dont take that comment above that serious! :-)

:-D I love organ music as much as him :-D

[joeyboi87]

absolutely horrendous, twice the tempo it should be and using that bombare in the bass is awful, I would use half that registration too and at the most an 8ft trumpet in the pedal perhaps...or even a horn or clarinet coupled to the pedal from the swell, this is awful 

[gallusia1]

I think that that is a disastrous performance!

Organist must feel the organ and also the hall. This church has a considerable echo time, so it is unreasonable to play so fast, the piece is molten together and very unclear.

I think that this young man should take a very strict lesson about good registration. The fugue is even more bad. I think that also organ are not very best for performing baroque pieces. A french 32 posaun is perhaps too loud, but Schnitger posaun 32 is very fine selection.

[joeblowthehot]

go for it Sonny!!

[cdmcl3]

11/132......

[nefta235]

fantastico

[12345qazx1]

without the 32" reeds,the composition would have completely drowned.

[daithom14]

Love it. I'm sure the master would have liked to hear his music played so enthusiastically. I can imagine sitting through it played "correctly" by a person who irons his underpants and if given a ferrari for the day would drive at 28mph max.

I guess tolerance for all diversity - could do with a miltary trumpet as well!

[skyler6290]

Love the way he makes this look like he's just tossing this complex piece off. Love the sound of Bach in this " French " organ manner myself - - - think Bach would have had a field day if he'd encountered instruments like this one himself !

[contratromba858]

Bach specifically requested a 32' reed on at least one of his instruments. I hate to say you're wrong but, you're wrong.

[KampenHinsz]

yes bach would not have used 32' reeds. but sometimes it's better for a piece, and in this case i agree with the organist because of it's a lot more nice than only 16' stops

[poopingeneral]

@KampenHinsz; What makes you absolutely so "sure" that Bach would of had not used 32' reeds?

[KampenHinsz]

@poopingeneral it's clear that the 32' aren't very nice to hear while bach was living. they were not nice to hear at all so the pipes aren't very developed. because of that bach only would have used 16' (i think), but maybe there was a clear and nice 32' on an organ he played maybe once and he used it... we don't know it but we can think about it

[schutze1939]

taaa gonic gonic i jeszcze szkoda ze tutti nie właczył. bezsensu

[rowlandorganlover]

Does anyone know if the organs regularly played by JSB had 32 foot reeds? Maybe if JSB had them available he would have used them. I very much enjoyed this performance.

[eoghdes18]

Didn't exist in the day, I'm afraid, but that doesn't mean that they shouldn't be used, though the 32' reed should, IMO only be used sparely, as they have a tendency to really bring out the pedal part in a way that is alien to the baroque style.

[Nazardrecit]

Yes they did.

[poopingeneral]

Everyones a critic! Can't you people just sit back and enjoy the performance...instead of trying to make little corrections...

[miltronix]

Top-notch performer for sure! And the composition is sublime. But the performance seemed to me to be so reed-dominated, therefore, harsh. Just a thought.

[poopingeneral]

Still a great performance, the man deserves 5 stars!

[2468HOTROD]

A great organ, a great organist, and a fantastic piece of music.

[MsOrganmaster]

Too fast!!!

[robertgift]

Too fast. Pedal not with the manuals? We miss so much when rushed. Many things I cannot discern and I play this from memory. 32' reed in pedal is inappropriate. Funny but interesting sounds in the fugue. What is with some notes played on the pedals? Fugue end is very disappointing. At 6:54 I bring in full principle chorus and reeds and mixtures with full pedal. (Never a 32' reed in Bach.) It continues powerfully on from there. C+

[sinverluis]

Good reading but extremely fast and unbalanced. The listener can not perceive the nuances, colors and fine detalis of this glorious piece

[OrganMaster310]

to fast for my taste.. but thts my opinon

[capitanoachab]

Pur considerando che un organo ottocentesco francese ha poco a che fare con l'estetica bachiana, tuttavia utilizzando registrazioni leggere il vecchio JSB ne uscirebbe comunque bene, senza arrivare a questa broda in cui non si distingue il cavolo dalla carota.

[sdgwebb]

Why does everyone complain when Bach isn't played as Bach would have played it? Just because it was written a few centuries ago, doesn't mean that you HAVE to play it in a dry boring old way. Why not let yourself go?????

I like this version!!!!!!!!

[bachjs1750]

Moins rapide cette pièce, tempo trop rapide.

[addictgrenoble]

et la registration inadaptée....

What a shame!

[GrandCorps]

And I don't see nothing wrong with using 32' stops. We know that J.S. Bach liked such pipes very strongly, because it gave the organ "gravitat", some kind of base, on wich the rest of pipes could sound. And to all extremists of Bach - really, do You all play Schnitger/Silbermann organ? I'm sure you aren't. So do You think, that You are playing Bach absolutely correct? To be a true 'purist', we would have to abandon playing Bach on other organs, than these from XVII century Germany.

[GrandCorps]

Especially, that this vid. does not tend to be historicall reproduction of Bach, but, his artistic interpretation. I liked this performance very much, and personally, if I could play this piece in french cathedral, on pipe organ of symphonic style, i would do it in similliar way. But this is not a problem, in my opinnion, to play the same piece, on different organ, like Cliquot or german ones, with absolutely different manner We always have to go for compromise with instrument, on wich we play.

[GrandCorps]

I'm defender of playing Bach historically. But, we have to understand, that this organ 9in st. Eustache) has NOTHING in common with Schnitger's or Silbermann ones. So i don't see nothing wrong with such registration. The only one thing, wich COULD make me sick, is to play Bach with heels, but here on the video, there is no such an error. Yes, indeed, this organist played Prelude C-Major like Widor's Scherzo from 2nd symphony, but, is that so wrong?

[Knappa22]

All wrong. The guy is a proficient player but the registration is shocking.

Why is he thundering about on the pedals? Totally wrong for this piece.

[tommyupoo]

I must say that I'm not a fan of this piece played loudly. The famous Fantasia in G Minor (541?) by Bach cries out for a loud registration yet if you played this piece shown in the video side by side with it, I would'nt play them both with 32fts and strong reeds.

I tend to used Great to Mixture and thats it - maybe swell mixture coupled if needed and pedal to mixture but no pedal reeds.

[schneckenturm]

Well, I can live with this fast tempo. Only the 32' reed has no chance to show its power. That´s the only point of sound critic. He is well trained and shows a brilliant action. He is not struggling with this instrument - he is a sovereign.

[OrganistJohn]

WHAT ON EARTH is this bloke playing at in the fugue?????????

The registration is shocking and then reeds in the pedal...........!!!!!!!!!!!!!!­!!!

TERRIBLE

[Guilloufan]

please come here with comments when you can solve the problem and can do it better.

[Guilloufan]

please come here with comments when you can solve the problem and can do it better.

[Nazardrecit]

He's just acting the goat. Pity. It's Bach, after all.

[jschroeder1991]

der pedaleinsatz um 4.50 klingt lustig...könnte das pedalfagott (basson 16') sein.

[jschroeder1991]

ok ist garkein pedal, sondern positif, dann vermute ich Douçaine 16'.

[benedikt1211]

Toll gespielt. Sitz an der Orgel: Ruhig und entspannt, Klasse

[mglava7]

One of the very bad interpretation. Preludium is too fast and consequently tones are smashed together in one tonal monster. (as sugested from another youtuber the church does not allow so fast tempi) Fugue is nothing like fugue. Bach fugue should always be firmly on its way to majestic end but player here is lost just after exposition. this still is irrational mix of bad things.

[organmaster1989]

He isn't playing organ, he is playing a type machine. Besides he isn't paying any attention to the music. You can't call this Bach.

[joeyboi87]

awefully fast and no timing dont like that at all

[2468HOTROD]

Sounded just beautiful to me. The organist is so confident, he shows almost no emotion in his playing. But yet the great sounds just completely saturate the room. Thank you!

[MANTLEBERG]

Bespreken nicht, vunderbar.

[MEPPO06]

I'd call it facile and vulgar if it weren't so bloody obvious that the whole intention of this sort of nonsense is to shock and annoy. Characteristic Guillou clone. How awful that every pupil sounds EXACTLY like their ridiculous teacher. Truly dreadful.

[musicien91]

trés juste!rien d'autre à dire

[organpipe8]

BRAVO thanks that was beautiful.

[echteurker]

it`s so great!!

[kelsiejackson]

It's good, but the room is too resonate for that tempo.

[3NUNS]

or on the other hand das organiste ist turning das protestantische musica into catholische musiken and das spoiling it altogehther

[3NUNS]

what a tom fool this guy is because he is playing at a too rapid tempo for the acoustics of das dome

[ukotaf]

Is he the Disneyland-organist? Well, good taste is quite relative, I believe. In my opinion, however, this is much more interesting, than tasteful. It's more like showing up than seeking really Bach behind the music. But I must emphasize that it's a private opinion.

[ds1868]

Hmmm, at first I thought registrations and tempi rather strange, but then something occurred to me. This beast of an Organ, created recently by the Dutch firm of Van den Heuvel (no Cavaille Coll here), offers such a wide range of colours that 'temptation' to diverge from the familiar may be too great. No excuse I know, but there you go. And would Bach have used these colours? I think he probably might!Nice recording, thanks for posting.

[Allen869]

show, but no Bach!

[virginiaorganbuilder]

I doubt that Bach would have used a 32' reed for this piece, or played it so quickly. It's not exactly light and clear...

[poopingeneral]

@virginiaorganbuilder I disagree. the 32' sounds real awesome in this.

[polsterj]

@virginiaorganbuilder I'm very sure he would have used a 32' reed.

Note that Bach planned at least 2 organs with a Posaune 32'!

[orgelvriend]

@virginiaorganbuilder It is perfect!

[yelsaid]

This guy's obviously a well trained organist. I would be interested in hearing him again when he's about 50 and has had some more life experiences to inform his music.

[Paracelsus2012]

I bet people said that about Mozart...

[skyler6290]

I absolutely love Bach played on the great French organs ( and ones like this built in the French style ). Bach on Clicquot & Cavaille-Coll is my idea of umph!

[musicien91]

J'ai même l'impression qu'il y a une ache 32 au pédalier!

très juste remarque: c'est un organiste, pas un musicien. Qu'il aille écouter autre chose que de l'orgue

[guitarded10]

it's fast and stays on key.

but tempo lack is compared to a mosquito.

after four minutes it keeps a good tempo.

but then the mosquito comes around for a few thousand bites.

[organman52]

This is disgusting playing. The tempo of the Prelude is a frenzy and renders it unintelligible to the refined listener. The amateur listener must be completely lost. The registrations in the fugue are all wrong. This is an organist, not a musician.

[2468HOTROD]

.....and it sounds absolutely beautiful to me too. Bravo!

[flo61114]

Vous reprendrez bien un peu de soupe ?

[musicien91]

Sans façon!!!mdr

[musicien91]

deja la registration est dure....le tempo vraiment rapide....on n' comprend pas grand chose et c'est vraiment soulant au bout de deux minutes....

[trogastieplas]

j'ajouterais même que s'il y avait des 64' on y aurait eu droit!! allégez la pédale et les articulations

[RevdRichard]

There's something inherently iffy about playing Bach on a giant romantic French organ and expecting it to sound anything like authentic.

[nilsa75]

Absolutely too fast! Maybe he was in a hurry to reach the last bus home?

[ChalieChaplin]

My congratulations!!! What church is it?

[omrphil2]

In Paris, near "Chatelet les halls". The video shows the remote contol.

[dissonance666]

:o Oh my goodness, nice Speed ;)

[zygmunt1985]

Go faster, fastes, he's gonna catch you!:)

[assistantorganist]

Think i'm just going to go and slit my wrists!!!! This is just too fast! It's like watching Latry on speed.

[assistantorganist]

I should add that i'm not doubting that this guy is a really good organist but he really knows nothing about playing Bach.

[Fechteli]

And too loud. If you play it like this, all the songs character disappears.

[tiroinroin]

prelude trop rapide et trop de brouhaha

[omrphil2]

Tout a fait d'accord, beaucoup d'organiste ne savent pas jouer au bon rythme, surtout du Bach. A croire que seule la performance compte. Et puis d'ailleurs, n'y a t'il pas un petit accrochage à la fin du prélude. Cela dit, l'essentiel est de faire découvrir à sa manière la musique pour Orgue à tous. Après les gouts et le couleurs...

[tiroinroin]

effectivement sur l'accrochage !!!!!

[ufni3p]

I love the prelude but in the fugue its obvious that the Guillou-virus has made a new victim...

[jmeister321684]

rectification: (and in all respect to the interpreter) The registration for the Prelude is rather somewhere between French classical and Symphonic (with no 16 foot reeds or too many other 8's or 4's but Cornets and not too many mixtures) wich is very nice; on the other side, the use of the 2 (!) 32' reeds of St-Eustache (if i'm true) ondergoing this 8',4' Full may be excessive! (but that's ok for this time)

[jmeister321684]

Maybe he does effectively play the Prelude fast,(although we said Bach did to) but he is rather very good; in counterpart his registration should've been more blended I believe, opting here for Symphonic obviously in the Prelude (the 32 foot reed being almost overwhelming in Major, different from what it may of been in minor) but too many "eerie" (yet fantasist) effets (as it's been said earlier) in the Fugue, getting the discourse somehow too "varied"!

[Louismarchand]

1)Preludio:troppo veloce ed inespressivo.

2)Fuga: non è A. Webern!

3)lascia perdere Bach.

[missionaryorganist]

The builder Cavaille-Coll wrote to a friend and stated the he created the perfect organ in St. Sulpice...an organ that you could play all the literature on...I think Cavaille-Coll and others really saw the French organs as natural development of the instrument not one opposed to the Baroque.

[MrQuebec]

Orgues baroque, néo-baroque, symphonique, clavecin, piano, synthétiseur : l'éternel débat...

[sforzando227]

What is this organist on? The prelude and fugue should NEVER be played that fast! It totally destroyed the harmonic and rythmic value! I had to do this for my college audition, and this video makes me cry, after all the hard work I had put into my study, to hear somebody just destroy it. I think Gillou's effect on this person is disastorus!!!

[YevgeniyAlexey]

The fugue sounds interesting. The 32' is inappropriate though in this case.

[keanur1]

Flawless execution, but guillouesque registration that give to that fugue an eerie effect usually not associated with Bach. Je reste perplexe...

[florin11bv]

For the critics of the german neo-baroque organs: please tape "Matteo Imbruno plays Scheidemann's Alleluja". It is an instrument Ahrend/Brunzema from the '60s in an old case. The supreme sign of an absolute superiority not only of that type of organ, but of the Juergen Ahrend skills too. Simphonic organs for Franck, Boelmann, Vierne etc, not the old masters.

Respect to all.

[florin11bv]

You are right, the performace is very good (and some of yours too). But what i want to say is this (or other) romantic organ cannot make the same "magic" which a (neo)barock instrument can. And i find this Van den Heuvel instrument much too noisy. Finally, de gustibus.

My respect for all the opinions. A good debate is a pleasure if we respect the others.

[florin11bv]

Technically Bach can be played at any organ, even a Farfisa. But sorry, what about the sound? It MUST be authentic, so a nord-german/saxon/prussian instrument: Baader (does anybody knows his wonder of Zutphen-Netherland?),van Hagerbeer, Arp & Frans Caspar Schnitger, Silbermann, Hildebrandt, , Christiaan Muller, Buchholz,Ahrendt, Fisk, Wegscheider, every GOOD neo-baroque organ. NOT a symphonic organ, absolutely not!

[octave4]

Then we must not use Baldwin pianos to play Bethoven, schubert, shuman. Naturally valvless trupets for Mozart. No trombones... nothing bigger than a 50 piece orchestra. If we are going to be Authentic than let's go all the way. No recordings, only buidling in which the music was played... How far to carry this farce.

[octave4]

WHo said Bach could not be played on a Symphonic organ. OF course they are addicted to those wimpy German neo-baroque, gutless scremaers. This is organ music as Bach would want to hear it. He did like big organs in resonant buildings.

[andrerendeiro]

That's a lovely performance! Could you add a BWV 547 tag?

[2468HOTROD]

With 341 views and only 3 comments, what's up with that people? This guy is one of a handful of THE BEST. I don't think one could be much better. Thank you for these videos.

[2468HOTROD]

This is an awesome recital. You sound perfect to me. Who is this guy?

[contratromba858]

Perhaps it's just the angle of the microphone relative to the organ case, but it seems like this is too fast for the reverberation of St. Eustache, and the music becomes a murky glop. Well played though.