Keith Chapman playing Widor on Wanamaker's Grand Court Organ

[Rheinlander95]

Dupre played this instrument on more than one occasion. I'm sure he was no slouch.

[wurlitzer3]

Thanks ever so much for posting these videos of a very talented artist. I hope you have the priceless master tapes preserved as tape does deteriorate with time.

[notredameswarrior1]

he was the only one who knew how to play that organ....conte sucks

[silverstartrucker]

@notredameswarrior1 - WHAT ABOUT VIRGIL FOX?

[notredameswarrior1]

@silverstartrucker virgirl fox to. keith and virgil seemed like the were the only ones that knew how to play this organ

[churchwhistles]

Nice to hear something from Widor besides the Symphony #5 Toccata in F! I love that one, but I'm tired of hearing it all of the time! I like this, too!

[MelosAntropon]

Widor's first four organ symphonies were essentially "experiments" (his *publisher* named them 'symphonies' ; Widor himself merely called them 'collections' ". He hit his stride with the fifth (old news!). But this is one of his best movements from those first four. Chapman plays it a bit fast, though. More deliberate, and with punchier articulation makes it stand up and sing. Marie-Claire' Alain's read of it is perfect.

[robertbangkok]

Wow, what's with all the bitchy comments? This vid was made with a handheld VHS recorder in the 1980s. What did you expect the guy to do? -- Throw a cable across the 6th floor balcony and suspend stereo mics from it? GET REAL! This is not about sound. Its about the real experience of playing at that console and experiencing the delay. This is what an organist experiences when sitting there. Thanks for posting the piece.!

[silverstartrucker]

Pity about the inferior sound...

[64ftContraBombarde]

...quality

[silverstartrucker]

The recorded sound is inferior. The Wanamaker sound is always pure quality.

[willowthebored]

You know, listening to this in retrospect after all the bashing that went on down below this, I'd like to remind the organ-literate community of YouTube that pieces are open to interpretation, and that a piece, yes, even a Widor symphony, doesn't necessarily have to be played with the divisions wide open, as long as it's audible, and that if you'd step outside the box a bit you might actually like the unusual flavor he's added here (I certainly do). I think the high-speed strings work very well.

[PreppyBMX]

the organ and drums are my favourite instruments!

[shipsbells]

Keith was very nice about it. I just looked at him and said "Oops!" He just looked at me and said calmly, "Please pug it back in." Afterwords he couldn't have been kinder to me. He is sorely missed and wonder what he would think of the Wanamaker organ now.

[niksiz]

I would think he would be happy that it has a working combination action and is 100% operational!

[willowthebored]

Actually, a few months ago I had 92% operational quoted at me, though that's probably risen a few percentage points by now. With an instrument this size something's always going to be broken.

[shipsbells]

Funny story about this piece. He used to play occasionally at The Church of the Savior in Wayne, PA. I was there one Sunday. I used to swarm any organist playing after the service. I loved to watch the playing. I went up into the choir chairs and when he started the pedal runs. I moved the chair close to get a better view. All of a sudden the organ cut out. Keith slammed his hand down on the keyboard. I was horrified to see that I had kicked out the Plug of the Rogers.

[Organbest]

Fantastico!! Complimenti!!

[Guilloufan]

what a big organ ...

[pfeife09]

Wow! He's a very good organist. What a pity, that he was killed in an airplane accident...

this is a nice song. Can you tell me the name of this song?

[Guilloufan]

the finale from Widor's symphonie 2

[marsvltor2]

Good grief: Widor reduced to 'easy listening': it's about three times too fast, one can't hear half the notes that are being played, and it's basically an organist 'showing off' to the detriment of the music (and composer). Try and acquire a copy of the CD from S Ouen on the Cavaille-Coll there: from artifice (here) to art (in S Ouen...)

[19lfm12]

The same thing could readily be said of Virgil Fox - though perhaps with more accuracy:p And Chapman doesn't make the notorious mistakes Fox did!

Speed & stop choices are all up to the performer. Frankly, I am surprised he was able to get it to respond so fast - considering the delay at the console!

[BeFrSc]

The tempo Widor selected for this piece is a crochet beat at 184 bpm, which is only a bit slower than this.

[enchammade16]

People will hate this comment, but that was unremarkable. That organ is capable of so much more, and he barely used anything for this grand piece. I agree, played on the Cavaille-Coll in St Sulpice, its much more grand, and presented in the way Widor Wrote it.

[alanpurchase]

I guess you can be forgiven for not appreciating how poor the quality of the personal recording equipment of that time was considering you would have probably only just been born. You really should hear the professional recording of Keith Chapman playing this piece and then re-think your opinion. And for goodness sake get over this 'the way the composer wrote it' bullshit. You're missing the point of music!

[willowthebored]

There's a professional recording of this? I want...

[alanpurchase]

Reply to willowthebored.

Yes, although it's just an audio recording, it's used on the DVD entitled "Around the Wanamaker Organ in 80 Minutes". Narrated by Nelson E. Buechner with music selections by Peter Richard Conte, Keith Chapman and Virgil Fox.

[ShandyHall]

In the 1980s, when this tape was made, the organ was not in the best shape. Lots of stuff did not work. Also, you have to remember that this is a store and this was taped during business hours. I have heard before that some clerks complained of the noise so he may have been holding back. That may be another reason for the less than stellar grandeur of the organ in this recording. The playing, however, is excellent.

[19lfm12]

When this was recorded the combination action was NOT working, and there parts of the instrument which were non-functional. That the organ was playable at all was due to Keith's playing it, and making sure the store did something for minimal care of it.

He could not play it at full volume when the store was open for business!

If you have heard his recordings, made after hours, he was able to do wonders with it - truly showing it off, despite its problems.

[codeman2008]

He couldn't open the thing up during hours, not that there was as much functioning to open up at that time. It's a store, and during hours, you can't just go playing the organ at full blast, besides, so much of it wasn't working. And, compared to the instruments I play regularly, he is using quite a bit, I might add.

[marsvltor2]

Oh dear... try Morisset-Balier's recording at S Ouen... half the speed but twice the impact (and on a Cavaille too)...

[jeanseborg]

Yark!

[JRCOOTS]

He used to play at my parish, as did and still does Harry Wilkinson, on occasion.

To think that what appears to be a video/audio delay is the actual delay of the organ itself...I grew up listeing to his audio tapes. Great Organist and a gentleman.

[theremin137]

How wonderful to see and hear Keith here -- I got to know him from pestering him on the phone back when I lived in Maryland, and then finally meeting him and [oh glory!!] getting to play the organ when I visited him at Wanamakers in 1982. He was a terrifically kind man and an incredible organist. He had to play this huge beast with no combination action!!

[codeman2008]

There's no combination action?!

[19lfm12]

No - it was not functional when Chapman was the organist. The couplers worked (some of which are operated by reversible pistons), as well as some reversibles for certain louder stops (and things like the Pedal Divide)..but that's it! Yes, it was restored/replaced only in the last several years. So, Keith had to work without it.

The true test of an organist is to take a malfunctioning organ and make it sound wonderful. That is what Keith did!

[iamrepete]

Just think what Mr.Chapman could do now that this instrument is in the best condition it's ever been!

[codeman2008]

I've never heard it played nearly this fast! But I love it!

Incredible!

[19lfm12]

WOW!!!!! Keith's playing is a revelation! I wish there were more audio or video recordings of him playing the Wanamaker organ. Frankly, by comparision what I have heard of Fox (sloppy) and Conte make it sound like a theater organ! What Chapman does is prolly like what Courboin did in his day: make it sound like a true concert organ! Thanks for posting these vids!

[shabbyroadscholar]

Thank you so much for sharing this. Keith Chapman was my organ teacher for 3 years when he was Music Director at Keneseth Israel and I've said he could do more with his feet than I could with my hands. I still miss him greatly. He had great warmth and humor for such an incredble talent.

[chwidder]

That's the Finale from Widor's Symphony No.2.