Widor's Toccata from symphony no. 5 - Revolutionary Pipe Organ + Drums

[ldvl1875]

Using other instruments to play Widor's Toccata from Symphony No. 5 is not really an outlandish or new thing thing to do by these boys; check out the YouTube video where it is done with 55 Euphoniums, Tubas and pipe organ.

That video didn't seem to get any 'bad wrap' so why take it out on these two aspiring musicians? Or was it because it was done by a group with status - the International Euphonium Institute?

I hope its nothing to do with their ethnic background; shame on you people if it is!

[ldvl1875]

This video is titled correctly; we have not been led a stray as the word 'revolutionary' is used and we are warned that there are 'drums' used as well. So NO ONE can then expect this video to be anything quite like the way C.M.Widor would have played it on Sunday 19th October, 1879.

What about Noel Rawsthorne's 'Hornpipe Humorsque' - that can be classified as musical vandalism or is that ok because he is an accomplished organist and composer?

Enjoy your music boys; it makes some people happy!

[organboi]

How dare you. This is the worst trash I have ever seen in my life. How dare you do this to this masterpiece. I can't believe I read even a single comment supporting this evil crap. Shame on you. And the drummer is just so bad. If you had a better drummer it might be different. And the organist made so many mistakes it's unbelievable.

[davlber221]

Fun, maybe all the "highly educated" would enjoy this if they ever let their hair down! A fun thing to open the eyes of the young to the organ!!!!

[SuperBabel2]

Pourquoi pas une guitare électrique, pendant que nous y sommes...? ! D.BABEL

[ramil90]

WAHAHAHAHAAHAHA!!! Widor is gonna laugh about this..:D

[steamrocks]

The concept is a great one. One great thing about the arrangement is that the organist is not spproaching speed metal tempos just to show off technique. The piece was intended to be played at a very consistent tempo, so the drums work. Only two performanc suggesetions: one that the drumming be louder and more aggressive, and two, athe the end where some arrangements have sustained chords and arpeggios, a drum cadenza similar to the end of heavy Rock songe be added. This would truly cap it!

[SergioBonf]

I was trying to imagine this with a different organ and an audio engineering and I think it couldn't be so bad as it seems now.

With a correct brawbared B3 and an electronic drum perhaps something acceptable may be done.

[edt558]

I suppose for the organ purist this would not be their thing, but I like it. A lot actually, the drums add something. If you do it again, see if you can amplify the drums and maybe experiment with the rolls and fills. Nice work!

[ericfan20]

@edt558 Thanks!!

[christusvincit]

@edt558 It's not in a church setting, so something like this would definitely go well in my book!

BMP

[christusvincit]

Respond to this video... MORE COWBELL!

BMP

[OrganCat]

It's 'Hooked On Widor"!

[superssjdan1]

Very well done,except for the drums that is.4 stars for the organ playing..as for the drums i wish there was a way to edit that out.Organist is a heck of a talent.Thanks for posting.

[DGneoseeker1]

The organ playing is pretty damn impressive, especially considering that I can't see any sign of sheet music.

But drums do NOT go well with this.

[caysonstaples]

Nah. Drums don't work with a piece like this and they never will. The drummer wasn't even that impressive. I give it a 2 out of 10. Two instead of one because you can actually play the song half decently with no musical reading capabilities.

[1968mjh]

Makes me wonder if Emerson Lake and Palmer ever thought about doing this one. When I saw this video on the search page I thought "no! just wrong!" but I was tapping my foot. You both did a good job.

[DominicusMagnus]

I really enjoyed your interpretations although C.-M. Widor might have not agreed ... Could you kindly tell me who has made this organ ? All my congratulations for your superb technique : I hope that one day you will perfom in France.

[DominicusMagnus]

I really enjoyed your interpretations although C.-M. Widor might have not agreed ... Could you kindly tell me who has made this organ ? Superb technique and all my congratulations : I hope that one day you will perfom in France.

[NWAMusiclover]

I am all for creative combinations. And the pipe organ was intended to mimic other instruments right? So it itself is a combination of other instruments. But this just doesnt work....like standing in a the practice hall of a large music school...and the organ student and the drum student happen to be in adjacent practice rooms. An "A" for creativity, but not such a high grade for the actual sound...and look about this huge auditorium. Such gracious people to suffer this cacophony.

[tactilex]

Well, it brought a smile and a laugh to me. Thanks.

Definitely not the sort of Widor performance that brings tears of emotion, but music is like food. Eat now, for you soon will be hungry again. Sometimes I like a hamburger and sometimes I like pizza. It's all good!

[ericfan20]

@tactilex Thanks :)

[ewokmusic]

i bet most classical players will faint as you r DESTROYING the spirit of pipe organ music with the DRUMS!!!

but it's really creative!!! hhahaaha..

i still like it!!! just like vanessa mae!!

[midkanzan]

Well... at least you can say it's different!

[cjhwth81]

Beyond The best!!Extremely well done! 110%

[ericfan20]

Thanks!

[Kurzweil33]

I am older and a bit of a traditionalist but if your interpretation brings organ music to an audience that might otherwise find little of interest, than I would be foolish to criticise. Virgil Fox was known to take great liberties with his material including a pedal glissando I heard at the end of a Bach piece.

[neelsdp1]

this is a good way to get high - just on organ and percussion! thanks!!!

[ericfan20]

Thanks!

[NASCIAR83]

Muito bom Eric, você está de parabens...

[hidemichiXT]

Hahaha :D Lol - that was funny :D I like Widor very much, but this is so diffrent than all :) 5 stars from me! Thanks - good funny work :)

[mmwiz]

How very interesting! Just as a woman's face can be given depth and drama by the use of cosmetics, so here the percussion is used to add definition and increase the excitement of this piece. Perhaps this will start a trend. Perhaps there are many pieces that can be enhanced by a touch of "cosmetic" musical additions! I did enjoy this performance. Thanks for posting it!

[ericfan20]

thanks mmwiz! You're probably the first one to give a positive compliment to my performance. A lot of people considered it heretic.

[derjenige]

Wow - a human metronome! ;-)

[tommyupoo]

This was a perfectly well written piece by Widor until...well....watch this video lol.

Call me old fashioned but as I always say...

''Unless it's Baroque (Broke) don't fix it'''

[ericfan20]

You're not old fashioned, but, why would you want to fix baroque but not widor???

[Caezar460]

Ok. Eric........what happened? This is not what Widor would've wanted. It's practically sacrilege,

[ericfan20]

Ok. Caezar460, have you ever heard of Stravinsky? There was a riot after the Rite of Spring concert. I might not be as good as Stravinsky, but I got an innovative idea of how to interpret Widor's music in a style of the 20th century.

[Caezar460]

I'm no fan of the "Rite of Spring" either. Innovative is not the word I would use.

[ericfan20]

well, different musicians have different interpretations of different music genre. And YOU should at least learn how to RESPECT other people's idea.

And by the way, how do you KNOW that this is not what Widor would've wanted?

[organboi]

@ericfan20 Because, it Widor wanted drums in this piece he would have written it that way. Who the hell are you to decide what Widor wanted. Your arrogance gives you away.

[punkorganist]

@organboi This is as backwards in thinking as "If God wanted us to fly, he would have given us wings."

[organboi]

@ericfan20 absolute BS. Widor doesn't need "interpretation." It's great the way it is, in any century. You can't mess with music this way. And why are you replying to people's criticisms with such condescension?

[DJJamminC]

Very interesting. Only thing missing is lead, rhythm and bass guitars, then you'd really be rockin' out.

[l000kin]

LOL :-P

[polsterj]

Ok, as a traditional lover of vierne's and widor's music, you know what I'd say about your playing, I don't think it's necessary. But you have great ideas, you have talent, and you're still young like me. You have much time to improve it, go and make something of it!

[DerbieDan]

Id have to say this is an interesting combo. I like it! However the drums could use a little work. But I dont doubt you over coming with sweet arrangements! keep em coming man!! I love it!

[willowthebored]

...huh. I daresay I like it. The performance isn't perfect, obviously, but definite points for originality, and how many of us can say we routinely pull perfect shows out of our bums, anyways? Widor would die, but who cares, since we're adding drums? It would be interesting to add a full orchestra to this, too - brass on the pedal, strings on the moving line and woodwinds on the chord line. Kudos! 3.5 for performance, 4.5 for guts and originality.

[ProfMoose]

OK... This was not good but....I think it could be. The drums need a lot of work and imagination - how would I start on this - think touch sensitive and flexible, maybe just one drum and one stick and build on that being careful not to over do the drum part - could work and would be fun trying.

[mortson978]

Not an improvement, but five stars for originality.

[ambre2007]

Don't worry, be happy, but .... be aware that skills are required in order to convince experienced "ears". And why not keeping on trying new things, we are just looking forward to put our hands together for anything performed with "the joy of madness". (sorry for my english, I'm not perfect myself, I'm a frenchman in exile)

[ericfan20]

Thanks. First of all, as stated below, I had a limited preparation time, which can be seen from the many mistakes.

But maybe next time I'll do better.

[krazykeys88]

NO its fine, the mistakes go unnotticed (I played this peice worse than you did at my audidtion for an oxford organ scholarship and they didnt seem to notice so, It is fantastic.

[jautja]

First of all, you have had too many mistakes in the playing of the piece, and the idea of drums... it's just messing up the whole performance...

And I hate those who think that mixturing modern and classical music is a cool thing... NO!

They are just impervious nobodies.

Best regards,

[ericfan20]

I have indeed played a lot of wrong notes, and I didn't finished the piece.

But I had a limited to prepare for the concert. So I decided to do something new.

[johnchunleung]

classical music + modern music is pretty cool

hip hop does that all the time

and stop player hating on the drummer

[jautja]

I think he is as retarded as the way he is playing on the organ. If I were him I did not even start to play.

And the drums... disgusting at all!!!!

[ericfan20]

Hello there, thanks for your comment. But, please give reasons for what you're saying. You're saying that I'm retarded, but why? Don't just say that! Give reasons!

[krazykeys88]

It was amazing well done.

[punkorganist]

In a nutshell:

BRAVO for thinking out of the box! When people begin to think that there is a particular way a piece "should" be played, that is very dangerous to the livelyhood of the medium. It suffocates artistry. In this case, the artist has provided a fresh perspective on the piece, regardless of whether people like it or not. The comments below on this video are living proof of the curse of the interpretive homogenization of performance resulting from the invention of the recording device.

[organboi]

@punkorganist You are delusional. This is not "thinking outside the box." The only "suffocation of artistry" is when a person destroys the true beauty of a piece of art and dares to change a composer's masterpiece. True "thinking outside the box" is the constant striving to rise above superficiality and mediocrity. How many people can claim they strive for true perfection? That is what is extremely rare, not adding a drum set to the Widor Toccata. And the drummer wasn't even good.

[punkorganist]

@organboi It's clear that you have a 19th century approach to music, a very romanticized perception of composers and their music. As a professor of music, I can tell you that this is not a romantic performance, nor a modern performance. This is actually post-modernism applied to musical performance (regardless of whether the performers realize it). It's clear that you haven't had enough education to understand its relevance or what it is. Til you know, know that no one asked you of your opinion.

[organgrinderATL]

This is really gross and I cannot believe that I heard this and you had the nerve to RECORD it! Lose the DRUM SET and the next time you play the Widor, play the wshole thing!

[ericfan20]

Thank you for your comment.

[johnchunleung]

why?.........lose the drum set????

so you are player hating on the drummer now???

[organboi]

@organgrinderATL Agreed. I too cannot believe what I just heard. And they had the nerve to record it and post it. If it were played well by both players it might have been a different story, but this was shocking to behold. And one of the kids compared this to the initial reception of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, as if this atrocity were some great innovation like Stravinsky's masterpiece. 

[Aaronorganist19]

organist Great.. Drum kit A BIG FAT NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[bibisound]

una delle peggio cose mai sentite su you tube...

un brano storico per tutti gli organisti distrutto da questi due invasati...

arrangiato ma cosa e da chi...

errori in tutti i passaggi e la batteria suonata da un incompentente che nemmeno gli 8 beat regge con il tempo...

ASSURDO tutto questo....

[mikesolejazz]

That drummers shite

sorry

but

The two, as many say, don't go together!

[wljmrbill]

Nice job Eric on the Organ.. drums is an interesting added feature.. it doesn't distract me but not sure if it adds either. I also like theater organ so I can see the drums being added too... Bill

[ericfan20]

Thanks!

[bordone32]

He He molto divertente devo dire. Vorrei che queste cose potessimo farle in Italia, se non fosse solo per il fatto di avere un auditorium con un organo da concerto di quel genere.

Se non altro la batteria rende un po' piu' eccitatante questo pezzo che alla fine, è piuttosto noioso e uguale.

[ericfan20]

Thanks for you comment!

[joeyboi87]

absolute rubbish, this vile

[albinocortellazzi]

absolute garbage

[johnchunleung]

reasons plz.........u need support

[MDLRX8]

Adding a rock drum beat to a classic piece like the Widor Toccata is like adding neon

"enhancements" to the Mona Lisa. It detracts from the original work by clashing with it, and adds nothing.

[claire13ear]

sorry didn't mean to be so harsh..the two just don't blend in...the toccata on its own is a colossal work for the organ and should be left as is...the drumming only distracts the listener and as mdlrx8 said it adds nothing

[cellodudex]

Heresy

[u8qu1tis]

COOOOOLLLL. I like it.

[edseward]

Nice way to present this over-played work in a new light, reminds me of Rick Wakeman's work with Yes, especially on Close to the Edge.

[gazer88]

doesnt really match... :S