Saint-Saëns @ St. Ouen, Rouen Pipe Organ

[FromHolbergsTime]

a place of rapturous grace,

where sounds envelope the spirit.

Glenn

[Silverdaddy101]

Considering the grand and cavernous acoustics of St. Ouen, I can't imagine playing this serene prelude any faster, unless you don't mind having those superbly crafted lines blurred beyond recognition.

Cest superb!

[josephR1938]

This is so much slower than Thomas Murray at the Tabernacle, but this is a beautiful interpretation of a most beautiful piece of music. I might (might!) just be able to learn it at this tempo. (If I do I can then speed it up just a little!) It's so dreamy, or like floating on a cloud!

[johniegrad]

Does the tempo on this performance seem to slow to anyone else or is it just me?

[a55b47]

@johniegrad , it's not just you. See the comments I made when I posted this.

[stepka300]

Please scores link.Thanks.

[beoland100]

Respect , the Church is very beautiful , I see one more now, wonderful....

[beoland100]

it´s relax Music, thank you , greetings to france - Elaine & Olaf from Dresden/Germany

[handlaeuter]

very great!!! wonderful! I´ll love it!

[Aaronorganist19]

I am sorry it was installed in 1999 Nicholson Bombarde It was Revoiced Louder in 2003. They are Thinking in 2010 To install En Chamber Trumpets In the west End of the cathedral. But i have only heard that from David Briggs It was still in the PCC Mind to say yes or no really. BUT WE wILL SEE PEOPLE

[EccentricRichard]

@Aaronorganist19 - it would appear that you're talking about Gloucester Cathedral - but what has that got to do with this? Also, "En Chamber Trumpets"? Do you mean they'll be enclosed in the triforium, or will they be en chamade, unenclosed? ;-)

[iamrepete]

Ah,Paris in springtime... before I die,I want to hear this organ in person.

[a55b47]

I'm with you on that . I don't know about Rouen in the springtime, though ;-) It doesn't quite have the same ring, does it? And as someone who spent one of the coldest, rainiest Aprils of my life in Paris, springtime (or at least early springtime) there is generally no walk in the park, either.

[advisorC101]

This is a gorgeous organ! Indeed a ''Michelangelo of an organ'' as Widor once called it.

[organum74]

A long time ago, I had a LP with Pierre Labric on Saint-Sernin of Toulouse organ, whose the composition is very close to St Ouen, playing César Franck. What a pity, I don't have it any more...I love these two organs, built by Cavaillé-Coll, and they have a real back Positif, and Trumpet 8' and Clairon 4' en chamade.

[chwidder]

Just a small correction: Pierre Labric has never been officially titulaire of St-Ouen.

[a55b47]

Thanks. Those old LP covers never gave much information ;-)

[Silverdaddy101]

Excellent. This is the tempo I've always heard for this piece.  I think the acoustics call for the slower movement,but also contribute to the nobility, and simplicity of this piece.

Thuis piece is perfect for showcasing the jeux doux.

[organum74]

I agree. With this tempo, the atmposphere is very quiet, it is perfect on a big organ and a large church like here.

And this organ is one of the best in the world, a jewel.

Wonderful...

[marsvltor2]

Just a personal tragedy that I once owned the complete Vierne 'Pieces de Fantasie' played by Labric, tragically they were stolen (3 LPs). I can remember wonderful playing from that instrument...

Regards

Paul

[ptilou67]

Merci pour cet enregistrement de Pierre Labric à St-Ouen de Rouen. Orgue splendide ! Surtout sous les doigts de Pierre ! Encore merci !

[live7331]

I visited this abbey last Sunday afternoon and the organist was playing ... Really an unforgettable experience, I stayed in front of the organ for long minutes !

It's quite luminous inside compared to Rouen cathedral or Notre Dame de Paris, a very beautiful light.

[ds1868]

A stunning instrument in a truly beautiful Gothic Abbey church, even larger and more beautiful than Notre Dame de Paris. I can never decide which is my favourite organ of the two, St Sulpice or St Ouen, but after listening to this recording I'll just give up trying to decide - they're both superb in their own ways. I do wish we had an Organ like this in England!

[marsvltor2]

ds - I long ago gave up on that one: when I listen to Notre-Dame it's my favourite; when I listen to S Sulpice, Sulpice is!!! They are so different as to make direct comparison impossible in my view...

[ds1868]

Notre Dame was my favourite before the 1990 restoration, now it is ruined imho. I had the pleasure of hearing Pierre Cochereau live in NDdeP in September 1983, what an experience! Today it's St Sulpice or here at St Ouen that are joint number 1, close behind is St Maximin (Provence) an eighteenth century gem!

[PiedPuyper]

I adore this piece and this instrument.

I truly wish American organ builders who claim they build Cavaille -Coll style instruments could learn how to voice a chorus of Montres like this.They get the reeds pretty close, the strings are convincing, the harmonic flutes are the spitting image, but they just refuse to believe a Montre is unlike a Diapason.

Fisk , Rosales, and bedient, please take note.

[fthiggins]

You may have a point, but it must be said that the most significant contributor to the wonderful sounds of these instruments is the acoustics of the rooms. There are very, very few American rooms which can match those Gothic-era limestone buildings. In fact, when you remove a Cavaille-Coll instrument from its building to an ordinary room, it loses a great deal of its appeal. Slotted Montres do have a lot to do with getting that distinctive sound, but such a sound is very harsh in a dead room.

[marsvltor2]

You may well be right, but if an organ builder builds for the available acoustic, what's wrong with that? He built a number of 'orgues de salon' for larger homes, and the magic is, by and large, still there (okay, no 32's... but still!)

Regards,

Paul...

[fthiggins]

Yes, the magic is there, just a different sort. Organs in large rooms generally require little subtlety in the way of voicing and can sound quite course at close quarters. Dead rooms generally require a much more refined style of voicing, and stoplists which are more fundamental in nature. The American builders of the 19th century - Hook, Johnson, et al. - got very good at this. Cheers!

[Snookyfritz]

Thank You, Thank You for playing this marvelous piece on a Cavaille Coll masterpiece.

C'est superbe!

[tormus1]

A masterpiece by Cavaillé-Coll and exquisite playing.

[Reesman95]

Wow! Beautiful instrument.