@quintadena16 Simplistically so - but actually many French organs of the Baroque period are at low pitch. In the days of unequal temperament key meant more than frequency (pitch). Pitch has gone up in the past century from the mathematical pitch of C-256Hz. Key defined not pitch but the relationship between intervals and our music is much the poorer for having lost that. You'll find many of my videos demonstrate unequal temperament.
Can you please tell me where I may buy a recording of this piece played on this organ? The Toccata and Fugue in d minor is one of my very favorite pieces of music and this recording was stunningly beautiful, even just playing through my laptop's speakers!
If I ever hit the lottery or come into sufficient money for the trip, I'm going to make certain to go and hear this amazing organ in person.
It's not often that the playing of this old warhorse elicits the "Wow!" factor. Your camcorder did remarkably well indeed so I can only imagine the goosebumps that would rise from head to toe if this had been professionally recorded! The interpretation is remarkably similar to that of Richard Keys Biggs, playing a Casavant organ in Los Angeles some time in the late '50s, which was for many years, a benchmark for me. Thanks for a very fine posting. Peter, NZ.
@DonJuan1991991 Hi! That's because french organs of this period are tuned to A=392, the Cornetton - the Cornet pitch - that's Horn Pitch - Trumpet and Horn in Bb, and it's for this reason that the unequal temperaments favour the first flat in slight preference to the first sharp
@LCRECORDS1 Hi! No - it's by Isnard, built in 1773 and unaltered since then. But I'm told that Cavaille Coll worked on this instrument at some stage. The Grinda brothers were pupils, building at L'Escarene and Villefranche sur Mer in the Dukedom of Davoie in 1791 and 1792, unaffected by the Revolution in France, and then moved to north East Spain - Perpignan.
Together with Poitiers, this instrument is a Stradivarious of organs.
:-) I recorded the whole concert but did not bother putting anything else on YouTube . . . Simply how could anything else compare with this!?
Of course the real experience is even more amazing than this and it's worth going to St Maximin, just 100 minutes drive from Nice airport. If you play, it's really worth going on the week's course there at the end of August.
I love the pipes & the glorious music this organ makes. It's amazing the church structure withstands the sound magnitude. I am perplexed though. Does air flow though the pipes to make the sound? If so the pipes require a lot of air. How was this acheived in 1773 in Isnard's time and today if untouched? There was no electricity at the time to produce a compressor of sort. Is there a manual pump located elsewhere in the building? Given the old pump organs how that translate to the Maximim?
Hi! Yes - the instrument still has manual bellows in working order. There are 5 or 6 bars and one stands on them in succession whilst holding on to a handrail. A bit like walking. But in practice the electric blower is always used.
@latribe Thank you for explaining the bellows & clearing the perplexity. I live in the states & most organs are electric. Bellows never entered my mind. I found a video showing an organ blower walking a bench operating bellow bars with his feet. In 1985 I studied in Konstanz Germany for a semester. One course indulged on Romanistic, Gothic, & Baroque art. I visited countless churches in Bavaria & France. Sad I never heard one organ play or looked at the structure close up.
As the notes from latribe say this instrument is completely original and unrestored from the day it was built by Isnard in 1773. I do come back to this recording as I also have several recordings of Pierre Bardon, all are good but the quality of this is as good, if not better. Actually I can't think of any excuse not to go down there myself with my camcorder and have a go! but I'm not sure if I can achieve this quality!
You're right for the material BUT NOT for the harmonization that was reconstituted during restauration. And probably the sound is little different than in the past due to the "teeth" that were made.
Thanks latribe! You're surely right! From what I can hear despite the limitations of audio compression (the website's I mean), yes, that organ is SOUND DYNAMITE I would want to hear and feel in all my flesh and bones!
I'm not sure what equipment you are using other than what I assume to be a hi-end camcorder. But the sound quality of your recording is very good. The organ is an awesome instrument and it shows through.
Actually I use a digital recorder with rather good microphones. The organ is incredible and it's effect is enhanced by both the building and the temperament.
It's partly the amazing organ and partly the position in the building of the microphone I used.
I bought half a dozen CDs of the organ a few weeks ago and on at least one of the CDs the professional recording engineers did not do as well.
The fantastic is part of the organ . . .
However, all the CDs of this instrument are outstandingly interesting and really worth buying. One on Postclassical repertoire and others by Phillipe Bardon especially.
This is teh organist titulaire Pierre Bardon playing this instrument. To play this instrument there is nothing better than going on the "st maximin academie d'orgue" with tutor Philippe Bardon. And however good any organist is, handling these organs built to the spirit of Dom Bedos is an art unknown to all who play modern instruments, so I really recommend going on the Academie.
I have tried to bring the spirit of something like this sound to England with the concert organ at Hammerwood Park.
That Cathedral is amazing! This video with that music give me some mad chills!! That organ overlooking the congregation complimenting the cathedrals high roof and Gothic architecture makes it seem like I'm actually in the old classical times when music like this was written. AMAZING FOOTAGE!!! Five stars!
As often as this piece is played, this is one of the most passionately played I've heard. BRAVO on this!!! Terrific organ and acoustics as well which is what this piece DEMANDS!!!!
Hi! It's all on the reeds - trumpets, bombardes, clarions - the typical French "Grand Jeu". It follows the spirit of Dom Bedos, the father of all classical organ building since the early 18th century from which 20th century organs departed - and coming back to this sort of organ is now a complete revelation.
That is a rather phenomenal recording. I've seen this instrument in literature before, but I've never actually heard it - it's very nice to put such a brilliant sound to that equally impressive facade. And people say the Frenchmen can't play Bach. (Solution: More Reeds)
I'm glad you've enjoyed this recording. I recorded the whole concert mainly of French Baroque and another the next week mainly of Bach but with the microphone less well placed . . . and this blew me away so much that I have not bothered to put together any of the other items from the concerts. Putting the seperate audio recording together with the video is a little time consuming!
These can and are being built today. Modern organ builders apprentice by carrying out intense research on existing ancient instruments - John Brombaugh's detailed study of the Schnitger in Groningen, for instance - then go on to build what they learned into their instruments. Paul Fritts (Tacoma) studied Stellwagen's great organ in Stralsund, then put all of that knowledge into his opus at Pacific Lutheran University - even building the case to resemble the older instrument.
If you "become a friend" I can show you a couple of videos inside the organ which I have not been allowed to make public. The original bellows are there. You grab hold of a bar like a fence rail, then step on each of five levers. It's amazing.
I debate whether I like St Maximin or Albi more. I suspect that Albi is more gross power and that this instrument might be more musical in some ways - but without the opportunity to play Albi I can't say.
@latribe - the unfortunate thing about Albi is that all that wonderful Puget material was destroyed or transformed out of all recognition. Also, the reconstruction of the old Moucherel is a bit questionable - some of the voicing is too Organ Reform Movement, putting the Voix Humaine on the Bombarde where it has nothing to blend with... just never done in the 18th Century. This isn't coming from me, BTW, this is from Nathan Laube in Toulouse and a local organist, both of whom ought to know.
Amazing! A camcorder microphone couldn't possibly pickup all the deep bass and higher pitched pipes. We're just hearing the midrange of the performance. It's like watching a movie in black & white.
The ROAR of this organ is INCREDIBLE. It's well worth getting an EasyJet flight to Nice and hiring a car. Provided you can arrive so that you leave Nice Airport by 3pm you can comfortably get to St Maximin for the 5pm Subnday recital which, finishing at 6 will allow you to get back to Nice for an 8pm checkin with an hour to spare for the late flight back to London Gatwick.
Is there any other organ in the world worth flying from anywhere to hear?
This wasn't the camcorder mic. I had a high quality digital recorder running in parallel and I have added that sound source to this video - but audio compression on videos takes its toll. I think it has improved since I first uploaded so YouTube probably do some tweaking. The camcorder sound is on another video of this if you would like to compare.
However, everytime I come to this page, I find the sound SO uplifting.
Totally and absolutely superb! Thank you David for your message pointing me to this recording. I really really must get down to Provence and hear this magnificent instrument 'live'. Thanks again!
Oh dear! Of course! Thanks! Dylsexia and senility are starting to kick in . . . Glad you've enjoyed watching - it really is worth getting here for the 5pm weekly Sunday recitals
This organ uniquely possesses a purity of voice, strength and timbre fully capable of overpowering one’s self and immersing one’s soul in music
deltasquared7777 3 weeks ago in playlist Favorite videos
jesus christ listen to that thing
avofids 2 months ago
So this is basically an organ in Bb, so to speak?
quintadena16 2 months ago
@quintadena16 Simplistically so - but actually many French organs of the Baroque period are at low pitch. In the days of unequal temperament key meant more than frequency (pitch). Pitch has gone up in the past century from the mathematical pitch of C-256Hz. Key defined not pitch but the relationship between intervals and our music is much the poorer for having lost that. You'll find many of my videos demonstrate unequal temperament.
latribe 2 months ago
Can you please tell me where I may buy a recording of this piece played on this organ? The Toccata and Fugue in d minor is one of my very favorite pieces of music and this recording was stunningly beautiful, even just playing through my laptop's speakers!
If I ever hit the lottery or come into sufficient money for the trip, I'm going to make certain to go and hear this amazing organ in person.
Sulien77 2 months ago
Massacre que cette prise de son.
JeuPrestant 3 months ago
FUCK DAMN IT WONDERFUL AMAZING
martinkong070 4 months ago
@martinkong070 typical amarican to call it amazing
KV4671 2 months ago
Bravo! love the echo and sharper pitch makes the insides tremble
Mountchoirboy 5 months ago 3
I love the 16' Bombarde! This piece sounds quiet different when its played on a organ from the North-Germa style.. but i love this piece!
nelos1987 7 months ago
The most beautiful I think I've ever heard this played anywhere. Awesome! Thank you!
2468HOTROD 7 months ago
I wish the video of Karl Ricther had this camera/mic recording his version. The epic of his version would'a sounded nice.
MrScrotumBreath 7 months ago
It's not often that the playing of this old warhorse elicits the "Wow!" factor. Your camcorder did remarkably well indeed so I can only imagine the goosebumps that would rise from head to toe if this had been professionally recorded! The interpretation is remarkably similar to that of Richard Keys Biggs, playing a Casavant organ in Los Angeles some time in the late '50s, which was for many years, a benchmark for me. Thanks for a very fine posting. Peter, NZ.
peteacher52 11 months ago
What a beatifull music I like simphony
LiviuJETIX 1 year ago
@gregg53186 St Maximin, north of Marseille in South of France
latribe 1 year ago
Why did you perfom those trills at 5:53 in a whole step?
Biff947 1 year ago
sounds like c minor in stead of d minor!
DonJuan1991991 1 year ago
@DonJuan1991991 Hi! That's because french organs of this period are tuned to A=392, the Cornetton - the Cornet pitch - that's Horn Pitch - Trumpet and Horn in Bb, and it's for this reason that the unequal temperaments favour the first flat in slight preference to the first sharp
latribe 1 year ago 3
@latribe didn't know that! thank you!
DonJuan1991991 1 year ago
Es un Cavaille-Coll???
LCRECORDS1 1 year ago
@LCRECORDS1 Hi! No - it's by Isnard, built in 1773 and unaltered since then. But I'm told that Cavaille Coll worked on this instrument at some stage. The Grinda brothers were pupils, building at L'Escarene and Villefranche sur Mer in the Dukedom of Davoie in 1791 and 1792, unaffected by the Revolution in France, and then moved to north East Spain - Perpignan.
Together with Poitiers, this instrument is a Stradivarious of organs.
latribe 1 year ago
My God...it's really an amazing organ...wow..
BAxitorCH 1 year ago
No - it's not tranposed. This instrument is A at around 390Hz. It gives more gravitas.
latribe 1 year ago
Comment removed
orgaman 1 year ago
@latribe 392Hz excatement le tempérament français par excellence!
orgaman 1 year ago
..............wow..........
Whamesl0l 1 year ago
Thank you very much for sharing this. A superb rendition of a piece that we've all heard an awful lot of times.
This really breathed fresh life into it for me.
Nosteratees 2 years ago
:-) I recorded the whole concert but did not bother putting anything else on YouTube . . . Simply how could anything else compare with this!?
Of course the real experience is even more amazing than this and it's worth going to St Maximin, just 100 minutes drive from Nice airport. If you play, it's really worth going on the week's course there at the end of August.
latribe 2 years ago
I love the pipes & the glorious music this organ makes. It's amazing the church structure withstands the sound magnitude. I am perplexed though. Does air flow though the pipes to make the sound? If so the pipes require a lot of air. How was this acheived in 1773 in Isnard's time and today if untouched? There was no electricity at the time to produce a compressor of sort. Is there a manual pump located elsewhere in the building? Given the old pump organs how that translate to the Maximim?
shakenednostir 2 years ago
Hi! Yes - the instrument still has manual bellows in working order. There are 5 or 6 bars and one stands on them in succession whilst holding on to a handrail. A bit like walking. But in practice the electric blower is always used.
latribe 2 years ago
@latribe Thank you for explaining the bellows & clearing the perplexity. I live in the states & most organs are electric. Bellows never entered my mind. I found a video showing an organ blower walking a bench operating bellow bars with his feet. In 1985 I studied in Konstanz Germany for a semester. One course indulged on Romanistic, Gothic, & Baroque art. I visited countless churches in Bavaria & France. Sad I never heard one organ play or looked at the structure close up.
shakenednostir 1 year ago
As the notes from latribe say this instrument is completely original and unrestored from the day it was built by Isnard in 1773. I do come back to this recording as I also have several recordings of Pierre Bardon, all are good but the quality of this is as good, if not better. Actually I can't think of any excuse not to go down there myself with my camcorder and have a go! but I'm not sure if I can achieve this quality!
ds1868 2 years ago
You're right for the material BUT NOT for the harmonization that was reconstituted during restauration. And probably the sound is little different than in the past due to the "teeth" that were made.
Corpsdenuit 2 years ago
Thanks latribe! You're surely right! From what I can hear despite the limitations of audio compression (the website's I mean), yes, that organ is SOUND DYNAMITE I would want to hear and feel in all my flesh and bones!
obaba1928 2 years ago
I'm not sure what equipment you are using other than what I assume to be a hi-end camcorder. But the sound quality of your recording is very good. The organ is an awesome instrument and it shows through.
tamiasthechipmunk 2 years ago
Actually I use a digital recorder with rather good microphones. The organ is incredible and it's effect is enhanced by both the building and the temperament.
latribe 2 years ago
Hi! The original camera sound is inb the "related video" Bach Toccata and Fugue in D Minor - sound recorded by camera . . .
Season's Greetings!
latribe 2 years ago
This is the best sound quality from an organ piece on youtube I have ever heard.
22bernd1957 2 years ago
It's partly the amazing organ and partly the position in the building of the microphone I used.
I bought half a dozen CDs of the organ a few weeks ago and on at least one of the CDs the professional recording engineers did not do as well.
The fantastic is part of the organ . . .
However, all the CDs of this instrument are outstandingly interesting and really worth buying. One on Postclassical repertoire and others by Phillipe Bardon especially.
latribe 2 years ago
This is utterly amazing. Bravo. You play this piece with a passion I have not heard before.
The French really know how to build a pipe organ. Everything is passion and excitement. I would love to play this organ.
Antoni
tubamaxima 2 years ago
This is teh organist titulaire Pierre Bardon playing this instrument. To play this instrument there is nothing better than going on the "st maximin academie d'orgue" with tutor Philippe Bardon. And however good any organist is, handling these organs built to the spirit of Dom Bedos is an art unknown to all who play modern instruments, so I really recommend going on the Academie.
I have tried to bring the spirit of something like this sound to England with the concert organ at Hammerwood Park.
latribe 2 years ago
best instrument to play the maccerina on!
AFilthyIbis 2 years ago
That Cathedral is amazing! This video with that music give me some mad chills!! That organ overlooking the congregation complimenting the cathedrals high roof and Gothic architecture makes it seem like I'm actually in the old classical times when music like this was written. AMAZING FOOTAGE!!! Five stars!
AeroSixWJ 2 years ago
THAT ORGAN IS AMAZING!!
drakesummers89 2 years ago
As often as this piece is played, this is one of the most passionately played I've heard. BRAVO on this!!! Terrific organ and acoustics as well which is what this piece DEMANDS!!!!
Capt737AA 2 years ago
Hi! Not me playing . . . I'm only amateur - this is Pierre Bardon who has been organist in this Basilica since 1961. A master par excellence.
latribe 2 years ago
Hi! It's all on the reeds - trumpets, bombardes, clarions - the typical French "Grand Jeu". It follows the spirit of Dom Bedos, the father of all classical organ building since the early 18th century from which 20th century organs departed - and coming back to this sort of organ is now a complete revelation.
latribe 2 years ago
top notch. i LOVE the bass...are those strings in the bass at the beginning? Best organ and best performance of this piece i'v heard yet.
kensingtonpalace 2 years ago
That is a rather phenomenal recording. I've seen this instrument in literature before, but I've never actually heard it - it's very nice to put such a brilliant sound to that equally impressive facade. And people say the Frenchmen can't play Bach. (Solution: More Reeds)
willowthebored 2 years ago
I'm glad you've enjoyed this recording. I recorded the whole concert mainly of French Baroque and another the next week mainly of Bach but with the microphone less well placed . . . and this blew me away so much that I have not bothered to put together any of the other items from the concerts. Putting the seperate audio recording together with the video is a little time consuming!
latribe 2 years ago
These can and are being built today. Modern organ builders apprentice by carrying out intense research on existing ancient instruments - John Brombaugh's detailed study of the Schnitger in Groningen, for instance - then go on to build what they learned into their instruments. Paul Fritts (Tacoma) studied Stellwagen's great organ in Stralsund, then put all of that knowledge into his opus at Pacific Lutheran University - even building the case to resemble the older instrument.
cb77305 2 years ago
My god those Chamades are incredible!
tjugofyra 2 years ago
Is there a website about this organ? I'm assuming it used to be powered by bellows but now has a blower? It sounds incredible!
It is sad that things like this which were built hundreds of years ago can never be built again. They are truly priceless when maintained this well.
Maxxarcade 2 years ago
If you "become a friend" I can show you a couple of videos inside the organ which I have not been allowed to make public. The original bellows are there. You grab hold of a bar like a fence rail, then step on each of five levers. It's amazing.
I debate whether I like St Maximin or Albi more. I suspect that Albi is more gross power and that this instrument might be more musical in some ways - but without the opportunity to play Albi I can't say.
This performance is Pierre Bardon on a Sunday5pm
latribe 2 years ago
I'd love to see more of the organ. I've sent a friend invite.
Maxxarcade 2 years ago
i'd like to see inside
kensingtonpalace 2 years ago
I would like to see more of the organ too, if your okay with that.
michaelseagull 2 years ago
@latribe - the unfortunate thing about Albi is that all that wonderful Puget material was destroyed or transformed out of all recognition. Also, the reconstruction of the old Moucherel is a bit questionable - some of the voicing is too Organ Reform Movement, putting the Voix Humaine on the Bombarde where it has nothing to blend with... just never done in the 18th Century. This isn't coming from me, BTW, this is from Nathan Laube in Toulouse and a local organist, both of whom ought to know.
EccentricRichard 1 year ago
@EccentricRichard This recording is of St Maximin not Albi.
latribe 1 year ago
@latribe - I was making a comment on your post about whether you liked St Maximin or Albi more, so it wasn't entirely irrelevant.
EccentricRichard 1 year ago
Amazing! A camcorder microphone couldn't possibly pickup all the deep bass and higher pitched pipes. We're just hearing the midrange of the performance. It's like watching a movie in black & white.
mybusinesspro 2 years ago
The ROAR of this organ is INCREDIBLE. It's well worth getting an EasyJet flight to Nice and hiring a car. Provided you can arrive so that you leave Nice Airport by 3pm you can comfortably get to St Maximin for the 5pm Subnday recital which, finishing at 6 will allow you to get back to Nice for an 8pm checkin with an hour to spare for the late flight back to London Gatwick.
Is there any other organ in the world worth flying from anywhere to hear?
latribe 2 years ago
This wasn't the camcorder mic. I had a high quality digital recorder running in parallel and I have added that sound source to this video - but audio compression on videos takes its toll. I think it has improved since I first uploaded so YouTube probably do some tweaking. The camcorder sound is on another video of this if you would like to compare.
However, everytime I come to this page, I find the sound SO uplifting.
latribe 2 years ago
Absolutely magnificent! I must go and play this beautiful work of art one day.
advisorC101 2 years ago
Totally and absolutely superb! Thank you David for your message pointing me to this recording. I really really must get down to Provence and hear this magnificent instrument 'live'. Thanks again!
ds1868 2 years ago
listen to that wonderful reverberation in beginning...absolutely AWESOME!!!!!
trombonewesman 2 years ago
Is there an MP3/WAV/whatever of this recording available? I'd love to have this version in high(er)-quality :)
sheps999 2 years ago
You mean Toccata and fugue in D Minor?
organist99x 2 years ago
Oh dear! Of course! Thanks! Dylsexia and senility are starting to kick in . . . Glad you've enjoyed watching - it really is worth getting here for the 5pm weekly Sunday recitals
latribe 2 years ago