Reger on Europe's Largest Pipe Organ: Passau Cathedral

[MegaDani141]

Thanks for this.

I was in passau, and i would like to hear that piece live.....

Spectaculare music,

Great Organ ( i think best )

Greetings from Austria.

[russedav5]

Amazing. Just a Sonata #2 in D major! It's as dense as some SYMPHONIES! Wow!

[russedav5]

Someone rightly said that Reger's music is so dense in hundreds of notes it would be cheaper to print it on black paper and fill in the little bit of white space that would be left! Ha ha. A great composer, like his Introduktion & Passacaglia in d minor, obviously a great tribute to Bach's BWV 582.

[russedav5]

I believe YouTube no longer has the time/filesize limit you mention from 2008, for I've downloaded some > 40 minutes, e.g. youtube. com /watch?v=QGt4oh_l2Zw

[TheUnholyExpert]

Edgar Krapp XD

[TrompetteHarmonique]

Who is the performer and where can I find this full recording?? It is outstanding.

[a55b47]

@TrompetteHarmonique The performer's name is on the video. Watch the video & you'll see why I don't want to repeat it any more than necessary ;-) . The recording is from an old LP, which, as far as I know, was never released on CD -- and is not available any more on black vinyl disc (although I hear they're making a comeback in some musical circles).

[horsebassoon]

It only takes enabling the advanced uploader to load things longer than 10 minutes.

[maleiker101]

Went to mass at this cathedral. Wish it had been "opened up" that weekend. Anyway, well worth a trip to this beautiful cathedral!

[silverstartrucker]

I do like the sound of European Organs...

[we12x42]

I hope big Pipe Organs can survive,as the blower motors are huge power consumers. I think there are five main ones in the Wannamaker organ 155HP total.

Digital Organs sound pretty good now,but will never duplicate the immense sound of all the air going through all those pipes.

[dickintexas]

I will be visiting in October. Can't wait.

[cldsismtv]

Sehr schoen, wunderbar!

Danke!!!

[comeonboeltsy]

Want.

[helloitsmelol097]

Also with the 2 largest organs i know it's a fight to always be better but their largest pipe you can't even here. guess it's just better for recognition but it's amazing they could even build one of these huge instruments.

[wolnoscnieokielznana]

Organ in Leżajsk

[1viva]

WOW! The Pipe Organ has the be THE most powerful instrument in the world in all aspects! :-)

[wolnoscnieokielznana]

The best is organ in Leżajsk

[tailspin37]

Spectacular Instrument.

Great Music.

Thanks for posting.

[ebenasire]

I liv, ed in Passau in the late fifties. It was in poor shape. I visited it again in 2005

Good restoration job, and the Heilige Geist rank is interestiing, as was the restaurant by the same name.

E Knowlton (Neuburgerstr 93) now in NYC

[railfanatic844]

thers are pipes in the ceiling?! amazing, simply amazing

[slatan420]

its alright

[silverstartrucker]

A great sound from a fine organ...

[lousvr]

Max Reger, you ARE the man...

[kathKiMu]

so einen unqualifizierten Kommentar hab ich schon lang nicht mehr gelesen...

[leoHDV]

When i was 12 years old I played the first time on this beautiful organ.

[kensingtonpalace]

i bet tuning this beast is a daily job

[mndud]

if only the piece was named

[a55b47]

Look at the video (@ 0:43)

[TheRhythmofchaos]

What?

[Christcatalyst]

It was named in the video.

[notwinks]

It is: Reger's Sonata #2 in D

[WalterLutz1]

@notwinks

Hello, the correct name of this work is "Sonata #2 in d-minor" (Sonate Nr. 2 in d-Moll). But I'm sorry to say there is a mistake at 2:11! Here are missing about 20 seconds!!! And a "plopp" I found at 8:17.

I find this recording somehow too slow.

WaLu

[passacaglia28]

What a magnificent piece even if a little bit of it is edited for time.  What an impressive organ! What a stately surrounding it has too!

[SteigmiraufsDach]

Die Orgel in Reger ist gegen Passau die stimmlich zweit schönste Orgel

[NecronHasan]

Die Orgel in Reger???

[Weimarer]

Vielleicht ist "Riga" gemeint...?

Dort ist 'ne große Walcker-Orgel, m. Mg. nach viel passender für Reger.

[GloriousMagnifiCat]

Thank you for posting this Fabulous experience! I've played Reger, and longed to hear his personal spirit.

[Silverdaddy101]

Don't you just love Reger? In and out of every key in one piece.

What a genius.

[54spiritedwill54]

Awesome!!

[DoctorNeoCortex72]

I may be just 14 but I know all about organs and how to play then and what a beautiful organ and cathedral in this video!

[yuehchopin]

Ungeheuer! Danke!

[cromorne]

The 1904 Hutchings-Votey organ that I played has what is believed to be the world's first Saxophone, it's a little 4' on the Choir.

[utuberuud]

Very nice performance! Masterful musician.

And about the edit: well done. Almost inaudible...(2:11, isn't it?)

[a55b47]

It's been so long since I edited this that I can't remember precisely where I made the cut ;-). I think you may be right.

[joeyboi87]

this cathedral is amazing, its like something out of a fairytale

[gjthedr]

As a former organist of the Mormon Tabernacle, I can assure you there's not a Tibia in sight on that organ. Nor a Saxophone ... but it *does* have the most comfortable console I've every played on.

[k9alsation]

very nice.

[MANTLEBERG]

What tragedy belies the mind of a composer like this? it frightens me to the extreme, im having nightmares while awake....help..help.

[tjugofyra]

Just read that the Evangelienorgel has a Saxophone 8' register!

I have never heard a organ saxophone stop!

[tjugofyra]

1.19-2.00 gives me goose bumps!

In fact the whole sonata gives me goose bumps but 1.19.2.00 is above all!

[a55b47]

Passau Cathedral has a web site for its instruments. Just Google. Also, I recommend highly Martin Doering's Die Orgelseite (Google again), which provides more information than you could ever want about organs all over Europe.

[tjugofyra]

Does anyone know haw many stops each organ has?

[Shadowtech666]

most 55, some have 88.

[danhervin]

233 stops I think

[bachorg]

Oh sorry! Is a Sonata!...

[bachorg]

What piece is it of Reger? Is a Toccata?

[latribe]

Truly a magificent recording of a magnificent organ! Thanks!

[deth15]

that sound was so powerful that it brought me to tears. simply incredible.

[Shogunmiyuchan]

Edgar Krapp..........what a cool name! ^_^

[gcl82003]

It is easy to be blown away with the thought of the size of an organ. Its what can be achieved musically that matters. I have played on some behemoths and some tiny instruments and as an organist the large beasts are great fun to play and can reach immense hights of expression but some of the smaller instruments can create wonderful tone colours.

[a55b47]

I agree absolutely. As my musical tastes mature, I treasure the rooms the organs play in almost as much as the instruments. I'm hooked on those great reverberant stone churches in Europe. One major drawback to most American organs is the dry acoustics they play in. Prime example: Riverside Church in NYC. Huge instrument, with acoustics like my living room. The renovation of several years ago helped -- but not much.

[ahmelmahe]

As someone who has done quite a bit of time at the Aeolian via Hook, with the late, great Virgil, the instrument is absolutely magnificant - provided you are at the console or sitting on the chancel! Once you move down the isles, left, right or center, wow; is that venue an absolute mess. A true crime.

[a55b47]

When I first started buying Virgil's recordings many, many years ago, I thought maybe the organ sounded so "close" because it WAS close -- to the microphones, which seemed to be placed about 2 feet in front of the pipe chambers. But after hearing the organ in person, I realized it didn't make much difference where they placed the microphones ;-).

[YevgeniyAlexey]

The third river is the Ilz. The smallest of the three rivers.

[a55b47]

Thanks. I should have looked this up long ago & edited my post. Maybe I'll do it soon ;-)

[CE750]

what is the largest register on such an organ? 64'?

[a55b47]

There's a stop list on Die Orgelseite (Google it). As I recall, the Passau organ has one or two 32-footers, but no 64. The only TRUE 64-footer, I think, is on the Town Hall organ in Sydney, Australia.

[reatru]

The Convention Hall organ in Atlantic City, NJ also has a full-length 64'

[a55b47]

But does it work? There are vast portions of the instrument that don't.

[reatru]

It was restored in 1998 and sound samples were taken. After that, it was damaged and disabled again. I've seen two places that say it's been fixed and operational since at least 2007.

[ccoraxfan]

reatru, the organ in Atlantic City is partly working again, but has a long way to go before it's back to the way it should be. It has never been restored before, in 1998 only one chamber was usable due to neglect, yet that chamber has over 100 ranks and is an organ in itself. That chamber is now speaking once more, and the other 7 chambers will follow.

[ccoraxfan]

It doesn't actually matter if it works, the fact is that it exists. Also, I believe the 64 foot rank is back in operation now. The entire organ is in the process of being restored, and hopefully one of these years (it's really that big, it'll take years), we'll hear all 33,000+ pipes speak once more.

[bachprofessore]

I think it is unimportant how big an organ is. Important is the sound of the organ and the acoustic of the room it is in, the rest are details. As bigger an organ is, as lower it's sound level.

[itswagon]

This is a very nice Large Pipe Organ however it is far smaller than the (according to the Guiness book) Atlantic City Convention Hall organ that has over 33,000 pipes and they are still counting. It is also the loudest music instrument in the world (Guiness). The ACHO is being completely refurbished and returned to its original glory as the Absolute King of Instruments. I believe the organist could have chosen better music.

[rugerzandlugerz]

Whoa dude

[YogaNate79]

The largest operational pipe organ in the world, with 28,541 pipes and 462 ranks, is the Wanamaker Grand Court Organ in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is also the second largest organ yet built and the largest completely functional musical instrument in the world. It is played twice a day, six days a week, and there are many recordings of this organ.

[Ralphaz1]

Awesome!!

[idtcib]

monsterous

[DerGuteAlte]

as much as i know there are several pipes under the roof, so one does not see them. i heard it life years ago and it was just fantastic...

[asham2]

Man, what a reverb. The accoustics are out of this world.

[bachprofessore]

A reverb like tis is standard in Bavaria, there are churches which are just 60 meters long and have a reverb of seven seconds.

[sandcrab132]

How is that physically possible?

[bachprofessore]

The church has an interesting architecture. Search for vierzehnheiligen on google to get some pictures!

[Sentfromheaven87]

st. pauls in london has a reverb of about 4/5 seconds...my local church is about...1 second lol

[tjugofyra]

4/5 seconds! St Pauls in London must have a reverb on at least 10 seconds!

[Menrathorgan]

poor passau has just about 1-2-3 :( --> the 17000 pipes don't care x)

[NiallMS]

How many pipes?

[gphil82]

5 manuals, 17,774 pipes, 233 stops

[NiallMS]

Thanks! Yep, that sure is huge!

[Palkab]

Absolutely monumental

[redletterchurch]

Sacred Music, Nature, and the Teachings of Jesus are my religion. To each his own, right? Great video!

[Mikkysixx]

The uiltimate religion:)

[lilisaku1595]

like...wow... awesome

[starbreez3]

Shivers

[rcschumann]

This was an excellent performance and I enjoyed all the photos. I also very much like Franz Hauk's recording of this piece on the mighty Klais organ, in the incredibly reverberant Liebfrauenmunster in Ingolstadt. What a beast that instrument is - the Munster Monster!

[a55b47]

They have made several excellent recordings (on the Guild label, I think) on the Munster Monster of organ-plus-other-instrumental fare that isn't played very often. I think Hauk is the organist on most of them.

[accousticdecay]

Accoustics are critical and this place is wonderful. I concur that if you have dead accoustics, you just waste your money on a large organ.

[PointyTail]

This sounds like Krapp!

Sorry, but seriously, who could resist? LOL

[a55b47]

Yes, Germany has given us Krapp & Felix Hell. What's going on here? ;-)

[robertgift]

Magnificent live accoustics make this instrument far better than Wanamaker, Atlantic City, etc.

Who cares if they have more whistles (pipes).

This is thrilling, vast and clear.

Not harsh and boastful as other organs in smaller more dead rooms. This is glorious.

[a55b47]

I'll take a smaller instrument in a reverberant room any day over a huge instrument in a dry acoustic (as, unfortunately, most of our American organs are). That's why I'm so partial to the Cavaillé-Colls in the French churches. And the Skinners (or almost-Skinners) in Washington Cathedral & St. John the Divine.

[robertgift]

Yes. When I played the organ in Riverside Church, NYC, I was disappointed at the unexpectedly dry accoustics.

Since then, they have applied multiple layers of -?- to the walls to make them more reflective.

[handelfan610]

riverside...isn't that the organ virgil fox used to play?

[robertgift]

Yes! Riverside Baptist Church. (Looks Episcopal.)

His recordings always sounded so dry.

Virgil created his own "reverberation" by the way he removed his fingers at the ends of passages and pieces.

Now is much better. Virgil would be pleased.

[a55b47]

Virgil's recordings were doubly dry because they were very closely mic'ed. I think they improved the acoustics several years ago, not by added something, but by removing the so-called Gustavino tile (some form of plaster, as I recall) that had coated the ceiling/vaulting.

[TheMaestro42]

OK, let me set the record straight...in terms of size, it goes: Passau, FCCLA, West Point Chapel, Wanamaker, and the Atlantic City Convention Hall organ. Of course everyone is going to have their preference, though.

[a55b47]

Well, I guess my designation still works: Passau is Europe's largest. Or, if you want to put it another way, the largest outside the U.S. And I won't quibble with Atlantic City & Wanamaker's being 1 & 2. But I've seen specs for FCCLA & West Point that range all over the map, & the definition of "size" is free-floating, too. Number of pipes? Number of ranks? Number of stops? I'm afraid I'm jumping into a discussion that I had hoped to avoid ;-) (See Domedectin's comment below).

[2468HOTROD]

I lived in LA and got to hear the organ at First Congregational Church many times in concert. The sound is unlike anything else I've heard but the church is far too small for the organ. It needs to be in a cathedral like St. Paul's or Cologne. I hated to leave LA because I'd never hear that organ again. The recordings I have of it sound nothing NADA close to what it sounds like in person. I've left that church after a concert choked up and speechless after what I had just heard.

[Domedictin]

I don't like dicussions about world records

of pipe-organs. That's nothing to me.

Are we agreed that the importand factor is the the sound and first of all the composer and his music? (>>Domedictin>>Reger: The Deum)

[theblackhand2]

I agree. If I had my choice between listening to the Wannamaker Organ which is the largest playable organ in the world or perhaps the Great Organ in Notre Dame du Paris I'd choose the latter hands down. Just like in anything else, size does not always matter.

[acchos]

sound does, and the wanamaker has a far superior sound, as well as the atlantic city organ, the tonal finishing on both of those organs is beyond belief

[Domedictin]

It wasn't my request to degrade the american organs. What I mean is that I don't like to count and compare the number of the pipes, stops etc. A very small organ can sound excellent too all over the world.

[accousticdecay]

Great instrument, marvelous rendition, and thrilling accoustics.

[Reesman95]

Nice