Widor's Toccata from the 5th Symphony

Widor's Toccata on the 1845 William Hill organ of Wesley Methodist Church, Cambridge (III+P/52). Unfortunately the 16' Contra Fagotto was not working when I recorded this clip, so there is no 16' reed in the pedal till the end, as the 16' trombone on this organ is very loud, too loud for the beginning anyway. The pause/held chord in the middle is due to a toe piston suddenly deciding not to work just when I needed it to! The swell action is also a little sluggish, and this combined with the building's acoustics and the crappy microphone on my phone mean that this recording doesn't sound so great. This does piece does make great use of the 32' acoustic bass however.

Organ Spec:

http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=D04888

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Daniel

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Widor
• Toccata
• 5th
• Symphony
• Pipe
• Organ
• Wesley
• Methodist
• Church
• Cambridge
• Daniel
• Lay
• William
• Hill
• 1845

[davidmiler12]

I play at Great St Marys Church, ive played at wesley several times. I think a trumpet en chamade would be the icing on the cake. And trinity, pfftt, nothing special.

[bandit12811]

@davidmiler12 Great St Marys, cool. Do you get to play both organs? Yes, a trumpet en chamade would really help that organ. I feel, maybe some 32s as well would be nice. An extension of the awesome trombone rank down to 32' would be quite something! Ever played at St John the Evangelist, Blinco Grove? It isn't that nice an organ, with a very wooly touch, but the great trumpet is crazy! It is hooded, so sounds as though it is en chamade. It drowns out full organ easily!

Daniel

[GoPatriots100]

amazing but at 0:12 the bottom not is extra not written :D

[bandit12811]

@GoPatriots100 Ah, yes. On the free sheet music I got from the internet, it was written! I always thought it sounded a bit wierd with the extra note, but was just following what the music said. I have since bought a proper arrangment, and noticed almost straight away that the E was not written in!

Cheers. Your comments are much appreciated! =]

[pipeorganfan26]

Great Job Bud! Bravo. Way To Bad The Organ Decided To Not Coperate With You. Is It A Very Old Organ. Probably Not Very Well Maintained. What A Shame. A Nice pipe Organ Just Going To pieces. Keep Up The Awesome Job.

[bandit12811]

@pipeorganpraise Thanks for that, much appreciated. Have had to take a break from the organ due to exams, but am spending a good amount of time in my local church at the moment, so getting back into it. I think for this summer I am not really going to do much in the way of learning new pieces, but I am going to sort my sight reading, cos it is absolutely rubbish.  I will look at the Sinfonia to Cantata 29 once my sight reading is what I deem acceptable. Daniel.

[pipeorganpraise]

@pipeorganpraise That said, I did sign up for freebiejeebies and will return later to complete an offer ...

[pipeorganpraise]

This piece, is frequently used as the postlude for televised services (Hour of Power). Your performance in this video is SO comparable to organists many years your senior! You should have your own website with no aversion to requesting others support your study of the organ. Perhaps have a wishlist at Amazon and similar retailers, so you get what you need (and deserve!) GOD BLESS!

[notredameswarrior1]

how old are u? u look very young. great performance. one of my favorite pieces.

[GoPatriots100]

@bandit12811 haha same here I learned the hard way :D