"Little" Fugue in g minor by J.S. Bach, BWV 578

Doug Marshall plays the Fugue in g minor by J.S. Bach, BWV 578, on Marshall & Ogletree Opus Two, built for St. Lukes Episcopal Church in Montclair, New Jersey.

The Marshall & Ogletree organ, dubbed The Virtual Pipe Organ by the New York Times, attained instant fame following the installation of Opus One, a large double organ of more than 200 ranks, at Trinity Wall Street in New York City. M&O organs are designed to address this question: If price were no object, could a pipeless organ be built that would rival, in every musically meaningful way, the best pipe organs?

More information about this organ may be found at http://www.MarshallandOgletree.com. A growing number of high-quality mp3s are available for free download at our site. We invite you to browse and to be in touch if we may serve you.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Organ
• virtual
• pipe
• organ
• Rodgers
• allen
• orgel
• organo
• bwv
• 578
• M&O

[0627nmp]

Well done! Is the camera shaking from the bass notes?

[organpower]

@0627nmp Yes indeed. We got a chuckle when we saw it afterward. That camera was looking out the Swell/Pedal chamber.

[SuperOldandSlow]

Stylistically, this performance is very similar to that of a recording I have of Virgil Fox from when he was organist at Riverside Church in New York. I purchased the LP (yeppers, one of them there round black things with grooves) in 1968. I often use it to demonstrate to the technically-challenged that analog is definitely superior to digital when it comes to capturing the subtle nuances of music.

[marcel911]

Lovely. That is my second favourite fugue. That organ has a fantastic sound.

[robmcw]

That is most smooth, clear, and musical interpretation I have heard since Fox played it at Carnegie Hall.

[SPLEclipse]

Thank you so much! The staccatos are perfect.

[Cherrychan88]

Woah. He used his feet. FEET! Talk about hardcore!

[peteacher52]

Without getting into the pipe vs digital debate, I say it's nice to see a church being realistic about its financial resources and going for the best available for what they can raise.

[jvdurante84]

Say at USD400,000 the M&O comes with around 100 stops--that's a pretty huge organ! How many stops do you get in a real pipe organ at that price? 20-30. Besides not all real pipe organs sound as good as this. I bet this virtual organ sounds better than many real pipe organs. Then you would have to spend for regular tuning and maintenance. What do you think?

[MrBooker39]

What a colorful, driving performance! I think I'd prefer it just a tad slower...it would be even more dramatic. But...who am I to argue...this works and the excitement is affecting, to say the least!

Thanks.

[gerazio1]

Bello. Anzi ottimo!

[obxemt]

These organs are clearly wonderful and artistic. I do not mean this sarcastically, but "if price were no object," why not just buy a pipe organ? Space limitations? For instance, why would a large church with resources and an accomplished music program choose one of these instruments over a pipe organ?