Virgil Fox Legacy | Ives | Variations on America

http://www.virgilfoxlegacy.com
http://www.cafepress.com/virgilfox

Category:

Music

Tags:

• virgil
• fox
• pipe
• organ
• ives
• variations
• on
• america
• fourth
• of
• july

[azriverguy]

Virgil Fox was not only , in my opinion, one of the all time great organists, but since the introduction of the Rodgers touring organ, he not only kept the music alive as, I believe Bach and all the other baroque composers would have liked the music to sound, but he brought it outside the boundaries of the large churches and cathedrals and took it to the people. Bravo to a great man and thanks for bringing some of his work to Youtube!

[TroyCorn]

does anyone else think that the editing of this video makes it really hard to watch? I can't focus on watching anything when there are three different videos overlapped with each other.

[jill506]

@1java2 yes, he WAS an eccentric uncle of Austin Powers and also a freaky deaky GENIUS!

@southernsceptic "pretty skilled" ????? wha???? what planet are you from? This dude was fantastic player !!!!!!! What is wrong with you????!!!! "pretty skilled" you need to crawl out of that sceptic tank and clean your ears!!!!

[jill506]

I love this guy and I regret that I never got to hear him in a live concert. Great that he is on these videos. Virgil lives!

[ultrazvek100]

It is impossible for me to find the score of this peice on internet. I've only found the piano transcription. I see I can only play Bach on organ because I can only find his scores.

[Marksnotebook]

I missed out on him as I barely remember him when he was alive. So glad I can now hear him play on YOU tube...what a wonderful man he was with music and passion and convictions. Truly remarkable with a sense of humor--- and an all time great!

[TheOricko]

I always liked Virgil Fox, though he was unorthodox. In today's organ world, perhaps Cameron Carpenter fills his shoes. Ives' Variations is a wonderful piece.

[trevjr]

@southernsceptic rubbish, Ives would have wanted it this way. He need the time to make the changes. This version is amazing in its multiple sounds. His technique is perfection, squeezes every drop out of the music. I can see Ives laughing in the audience. He plays like a real musician, unafraid to put his own stamp on the music, not like the robots the music schools crank out. People always bash someone different, even if a genius.

[christianmch111]

Wonderful playing!

[1java2]

If this video were all I knew about Virgil Fox I would conclude that he was an eccentric uncle of Austin Powers. The poor old Rodgers sounds awful, too. Thank goodness my first exposure to Fox was an LP of him playing the Wanamaker organ, presumable while wearing more conventional clothing.

[southernsceptic]

Here's why some people criticize this performance. Although Virgil Fox was pretty skilled technically, there were times when his own "takes" on a composition obscured some of the work's own strengths. I've heard an old LP version of Virgil Fox playing this piece, and the performance was much more straightforward. Better, too. No silly rolled chords, no grand pauses inserted into the score...Ives' piece has enough humor on its own...but here, Virgil adds the equivalent of a laugh track. No need.

[cnmmnc8852]

@octave4 Fred Swann, who was also a student of Charles Courboin, is indeed the last of the heroic age of organists.