Symphony Romane by Charles Marie Widor; Final (finale)

If you like this video, please rate it! Be sure to keep listening; the second half is the best-- amazing! Rollin Smith performs the finale to Symphony #10, "Romane," for organ, composed in 1899 and published in 1900 by French organist-composer Charles Marie Widor. This is a particularly strong, sensitive, clear and dramatic performance of this work. It was recorded Dec.14, 1975 on the Aeolian-Skinner organ of G. Donald Harrison (Op.948, built 1936-37), the greatest and most famous American organ builder, at St. Marks Episcopal Church in Philadelphia. The name "Romane" refers to Romanesque architecture, particularly that of Saint Sernin de Toulouse, which Widor admired along with its Cavaille-Coll organ. His previous symphony the Gothique had been inspired by Gothic architecture. The music reflects the curving fluidity of the Romanesque style. The theme is based on the beginning of an old Gregorian plainchant "Haec dies, quam fecit Dominos" (This is the Day that the Lord has made) from Psalms 118-24, which is sung as a "gradual" or vocal response during the Mass on Easter Sunday. It is a joyous theme that represents the resurrection of Jesus, as well as our own each day. People remarked when Widor played this and similar music that it was like light showering down from the organ. In his last two symphonies Widor used the organ as a sacred instrument that expressed "the music of the eternal; awakening thoughts of immortality." He told his colleague and co-editor Albert Schweitzer that "the organ represents the rapprochment of the human spirit to the eternal, imperishable spirit."
See my list of organ favorites, with links to hear them, at
http://philosopherswheel.com/ericorgan.html
A You Tube video of the chant on which the symphony is based is here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q28Idsjvto8
And also in this video about the merkabah symbol of ascension:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWxl-LozJj8
This Symphony Romane video of mine seems to be quite popular compared to my other videos. But some people don't like it, and some crank got upset over it enough to give ALL my videos several one stars. So if you do like it please say you "like" it! Thanks.

Category:

Music

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• Charles
• Marie
• Widor
• Symphony
• Romane
• Rollin
• Smith
• St.
• Marks
• Philadelphia
• Saint
• Sernin
• Toulouse
• Cavaille-Coll
• Aeolian-Skinner
• G.
• Donald
• Harrison
• Sulpice
• resurrection
• Haec
• dies
• This
• is
• the
• day
• eternal

[steve40004]

I do not find this the best performance artistically, but it is very good. In my opinion, this is the most mature and intellectual of all the Widor symphonies.

[fanny0820]

Vous avez fait un montage somptueux avec une qualité de son remarquable ? des  boîtes expressives bien utilisées , un détail des "petits jeux " d'anches, des crescendos romantiques

des chorals soutenus ... une pédale bien audible ,détaillée et précise avec une main gauche autorisée ... dans un décors d'imagination grandiose de sonorités justes ,

un grand bravo à votre spontanéité de registration ,