[Theme] The Organ Thread

[Frank Fremerey]

Wow #251 ... very attractive!

[Lars Hansen]

A moderately sized organ from a small parish church in Denmark - Smidstrup church.

Organ: Bruhn & Sønner, 1976 (?), 13 voices.

[Lars Hansen]

Today's workplace. Proper keyboards, unlike computers'.

Fascinating workplace Airy!

[Akira]

Today's workplace. Proper keyboards, unlike computers'. Handheld shot, with the magnificent Zeiss 25/2.

Gorgeous manuals!  What did you play?

[Airy]

Bach, BWV 655 (Herr Jesu Christ, dich zu uns wend, trio). Long working on it. Then Tournemire choral poème n°2, and Messiaen (le banquet céleste) for relaxing, also because the organ is much more suitable for XXth century music. Then back to Bach, BWV 651, 652, 653 (more Leipzig chorales).

Lars, I wish I had that one for Bach. The precise tone emission is a plus. In my present case, the console is in the nave and the organ up there, so the feedback comes with a delay... see picture (again Zeiss 25/2, straightened in LR)

[Akira]

"Le Banquet Céleste" is one of my favorite!  I'd love to listen to it in a real church.

[Airy]

then come and visit me ; it is also one of my absolute favorites. Messiaen composed it aged 18, on a summer holiday on the countryside (at his aunts' farm). Maybe that's where the extreme serenity of the tune comes from. That's also why I play it on summers (or, in my former times as a liturgy organist, in festo corporis christi which usually is close to summer).

If you cannot find a porthole to get to Lille, I'll send you a link to the next best thing - a concert recording (Yves Castagnet playing) which includes "le banquet" immediately followed by the matching vocal piece "O sacrum convivium" by the same young Messiaen. As the microphones were set up for the organ record, the choir (standing near the altar) was recorded in quite a distance, so you'll get the full atmosphere. Fortunately, the mikes (Neumann KM184) have a frequency response that is nearly isotropic, so the sound is reverberated but not dull.

Cherry on the cake, the organ and the church (St Michel in Lille) are as close as possible to Messiaen's Trinité church in Paris, just slightly smaller...

[Lars Hansen]

Lars, I wish I had that one for Bach. The precise tone emission is a plus. In my present case, the console is in the nave and the organ up there, so the feedback comes with a delay... see picture (again Zeiss 25/2, straightened in LR)

I can imagine that is a challenge and more so in a large church room with the extra reverberation (correct term?).
I recently heard a concert rehearsal of Beethoven's 7. symphony in a church - not an easy task for the musicians it seemed. I did not buy a ticket...   

[Fons Baerken]

Saint Pierre, Saint Laurent, Bauge

[Airy]

Mid XIXth century I guess. Wish you also had taken the other side.

[Fons Baerken]

Mid XIXth century I guess. Wish you also had taken the other side.

Backside didnt seem very interesting to me

[Thomas G]

Saint Pierre, Saint Laurent, Bauge

Nice one. Actually listening to Dolores - Bohren & der Club of Gore which gives the right mood to look at pictures of organs.

[Frank Fremerey]

Today at mass

Orgelbau Kreienbrink

never heard of them. The sound was soso.

 The player was really good.

spontaneus fill in for the scheduled one who dropped out.

[Airy]

Good looks (and sharp pic). Wolfgang Stockmeier, former organ professor in Köln, recorded all JS BAch works on Kreienbrink organs. They sound very clean but also very "neutral", a bit lifeless.

[Frank Fremerey]

We have a Klais choir organ of the same size in St Marien. It sounds like a big one. A huuuuge one ...

PS: The D500 and 1.4/24G are a perfect match. Unbelievable in any respect.