Ethan Chow Performs Vierne’s Finale (Symphony No. 6) On The Hazel Wright Organ

Christ Cathedral Organ Scholar Ethan Chow performs the Finale from Louis Vierne’s 6th Symphony on the Hazel Wright Organ at Christ Cathedral in Garden Grove, CA.
*Video borrowed from Christ Cathedral webcast
-with “improved” audio taken by a Roland R-26 Audio Recorder.
Its a stunning performance.

[@LeonardoOrganist]

With the latest restoration Ruffatti added a 64’ reed? In the final I seem to hear it.

[@mountedcornetv9506]

Yes Walker added one

[@alancorley3675]

Spec-tac-u-lar !!

[@originaltommy]

What the? I'm one minute in and wondering why my brain is melting. Pray I make it to the end. I'm sure the pedal scales will be perfect (least of my concerns....)

[@TheJohn1567]

He should have used the score and a page turner. He is a fine organist, but he got lost a number of times and had to make up sections til he memory reappeared. With the score he probably would have played note perfect!

[@cliveso]

He seemed to care more about gyrating than playing the right notes

[@originaltommy]

You can say that again.

[@davidkinyon3903]

This is an insanely difficult work, especially on an organ you’re not familiar with. It is played very well, but I have to be the bad guy and say that you’re playing far too fast to handle this piece. I know this piece forwards and backwards you’re going way too fast and you can’t handle it, when you’re playing on this organ in this venue and you miss as much as you have you need to read it back. And it sounds like there was a major temperature change in the cathedral. The organ is definitely not sounding as well as it normally does but by no means a bad performance this could’ve been a lot better.

[@DJDevvin]

The organ sounds great!!! Obviously you’ve never heard a pipe organ.

[@richardharrold9736]

​@@DJDevvinthere are some definite tuning discrepancies between divisions, and some of the organ is plain out of tune. I know it's insanely difficult with departments spread all over a building at different angles and elevations to keep it all in tune, especially when that building is mostly glass, but it's definitely noticeable.

[@originaltommy]

This performance is rotten, self serving and just insulting to Vierne. What the? There is NOTHING to like about this performance. Entire sections forgotten and thus loosely and poorly improvised upon. It's just a mess an absolute mess. Why release this to the public?

[@DJDevvin]

@@originaltommyObviously you’ve never heard of organ pieces so why are you complaining about how awful the piece is? It sounds great, so what’s your excuse?

[@richardharrold9736]

A poor performance overall, the spectacular fireworks at the end notwithstanding. He plays fistfuls of wrong notes, especially in the opening section, and in the quieter middle section, he seemingly forgets how it goes entirely and desperately busks from memory until he manages to pick it up again. He has real capability, but he evidently hadn't done enough practice to be secure in performing this notoriously challenging piece, especially from memory.

[@williamtrapnell8739]

Why thank you Mr. Harrold......so nice to meet someone who knows it all or thinks so!!!!!.

[@richardharrold9736]

@@williamtrapnell8739 I've seen and heard enough performances of Vierne Six that I know how it's supposed to go. This isn't great.

[@michaelwarner5280]

This is a great performance. You just like hearing it the way you intemperate the piece. Everybody intemperate things differently.

[@richardharrold9736]

@@michaelwarner5280 no, it really really isn't. It's not that the tempo is hugely inappropriate. It's that he's splatting hundreds of wrong notes throughout, and the middle section simply bears no resemblance to what Vierne wrote at all.