Piping Up! The 1979 Casavant Organ of St. Peter’s Cathedral: A Historical Sound Reimagined
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 ก.ย. 2024
- Episode 20 of Piping Up with Stephen Regec
Welcome to Episode 2 of our 8-part series, where we explore the grand and historic pipe organs of Wilkes-Barre and Scranton, PA. In this episode, we feature the remarkable Casavant Frères Ltée Organ at St. Peter’s Cathedral, Scranton. This instrument, installed in 1979 as Casavant Opus 3414, is known for its majestic presence and versatile tonal capabilities, consisting of 52 ranks, three manuals, and over 2,770 pipes. This organ is a mechanical organ also known as a tracker organ. When you press a key it allows the player to have direct control to opening the pipe pallet.
In 1979, under the guidance of Bishop McCormick, this organ was installed at St. Peter’s Cathedral by Casavant Frères of St. Hyacinthe, Quebec. Designed by Gerhard Brunzema, this instrument replicates the style and craftsmanship of 17th-century European organs, specifically those found in Holland and Germany. It is a free-standing organ, encased in oak. Its tracker action and historical design make it an extraordinary centerpiece of the cathedral’s musical tradition. With this unique instrument, the Cathedral organ provides both the power and precision required for liturgical music and organ concerts, offering a truly authentic sound experience.
It is notable to mention that this organ is one of the finest samples of an organ that is tuned in a historically well-tempered tuning called "Well-Tempered Valotti/Young". This tuning system, a variation of well-tempered tuning, was designed to reflect historical practices from 17th-century Europe, where organs in places like Holland and Germany would have used temperaments that allowed for greater tonal variety. With this system, certain keys sound more consonant while others retain slight tension, providing a richer, more expressive sound across the tonal spectrum. This authentic tuning brings out the organ’s unique character, allowing it to replicate the historical soundscapes of Baroque and early Classical music.
Our featured organist, Maria Zengion, takes the bench to showcase the incredible sound of this unique instrument. Maria, currently serving as the organist at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Scranton, has an impressive career in sacred music. Her expertise has led her to serve as an organist at numerous churches, including Grace Episcopal Church, Honesdale, and here at St. Peter’s Cathedral.
A graduate of Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ, with a Bachelor of Music in Organ Performance, Maria was honored with the prestigious Alexander McCurdy Award for excellence. She continued her studies at The New England Conservatory of Music, earning a Master of Music in Organ Performance, with a focus on historical performance practice. In addition to her performance career, Maria has studied organ building, and apprenticing across the U.S., and has served as the Organ Curator for The Bethlehem Bach Choir since 2000.
Join us as Maria performs and brings the sounds of this historic organ to life in an unforgettable musical experience!
Channel Intro music is brought to you by Walker Technical Organ Company and Daniel Umholtz.
For more information about the organ visit: pipeorgandatab...
For more information about the Cathedral visit: www.stpetersca...
GREAT JOB , I LOVE IT!!!
STANDING OVATION TO MY DEAR FRIEND AND CLASSMATE MAESTRA MARIA ZENGION
Nice!
NOAH AND THE MUSIC MAN ARE BACK!!!!
wooooooooooooooooo!
Interesting for you to see how trends in organ building change in the course of 59 years from the 1920 Casavant from last week to this instrument. I am secretly hoping there is one particular organ in Wilkes Barre you might be stoping by for a visit...
It's definitely amazing how an organ can be specific to a church or Cathedral. Give me your thoughts on this organ you think I filmed. Perhaps I did.
@@Piping_Up There is a saying that "more pipe organs are worn out by fashion than playing ever will" The two Casavants you have visited are good examples of how organ design can change with the winds of popular taste. The 1920" instrument was a product of the day, lush orchestral sounds heavier voicing, solo voices big scaled pipes. In the time between this instrument and the second Casavant from this week a number of things happened. American organists, with the advent of easier travel to Europe and organists in WW2 discovered organs over there that were nothing like what the played back home, .like the 20's and 30's Skinners, Austins, Mollers. In Europe, they discovered lighter sounding cleaner voicing, spacious acoustics and music of composers like Bach played in a completely different way than what they knew. These organists came home and wanted those sounds. So, the Organ Reform movement burst forth. Organs like the old Skinners, Austins, etc. were deemed old and ugly, organ builders began building these "baroque" organs and the old organs fell out of favor and were thrown away. Things swung so far the other directing that builders were building "copies" of these European instruments so organists could play the fashionable music they discovered in Europe.with "authentic performance practice" Now things have swung the other way, while not all of the organ reform organs have been gotten rid of in favor of a more romantic sound.Organists began rediscovering those romantic/symphonic organs which were saved from destruction, frequently simply because of benign neglect or just plain not having the money to replace things with the latest fashion. Both organs you have visited so far have been in situations where the room, the best stop on the organ, has been favorable. Out of this century long period, builders have brought the best of both worlds into today's instruments. (oh, just reading down the comments, you have already given away next week, I hope you had a good conversation with Mark L)
@robertmiller8336 all this is definitely what I have heard in snippets and pieces from other organists as we've traveled. So many times we've run into different organs that just don't seem to please the organist that's playing it. But yet others are extremely happy with what they have. Overall I'd say it's nice to have a mix of both because it still shows the history of organs as well some organs can have both while also having some of the newest things available. It has certainly been a journey to capture all the sounds of different organs. I don't think any microphone no matter how good it is will ever capture the full tone and range of organs. It's something that we could admire on the screen but to really understand and know the organ, you have to be there.
The episcopal cathedral in Wilkes barre has a gorgeous organ aswell
Are you referring to St. Stephen's Episcopal?
@@Piping_Up yes!! Not sure if it's a cathedral but yes your correct
@C.Golobish27 I don't believe it's a cathedral. I could be wrong. As far as I'm aware it's just St Stephen's Episcopal church. That will be next week's video. Stay tuned for that. That one will be a huge highlight.
@@Piping_Up Re; St Stephen's is designated as a pro Cathedral - " A church named by a diocesan bishop to serve as a cathedral but which remains under the governance of the vestry and dean" The Episcopal Diocese of Bethlehem is sprawling, , from the Lehigh Valley up to the NY state line. Some times events happen @ St Stephen's because it is more centraly located. I don't know if the diocese still has a satellite office there or not. (and now you might have guessed which church I was hinting at...)
Oh yes! They are spread out. I forgot Mark mentioned that. And yes, that video is next week! You won't want to miss that!