An impressive video showcasing the majestic 32' Bombarde at the Saint Patrick's Church in Washington DC! The powerful richness of sound from this organ pipe is truly awe-inspiring. Thank you to Charles Reardon for sharing this impressive musical piece!
The 1994 Lively-Fulcher Organ at St Patrick’s is a fabulous instrument with gorgeous French voicing and its gallery location speaking into the resonant church makes it a real gem. What a wonderful opportunity for you to play it and explore its tonal possibilities - especially those fiery reeds and shimmering strings! I'm envious of your visit and that 32' Contra Bombarde deserved the 'whoo' for certain! You lucky man1
But organs entered churches very late and after long arguments and discussion by clergymen, because the organ was the instrument plaid in arenas when martyrs were killed and suffered... My English is not so good (I'm French)... And I agree with you it's the most impressive music instrument...
Have you heard Daniel Chorzempa at St Sernin? HIs articulation and clarity were such that I heard notes I never knew were there. The fact that the organ is a Cavaille-Coll doesn't hurt either.
I really enjoy the Widor; consistent, lively tempo, great registration on a magnificent organ, and a fine, growly 32 footer. Well done. It dawned on me, listening to this, that Widor may have been a minimalist. Who knew? @@Charles-Reardon
Love the reactions of people to a magnificent instrument such as this.......I wondered was the steam in the background coming from the organ itself........
Stentorian, indeed! So much so that in the last few pages of the Widor (in this recording and on my speakers anyway) it seemed like the the pedals completely swamped the manuals. I wonder if there were any stops left unpulled (other than solo reeds, of course) that would have helped to balance the divisions.
I hit the tutti stud with my foot for the last chord expecting to have the solo reeds added, but I later found that the piston was broken so nothing happened
The cornerstone of the present church was laid in 1872. The first mass was celebrated in November 1884, and the building was consecrated in December of that year.
The Lively-Fulcher organ at St. Patrick's is truly amazing but the 32' Contre Bombarde is nowhere near as loud as the 32' Kontra Posaune at the National City Christian Church.
many years ego I visited this famous church. I was told that an electronic 64 feet pedal was added in this organs, although the human ears can hardly hear sich a low sound. Is this correct?
@@HobbyOrganist I would argue that 32' and 64' reeds aren't felt at all... it is flues that underpin the organ. The point of pedal reeds is to pierce through, audibly. Acoustics and distance might add to the feeling though
It's a great organ, sadly the camera mike doesn't fully justice to the sound as it can't registrate the real lows, all we hear from the 32' Bombarde is the organ case shaking. Switch off automatic recording level if possible, it removes all the dynamics from the sound. Adjust the sound to be at -6dB at peak sound levels, that will give the best result on the average mic. You then have a minimum of distortion and good dynamics between soft and loud parts, with video editing you can adjust the loudness to the standard level so the the video will not appear loud enough in playback. If the camera doesn't support this eg. when it is a phone or action cam, the investing in a good digital sound recorder would be great when you plan to do more of these videos. And please, play the Toccata a bit slower, that gives better articulation and Widor intended it that way.
Yeah but despite all that, youtube "processes"" all the videos to reduce file size and bandwidth, so there's that loss, plus you are playing it back thru whatever device you have and volume set at
Too much pedal amplitude kills the manual work in the end and Widor wouldn't have wanted it attempted at such an excessive tempo ....the proof is there in those final bars. Cleanly played at slower tempo beats sloppily executed at unplayable tempo every time, imho..
St. Patrick's, Washington, DC 1994 Lively-Fulcher (Stoplist; PIPORG-L, Neill Callis, Dec 1998) Manual I: Grand Orgue Montre 16' Montre 8' Bourdon 8' Salicional 8' Flute harmonique 8' Prestant 4' Flute ouverte 4' Quinte 2 2/3' Doublette 2' Fourniture IV Trompette 8' Clairon 4' Manual II: Recit Expressif Bourdon 16' Diapason 8' Viole de Gambe 8' Voix Celeste 8' Cor di nuit 8' Prestant 4' Flute octaviante 4' Nasard 2 2/3' Octavin 2' Tierce 1 3/5' Plein Jeu IV Basson 16' Trompette harmonique 8' Basson-hautbois 8' Voix humaine 8' Manual III: Solo Cornet (tenor g) V Bombarde 16' Trompette 8' Clairon 4' Pedale Soubasse 32' (lowest 12 notes electronic) Flute 16' Soubasse 16' Montre 16' (G.O.) Basse 8' Bourdon 8' Octave 4' Flute 4' Contrebombarde 32' Bombarde 16' Trompette 8' Tremolo G.O. Tremolo Recit Recit-G.O. Solo-G.O. Octaves graves G.O. Ocatves graves Recit Tirasse G.O. Tirasse Recit Tirasse Solo The building was renovated at the time of the organ installation: a new coat of laquer? paint was applied to the interior walls, and a new floor (marble?) was laid. According to Mark Lively (organbuilder), the acoustic was 2-3 seconds before the renovation...now it's like 6-8 seconds! The organ was installed in 1994 by the firm Lively-Fulcher of Alexandria, VA, in the rear Gallery; I believe it retains some pipework from the previous instrument (Hook and Hastings?) but I can't confirm those details presently. The Grand Orgue and Recit are 'straight' -- that is to say, each stop is independant. The Solo reeds are a single rank. The Pedale Soubasse is a 32-16-8 unit; the 4' Flute is independant. The Pedale "Flute" (i.e., Principal) and Basse (i.e., Octave) are straight; the 4' Octave is an extension of the 8' Basse. The Pedal reeds are a single rank. And the 32' Contrebombarde is real.....oh boy is it real.
The Widor Toccata would have sounded better had it been performed at a slower pace. This is the biggest mistake made by some organists with this piece and was never intended to be played at an excessively rapid pace by the composer.
Too fast? Why? By whose measurement? Widor himself would have loved this performance. Everyone happily quotes Widor’s own recording of this piece as the ideal tempo, but Widor was a very old and arthritic man when he made that recording and freely admitted that was a fast as he could still play it, suggesting it should have been quicker. This was a perfectly crisp, well-articulated performance of Widor’s toccata. You can hear every note, the momentum is there, there was definitely no rushed feeling. Well played CR! If only you had had more time at the console to sort out your own registrations😝
@@FraserGartshore A lot depends on the acoustics in the building. I played it in York Minster quite a few years ago and made the mistake of taking it too fast, resulting in an unclear, blurred sound quite apart from the fractional tine delay encountered when using the detached nave console. The Assistant Organist Ben Morris made a Video on TH-cam of him playing the Widor Toccata in York, but even he didn’t play it at the same tempo as on the recording under discussion.
It also depends a lot on how you register it. If it is taken very fast with the gravitas Widor used in his own recording, of course it's going to be blurry but for instance Jean Guillou once recorded it in approx 3min40s in Matthiaskirche, Berlin and it doesn't get blurry at all even with this ridiculous pace since he's using a very bright registration: th-cam.com/video/7Q6rg2p4zf4/w-d-xo.html For me it sounds Charles is playing it really fine with the acoustics in St. Patrick's
@@tanelimp I am one of those organists who attempt to use the same pattern of registration as is sometimes stated by the composer so unless lots of upperwotk and mixtures are called for, I omit them, especially in French compositions.
It is impossible to judge by a recording tempered by the device recording, the quality of the file and then what youtube does to it for "processing" plus your speakers/device playing it back, it has to be compared with a decibel meter
![[LIVE] : ONE ลุมพินี 62 | คู่เอก "มงคลแก้ว vs อีที"](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/q7QuSUtUN94/mqdefault.jpg)
Nice of them to offer this opportunity to you, Charles. Keep going, you are carrying the torch on this craft and doing it well. Thanks.
A stunning organ for that space. Not too big and flashy, it has everything you need. Great demonstration of the voices too.
Many thanks!
Very happy with the pace of the Widor. Light and bright.
An impressive video showcasing the majestic 32' Bombarde at the Saint Patrick's Church in Washington DC! The powerful richness of sound from this organ pipe is truly awe-inspiring. Thank you to Charles Reardon for sharing this impressive musical piece!
Wow a walk down memory lane ! Wonderful to hear you play the Widor Toccata. Thank you for this posting!
The 1994 Lively-Fulcher Organ at St Patrick’s is a fabulous instrument with gorgeous French voicing and its gallery location speaking into the resonant church makes it a real gem. What a wonderful opportunity for you to play it and explore its tonal possibilities - especially those fiery reeds and shimmering strings! I'm envious of your visit and that 32' Contra Bombarde deserved the 'whoo' for certain! You lucky man1
The pipe organ has to be the greatest musical instrument ever invented. Every church should have one.
But organs entered churches very late and after long arguments and discussion by clergymen, because the organ was the instrument plaid in arenas when martyrs were killed and suffered... My English is not so good (I'm French)... And I agree with you it's the most impressive music instrument...
Ours used to have a pipe organ. Now we have an electric one. Not a substitute.
I’ve heard the Widor Toccata performed many times. This performance was absolutely astounding.
Have you heard Daniel Chorzempa at St Sernin? HIs articulation and clarity were such that I heard notes I never knew were there. The fact that the organ is a Cavaille-Coll doesn't hurt either.
Beautiful! Thank you!
That particular 32' bombarde changed my life - will never forget when I first heard it!
This is exactly the character of a 32' Contra Bombarde I love. Especially at 14:40. Wonderful!
Thanks for sharing.
Love the organ! I love the tempo of the Widor. Some rush it but I thought your tempo was perfect! Thank you!
It's nice to hear some appreciation about my tempo... it was very difficult to learn and I feel I reserve the right to choose my interpretation
I really enjoy the Widor; consistent, lively tempo, great registration on a magnificent organ, and a fine, growly 32 footer. Well done.
It dawned on me, listening to this, that Widor may have been a minimalist. Who knew?
@@Charles-Reardon
PERFECT song choice at the end!!! Love that toccata as a recessional.
Absolutely love the pipe organ so underrated and underappreciated
Great video. Makes me feel like I'm there.
Magnificent!!!
Lord have mercy! That's how you do church downtown! What a magnificent sound!
Love the reactions of people to a magnificent instrument such as this.......I wondered was the steam in the background coming from the organ itself........
Absolutely wonderful Charles🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
The 32ft. Bombarde sounds like a truck jake braking. Your Widor Toccata #5 sounds great.
The young lad plays it very much like Daniel Chorzempa played it back in 1983 on a Philips recording that I've had from the era.
There is a recording made by Widor playing his own 'epidemic' Toccata , but he plays is much more slowly and with more prudency and emphasis
He was 88 at the time and riddled with arthritis. We all know (thanks to his students) he wanted to play it faster but physically couldn’t.
@@FraserGartshore Hi Fraser! Good to see you here setting people straight!
Amazing
Pretty sure that is a half-length 32’ judging by the sound and the space behind the facade. Still powerful!
That used to be such a beautiful church before it was stripped.
Wow. The Widor - what I imagine the doors opening to Heaven will be like. ❤️
Stentorian, indeed! So much so that in the last few pages of the Widor (in this recording and on my speakers anyway) it seemed like the the pedals completely swamped the manuals. I wonder if there were any stops left unpulled (other than solo reeds, of course) that would have helped to balance the divisions.
I hit the tutti stud with my foot for the last chord expecting to have the solo reeds added, but I later found that the piston was broken so nothing happened
Phantom of the Opera would sound so good on that organ!
I read that the parish was founded in 1794, which is significant. Can anyone tell me the age of the current building?
The cornerstone of the present church was laid in 1872. The first mass was celebrated in November 1884, and the building was consecrated in December of that year.
It growls!
The Lively-Fulcher organ at St. Patrick's is truly amazing but the 32' Contre Bombarde is nowhere near as loud as the 32' Kontra Posaune at the National City Christian Church.
I would love to hear Saint Sance's organ concerto being played on this instrument.
It's Saint-Saëns ...... and it's a symphony, not a concerto.
@@neiljosephbennett9119 guilty as charged on both counts, Mea culpa, played a separate video not 5 minutes later and loved it.
Is that a humifider thats smoking?
many years ego I visited this famous church. I was told that an electronic 64 feet pedal was added in this organs, although the human ears can hardly hear sich a low sound. Is this correct?
That would be the Cathedral of Saint Peter and Saint Paul (AKA the National Cathedral). It’s a 64’ bombarde that is definitely audible
64 foot is mostly you FEEL it more than "hear" it
@@HobbyOrganist I would argue that 32' and 64' reeds aren't felt at all... it is flues that underpin the organ. The point of pedal reeds is to pierce through, audibly. Acoustics and distance might add to the feeling though
@@HobbyOrganist I live in Sydney, Australia and our Town Hall organ has a 64foot pipe and you can most definitely feel that.
What is the mist emanating from the grey box to the right of the console?
It is boiling the tears
It's a great organ, sadly the camera mike doesn't fully justice to the sound as it can't registrate the real lows, all we hear from the 32' Bombarde is the organ case shaking.
Switch off automatic recording level if possible, it removes all the dynamics from the sound. Adjust the sound to be at -6dB at peak sound levels, that will give the best result on the average mic.
You then have a minimum of distortion and good dynamics between soft and loud parts, with video editing you can adjust the loudness to the standard level so the the video will not appear loud enough in playback. If the camera doesn't support this eg. when it is a phone or action cam, the investing in a good digital sound recorder would be great when you plan to do more of these videos.
And please, play the Toccata a bit slower, that gives better articulation and Widor intended it that way.
Yeah but despite all that, youtube "processes"" all the videos to reduce file size and bandwidth, so there's that loss, plus you are playing it back thru whatever device you have and volume set at
Too much pedal amplitude kills the manual work in the end and Widor wouldn't have wanted it attempted at such an excessive tempo ....the proof is there in those final bars. Cleanly played at slower tempo beats sloppily executed at unplayable tempo every time, imho..
What is producing the steam in the back of the pictur
The sweat of the children pumping the bellows
Probably a humidifier. Organs are very sensitive to environment and tuning will drift off if temperature and humidity are not well controlled.
Does mineral dust settle on everything from that mister?
The resident gargoyle stewing a choirboy.
@@Charles-Reardon LOL!!
Strange harmony in that second-to-last chord, but I think Widor would have liked it.
I just filled in the chord tones, I think it makes it more intense
Hmmm... I like it! I think I'll play the "Reardon edition" of this cadence from now on!
Filled in the chord tones ...and changed the D to a D-flat! 🤫
@@ssmith9745 You could think of it as a Bbm7, but I chose to harmonize it has an Edim7/Bb. I believe that's only changing the f of the Bbm7 to an E
Is that smoke coming from the far right wall?
I assumed that the building is unheated midweek and that the bellows air must be heated to avoid condensation in the box and pipes.
I was wondering if it's an humidifier (to stop the organ's wood and leather from drying out and potentially splitting).
Yep
Its a humidifier
St. Patrick's, Washington, DC
1994 Lively-Fulcher
(Stoplist; PIPORG-L, Neill Callis, Dec 1998)
Manual I: Grand Orgue
Montre 16'
Montre 8'
Bourdon 8'
Salicional 8'
Flute harmonique 8'
Prestant 4'
Flute ouverte 4'
Quinte 2 2/3'
Doublette 2'
Fourniture IV
Trompette 8'
Clairon 4'
Manual II: Recit Expressif
Bourdon 16'
Diapason 8'
Viole de Gambe 8'
Voix Celeste 8'
Cor di nuit 8'
Prestant 4'
Flute octaviante 4'
Nasard 2 2/3'
Octavin 2'
Tierce 1 3/5'
Plein Jeu IV
Basson 16'
Trompette harmonique 8'
Basson-hautbois 8'
Voix humaine 8'
Manual III: Solo
Cornet (tenor g) V
Bombarde 16'
Trompette 8'
Clairon 4'
Pedale
Soubasse 32' (lowest 12 notes electronic)
Flute 16'
Soubasse 16'
Montre 16' (G.O.)
Basse 8'
Bourdon 8'
Octave 4'
Flute 4'
Contrebombarde 32'
Bombarde 16'
Trompette 8'
Tremolo G.O.
Tremolo Recit
Recit-G.O.
Solo-G.O.
Octaves graves G.O.
Ocatves graves Recit
Tirasse G.O.
Tirasse Recit
Tirasse Solo
The building was renovated at the time of the organ installation: a new
coat of laquer? paint was applied to the interior walls, and a new floor
(marble?) was laid. According to Mark Lively (organbuilder), the
acoustic was 2-3 seconds before the renovation...now it's like 6-8
seconds!
The organ was installed in 1994 by the firm Lively-Fulcher of
Alexandria, VA, in the rear Gallery; I believe it retains some pipework
from the previous instrument (Hook and Hastings?) but I can't confirm
those details presently. The Grand Orgue and Recit are 'straight' --
that is to say, each stop is independant. The Solo reeds are a single
rank. The Pedale Soubasse is a 32-16-8 unit; the 4' Flute is
independant. The Pedale "Flute" (i.e., Principal) and Basse (i.e.,
Octave) are straight; the 4' Octave is an extension of the 8' Basse.
The Pedal reeds are a single rank. And the 32' Contrebombarde is
real.....oh boy is it real.
Thanks for giving us the database stop list entry word for word
They’re so focused on fiddling with the organ, no one is noticing the smoke in the corner.
Fiddling with organs is very occupying
I believe it's a humidifier
What kinda tablet is that? And how does it know when to turn the page?
iPad Pro, and I am winking
I wanted to know that too!
The Widor Toccata would have sounded better had it been performed at a slower pace. This is the biggest mistake made by some organists with this piece and was never intended to be played at an excessively rapid pace by the composer.
🤓
Too fast? Why? By whose measurement? Widor himself would have loved this performance. Everyone happily quotes Widor’s own recording of this piece as the ideal tempo, but Widor was a very old and arthritic man when he made that recording and freely admitted that was a fast as he could still play it, suggesting it should have been quicker.
This was a perfectly crisp, well-articulated performance of Widor’s toccata. You can hear every note, the momentum is there, there was definitely no rushed feeling.
Well played CR! If only you had had more time at the console to sort out your own registrations😝
@@FraserGartshore A lot depends on the acoustics in the building.
I played it in York Minster quite a few years ago and made the mistake of taking it too fast, resulting in an unclear, blurred sound quite apart from the fractional tine delay encountered when using the detached nave console.
The Assistant Organist Ben Morris made a Video on TH-cam of him
playing the Widor Toccata in York, but even he didn’t play it at the same tempo as on the recording under discussion.
It also depends a lot on how you register it. If it is taken very fast with the gravitas Widor used in his own recording, of course it's going to be blurry but for instance Jean Guillou once recorded it in approx 3min40s in Matthiaskirche, Berlin and it doesn't get blurry at all even with this ridiculous pace since he's using a very bright registration:
th-cam.com/video/7Q6rg2p4zf4/w-d-xo.html
For me it sounds Charles is playing it really fine with the acoustics in St. Patrick's
@@tanelimp I am one of those organists who attempt to use the same pattern of registration as is sometimes stated by the composer so unless lots of upperwotk and mixtures are called for, I omit them, especially in French compositions.
How is it that a church called St. Patrick's is not Catholic?
It is
Amazing ! A beautiful. Architecture but. No. God is there . All show and no. Go .
I think this every day
The Loudest?! Hardly - get yourself over to the UK
It is impossible to judge by a recording tempered by the device recording, the quality of the file and then what youtube does to it for "processing" plus your speakers/device playing it back, it has to be compared with a decibel meter
Just Visitenkarte the Rieger Organ in Dinkelsbühl, St. Georg, Germany. A famos and great and loud organ in french-romantic tradition.
There is a mistake! Not Visitenkarte, but "visit the".