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Big organs
Apr. 9th, 2007 05:18 pmOk, now you can all get your filthy minds out of the gutter, because I'm talking about pipe organs, which really are the sexist instrument in the universe.
I thought I'd troll thru YouTube to see what goodies there are on offer, and I was interested to find a number of renditions of Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor (BMW 535), which you'll all recognise (from Phantom of the Opera, if nothing else).
I'm going to give my opinions on all these (of course), but actually, I know sweet F-A about music, so you can take my comments with the amount of weight they merit (sweet F-A! heh).
Now, in terms of vid gold, I found Karl Richter's version first. I owned this on LP when I was about 16, and it's still the default interpretation that comes to my mind. However, on hearing it again, I now understand the gripes that it's not the most authentic of readings, in a Baroque sense. It's slow, and downright leisurely in parts. I find myself wishing that there was a bit more "attack" during the Fugue. I'm also quite shocked at the number of registration changes throughout (where the stop settings are altered), and the fact he doesn't do them himself. Man, I think he lost about 100 cool points for that. But I do like the emotion he puts into it. Obviously I have too much of a romantic temperment for my own good.
Then there's Hans-Andre Stamm's rendition, filmed at the Frauenkirche in Dresden on the new Kern organ (which has the old tuning, about a semitone higher than modern). It's technically very excellent, and an apparently authentic Baroque reading, which goes along at a good rate. Too fast for me, since I find that in a lot of passages there isn't enough emphasis going on. It makes the notes sound terribly undifferentiated. It's like he's playing a harpsichord... and a harpischord, due to its design, can't give much emphasis to the notes (which is why I, for one, can't listen to unadulterated harpsichord music for more than short periods). There's no such excuse on an organ. No registration changes are apparent during this piece. Boring.
The next is Dutch organist Aarnoud de Groen's version on the wee organ at Bethlehemkerk in the Hague. Now, he clips the notes really badly, especially in the Toccata. But I like the general phrasing he does, and the fact that he's pretty funky with the registration. There are probably too many changes, but it's fun watching him do them himself (unlike Richter!). While it's nowhere near as technically good or fluid as Stamm's version, I like it better. The staccato sounds staccato-y, thank god. It even seems a lot more leisurely, despite coming in only 10 sec slower. Mind you, with all the note-chopping early in the piece, that's probably where he saved time.
Moving on from BMW 535, I found a few other Bach goodies. Firstly, a selection performed by John Scott Whiteley, on the organ at the Jakobikirche in Hamburg, which was restored to its original temperament (again, higher than the modern). Other than him being a groovy relaxed organist who can pump it out when the music requires it, I love these clips since they show the inner workings of the organs. Firstly, BMW 532, the Prelude (such a cool piece, although he trots through this a little quickly for my taste) and Fugue in D. Then we have a really cool rendition of BMW 548, the Prelude and "Wedge" Fugue in E Minor (it's called the "wedge" because the lenghtening intervals look like wedges in the sheet music), again with groovy inner organ-bits shots, and nice rumpty bass. Although there is some wierd shit going on during the filming of the Fugue. The organ is at St Wenzel's Church in Naumburg, again with a Baroque tuning.
For a bit more rumpty-tum, here's the Fugue in G Minor, played by Tom Koopman at the St Marien Church in Freiburg. Great shots of his footwork here. Hee! Unfortunately, he suffers a little bit from harpsichordist's disease (I've just invented the term) with his keyboard work, and its lack of emphasis. Apparently this organ has been tuned to something between the true meantone that it was constructed with and the equal temperament. It sounds nice to me (I don't have perfect pitch, though).
Unfortunately, it seems that there is still a paucity of classical uploads to YouTube, so I couldn't find much from other composers (adequately performed). However, we do have a piece performed by Marie-Claire Alain, "Les Bergers", by Messaien, at the Hofkirche in Lucerne (a modern organ, would you believe? 5 manuals, jeez). I'm not so fond of this kind of modern classical music, but it's interesting for the wee interview beforehand, and of course, the atmospheric rendering (think of all those famous mid-century films whose scores incorporate these kinds of ideas).
Also, is it me, or do organists have tidgy hands (especially compared to pianists')?
I thought I'd troll thru YouTube to see what goodies there are on offer, and I was interested to find a number of renditions of Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor (BMW 535), which you'll all recognise (from Phantom of the Opera, if nothing else).
I'm going to give my opinions on all these (of course), but actually, I know sweet F-A about music, so you can take my comments with the amount of weight they merit (sweet F-A! heh).
Now, in terms of vid gold, I found Karl Richter's version first. I owned this on LP when I was about 16, and it's still the default interpretation that comes to my mind. However, on hearing it again, I now understand the gripes that it's not the most authentic of readings, in a Baroque sense. It's slow, and downright leisurely in parts. I find myself wishing that there was a bit more "attack" during the Fugue. I'm also quite shocked at the number of registration changes throughout (where the stop settings are altered), and the fact he doesn't do them himself. Man, I think he lost about 100 cool points for that. But I do like the emotion he puts into it. Obviously I have too much of a romantic temperment for my own good.
Then there's Hans-Andre Stamm's rendition, filmed at the Frauenkirche in Dresden on the new Kern organ (which has the old tuning, about a semitone higher than modern). It's technically very excellent, and an apparently authentic Baroque reading, which goes along at a good rate. Too fast for me, since I find that in a lot of passages there isn't enough emphasis going on. It makes the notes sound terribly undifferentiated. It's like he's playing a harpsichord... and a harpischord, due to its design, can't give much emphasis to the notes (which is why I, for one, can't listen to unadulterated harpsichord music for more than short periods). There's no such excuse on an organ. No registration changes are apparent during this piece. Boring.
The next is Dutch organist Aarnoud de Groen's version on the wee organ at Bethlehemkerk in the Hague. Now, he clips the notes really badly, especially in the Toccata. But I like the general phrasing he does, and the fact that he's pretty funky with the registration. There are probably too many changes, but it's fun watching him do them himself (unlike Richter!). While it's nowhere near as technically good or fluid as Stamm's version, I like it better. The staccato sounds staccato-y, thank god. It even seems a lot more leisurely, despite coming in only 10 sec slower. Mind you, with all the note-chopping early in the piece, that's probably where he saved time.
Moving on from BMW 535, I found a few other Bach goodies. Firstly, a selection performed by John Scott Whiteley, on the organ at the Jakobikirche in Hamburg, which was restored to its original temperament (again, higher than the modern). Other than him being a groovy relaxed organist who can pump it out when the music requires it, I love these clips since they show the inner workings of the organs. Firstly, BMW 532, the Prelude (such a cool piece, although he trots through this a little quickly for my taste) and Fugue in D. Then we have a really cool rendition of BMW 548, the Prelude and "Wedge" Fugue in E Minor (it's called the "wedge" because the lenghtening intervals look like wedges in the sheet music), again with groovy inner organ-bits shots, and nice rumpty bass. Although there is some wierd shit going on during the filming of the Fugue. The organ is at St Wenzel's Church in Naumburg, again with a Baroque tuning.
For a bit more rumpty-tum, here's the Fugue in G Minor, played by Tom Koopman at the St Marien Church in Freiburg. Great shots of his footwork here. Hee! Unfortunately, he suffers a little bit from harpsichordist's disease (I've just invented the term) with his keyboard work, and its lack of emphasis. Apparently this organ has been tuned to something between the true meantone that it was constructed with and the equal temperament. It sounds nice to me (I don't have perfect pitch, though).
Unfortunately, it seems that there is still a paucity of classical uploads to YouTube, so I couldn't find much from other composers (adequately performed). However, we do have a piece performed by Marie-Claire Alain, "Les Bergers", by Messaien, at the Hofkirche in Lucerne (a modern organ, would you believe? 5 manuals, jeez). I'm not so fond of this kind of modern classical music, but it's interesting for the wee interview beforehand, and of course, the atmospheric rendering (think of all those famous mid-century films whose scores incorporate these kinds of ideas).
Also, is it me, or do organists have tidgy hands (especially compared to pianists')?