Print

Print


More good recommendations from Mr. Fine!  The Karl Richter DGG recordings are outstanding, particularly for the clarity of the registrations and while you probably won't hear any 32 foot stops, they are still quite rich in the right places.
The Fox "Heavy Organ" records are worth looking for just to hear the wonderful "Gigue Fugue" with the audience clapping where, as he says, "when (the theme), comes in the pedals I dance the Gigue".
I once recorded one Theatre Organ record which was highly acclaimed by the critics, Don Thompson playing on the Fox Theatre Organ in Detroit in 1982.  This was recorded analog, using a single AKG C24 stereo microphone and sounded very real in recreating the sound stage in this room which was about the size of a cubic city block.  The only weakness was that, being a C24, it couldn't catch the 32 foot pipes very well, (the C24 drops off very dramatically below 30 hz).  At the time of this recording, the theatre and/or the organ were slated to be demolished so it was in very poor repair - it had no working pistons and just when we started to record, a very loud cipher sounded and remained for about 3 hours.  The custodians of the hall had locked us in, (litterally, they had chained the doors shut from the outside, thank heavens there wasn't a fire), so we could do nothing until they returned so that we could get into the pipe chamber to release the cipher.  Then we recorded into the wee hours of the morning.  If you ever find the LP version of this record it has very fine graphics with a large fold-out 2 square foot picture of the entire front of the theatre.  Sorry to do some horn tooting but I'm very proud of this record and only wish that a) I had done it with a C422 which is good down to around 8 hz and b) that I had recorded it digitally.
db 


     On Sunday, April 19, 2015 8:49 PM, Tom Fine <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
   

 Hi John:

Another tip. You can preview/sample a huge selection of pipe organ music at the website of the Pipe 
Dreams radio show:
http://pipedreams.publicradio.org

And here is a long essay by the host about favorite organ works to explore:
http://pipedreams.publicradio.org/articles/picks.shtml

-- Tom Fine

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John Schroth" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, April 19, 2015 6:10 PM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Quality pipe organ recordings


> Thanks to everyone for their input on recommendations for quality pipe organ recordings. At some 
> point this week I will re-read all the posts, make some notes and order some of the 
> recommendations that the ARCS community has made!!!
>
> Kind Regards,
>
> John Schroth
> MTS
>
> On 4/19/2015 4:45 PM, Tom Fine wrote:
>> Getting a bit into the organ weeds here ...
>>
>> The St. Thomas Church organ that Richard recorded was somewhat modified from what Mercury 
>> recorded in 1957 (and, in fact, in 1956, the organ had been extensively modified from its 
>> original construction). There was a roof leak in 1966 that damaged the organ, requiring repairs. 
>> And then there was a renovation that somewhat changed the sound. Richard's recording of Ms. 
>> Hancock is very detailed, some of the best hearing of what that organ's higher-pitched pipes 
>> sound like. It also fits very nicely with the Dupre pieces, because they are thickly arranged (ie 
>> many notes sounding in quick succession), and a closer-in perspective prevents the notes from 
>> being buried in a muddy echo haze.
>>
>> The St. Thomas organ is being replaced. In fact, in this video the church produced featuring 
>> former Newsweek editor Jon Meecham:
>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uf2uUzABZQ
>> a dismissive tone is taken toward those who loved the old organ. Note that when Meecham gets 
>> talking about the organ, the Mercury Widor recording by Dupre is in the background.
>>
>> I was just in the church on Friday. There is construction going on all over the place. Despite 
>> the hustle and bustle on 5th Ave, and the construction, it was surprisingly quiet and peaceful in 
>> the chapel. I was happy to see the old organ before it gets ripped out.
>>
>> -- Tom Fine
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Richard L. Hess" <[log in to unmask]>
>> To: <[log in to unmask]>
>> Sent: Sunday, April 19, 2015 4:09 PM
>> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Quality pipe organ recordings
>>
>>
>>> I can recommend "Organs of New York, Vol I" Judith Hancock at St. Thomas Church on the HESSOUND 
>>> label.
>>>
>>> <smile>
>>>
>>> Actually, the two Dupré pieces on it were re-released on the Priory Label out of the UK, but it 
>>> appears to have gone out of print.
>>>
>>> I have not heard this one:
>>> http://prioryrecords.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=1832&search=st+thomas
>>>
>>> While this is a Christmas album, recorded by moi at St. Thomas in 1982 --the hiss is organ 
>>> windchest noise, not tape hiss--the mastering engineer still tried to remove a bit of it.
>>> http://prioryrecords.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=2029&search=saint+thomas
>>>
>>> It has some nice snapshots of the organ and the noted choir is in good form.
>>>
>>> Both the ProOrgano and the JAV recordings I've heard were good. I don't know if ProOrgano is 
>>> still carrying the Dorothy Papadokos recordings at The Cathedral of St. John the Divine, but she 
>>> did a great job in that wonderful space. She left since there was no organ to play after the 
>>> fire maybe fifteen years ago.
>>>
>>> For Theatre organs, the late Tom Hazleton Pipes of the Mighty Wurlitzer at the San Sylmar organ 
>>> in California.
>>>
>>> Cheers,
>>>
>>> Richard
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 2015-04-19 1:21 PM, John Schroth wrote:
>>>> Good question - I should have been more specific. Classical mostly
>>>> although I might have an interest in picking up some theatre as well.
>>>>
>>>> Kind Regards,
>>>>
>>>> John Schroth
>>>>
>>>
>>> -- 
>>> Richard L. Hess                  email: [log in to unmask]
>>> Aurora, Ontario, Canada                            647 479 2800
>>> http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm
>>> Quality tape transfers -- even from hard-to-play tapes.
>>>
>>>
>>
>
>
> ---
> This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active.
> http://www.avast.com
>
>