# Organ



## Wood (Feb 21, 2013)

I have at least one version of all extant J S Bach works for organ, other than that, my collection is a bit _ad hoc. _It would be nice to have some suggestions for expanding my music library. I'm interested in works where the organ is alone or dominant throughout the piece.

What are your favourite works for organ, excluding JSB?

What are your favourite recordings?

Where does one go for the best organ recitals?

All periods catered for, right up to 2014!

Thanks


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

Wood said:


> What are your favourite works for organ, excluding JSB?


Top 10:

Olivier Messiaen - La nativité du Seigneur
Olivier Messiaen - Les Corps Glorieux
Jehan Alain - Trois Danses 
Igor Stravinsky - Le Sacre de Printemps (arr Latry)
Gustav Mahler - Symphony No 5 (arr Briggs)
Charles-Marie Widor - Symphony No 5
Petr Eben - Das Labyrinth der Welt und Das Paradies des Herzens
Jean Langlais - Deuxieme Symphonie 'Alla Webern'
Otto Olsson - Sonata for Organ Op 38
Naji Hakim - Rubayat
Pierre Cochereau - Variations sur un Noel



> What are your favourite recordings?


Any/all of the works above, check for organists like Olivier Latry, Pierre Cochereau, Naji Hakim, David Briggs, Kevin Bowyer, Martin Rost, Harald Vogel, Marcel Dupre, Olivier Messiaen, Anders Bondeman, Gustav Leonhardt, Marie-Claire Alain, Piet Kee, (Günther Rost, Halgeir Schaiger, Liuwe Tamminga, Peter Hurford, Jan Lehtola, Bedrich Janacek, Andrea Marcon, Christopher Herrick, Daniel Roth, just to begin with..



> Where does one go for the best organ recitals?


Nearest Church, Cathedral or Concert hall to where You are, whenever I travel I use the internet to check upcoming concerts wherever I visit, as a general rule, the bigger the place the more easy it is to find concerts!
Then there's a host of Organ Festivals fx, St Albans or Westminster Abbey in the UK (You just missed the one in Cirencester I believe), Haarlem in Holland, Pipeworks in Dublin, Organ Fest in Umeå Sweden, Calgary in Canada, Lahti in Finland, Monaco, Chamonix and Toulouse coming up in the next six months (of the top of my head, You can fish more info on the interwebb!)...

/ptr


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## Winterreisender (Jul 13, 2013)

From my listening, Buxtehude at his best occasionally comes close to JSB's levels! There are several complete recordings, e.g. Walter Kraft.

Cesar Franck is of course another highly renowned organ composer. From all the pieces I have heard, I would name "Organ Prelude, Fugue and Variation, Op. 18" as a highlight.

My favourite modern work must be Messiaen's _Apparition de l'Église éternelle _ which is wonderfully intense and chilling!

And if you are accepting concertos, the organ concerto by Jon Leifs is another favourite


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Francis Poulenc ~ _Concerto pour orgue, orchestre à cordes et Timbalesi_
this is a wonderful and generally well-known piece.




another link, live performance:





Jan Welmers:
_Laudate Dominum_




_Litanie_








_Invocazioni_





Just because you should know of it....
György Ligeti ~ _Volumina_


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## Guest (Jun 6, 2014)

We're just talking about works for solo organ here, right?

So far, my favorites after Bach would probably go: Messiaen, Frescobaldi, Widor, Reger, Liszt, Franck...

However, Buxtehude is a big name that I just haven't gotten around to...

A lot of composers have a few nice organ pieces, but not much of a formidable repertoire. The Brahms Chorale Preludes, The few Ligeti pieces, the Nielsen Commotio, etc. come to mind.

Outside of Handel, my favorite organ concertos would definitely be by Poulenc, Hindemith, maybe Leifs, maybe Rautavaara...

A lot of sacred music will also feature prominent parts for the organ, obviously. Bruckner comes to mind... Schmidt perhaps. Janacek's Mass... Blah blah blah.


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## Krummhorn (Feb 18, 2007)

Wood said:


> I have at least one version of all extant J S Bach works for organ, other than that, my collection is a bit _ad hoc. _It would be nice to have some suggestions for expanding my music library. I'm interested in works where the organ is alone or dominant throughout the piece.
> 
> What are your favourite works for organ, excluding JSB?


Anything by Buxtehude, Messiaen, Mendelssohn, Franck, Langlais, and well, just too many others to list here.
I frequently explore lots of the lesser known organ composers for use in service music for my church organist position. There is a plethora of lesser/unknown works written for the classical organ out there for the taking.



> What are your favourite recordings?


My Deutsche Grammophone recordings of Helmut Walcha (yes, on LP's no less - I still retain a LP player as part of my home audio setup), the complete organ works of Messiaen, the complete organ works of Franck, Mendelssohn, and too many others to list.

I also enjoy listening to works written for Organ and Orchestra (Saint-Saens, Jongen, etc).



> Where does one go for the best organ recitals?


Living in the US, there is an organization called The American Guild of Organists of which I am a member. They publish notices about concerts all across the nation here. In the UK there is the Royal College of Organists and their website lists these concerts that are given periodically.

If you are ever around London, there are organ concerts happening most all the time in the major cathedrals ... I can heartily recommend attending Evensong at St. Pauls in London - I was chosen to sit in the Quire area for one of those services, right beneath the pipe organ chambers, same was true for Westminster Abbey. Although those are not 'concerts' per se, they do feature wonderful music by choirs as well as some solo organ works.



> All periods catered for, right up to 2014!


As for present day organ composers, our very own site owner, , is a very accomplished organist/composer in his own right and has recorded several CD's over the years. He was instrumental in gaining permission for me to play an organ recital on a new Frobenius organ when we were visiting there in 2010.

I wish you well in your journey of appreciation for all the great organ music of the world. Most of the great performers of my era have passed on to greener pastures, but there are lots up upcoming younger musicians (Felix Hell, for instance) that are of equal stature to all the prior great performers of organ music.

The pipe organ is my favorite instrument ... which is why I have been a professional organist for over 53 years, and still playing regularly every week in my church position (which has a pipe organ, of course) and two annual events out of town in a much larger venue with a larger organ, one being the sole accompanist (organ) for Part I of Messiah, by Handel.

Kh ♫


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## Guest (Jun 8, 2014)

I forgot Mendelssohn! The Peter Hurford disc is a favorite of mine.

Oh, and Vasks has some nice things.


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## Wood (Feb 21, 2013)

Thank you for all of the responses. They are very helpful. 

There are plenty of pieces to listen to here, and the tips re seeing live performances are also appreciated.


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

View attachment 43804


This is a disk of modern solo organ works that I enjoy.

Thanks for starting this thread. It's a good'n.


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

A slightly different perspective on "Organs" is listening to how diverse its soundscape is!
Here a few suggestions on great organ sounds and some very fine organists.

Italian Organ By G. Calido 1787







Andrea Marcon - 18th Century Venetian Organ Art (DiVox)

Contemporary Copy of a 17th Cent. Schnittger Mean Tone organ (Hamburg) consecrated in 2000 (Gothenburg, Sweden)







Gelobet seiest du - Hans Davidsson at the Örgryte Baroque Organ (Intim Musik)

19th Cent. French Style by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll at Notre Dame de Paris







Midnight @ Notre-Dame - Organ Transcriptions - Olivier Latry (DG)

20th Cent. British organ by Harrison and Harrison at Westminster Abbey, London







Chrisopher Herrick - Organ Fireworks Vol 1 (Hyperion)

Just a few, Chrisopher Herricks two Series, Organ Dreams and Organ Fireworks (Hyperion) or Priory Records gargantuan "Great Organs Series'" display almost all major organs from around the world.. Organocentric Labels like Aeolus, Motette (Germany), Festivo (Holland), ProOrgano (USA), BNL (France, no website) and about two dozen other that I can't find links to at the moment.

/ptr


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## Brad (Mar 27, 2014)

arcaneholocaust said:


> We're just talking about works for solo organ here, right?
> 
> So far, my favorites after Bach would probably go: Messiaen, Frescobaldi, Widor, Reger, Liszt, Franck...


Liszt wrote organ works?!


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

Brad said:


> Liszt wrote organ works?!


From Wikipedia:



> Organ music
> 
> Liszt wrote his two largest organ works between 1850 and 1855 while he was living in Weimar, a city with a long tradition of organ music, most notably that of J.S. Bach. Humphrey Searle calls these works - Ad nos, ad salutarem undam and the Prelude and Fugue on B-A-C-H - Liszt's "only important original organ works",[42] and Derek Watson, writing in his 1989 Liszt, considered them among the most significant organ works of the nineteenth century, heralding the work of such key organist-musicians as Reger, Franck, and Saint-Saëns, among others.[43] Ad nos is an extended fantasia, Adagio, and fugue, lasting over half an hour, and the Prelude and Fugue on B-A-C-H includes chromatic writing which sometimes removes the sense of tonality. Liszt also wrote some smaller organ works, including a prelude (1854) and set of variations on the first section of movement 2 chorus from Bach's cantata Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen, BWV 12 (which Bach later reworked as the Crucifixus in the Mass in B minor), which he composed after the death of his daughter in 1862.[24] He also wrote a Requiem for organ solo, intended to be performed liturgically, along with the spoken Requiem Mass.[42]


Sheet Music @ IMSLP

There are numerous recordings, fx Helmuth Deutsch on Audite..









/ptr

/ptr


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

I like the sound of the portable organ, say in Mozart, but the full pipe organ, not.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

You have some great recommendations here from folks who probably value solo organ music more than I do. Of course, I have a couple of sets of Bach's complete organ music (only because I have a couple of those big box sets of "Complete Works of J.S. Bach") and I've collected various interpretations of the Widor and Vierne "symphonies", which I enjoy more for their form than for their timbre, but one album_ I must recommend_ and which I play more than any other solo organ album in my collection is a disc on the SOLSTICE label, SOCD 192 titled _L'ORGUE CONTEMPORAIN A NOTRE-DAME DE PARIS_ and featuring the contemporary music of Iannis Xenakis ("Gmeeoorh"), Charles Chaynes ("Diagramme"), and Francis Chapelet ("Etna 71" and the nine movement improvisation "Evocations improvisées de l'éruption du volcan Niragongo"). The selections take the organ to its limits. Nothing here will be confused for a Bach Prelude. But for fans of contemporary atonal, experimental, "noise" music, as well as true organ devotees, this is a must disc to have. It will change many a mind on what capabilities the organ as an instrument possesses. Glorious, sublime, and very _volcanic_ music, indeed.


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

BTW, if You're a Vinylophile, one of the greatest multi volume surveys of the analogue period was Erato's "L'encyclopédie de l'Orgue", it featured some of the best French organists and organs!

fx.







Vol 46: Gulliaume-Gabriel Nivers played by André Isoir (EDO 246)








Vol 3: Cesar Franck played by André Marchal (EDO 203)
..Marchal's recordings of Franck's Complete Organ Works are one of the best interpretations of these in the history recorded music!

/ptr


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Wood said:


> I have at least one version of all extant J S Bach works for organ, other than that, my collection is a bit _ad hoc. _It would be nice to have some suggestions for expanding my music library. I'm interested in works where the organ is alone or dominant throughout the piece.
> 
> What are your favourite works for organ, excluding JSB?
> 
> ...


I love John Cage's Harmony of Maine played by Hans-Ola Ericsson, on a really characterful modern organ with a distinctive small scale sound. Ericsson choses some really imaginative registrations.









Another organ recording I found really revealing was by Davitt Moroney of music by Froberger. In fact CD 3 of Moroney's Byrd set on Hyperion is an organ CD and that has some wonderful things in it too.

I know much less about 19th century music, but I have explored Brahms's late organ preludes - I have no hesitation recommending the recording by Gerd Zacher.

It's also fun to go right to the start of the genre and listen to parts of the Buxheimer Orgelbüch. There's a really nice recording by Joseph Kelemen.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

ptr said:


> BTW, if You're a Vinylophile, one of the greatest multi volume surveys of the analogue period was Erato's "L'encyclopédie de l'Orgue", it featured some of the best French organists and organs!
> 
> fx.
> View attachment 43849
> ...


Didn't that also include some really colourful Titelouze hymns played by Xavier Darasse? Isoir's an interesting organist with strong ideas, I quite like the recordings he made when he was younger, there's one with some pieces by Attaingnant which I love. I haven't heard the Nivers there, but I'll try to find it. I'm less interested in 19th century music, so I'll pass on the Franck.


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

Mandryka said:


> Didn't that also include some really colourful Titelouze hymns played by Xavier Darasse?


Nope, that was in a Vox-Turnabout box! (A Survey of the World`s Greatest Organ Music Vol 1; Musique française des primitifs)










> Isoir's an interesting organist with strong ideas, I quite like the recordings he made when he was younger, there's one with some pieces by Attaingnant which I love. I haven't heard the Nivers there, but I'll try to find it. I'm less interested in 19th century music, so I'll pass on the Franck.


Agree that isoir is always interesting, myself I'm more of a Romantic to Modern Organ dude...

/ptr


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## MagneticGhost (Apr 7, 2013)

ptr said:


> Top 10:
> 
> Olivier Messiaen - La nativité du Seigneur
> Olivier Messiaen - Les Corps Glorieux
> ...











WOW!! I have been listening to this album on Spotify. That Stravinsky arrangement is premiere division. 
Looking forward to listening to the rest of this list.


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## MagneticGhost (Apr 7, 2013)

No mention here of Reubke's '94th Psalm' Sonata. 
Very worthwhile listening experience. I have it coupled with Liszt on the Argo label with Thomas Trotter at the manuals. C'est tres magnifique!


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

This may qualify, 4th movement anyway:


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

I'm such a child. I can't stop giggling at the name of the thread and the person who started it.


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## Guest (Jul 23, 2014)

Wood said:


> I have at least one version of all extant J S Bach works for organ, other than that, my collection is a bit _ad hoc. _It would be nice to have some suggestions for expanding my music library. I'm interested in works where the organ is alone or dominant throughout the piece.
> 
> What are your favourite works for organ, excluding JSB?
> 
> ...


Excluding JSB, there are several other composers for organ that I greatly enjoy. I can't say that I know them as well as JSB, though. Starting back in the renaissance era, Byrd wrote many pieces for the organ. Davitt Moroney has an excellent multi-disc set on Hyperion of Byrd's complete keyboard works, including several for organ.

Then there is Buxtehude, also from the baroque era. I have found his works to not be quite as weighty as JSB - more whimsical in places - but still very delightful. Rene Saorgin has an excellent recording of many of Buxtehude's works on Harmonia Mundi that I highly recommend.

And if you want something modern, then Messiaen was, among other things, as wonderful composer of organ works. Messiaen continues to be the standout in my collection that otherwise is incredibly light on 20th century works, and I can't explain my enjoyment of his atonal works, but I do.


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## Wood (Feb 21, 2013)

OP here. A belated thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread, even Amfortas. 

I enjoy how this has tapped into the Members' extensive detailed knowledge of an area not previously documented in such a way. Up to post #23 my list has 107 items of composers, performers, recordings and labels, so there will be plenty to keep me focussed for my lifetime.

Would it be worthwhile to keep this thread going as a place to enter organ related stuff, such as new recordings or composers recently discovered, recital and performer news etc?

Either way, best wishes to you all for a great set of posts here.


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## MagneticGhost (Apr 7, 2013)

Wood said:


> Would it be worthwhile to keep this thread going as a place to enter organ related stuff, such as new recordings or composers recently discovered, recital and performer .


Most definitely 
I'd also like to know if people have a favourite organ (stop that chuckling at the back Amfortas!) or maker of Organs. As you can purchase performances on all different organs from around the world - do any stand out above all others?


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## jcsoniat (Jul 25, 2014)

Hello all, I hope I'm not posting this in the wrong place, but I've been searching for a name to a mystery pipe organ concerto / orchestra for 30 years. And you have created such a wonderful post of organ works, I thought you would be the perfect experts to ask!

I'm a newbie on this forum, so I will gladly post elsewhere if this is the wrong forum.

The recording was made off of WWNO radio in New Orleans by my father sometime around 1983-1984 onto a cassette. Then the beginning, and all but the last 17 minutes, was overwritten by a Mozart compilation. I then digitized what was left in the mid 90s, but my skills weren't that great, so it's a rather poor recording. I've posted the music on YouTube:






I've always been intrigued by this piece, and I would LOVE to know more about it, so I can finally hear the beginning!

I appreciate all of your help!
JC Soniat


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## Op.123 (Mar 25, 2013)

I don't like the organ.


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## drpraetorus (Aug 9, 2012)

The Mormon Tabernacle Organ in Salt Lake City is one of the most famous organs in the world. They have a daily recital at 12:30 and The Tabernacle Choir and organ have a weekly TV/Radio broadcast every Sunday at 9:30 AM Mountain Time. These videos are from the Sunday broadcast so the works are shorter. They will play longer works in their recitals. If you ever get top this part of the world, pay a visit to the Tabernacle Organ.

Bach Gigue fugue




Handel Rejoicing, from Royal Fireworks




David German Festive Trumpet Tune 




Saint-Saens Prelude in Bb




Louis Vierne Carillon de Westminster




Clay Christiansen: Tabernacle Organist 




Behind the Scenes of the Salt Lake Tabernacle Organ 





The Conference Center is just across the street from the Tabernacle. It was built because the Tabernacle, which can hold about 8000 people jamed together on hard wooden benches, had become too small for the events it was designed for. The Conference Center holds 23000 people seated in theatre style seats. There are no pillars to obstruct the view of the pulpit. The pulpiut area is designed to accommodate seating for chirch authorities, a full size symphony orchestra (The Orchestra at Temple Square) The Tabernacle Choir and the organ. It's quite the building. 
Conference Center 
Charles Callahan Postlude on Two Spirituals





The Choirs website:
http://www.mormontabernaclechoir.org/?lang=eng


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## OperaGeek (Aug 15, 2014)

Favourite organ works not written by JSB? *Buxtehude* has been mentioned, as he should. *Pachelbel* wrote a lot of worthwhile organ music, too. Could I just direct you towards a lovely disc of Mozart for the organ?









If you want the best of Mozart, you don't look to the organ, of course. Nevertheless, after hearing it on TV (!), I fell completely in love with the disarmingly charming Adagio und Allegro ("kleine Fantasie") in F minor, KV 594, and Martin Sander's performance on this CD is outstanding. Indeed, the whole CD is strongly recommendable if you have an interest in this music. It is beautifully recorded, too.


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

^^ Mozart is quite fine on the organ! I love Liuwe Tamminga's playing on this CD, featuing all Italian organs of the period.









Mozart on Italian Organs - Liuwe Tamminga on Organs in Bologna and Verona (Accent)

/ptr


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## OperaGeek (Aug 15, 2014)

If one wants BIG organ music - and I mean *BIG*, *Saint-Saëns'* "Cyprès et Lauriers", Op. 156, should be given a spin. Not the last word in sophistication, admittedly, but undeniably fun, which is probably all Saint-Saëns set out to achieve with this piece anyway. The big chords when the organ enters in "Lauriers" are really, well, you know, *BIG*!

This is a good recording, using a French monster of an organ:









Matthias Eisenberg/Orchestra du Capitole de Toulouse/Michel Plasson


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## OperaGeek (Aug 15, 2014)

...and in any case, *Handel's *Organ Concertos are essential listening. Ton Koopman's recordings are wonderful - he sounds like he is genuinely having fun playing them, and the fun is contagious!


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## techniquest (Aug 3, 2012)

If you want *really BIG*, then how about the transcription of Wagners' Ring (selections) on Oehms. Here is an example of just how enormous it gets (as well as how restrained too)!


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)




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## Bruce (Jan 2, 2013)

I'm surprised that Rheinberger is missing from this list. I have enjoyed his organ sonatas for quite a long time. Unfortunately, the recordings on Naxos by Rübsam, who is a fantastic organist, are hurt by the recording. The sound has so much echo (or reverberation--what do you call it?) that the melodies are difficult to determine. They recordings just mush all the notes together. The Capriccio label has released several recordings of Rheinberger's sonati as played by Helmut Froschauer, which are much clearer than the Naxos recordings. 

I'd also look into organ works by Couperin, and the North German composers Bruhns, and Leyding. 

I also note that Ives's Variations on America is missing, which is a great organ work! (I think, at least.) Lots of fun!

If you're looking for some works off the beaten path, I'd also recommend Paulus's Triptych, Nystedt's Variasjoner over Med Jesus vil eg fara, Op. 4, Ritter's Third Organ Sonata in in A minor, Op. 23, Ropek's Variations on Victimae Paschali Laudes, and Utrega's Marcha religiosa. 

I'll also second the vote for Mendelssohn's Organ Sonati, which I think are at the top of the organ repertoire.


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## Bruce (Jan 2, 2013)

jcsoniat said:


> Hello all, I hope I'm not posting this in the wrong place, but I've been searching for a name to a mystery pipe organ concerto / orchestra for 30 years. And you have created such a wonderful post of organ works, I thought you would be the perfect experts to ask!
> 
> I'm a newbie on this forum, so I will gladly post elsewhere if this is the wrong forum.
> 
> ...


I'm not 100% sure, but this sounds a heck of a lot like Rafael Kubelik's Symphonic Peripetia for Organ and Orchestra. I originally heard this on a radio station a long time ago, too. I don't know if there are any commercially available recordings of it. I think it's a wonderful work, though.


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## rborganist (Jan 29, 2013)

Franck's Trois Chorales, in E Major, a minor, and b minor respectively. are supreme examples of the art of Romantic organ music at its best. The Grande Piece Symphonique is also beautiful, especially the andante section with its soaring melody for the Clarinet stop. Brahms' Eleven Chorale Preludes and his Four Preludes and Fugues are also very fine. For earlier music, look for The Golden Age of the Organ with E. Power Biggs exploring North German and Dutch organs which were already a century or more old when Bach was alive. The Wanamaker organ has been used for some very fine recordings, especially with Virgil Fox. Look for the one which includes "Thou art the Rock" by Mulet, "Carillon de Westminster" by Vierne, and "Come Sweet Death" as arranged by Fox himself. By the by, the Wanamaker organ has a large number of 32 foot stops and one 64' stop. And of course, the string division, with pipes made by the Kimball company--in the days when they were building pipe organs--is drop dead gorgeous.


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

I have this interesting CD of music by Lambert Chaumont and Gaspard Corrette played on a restored 18th century organ in St. Chinian, Hérault:










I don't know much about the music unfortunately, but the organ makes a fantastic sound, and it's a living piece of history in an interesting part of the world!


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Recently acquired this LP, Guy Bovet playing on what is said to be* the world´s oldest playable organ*, in Valere, Switzerland. It´s on the Gallo label. The organ dates from the 14-15th century. Contrary what one should perhaps think, its sound is clear, spacious and pleasant - there are no strange noises or any impressions of suffocating or collapsing. Some of the pieces are quite attractive, albeit by anonymous composers.

http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/a-magic-sound-across-the-centuries/7897614
http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B000009I9E
http://www.vdegallo.ch/cat_det_f_i.asp?NoInt=1


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

joen_cph said:


> View attachment 72368
> 
> 
> Recently acquired this LP, Guy Bovet playing on what is said to be* the world´s oldest playable organ*, in Valere, Switzerland. It´s on the Gallo label. The organ dates from the 14-15th century. Contrary what one should perhaps think, its sound is clear, spacious and pleasant - there are no strange noises or any impressions of suffocating or collapsing. Some of the pieces are quite attractive, albeit by anonymous composers.
> ...


Gives me an Idea, a world first ultimate definitive version of 4'33" recorded on the world oldest playable organ


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## Anankasmo (Jun 23, 2017)

OperaGeek said:


> If one wants BIG organ music - and I mean *BIG*, *Saint-Saëns'* "Cyprès et Lauriers", Op. 156, should be given a spin. Not the last word in sophistication, admittedly, but undeniably fun, which is probably all Saint-Saëns set out to achieve with this piece anyway. The big chords when the organ enters in "Lauriers" are really, well, you know, *BIG*!
> 
> This is a good recording, using a French monster of an organ:
> 
> ...


Thanks for mentioning that piece. I especially love the Cypress part which is lament for fallen french during the 1st WW. The lauriers part is a celebration of victory and essentially a little Organ symphony finale. Another great S-S organ works are his Trois Preludes on Brentonne Themes and his benediction nuptiale.


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## Vahe Sahakian (Mar 9, 2018)

Fritz Kobus said:


>


Dorian label offered a numbers of pipe organ recordings featuring Jean Guillou organist with amazing sound quality, my all time favorite is Liszt Fantasy & Fugue on the name B-A-C-H performed on the great organ of Saint Eustache in Paris, this is a true demonstration piece if played on a large wideband stereo system.


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## MusicSybarite (Aug 17, 2017)

Organ repertoire is a part of music I haven't explored very well. Bach is indisputably the king of this instrument. I like all his Preludes/Fantasies/Toccatas and Fugues, also the Organ Sonatas (especially the No. 1 in E flat major, which is so lovely!). The short Fantasy in C major BWV 570 is a gem. Otherwise, the choral preludes don't belong to my preferences. Besides Bach, _Fantasia on 'Ad nos, ad salutarem undam' S.259_ by Liszt is a masterpiece of its own, the same applies to the piece by Julius Reubke that that work inspired: the Organ Sonata _94th Psalm_. Thoroughly scintillating and angry!


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## Biwa (Aug 3, 2015)

Lifelong fan of organ music. Nice to see others share my enthusiasm for this wonderful instrument.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Vahe Sahakian said:


> Dorian label offered a numbers of pipe organ recordings featuring Jean Guillou organist with amazing sound quality, my all time favorite is Liszt Fantasy & Fugue on the name B-A-C-H performed on the great organ of Saint Eustache in Paris, this is a true demonstration piece if played on a large wideband stereo system.










Do you know this recording, ( if not, try it) real test for your speakers, outstanding


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## Vahe Sahakian (Mar 9, 2018)

Rogerx said:


> Do you know this recording, ( if not, try it) real test for your speakers, outstanding


Yes, that is the recording I was referring to, from the sound quality it is the finest organ recording in my collection, I normally recommend folks to have their seat belt on before I play the Liszt.
I also have another favorite from the same label and the same organist, it is two CD set of Cezar Frank organ compositions, just spectacular sound.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Vahe Sahakian said:


> Yes, that is the recording I was referring to, from the sound quality it is the finest organ recording in my collection, I normally recommend folks to have their sit belt on before I play the Liszt.
> I also have another favorite from the same label and the same organist, it is two CD set of Cezar Frank organ compositions, just spectacular sound.


Sorry, I was over enthusiastic.


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## Azol (Jan 25, 2015)

If you are looking for organ going totally berserk - look no further


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## MusicSybarite (Aug 17, 2017)

Azol said:


> If you are looking for organ going totally berserk - look no further


Oh yes! That is a monster!


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## Alkan (Jun 30, 2018)

Bruce said:


> I'm surprised that Rheinberger is missing from this list. I have enjoyed his organ sonatas for quite a long time. Unfortunately, the recordings on Naxos by Rübsam, who is a fantastic organist, are hurt by the recording. The sound has so much echo (or reverberation--what do you call it?) that the melodies are difficult to determine. They recordings just mush all the notes together. The Capriccio label has released several recordings of Rheinberger's sonati as played by Helmut Froschauer, which are much clearer than the Naxos recordings.


Agreed, the 20 Rheinberger organ sonatas are not to be completely overlooked. And thanks Bruce for the tip about the Naxos recordings (which I have). They are indeed difficult to follow, hard to tell when one note ends and the next one begins. I thought that was a problem with organ music in general... too "smeary" for my ears... but perhaps it is the fault of the recording. I will look into the Capriccio label alternatives.


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## soni (Jul 3, 2018)

Ligeti's organ music is also pretty interesting in my opinion. For example, Ligeti's Harmonies is an excellent piece of music.


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

"I'm interested in works where the organ is alone or dominant throughout the piece._What are your favourite works for organ, excluding JSB? _What are your favourite recordings?_Where does one go for the best organ recitals?_All periods catered for, right up to 2014!"___________________Referring to Woods OP- I think I have just the piece for him and I'm sure Tulse would agreed to _________


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## Wood (Feb 21, 2013)

Thank you Eddie.


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## NoCoPilot (Nov 9, 2020)




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## NoCoPilot (Nov 9, 2020)

Probably my favorite all-time organ recordings:








Released on CD as:








Here are some examples:


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## NoCoPilot (Nov 9, 2020)

Another old (same age as me!) favorite:


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## Whathappenedtothe (Nov 17, 2021)

Pugg? .


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

NoCoPilot said:


> Probably my favorite all-time organ recordings:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Which of those alpine organs do you enjoy most?


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## Dorsetmike (Sep 26, 2018)

Martin Schellenberg on Wimborne minster organ

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=+martin++schellenberg+fanfares+to+fancies


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

Whathappenedtothe said:


> Pugg? .


I suspect he found new life somewhere.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

I listened to the first Froberger Ricercar on that Leonhardt Alpenlaender recording, very impressive and thoughtful performance, the way he defined the sections of the music by changing tempo and registration is effective I think, there’s a real sense of breaking free from the rails towards the end, the music soars. And he is as always alert to the inner voices. 

This awareness of the contrapuntal possibilities in the music seems to me what separates Leonhardt out from the others in the field. I also listened to Roland Goetz in the same Ricercar, and it just is not as alert - though the organ is wonderful and there’s a mystic, mysterious feeling to the interpretation I think. Asperen just rushes it and so turns it into a trivial but impressive virtuoso showpiece IMO

Egarr is not without interest - it’s labelled Libro de Capriccio VI - Ricercar in C/F. The names of Froberger’s music is a nightmare! But he’s not as interesting as Leonhardt IMO. Nothing special about Stella as far as I can see.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

Alkan said:


> Agreed, the 20 Rheinberger organ sonatas are not to be completely overlooked. And thanks Bruce for the tip about the Naxos recordings (which I have). They are indeed difficult to follow, hard to tell when one note ends and the next one begins. I thought that was a problem with organ music in general... too "smeary" for my ears... but perhaps it is the fault of the recording. I will look into the Capriccio label alternatives.


In 2018 all 20 of the sonatas were recorded by *Roger Sayer* for the Priory Records label.

Here's the summary from the review on Music-Web International



> This is a wonderful set, one that has already given me great listening pleasure, and one which, I imagine, will go on to do so for a long time. Roger Sayer proves himself to be an apt interpreter of Josef Rheinberger's wonderful music; his playing is, as already stated, superior to that of Jürgen Sonnentheil on CPO in the two sonatas that he performs on his disc. The excellence that Sayer shows in those two sonatas is continued on into the other eighteen, so much so that I hope that Priory gives him an opportunity to record further recitals of the composer's music. The recorded sound, as you would imagine from Priory, the organ specialist, is excellent, you get a real sense of a natural acoustic. The booklet notes, which draw upon the notes by Harvey Grace for his edition of the organ sonatas are informative and give great insight into the music; full details are given of the wonderful sounding Harrison and Harrison Organ of The Temple Church, making this a most desirable and valuable release.


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## premont (May 7, 2015)

Phil loves classical said:


> I suspect he found new life somewhere.


I thought everybody here knew what happened to him.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Franz Schmidt wrote a fair quantity of organ music between 1916 and 1935 which deserves to be better known. Like the prolific Max Reger (Schmidt's contemporary, but who died the year Schmidt's first extant organ work was composed), he knew how to give good fugue.


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## RobertJTh (Sep 19, 2021)

elgars ghost said:


> Franz Schmidt wrote a fair quantity of organ music between 1916 and 1935 which deserves to be better known. Like the prolific Max Reger (Schmidt's contemporary, but who died the year Schmidt's first extant organ work was composed), he knew how to give good fugue.


Absolutely. But the big difference between Reger and Schmidt is that Reger treated the organ the oldfashioned way, like a one-man orchestra, while Schmidt was an early exponent of the modern Orgelbewegung movement, which propagated a return to more idiomatic baroque/classical principles. So their organ music couldn't be more different. And frankly, I like Schmidt more. It's like a healthy fresh sea breeze after Reger's feverish chromatic heaving and panting.

Also good to hear people appreciate Rheinberger. He's another example of a composer who did his own thing, ignoring all the exciting hyper-modern symphonic organ stuff with general crescendi and orchestral colors. And I think the fact that he stayed true to his own principles made his organ music better and more appealing to us today as well. His music is, at least to me, the ideal synthesis of classical form and romantic content, with idiomatic treatment of the instrument.

I once had the opportunity to play the 10th sonata (in b minor) at an organ recital, and it was one of my most satisfying musical experiences. It's such a glorious masterpiece, to me it's the crowning glory of Rheinberger's work (though some of the later sonatas come close) and one of the best organ pieces since Bach.
You've got that brilliant first movement, which is obviously a loving homage to Bach himself, then a lovely interlude that only Rheinberger could write -and finally a fantasia and finale, where the theme of the fantasia is utterly gorgeous, one of Rheinberger's best inspirations.






Btw, I very much prefer Rübsam over Sayer in Rheinberger. Sayer speeds through magical moments like the one above like, while Rübsam takes his time and sculpts the melody beautifully. It's marked "quasi adagio" in the score!


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## larold (Jul 20, 2017)

I sit next to the organist in church choir and have enthusiasm for the instrument. It's always fun watching the organist use foot pedals and stops for chimes, bells, whistles and such. There are lots of good pieces for it solo though I generally enjoy it more in mixed company such as:

Samuel Barber's *Tocatta Festival *is a good piece.






Rheinberger's *two organ concertos* are winners.

As is Hindemith's spooky *organ concerto*.

None of them eclipse Poulenc's *concerto* or the St. Saens *symphony* however.

Khachaturian's *Third Symphony* is a raucous piece with organ obbligato.

William Bolcom's *Black Host *is a nice _Halloweenish_ piece for organ and noise

I also enjoy Vivaldi's* Four Seasons* played on the organ by Yeugenia Lisitsina


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## GucciManeIsTheNewWebern (Jul 29, 2020)

I like the timbre of the organ on this Karl Richter album. It's very pristine and pleasing to my ear. I sometimes feel that when the organ is too 'breathy' and heavy, the counterpoint becomes muddy and difficult to hear.


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