Stylus phantasticus

[Pierre Lauwers]

Here a quite interesting Video for those who like the northern "Stylus phantasticus",
on a perfectly suited instrument, but withouth any neo-baroque drawbacks:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWx9qYq22hI&feature=share

[AnOrganCornucopia]

I like it! Stylus Phantasticus is also a fairly apposite way of describing its incredible case: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/Den_Bosch_-_Orgel_Sint_Jan.jpg

And a highly accurate, detailed drawing: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d7/HertogenboschOrgel.jpg

Meanwhile, I have just added to the cathedral's Wikipedia article a history of the organ, taken from the Dutch Wikipedia's article on the organ, stuffed through Google Translate and adjusted to suit. If anyone wants to help me work on church and organ articles on Wikipedia, it would be most welcome. I'm User:Vox Humana 8' on there.

Here's the article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._John's_Cathedral_('s-Hertogenbosch)#The_Organ
And in Dutch: http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orgel_Sint-Janskathedraal

And my Wiki userpage, for those who're interested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Vox_Humana_8'

[MusingMuso]

Here's some more to enjoy, played by Harold Vogel on what must surely be a totally unsuitable, modern American, neo-baroque instrument.

http://find.publicradio.org/search?site=pip&client=pip&output=xml_no_dtd&proxystylesheet=pip&filter=p&access=p&q=brombaugh

8)

MM

[AnOrganCornucopia]

At least Brombaugh organs are pretty far from the archetypal orgelbewegung screecher!  ;D

[KB7DQH]

Apologies for drifting significantly off-topic :o

Posted by: MusingMuso
« on: April 17, 2012, 04:08:31 PM »


Here's some more to enjoy, played by Harold Vogel on what must surely be a totally unsuitable, modern American, neo-baroque instrument.

http://find.publicradio.org/search?site=pip&client=pip&output=xml_no_dtd&proxystylesheet=pip&filter=p&access=p&q=brombaugh

8)

Had a look there and also found...

Mailbag: "Sick of the Stuff"

September 14, 2009

Dear Michael,

I was just listening to one of your programs. I salute you for emphasizing what is now an unpopular instrument. At the same time, I've never understood why organists never play Bach. I talked to one, and he said that he was so sick of the stuff that he would never play it again. But those of us who rather appreciate Bach would like to hear some, just from time to time. It won't kill you to do so.
Oh, lord, there goes some Messien. A man with less talent has never lived. Anyhow thanks for the program. When I was a kid (20) I wanted to built organs (Baldwin did made electronic ones, and I lived in Cincinnati), but it didn't work out.
Good luck to you. I don't mean to offend you, but it's getting ridiculous.

Jerry



Jerry,

Organists DO play Bach, and plenty of it/him. And he's present on PIPEDREAMS, too. Consider a marvelous performance of Prelude & Fugue BWV 546 from Yale recently, as well as nearly all-Bach programs in March and July. If you type "Bach" into the Pipedreams Website Searchbar, you should come up with many, many items to enjoy.
But I do think that any organist who claims to be "so sick of the stuff that he would never play it again" is not truly an organist.
And I confess that I do suspect the comments from anyone who suggests of Messiaen that "a man with less talent has never lived"...perhaps you simply have not yet figured out how to listen?
Interesting that you lived in Cincinnati near the Baldwin Electronic Organ factory. John Brombaugh, one of the finest American organbuilders of the 20th century, actually worked for Baldwin...and then realized how "real organ music" was produced.
Jerry, the world is ridiculous (or we humans have made it so...).
Fortunately, there's Bach, and Messiaen, to distract us from that reality.
:-)

??? I wonder what was meant by "what is now an unpopular instrument" ??? ??? ;)

Brombaugh worked for Baldwin ??? ;)  That has some intriguing implications :o ;D

Eric
KB7DQH

[AnOrganCornucopia]

Oh, lord, there goes some Messien. A man with less talent has never lived

That remark (which clearly mis-spells Messiaen's name) deserves a response of the most painful, torturous, physical kind. People have been shot for less!

And I confess that I do suspect the comments from anyone who suggests of Messiaen that "a man with less talent has never lived"...perhaps you simply have not yet figured out how to listen? The world is ridiculous (or we humans have made it so...).
Fortunately, there's Bach, and Messiaen, to distract us from that reality. :-)[/size]

Hear, hear! Though I would dare to say that some organists get stuck in a Bach rut. There is other music written for the organ! There is even other German Baroque music! Yet how often do we hear Weckmann, for example?

??? I wonder what was meant by "what is now an unpopular instrument" ??? ??? ;)

Pretty obvious, isn't it? The organ is not exactly widely popular, particularly with younger generations...

Brombaugh worked for Baldwin ??? ;)  That has some intriguing implications :o ;D

Reminds me of the story of Dirk Flentrop visiting a church in the US near to one of his new installations. Said church had an untouched 4m Skinner. He met the organist there who was expressing a desire to add a big five-rank Baroque-style quints-and-unisons-only mixture to the Great. Flentrop was horrified and advised that the instrument be preserved exactly as it was, as it represented a perfect example of the 1920s American symphonic organ...

...not exactly what one would expect of neoclassical purist Flentrop!