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Genius Maestro Giorgio Questa and his Organ and "must buy" CDs

Started by organforumadmin, July 27, 2011, 07:01:19 PM

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organforumadmin

#20
I have just received a PM as Forum Administrator:
Quote> Suffice to say as proprietor of the site you will be
> concerned, generally, that what is posted will stand up to the scrutiny of
> the informed reader and not be such as to potentially mislead those who
> might be still on the learning curve.


I believe that although the author did not specifically say so, that the comment may relate to this thread.


As an early member of BIOS I was acutely aware inter alia from 1979 http://www.bios.org.uk/jbios.htm of the damage being done to organs by people on the learning curve who had not spotted evidence of unequal temperament in organs which would otherwise have brought enlightenment to temperaments in use.

Giorgio Questa, born in 1929, would have been one of those of his generation bringing unequal temperaments to wider attention.

It is hoped therefore that this forum and its discussions will not only be of interest to "the informed reader" but will also guide appropriately those "who might be still on the learning curve."

As a matter of reference, http://www.npor.org.uk/Reporter/lib.htm is a most excellent resource on an exhaustive number of topics.

Best wishes


Forum Admin

twanguitar

The message above left me feeling rather like someone who is trying to assemble a jigsaw with most of the pieces missing.  I have formed an image of what the finished picture might look like and would like to comment on it, but first must describe the image to reduce the possibility of misconceptions.

It would seem that some sort of "expert" in the organ world has contacted the forum owner to encourage him to work towards changing the ethos of the forum, to raise the standard of its postings, or to do other things at which one can only guess.  It would also seem that the subject of temperament might have been a particular target of this person's criticisms.

If these assumptions are anything approaching reality, I would like to say two things.  Firstly, it might be edifying and useful for the rest of us (wallowing in a sea of darkness and ignorance as we clearly are) if this person would please join the forum if s/he has not yet done so, preferably under their own name, and give all of us the benefit of their erudition.  Secondly, the subject of temperament divides "experts" at least as much as anyone else.  One need only refer to the opinion of Professor Peter Williams, the internationally acknowledged Bach specialist, who described it as "a cul-de-sac of a subject" in the learned journal "Early Music".

If my assumptions were incorrect, then I unreservedly withdraw this post completely and give the forum owner full scope to excercise his powers to do what he will with it.

TG

David Pinnegar

Quote from: twanguitar on August 05, 2011, 07:30:57 AM
The message above left me feeling rather like someone who is trying to assemble a jigsaw with most of the pieces missing.   . . . it might be edifying and useful for the rest of us (wallowing in a sea of darkness

:-) There are times when perhaps a nebulous darkness is preferable to the sharp detail illuminated by a spotlight . . .

From personal experience, for instance playing De Grigny with Grand Tierce on the pedal line which is perfectly pure and in tune with notes in the manuals when Meantone is used, the effect is so beautifully pure, calm and expressive of peace that perhaps whilst I can understand to some extent the point of view that Professor Peter Williams is coming from the reality is that I certainly would not describe it as a "cul-de-sac of a subject".

From my experience in "untuning" pianos and the sublime emotional impact that performances on unequal temperament can have in contrast to performances in equal temperament, the universal adoption of equal detuning of pure intervals has robbed a lot of classical music a dimension of interest.

Accordingly, it is important to be aware of the possibility of the existence of evidence of unequal temperaments and the message of BIOS of the 1970s was that even learned professionals might then still have been on the learning curve and in view of the limited uptake of temperament exploitation I wonder if this remains the case.

Questa's organ and playing are profound on the CDs but I'm not experienced enough to put my finger onto temperaments that I hear: there is always an interaction with the repertoire and the effect of temperament can be one of tonality rather than undue ear tweaking. At St Maximin and Albi, for instance, the effect is simply a "rawness" that excites.

Recently I have been trying early Italian repertoire on a Meantone tuned chamber instrument, the effects always being smoothly pure rather than ear-tweaking.

Without knowing the intimacies of Questa's repertoire I can't yet aurally measure the sweetness of the sound of his instrument to be able to be certain whether the photographs indicate exploitation of temperament of which I know him to have been aware.

Whatever the particular details are of what Questa was doing, the construction of a reasonably extensive pipe organ which could travel for concerts and in particular using wood less fragile than metal for the pipes is of significant interest in encouraging and promoting enthusiasm for organs more widely and the CDs are interesting to hear the sort of tonalities that he used. His musicological erudition was also significant.

Best wishes

David P

David Pinnegar

#23
Hi!

Last week I made a post here which would have been incomprehensible referring to YouTube videos of Giorgio Questa's organ . . . but forgetting to insert the link. Apologies.

The lady who has inherited Giorgio's organ is doing a great job in keeping the spirit of organ repertoire alive with the extraordinary portable Questa organ. Videos are on her channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/MariaGraziaAmoruso and I hope you will enjoy them.

She deserves encouragement and support in her work.

Best wishes

David P

David Pinnegar

Members might have been bemused at my enthusiasm for this instrument in the past but a new video has appeared on YouTube from which this may now be comprehensible:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyFfzZfpwoc

Best wishes

David P

dragonser

Hi,
wonderful to be able to hear and see the instrument nicely recorded. I must listen some more.
thanks for letting us know.
regards Peter B