The Pipe Organ

I admit it; the soapbox is coming out this week; no real content.

This past week, there was a music program: three electronic organs were brought in to play in conjunction with the pipe organ. Five organists, four at once for some pieces, others only two. The music program was very diverse. There were the open melodic pieces (which in this case moved in circles around the room as the melody was handed off between the organs). There was a piece similar in style to Handel's famous Water Music, including a strong and rousing final movement. They even pulled of a P.D.Q. Bach piece in Victor Borge Style (If you don't know who Victor Borge is, find a video of one of his performances now! This will wait).

This event was held on a campus which claims over three thousand students. It was held a 7:30 PM on a Tuesday when most of the courses are over (and many of those held at this time are night courses which have a high adult enrollment). The program lasted just about an hour. The date & time were available since the beginning of last semester. Out of all that, you'd think there would be a couple students there.

Aside from myself, I only counted one person at least as young as my parents.

The pipe organ is one of the most impressive musical instruments. It requires both hands and feet to play, a single key can be connected to dozens of pipes. The theater organ (a variant) is designed to imitate the sounds of brass and string instruments to let it replace an orchestra. A real pipe organ is nothing like the synthesized monstrosity that sits in the corner of your average church. Even my mediocre skills can make a pipe organ sound impressive; it's difficult to make it sound bad.

And it seems to be dying. The local music store doesn't carry any organ music and the clerk says that most organist adapt from other arrangements (or arrange their own) now as there's so little demand for organ works.

So if I can make one small request. Here's a pair of links to ClassicCat.net, a site that links to various performers who have placed their recordings online (click the red icon with the disk, it links to the performer's page so it might take a little more navigation to get an mp3). The first is Boellmann's Gothic Suite, try the 4th movement, the Toccata. The second is the classic Toccata and Fugue in D minor by J.S. Bach. You're probably familiar with it through it's frequent use in movies, television, radio, video games and so on. Both are powerful pieces of organ music and worth the 15 minutes it takes to listen.

Boellman, Gothic SuiteJS Bach, Toccata and Fugue