The Royal Albert Hall organ explained by Richard Hills
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- Опубликовано: 9 июл 2024
- Renowned organist Richard Hills demonstrates the immense versatility of the Grand Organ of London's Royal Albert Hall. The second largest organ in the UK and once the largest in the world, the 150-year old instrument boasts a staggering 9,999 pipes and 147 stops - from delicate woodwinds to earth-shattering pedal brass and reeds.
As we celebrate 150 years of the Royal Albert Hall, we'll be sharing more about this instrument's history and capabilities over the coming months - be sure to follow along on social media.
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#RAH150 
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The first time I heard this organ was on a vinyl record - "Organ Memories" put out by Reader's Digest in the 1960's. I was just starting to learn the organ, and the record set came with mostly theater organs, all Wurlitzers, with the exception of record #4 "The Organ Triumphant". It featured 2 organs - this one, and the Riverside Church in New York City. Both were played by Virgil Fox on the record. I was immediately hooked on classical organ music and demanded that my teacher get me the Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, even though it was above my capabilities at the time (I was about 12 then). Since then, I've been a fan of Virgil's and was lucky enough to see him play in person twice, and meet him after one of those performances. Treasured memories.
Those readers digest recordings were at the time (and still are in my opinion) the best recordings made of the Tower Ballroom Wurlitzer. They are still very highly regarded by many. It sounds absolutely magnificent in them, and the room is captured wonderfully. As good as Reg Dixon is on those recordings, I only wish the same recording technology was around in the late 1930s to hear him at his absolute peak.
I used to listen to the Reader’s Digest (mostly jazz/easy listening) at my grandmother’s. My pipe organ impressions came from theatre matinees, with “The Mighty Wurlitzer”, 4-manuals, left and right front lofts (with full percussion). A high school friend was a theatre organ prodigy and let me tour the lofts while he practiced. The organ records in our Public Library were Virgil Fox and E. Power Biggs. I liked Fox’s sensitivity to the music and Biggs’ “Heavy Organ” performance pieces.
Ah Riverside Church. I went to college down the street and when I got married my wedding was there. So… I had the once in a lifetime opportunity to specify a magnificent program of organ music played by the chief organist at the time, Frederick Swann. I chose to have all Bach music. It was glorious.
Fantastic demonstration of this magnificent instrument!
Anna Lapwood made this Organ famious!
It's always had some fame, when it was built it was the largest musical instrument ever constructed, back in 1850 or so. That title now belongs to the organ at Atlantic City's boardwalk hall, which is more than three times the size of the Royal Albert Hall organ.
Hats off to Anna for being a positive influence in classical culture media, but there are PLENTY of other great organists, like Richard Hills here, who have played this instrument. My favourite is Wayne Marshall and Olivier Latry taking turns on it in a Prom. That’s virtuoso work!
The organ was famous for over 150 years before Anna Lapwood.
Er… I think it’s the RAH organ that has made Anna Lapwood famous, actually. And although a much-loved instrument, it was more notorious than famous before its Mander rebuild - never being quite in tune, or having enough wind… It still made a glorious racket though! There’s a comment below about the nameplate: despite what BBC announcers tell us about this being a ‘Father Willis’, to anyone with eyes and ears the instrument is the classic inter-war Harrison brought to its logical conclusion. And that’s why Mander left the nameplate in situ.
But not AS famous.......
Heard recordings of it 40 years ago...would love to see it someday. The greatest 'bucket list' instrument in the world to me.
Great video. Went to Kings Rochester with Richard; he played for our School Services and was fantastic. Later went to Exeter College Oxford. He was also a fencer too at KSR!!
Thank you for the very clear explanation. It's not easy to explain such a beast but you did it so it's comprehensible to non-organists.
Seeing it last night at the prom was amazing. Such a huge instrument with such a range
A wonderful demonstration of one of the greatest concert hall organs in the world. Thank you, Richard!😀
One of my favourite organs. If only we could hear it more often.
A Kontakt sample library has just been released of this organ so you can play it in the comfort of your home:
ruclips.net/video/mgBsKpzgLtA/видео.html
Pleased to hear this new channel.Much needed in times such as these.Thank you
THIS IS SO COOL. WHAT THE HECK. I LOVE THIS.
What a magnificent instrument! Oh to hear those 32 foot stops in person! Like Mozart said, the pipe organ is "The King of Instruments". Thank you Richard for your exceptional performance!
The Albert Hall organ also has a 64 foot stop in the pedal division, something that you feel rather than hear.
@@hb1338 It's a derived stop, it is not a genuine 64' stop.
I just love this organ and the amazing sounds it makes, thank you for the fascinating tour. I am not a keyboard player at all so it is all bewildering technically. The sounds are fabulous, oh to be able to play it!
Thank you Richard. Superbly explained and demonstrated.
Thank you for presenting this interesting "tour" of such a world class organ. It's definitely one of a kind.
this hall has good acoustics for a piporgan. most halls don't have that. also the position of the pipes is good. it spreads the sound good into the hall. gives a warm sound.
Love it!
Great video ! Thanks for sharing this !
Thank you! Brilliant!
Thank you so much for this excellent tour of stops. Even though I will never have the opportunity to play that organ, but it helps tremendously understanding registration options. Again, thank you!
Thanks Richard, very informative.
Brilliant. Wish I could hear this live.
Thank you for performing and producing this video.
If you could program more recitals with state of the art recordings the magnificence of this great instrument could be shared with appreciative mortals like me around the world for generations.
Thank you for a great video!
Thank you. That was a very informative and interesting demonstration
Very enjoyable and educational video, Richard. Thank you, from across the pond.
Well done. I enjoyed your explanation and demonstration.
Thanks. Great demonstration
Such a wonderful instrument.
What a brilliant video
Wow, fantastic the way you explained the Organ. At this moment i am looking for a virtual organ plugin for my compositions and this video passed by. A fantastic way to see the sound possibilities of this organ. Very impressive. Thank you. Now it's time to buy the software.
very interesting, thank you.
Wow what an instrument!
Thanks that was a great overview - just the right length and pitched to non-specialists
Fantastique !
omg love you. πολύ ωραίο!
Thine Be The Glory
As a German follower I do not only love the content itself but also the linguistic aspects of your wonderful explanations!
Same here regarding linguistic aspect, and I’m in the US!
@@newtboysRichard Hills went to school at King's School Rochester, founded AD 604, second oldest school in the world, now over 1,400 years old.
I don’t play anything at all but it looks like the most extraordinary fun. I once had to get rid of an old electric organ stored in a hall I managed, and had to check it worked before it was shipped off somewhere. Having never been near one before I was instantly fascinated and regretted that we sold it!
Great audio levels. So many people who demonstrate organs or talk about organs have very low audio levels for some reason. You have great levels and excellent dynamic range!
Great job (great socks) Thanks for doing this!
Well done Richard. I would have loved to have seen a video like this when I was a teenager and really starting to get interested in the organ!
Richard Hills must be one of the finest organists of our time.
Heard him play in Chattanooga, Tennessee a couple years ago. Fun, funny, brilliant!
Never had the pleasure of visiting the Hall to hear this wonderful instrument. Brilliant, informative video.
🎼 Now they know how many pipes
It takes to fill the Albert Haaall...🎼
[Btw: any chance of a video of 'A Day In The Life' played on it?]
I'll get my coat....
I really enjoyed this - one day I will visit to hopefully explore this beast of an organ! :-)
I’d love to be there when you play this organ!
@@Musician-Lee
Let's hear 'Little Arrows' on it! 🤣 (Ahem, shows my age...)
Thine be the glory
I have a photo of myself seated at the consiole, although I am no organist. We were going to use it at a Supertramp concert, but other issues (like a visit from Charles and Diana) meant we had to abandon the idea. Oh well.
Thanks for sharing Richard and all.
Very interesting how on earth does Richard know how to play like this its wonderful.
Practise practice and more practise
This is the most miraculous instrument known to mankind. How in the world do you build it, how do you write music for it and it must take a lifetime to learn to play. I'm wondering what metal the pipes are made of, each metal has its own resonance and that could change slightly if they rust. The acoustics must change from an empty hall to a hall full of people. Learning to play this instrument is incredible enough, what kind of knowledge is required to be a maintenance crew? Excellent video
All good questions! I can answer (poorly) a couple: roughly half the pipes are wood so might move a little with change in humidity and temperature but not normally thought to cause problems. The metal pipes are largely lead with small amounts of tin, copper or antimony, so they are very inert to corrosion. All large organs like this are tuned several times a year though. As for the acoustics, I believe the seats are designed to have an "equivalent absorption area" (basically the area of a perfect absorber reflecting zero energy that is equivalent to the thing you're measuring) roughly the same whether they're empty or full.
@@chrisburn7178 Chris, Thanks so much for your answers, the metal makes perfect sense as that "recipe" has been available before the early design of the pipe organ. I would never have thought of the pipe being an alloy like that. Since viewing the video, I have reorganized my organ music library and added several new albums and organist to my " Santa" list :-) Thanks so much again Happy Holidays
The seating at the Albert Hall is mostly around the periphery of an oval so the sound absorption of the audience is very low. The arena floor (normally seats, but standing area during the Proms concerts) is a long way below the organ and also the stage, so there is little acoustic absorption there.
Tip: the best place to hear the "Voice of Jupiter" is (IMO) the gallery, which runs around the top of the auditorium and is at a similar height to the organ case. I have memories of standing there for a Proms performance of the Saint-Saens organ symphony in the 1980s.
I'm an organist who has dabbled a smidgen in organ building, but live in the US and therefore don't have any experience with RAH's instrument. I started piano in first grade, and started organ lessons in high school; I decided to major in organ for undergraduate and a master's degree. Piano lessons are highly-recommended first, as that will help teach technique, some music theory, musicality, etc., then when you switch over to organ, much of that knowledge can now be utilized on organ. Yes, it's a lot of brain power, and it is the hardest instrument to learn and play, but it's so worth it!
Many composers for the organ were/are organists themselves, and therefore know what works and what doesn't. Things like arpeggios that usually work great on piano are not as playable on the organ because of how sound is made, and the arpeggiated line may sound disjointed. On the other hand, the organ is made for long, sustained sound, and many pieces take advantage of that. Using multiple manuals/keyboards in a short span of time is another feature that organ composers can use.
Organ builders use a variety of skills to build an instrument. Woodworking, electrical engineering (even for mechanical-action instruments), knowledge of levers and physics, and an eye for design and aesthetics all play a role, as well as being acousticians and usually performing musicians themselves. As practically every pipe organ is custom-made, it generally takes months or a year-or-two to build one from scratch; installing an instrument in its final venue also takes quite a while to accomplish. Pipes are either hand-made in-house or ordered from a pipe-making company. In addition to making new instruments or refurbishing older ones for new homes, organ shop employees are also tuners and maintenance people for instruments of all shapes in the area.
This is overwhelming
wondering if you entered the room on the back of a Cadillac like Carlo did years ago? Of course you didn't but this made me think of that event.
Fantastic explanation. My grandfather was at the RCM in the late '20s and he used to recall how he could hear them tuning those big pedal reeds when walking past the hall.
What's the tune he played in the beginning
What is the song that played from 12:20 until the end?
A really good demonstration of this magnificent instrument. It is a pity though that that the pipework was not recorded well at all and the soft stops are virtually inaudible. I can only presume that everything was recorded on the single voice mic which gave a clear commentary.
We did use an array of mics for the organ, but some stops (particularly those in the Choir and Orchestral division) are almost imperceptible when played solo - if not quieter in person than comes across in this video. It was a challenge to balance the audio from such a dynamic instrument. I hope you enjoyed the demonstration nonetheless!
@@RoyalAlbertHallOrgan there was a 64 foot acoustic bass stop that he forgot to show
Just fascinating! Does the amount of air that can be supplied limit the number of stops that can be drawn at once?
In a sense, yes. Electropneumatic instruments don't have that problem as much. But yes, if you draw every, single, stop on, including all the celestes, it will deplete the air in the wind chest and the blower can't provide enough air in real-time. The pitch of the entire instrument will then go flat. So, the famous phrase, "pulling out all the stops" isn't actually done by us organists on anything more than about 20 stops, because it's usually just not needed and the tuning is at risk of falling.
Thank you for the video.
But the longer it plays, the more dizzy I get because of the free camera movement (shaking).
A little less movement would be appreciated (at least in post production).
Such an awesome instrument. Is there anyway you let people play it???
What's the excerpt played at the start of the video? Btw, such a beautiful sounding organ!
Hymn tune for the hymn 'Thine be the Glory', the tune was composed by George Friedrich Handel. Here it is sung at King's College Cambridge: ruclips.net/video/K1pmNczMEk8/видео.html
Also known as the main theme from Handel's Judas Maccabeus
There is a floppy disc drive top left above the manuals, what does that do?
Probably to expand the memory levels. A guest organist can bring a disc in to save all their settings on without having to override any of the built-in memory levels.
I do love a good toot.
Is this organ in Hauptwerk yet?
what is the excerpt right at the beginning belonging to? thanks
The main theme from Handel's Judas Maccabeus
Did I see a Harrison & Harrison nameplate? ():34) This is one of Father Willis' masterpieces! You can't do that!!
It did begin life as a Willis organ, but it was rebuilt and greatly rescaled by Harrison in the 1920's? to the point it somewhat "became" a Harrison organ, not only in sound, but in mechanics. You'll note the classic Harrison console designs. Further additions and modifications by Harrison have made it more of a Harrison as well.
The latest rebuilt was by Mander Organs in 2004. Consideration was given to returning to the Father Willis specifications but the organ had been modified so much that such a return was impractical. In reality it is now a Mander organ.
@@drbobdrake Well then, put a Mander nameplate on it, together with the original Willis one. I find the Harrison nameplate quite annoying.
Anyway, it sounds terrific!
Klais has the organ restored
so its just like an manual electric keboard just a hole lot more awesome!! its stagaring how they figerd out how to build it never mind how to play it!!
Pipe organs have been around since Roman times, we've known how to build them for a very long time. Though they have undergone changes since then and become more complex and refined, the principal (excuse the pun) is still the same. No electronic speakers or recordings etc can produce the experience of hearing a pipe organ, be it classical or theatre, in the room.
What is the name of the first piece he played?
See, the Conquering Hero Comes by George Frideric Handel
10:48 "More reeds, and bigger pedal." *pro microphone crackles under the pressure*
Sounded just fine to me, perhaps your speaker system wasn't up to the task?
Ces extraits sont tellement court un goût de trop peu
PS c est fantastique
0:21 what is this song
It's the main theme from Handel's Judas Maccabeus, but there may have been an altered chord or two in there.
Must be my hearing or the video was recorded at a very low sound level, but I couldn't hear any of the quieter stops being demonstrated. Anyway I suppose they're a bit irrelevant as this instrument's chief role is more about decibels and the more the merrier.
If this organ had 1 more pipe it would have 10,000 pipes even.
Anna Lapwood has made this organ famous. Love hearing this organ. 🎼🎹
RC cicily Jessy
What was
Too bad he didn’t show what the full organ setting would sound like.
I just wonder. If you play a piano well, you can probably play all pianos well since they have all the same keys and pedals. But all organs are different. I wonder how difficult it is to master such an organ, of course assuming you are a proficient organ player.
I like the organ music in the 1944 war movie. Bing Search: PETER GIBBS CANTERBURY TALE.
Sorry but Anna Lapwood should be doing this. She IS the great organ pf the Royal Albert Hall!
Whilst this comment was made a year ago, I hugely disagree (and I know and love them both!). The RAH organ is not restricted to Anna and I’m sure even she will agree that there were many before and after her who bring it to light - although not quite to the masses that she has done through social media! You may not have heard of Hills, but the organ world certainly has and he’s one of the best of his generation for pipe and theatre organ. Just google ‘Tiger Rag’ and be blown away!
It#s hardly ever used, you can't practice on it, it's just a waste.
Bad videography makes good content sound bad. (Auto-out-of-focus, and, wrong camera, or wrong camera setting for undesirable shallow focus.)
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