St. Sulpice Paris Widor Plays Widor Andante Sostenuto
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- Опубликовано: 3 окт 2024
- The Andante Sostenuto from Widor's Symphonie Gothique, recorded in 1932. Even after 75 years, & even given the primitiveness of the recording, those limpid Cavaillé-Coll flutes are still spine-tingling.
For some of the most amazing pictures you've ever seen of St. Sulpice (or any other church, for that matter) click on
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It's absolutely wonderful to be able to hear Widor himself play.
A wonderful historical recording ! Beautiful sonorities !
I was taught by one of his pupils, and have often visited Saint Sulpice. Last time it was closed due to refurbishment.
Virgil Fox changed my life in 1970. Were it not for him, I would not know Bach nor the organ. I am sorry for those too young, stuck up or unfortunate to have missed his live concerts and/or appreciate VF. You may not be able to change the facts of your own life and loves now, but who knows. Maybe one day you will soften the hardness with which you approach music and the love of it and open your heart and mind to the great gifts left behind by those who graced us with their love of life and music
This man was truly a master, as were the organ builders. Very enjoyable music.
Yep - I'm lucky enough to own a copy of the original 'HMV' 78 'Le Voice de la Maitre', as it would be in France... wonderful to have...
See contratromba's comments farther down the thread. He was generous enough to send me an MP3 of his old recording, & you're right: it was very "stately." But we've certainly got to give him credit for his efforts ;-)
many thanks for this precoius recording!!!
A remarkable performance by this great organ composer, in extreme old age. A pity that some of the crackles were not taken out, but the playing overcomes any complaints!
Thanks. I keep hoping it's not just organ junkies like me who see thse things .... but you never know. I'm going to keep spreading the gospel, though.
Widor Did record the Toccatta at the st sulpice i have a recording of it.theres a break in the middle where u turn the record over. He played it VERY slowly though as by the time he recorded it he was 85.
Now, that really would be something, wouldn't it? In this day & age, where everyone has a camera, we take for granted that there are pictures for everything. But back in 1932, film cameras were huge & not very portable, & required extremely bright & hot lights. I'm not sure they could have squeezed all that equipment into the st. Sulpice gallery -- even if they'd thought of it.
This is so beautiful
I have Widor's recording of the Toccata. He was not happy with people who played it too fast - his careful articulations can't be heard. His performances of it at St. Sulpice were famous - he often played at after Christmas midnight mass. His crescendos and diminuendos on the huge St. Sulpice organ are amazing. He played the entire piece on one manual - the Grand Orgue - and did the dynamics by adding and subtracting other divisions with the pedal ventils. Also - the 21 stop Récit has a huge dynamic range with the swell shutters, since it is high above the rest of the instrument embedded in the wall, and is not blocked by the massive organ case.
@marsvltor2 I completely agree with this assessment!
Listen, sometime, to Fox's Franck Grande Pièce Symphonique performance, on Pipedreams archives. The most hideous Franck playing ever conceived, and on one of America's most hideous pipe organs (in a dead concert hall!). Playing like that doesn't get any worse. The music completely disfigured.
Straight off the internet -- which is where all the photos on my uploads come from. But I'd be hard-pressed to tell you how to find it. Google "St. Sulpice photo" & rummage around in whatever pops up. And good luck ;-)
Mr Fox had a habit of destroying what he played: listen on RUclips to his 'performance' of Alain's Litanies, and then compare with that of Jehan's sister...as I've said elsewhere, it's popcorn as opposed to Fois Gras...
Unfortunately, no. There are only four known recordings of Widor.
Did Widor ever record all of his organ symphonies and if so with whom and are they available?
The old 78 RPM recording format placed severe time constraints on what could be recorded; only about 4 minutes on each side of a disc. So the pieces couldn't be very long; or there had to be a natural break at about the 4-minute mark so people could flip sides. Widor's Toccata usually clocks in at about 5 minutes,& there isn't a break,so he didn't record the Toccata.But I've got a great one recorded @ Chartres Cathedral that I could upload. Stay tuned.
6:12 is pretty "stately." ;-) The only Widor-himself recordings I've got are 3 movements of the Symphonie Gothique. I guess I'll have to try to track down the Toccata -- for historical purposes, if nothing else.