Although their pipe displays and facades are usually quite attractive, Holtkamp organs tonally, have always come across to me as "under-voiced" and unrefined. M.P. Mollers are better sounding but often also under-voiced. AEolian-Skinner organs (the really good ones) cannot be beat for their elegant tonal refinement. Fortunate the venue with a great AEolian-Skinner organ and someone knowledgeable to preside over it.
You just had to open up with Toccata and Fugue in d minor, didn't you. Although it has always been a great piece of organ music, it is the most popularized and stigmatized and overkilled piece of music in the world. Couldn't you come up with something else that's brighter, like maybe Dupre's Prelude and Fugue in B, or maybe a fresh improvisation? I didn't get any farther than the first 3 seconds.
I used to play for a Congregational church in Huntington, WV with a lovely organ built by a local organ builder. I loved it there.
Best demonstration I have seen on RUclips. Fantastic organ. Holtkamp has always put-out a mellow sound.
Get those ears checked for high frequency hearing loss. They are bright, thin, and buzzy, opposite of mellow.
The celestes are mellow😅
Although their pipe displays and facades are usually quite attractive, Holtkamp organs tonally, have always come across to me as "under-voiced" and unrefined. M.P. Mollers are better sounding but often also under-voiced. AEolian-Skinner organs (the really good ones) cannot be beat for their elegant tonal refinement. Fortunate the venue with a great AEolian-Skinner organ and someone knowledgeable to preside over it.
Toccata and Fugue sounds just as modern now as when written so long ago.
Must be wonderful to be able t make all ten fingers and both feet work together!
It takes a lot of practice.
You just had to open up with Toccata and Fugue in d minor, didn't you. Although it has always been a great piece of organ music, it is the most popularized and stigmatized and overkilled piece of music in the world. Couldn't you come up with something else that's brighter, like maybe Dupre's Prelude and Fugue in B, or maybe a fresh improvisation? I didn't get any farther than the first 3 seconds.