Excellent interview. I heard Felix for the first time after a concert in which I had sung at the Shrine of Czestochowa in Doylestown. The concert had been accompanied by Peter Richard Conte on the pipe organ in the balcony and the late Thomas Hazleton on a rented Allen at the front of the sanctuary. After the concert, I suddenly heard Mendelssohn's first organ sonata coming from the Allen and saw a middle school kid playing it better than I had during my junior recital in college. It was Felix, fresh from Germany. Since then, I have heard Felix perform several times--mostly on very small instruments. The last time I heard him, he played an instrument with one 16' stop in the pedal, one 8' Oboe in the swell, and a press-and-pray combination action that has given me more than a few "spontaneous moments" during worship services over the years. Felix gets to play lots of large, magnificent instruments; but he can make the most modestly endowed instruments sound extraordinarily versatile and interesting. He played Liszt's Prelude and Fugue on BACH on that tiny church organ with one reed on it--and it sounded absolutely magnificent. I sat there slack-jawed that anyone could do an artistically valid performance of such a monumental organ work on such a limited instrument. I am delighted that he and Carol focused so much on the problem of making the organ accessible to audiences. I was a teenager when Virgil Fox was touring with Black Beauty and Revelation Lights. I heard him live several times at the Temple University Music Festival, which used to be held during summers on the Ambler campus with the Pittsburgh Symphony in residence. (My first organ instructor was one of his former students. She studied with Robert Elmore and Virgil simultaneously. Go figure.) Virgil was--shall we say--a bit unorthodox in his interpretations of Bach at a time when many universities seemed intent on making organ music dull and pedantic. He was the ultimate evangelist of the organ. A young Carlo Curley followed in his footsteps and tried to replicate Virgil's talent for making organ music engaging, interesting--even downright exciting. Carlo eventually bailed on us and settled in Europe. When I entered college in 1975, my fellow organ majors and my professor were somewhat amused by my admiration for Virgil. I did not realize that organ music could be dry and dull or dissonant and weird until I started attending recitals in college. Virgil died the year after I graduated. I was blessed to hear his last solo concert at Ocean Grove during which he actually played quite well despite being just three months away from his death. When he died, organ music sort of died with him. When I was growing up, many people--even those who were not classical music aficionados--had heard of at least two concert organists: Virgil and E. Power Biggs. Now I cannot think of any concert organist whose name would be known even to people who do love classical music. I agree with Felix and Carol that we are currently blessed with an extraordinary number of absolutely brilliant young concert organists whose technical capabilities are nothing short of dazzling. I see and hear them play and wonder if even Virgil could have kept up with them physically. It grieves me to confess, however, that most of the performances I attend just leave me cold. I have been known to walk out of organ concerts. At the Kimmel Center a few years ago, I walked out of a concert featuring two artists generally acknowledged to be among the best in the world, one of whom I like very much personally. To be blunt, what they played and how they played it amounted to an aural assault. It was loud, dissonant, and generally musically incoherent. And I was not the only audience member who left early. I am beyond the point at which I am thrilled with superhuman technique. I want to hear beautiful music. I want to have the same standards as an audience member for organ concerts that I have when I am in the Kimmel Center for a Philadelphia Orchestra concert. I want to be as excited by an organ recital as I am by one of Yuja's piano recitals. I love music. I really do. A few years ago, I ran into a friend at a recital celebrating the restoration of an organ in a prominent Main Line church. My friend had brought with him a young person who was about to hear an organ concert for the very first time. I took one look at the concert program and groaned inwardly. One of our best younger concert organists was playing, and it should have been a wonderful opportunity to gain a new audience member for our instrument. But the programing seemed to be designed for an audience of fellow organists--and very patient fellow organists at that. Despite meticulous attention to registration and virtually flawless playing, the concert was an exercise in endurance rather than an inspiring artistic event. I was delighted to learn that Felix is taking advantage of the availability of excellent-sounding digital organs. A friend of mine whom I first met when he installed a Rodgers Jamestown 100 in my living room when I was fifteen has taken digital organ sound to a level of authenticity I never imagined possible when I played my first Allen digital computer organ in Cal Grafton's store in Souderton in the 1970s. Black Beauty--an analog--sounds downright primitive in comparison with what digital sampling has made possible now. I would love it if someone would do what Don Muro--one of Virgil's students who established much of his reputation by teaching music teachers like me how to used keyboard workstations--used to do in the 80s and 90s: take his show on the road performing school assemblies and college concerts. Don set up a synthesizer and a sampler as his two manuals and connected a second synthesizer to an organ pedalboard. He even traveled with a light show. He played some standard organ literature as well as a variety of other music. He was an evangelist more for electronic music than for the organ, but he gave compelling performances that attracted young listeners. He performed a daytime assembly and an evening concert at the high school in the school district in which I taught. The kids loved it. I drag a digital piano around with me a lot these days. It's not as portable as an acoustic guitar, but it makes it possible to take piano music to places that don't have an acoustic instrument. If we are ever going to revive the audience for organ music, some of my more talented colleagues are going to have to begin dragging digital organs around with them. And they are going to have to realize that organ concerts need to be accessible and attractive to people who do not have graduate degrees in music. Sorry to go on so long, but I have been stewing about this topic for years now. I'm looking forward to hearing Carol in Ocean Grove in a couple of weeks. I trust Gordon will have the blower that died on him and Michael Hey on Wednesday evening alive and well by the time Carol arrives in town. Thanks to Felix and Carol for all they do for our beloved instrument!
GREAT INTERVIEW! It was really great to hear both of your observations on the future uses and repertoire of the organ and getting it out in front of peoples who wouldn't usually go out of their way to hear it. As a vocalist, I LOVE to be accompanied by the organ. Its the ultimate rush for me. To tap into the full capabilities of a complete orchestra (especially theater organ) yet have absolute communication with just one other and equally yoked musical partner is so liberating!
Dr.Carol Williams I would really love to see some interviews with British Organists. John Scott Whiteley, James Lancelot, David Briggs, Simon Johnson, etc
Excellent interview. I heard Felix for the first time after a concert in which I had sung at the Shrine of Czestochowa in Doylestown. The concert had been accompanied by Peter Richard Conte on the pipe organ in the balcony and the late Thomas Hazleton on a rented Allen at the front of the sanctuary. After the concert, I suddenly heard Mendelssohn's first organ sonata coming from the Allen and saw a middle school kid playing it better than I had during my junior recital in college. It was Felix, fresh from Germany.
Since then, I have heard Felix perform several times--mostly on very small instruments. The last time I heard him, he played an instrument with one 16' stop in the pedal, one 8' Oboe in the swell, and a press-and-pray combination action that has given me more than a few "spontaneous moments" during worship services over the years.
Felix gets to play lots of large, magnificent instruments; but he can make the most modestly endowed instruments sound extraordinarily versatile and interesting. He played Liszt's Prelude and Fugue on BACH on that tiny church organ with one reed on it--and it sounded absolutely magnificent. I sat there slack-jawed that anyone could do an artistically valid performance of such a monumental organ work on such a limited instrument.
I am delighted that he and Carol focused so much on the problem of making the organ accessible to audiences. I was a teenager when Virgil Fox was touring with Black Beauty and Revelation Lights. I heard him live several times at the Temple University Music Festival, which used to be held during summers on the Ambler campus with the Pittsburgh Symphony in residence. (My first organ instructor was one of his former students. She studied with Robert Elmore and Virgil simultaneously. Go figure.)
Virgil was--shall we say--a bit unorthodox in his interpretations of Bach at a time when many universities seemed intent on making organ music dull and pedantic. He was the ultimate evangelist of the organ. A young Carlo Curley followed in his footsteps and tried to replicate Virgil's talent for making organ music engaging, interesting--even downright exciting. Carlo eventually bailed on us and settled in Europe.
When I entered college in 1975, my fellow organ majors and my professor were somewhat amused by my admiration for Virgil. I did not realize that organ music could be dry and dull or dissonant and weird until I started attending recitals in college.
Virgil died the year after I graduated. I was blessed to hear his last solo concert at Ocean Grove during which he actually played quite well despite being just three months away from his death.
When he died, organ music sort of died with him. When I was growing up, many people--even those who were not classical music aficionados--had heard of at least two concert organists: Virgil and E. Power Biggs. Now I cannot think of any concert organist whose name would be known even to people who do love classical music.
I agree with Felix and Carol that we are currently blessed with an extraordinary number of absolutely brilliant young concert organists whose technical capabilities are nothing short of dazzling. I see and hear them play and wonder if even Virgil could have kept up with them physically.
It grieves me to confess, however, that most of the performances I attend just leave me cold. I have been known to walk out of organ concerts.
At the Kimmel Center a few years ago, I walked out of a concert featuring two artists generally acknowledged to be among the best in the world, one of whom I like very much personally. To be blunt, what they played and how they played it amounted to an aural assault. It was loud, dissonant, and generally musically incoherent. And I was not the only audience member who left early.
I am beyond the point at which I am thrilled with superhuman technique. I want to hear beautiful music. I want to have the same standards as an audience member for organ concerts that I have when I am in the Kimmel Center for a Philadelphia Orchestra concert. I want to be as excited by an organ recital as I am by one of Yuja's piano recitals. I love music. I really do.
A few years ago, I ran into a friend at a recital celebrating the restoration of an organ in a prominent Main Line church. My friend had brought with him a young person who was about to hear an organ concert for the very first time. I took one look at the concert program and groaned inwardly.
One of our best younger concert organists was playing, and it should have been a wonderful opportunity to gain a new audience member for our instrument. But the programing seemed to be designed for an audience of fellow organists--and very patient fellow organists at that. Despite meticulous attention to registration and virtually flawless playing, the concert was an exercise in endurance rather than an inspiring artistic event.
I was delighted to learn that Felix is taking advantage of the availability of excellent-sounding digital organs. A friend of mine whom I first met when he installed a Rodgers Jamestown 100 in my living room when I was fifteen has taken digital organ sound to a level of authenticity I never imagined possible when I played my first Allen digital computer organ in Cal Grafton's store in Souderton in the 1970s. Black Beauty--an analog--sounds downright primitive in comparison with what digital sampling has made possible now.
I would love it if someone would do what Don Muro--one of Virgil's students who established much of his reputation by teaching music teachers like me how to used keyboard workstations--used to do in the 80s and 90s: take his show on the road performing school assemblies and college concerts.
Don set up a synthesizer and a sampler as his two manuals and connected a second synthesizer to an organ pedalboard. He even traveled with a light show. He played some standard organ literature as well as a variety of other music. He was an evangelist more for electronic music than for the organ, but he gave compelling performances that attracted young listeners. He performed a daytime assembly and an evening concert at the high school in the school district in which I taught. The kids loved it.
I drag a digital piano around with me a lot these days. It's not as portable as an acoustic guitar, but it makes it possible to take piano music to places that don't have an acoustic instrument.
If we are ever going to revive the audience for organ music, some of my more talented colleagues are going to have to begin dragging digital organs around with them. And they are going to have to realize that organ concerts need to be accessible and attractive to people who do not have graduate degrees in music.
Sorry to go on so long, but I have been stewing about this topic for years now. I'm looking forward to hearing Carol in Ocean Grove in a couple of weeks. I trust Gordon will have the blower that died on him and Michael Hey on Wednesday evening alive and well by the time Carol arrives in town.
Thanks to Felix and Carol for all they do for our beloved instrument!
GREAT INTERVIEW! It was really great to hear both of your observations on the future uses and repertoire of the organ and getting it out in front of peoples who wouldn't usually go out of their way to hear it. As a vocalist, I LOVE to be accompanied by the organ. Its the ultimate rush for me. To tap into the full capabilities of a complete orchestra (especially theater organ) yet have absolute communication with just one other and equally yoked musical partner is so liberating!
Dr.Carol Williams I would really love to see some interviews with British Organists. John Scott Whiteley, James Lancelot, David Briggs, Simon Johnson, etc
Thank you. I've made a note.