I was very pleased, as MMMH President, to be able to bring together Paul Fey and Brent Johnson at Methuen for the making of this video. Both of them do great work, through their RUclips channels, to promote the pipe organ and its music!
Just imagine how much G.D. Harrison hated that 32' free reed; luckily for us, he didn't have the money to chuck it out & replace it. Wonderful tour & camera work!
I was so amazed to see Paul Fey on your channel, i found him to be very talented! The story behind this organ is amazing, and it's sounds are unique and beautiful!
This is like my two favorite channels combined! Paul's playing of the Bach is spectacular; what a technique this young man has! (That might be the fastest opening pedal scale I've ever heard.) BRAVO to all involved! 😁🐧
Great video! This instrument has always been of interest to me due to my home church in Salt Lake CIity, Utah having a facade that is modeled after this organ. Although it is not as elaborate as Methuen it is still fun to see the similarities between this organ and the one here in Salt Lake.
When I played my concert here in 2015, I was very struck by the effect of the "Grand Bourdon" IV of the Pedal. This is an original Walcker stop. The nomenclature is a surprise to modern players, but Walcker used this term for a 32' series Cornet is other of their organs (Votivkirche Vienna, Cathedral Riga...). Methuen's has a stopped 10-2/3', open 8', 6-2/5' that's stopped in the bass and open in the treble (and has inverted upper lips), and a stopped 4-4/7' that was re-racked by Æolian-Skinner to that pitch from its original 4'; all these ranks are flute scaled and of wooden pipes. I found that, when used in an ensemble registration, the Grand Bourdon gave an effect of a dark, smooth, and perfectly blending 32' Posaune. One benefit of its being made of smaller flue pipes is that the whole speaks very promptly, much more so than an actual reed would. My console assistant said, in a rather surprised tone, "that gives clarity to the Pedal line." And that clarity wasn't due to it including higher pitches, because those are heard simply as tone color of 32' pitch. I found that this stop really drove the Pedal part because of its prompt speech, something that actual 32' pipes never do because of their slower speech. I used it in Bach's G major Prelude BWV 541 to superb effect.
Thank you immensely Brent and team for this fabulous presentation of this amazing organ. I first heard of this organ as a youngster in the 1960's from photos in an encyclopedia reference which still described it as the "Boston Music Hall" organ. In the early 1980's my organ teacher Michael Dudman recorded this organ for Australian radio. When he presented the broadcast he referred it as the most difficult organ he'd ever played. He specifically identified the action delay and the extreme difficulty of hearing the instrument from the console. This was strong criticism indeed, because the organ MD usually played and managed brilliantly (at the Anglican Cathedral in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia) has a modest delay and its impact in the building is extremely hard to judge from the console (I know from experience having played it for 6 years in lessons in the late 1970's). I wonder how the Methuen organ's mechanical and tonal states in the early 1980's compare with its condition and excellence of regulation today. Also, I wonder if MD was unable to bring the console as far to the front of the stage as it appears to be in these videos. This is truly a remarkable instrument and to still have it around today, albeit with many alterations over the years, is indeed a privilege.
Love the cse work and the "Atlas' figures holding up the pipe towers! those strange looking painted faces on the largest facade pipes always looked strange/creapy to me!
dude, you should NOT touch that shallot when you opened the reed, that is extremely sensitive! Even the slightest moisture from a human hand can affect the speech of that note!
I was very pleased, as MMMH President, to be able to bring together Paul Fey and Brent Johnson at Methuen for the making of this video. Both of them do great work, through their RUclips channels, to promote the pipe organ and its music!
Absolutely brilliant! A very nice surprise to see two of my favorite personalities in the organ world together.
Just imagine how much G.D. Harrison hated that 32' free reed; luckily for us, he didn't have the money to chuck it out & replace it. Wonderful tour & camera work!
Wow! Paul Fey and Brent Johnson and THAT organ!
Paul is a great musician and his talent is exemplified wonderfully on this beautiful organ. Thanks for this fine presentation, Brent.
Thanks, Brent, Paul, Matthew, Fred, and Justin! Terrific videos!
I was so amazed to see Paul Fey on your channel, i found him to be very talented! The story behind this organ is amazing, and it's sounds are unique and beautiful!
This is like my two favorite channels combined! Paul's playing of the Bach is spectacular; what a technique this young man has! (That might be the fastest opening pedal scale I've ever heard.) BRAVO to all involved! 😁🐧
I've been watching Paul Fey's RUclips channel for awhile. He is an amazing composer and organist!
Great video! This instrument has always been of interest to me due to my home church in Salt Lake CIity, Utah having a facade that is modeled after this organ. Although it is not as elaborate as Methuen it is still fun to see the similarities between this organ and the one here in Salt Lake.
best featuring of the month thank you you made my day.
Fantastic episode (both parts)! Thank you!
When I played my concert here in 2015, I was very struck by the effect of the "Grand Bourdon" IV of the Pedal. This is an original Walcker stop. The nomenclature is a surprise to modern players, but Walcker used this term for a 32' series Cornet is other of their organs (Votivkirche Vienna, Cathedral Riga...). Methuen's has a stopped 10-2/3', open 8', 6-2/5' that's stopped in the bass and open in the treble (and has inverted upper lips), and a stopped 4-4/7' that was re-racked by Æolian-Skinner to that pitch from its original 4'; all these ranks are flute scaled and of wooden pipes. I found that, when used in an ensemble registration, the Grand Bourdon gave an effect of a dark, smooth, and perfectly blending 32' Posaune. One benefit of its being made of smaller flue pipes is that the whole speaks very promptly, much more so than an actual reed would. My console assistant said, in a rather surprised tone, "that gives clarity to the Pedal line." And that clarity wasn't due to it including higher pitches, because those are heard simply as tone color of 32' pitch. I found that this stop really drove the Pedal part because of its prompt speech, something that actual 32' pipes never do because of their slower speech. I used it in Bach's G major Prelude BWV 541 to superb effect.
This presentation was so well done!
Absolutely gorgeous and well filmed
Great work Paul! One of my favorite Bach works.
Thanks all for this. Very nicely done.
indeed so nice to see that the organist nowadays ( most organists are gays (in the closet) can be gay all the way.
Thanks so much to all involved! These two videos on this fascinating and unique organ are a real gift.
Thank you. This is wonderful
What a coincidence - just minutes before clicking on this video I purchased and printed some of Paul Fey's music!
This is a fantastic combination of an exquisite organ and an exquisite organist. Can’t get any better than this!
Beautiful job Brett! Amazing instrument. Glad it has survived.
Two of my favorite organ people in one video! Bravo. Beautiful playing, and outstanding information/narration.
Thank you immensely Brent and team for this fabulous presentation of this amazing organ. I first heard of this organ as a youngster in the 1960's from photos in an encyclopedia reference which still described it as the "Boston Music Hall" organ. In the early 1980's my organ teacher Michael Dudman recorded this organ for Australian radio. When he presented the broadcast he referred it as the most difficult organ he'd ever played. He specifically identified the action delay and the extreme difficulty of hearing the instrument from the console. This was strong criticism indeed, because the organ MD usually played and managed brilliantly (at the Anglican Cathedral in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia) has a modest delay and its impact in the building is extremely hard to judge from the console (I know from experience having played it for 6 years in lessons in the late 1970's). I wonder how the Methuen organ's mechanical and tonal states in the early 1980's compare with its condition and excellence of regulation today. Also, I wonder if MD was unable to bring the console as far to the front of the stage as it appears to be in these videos. This is truly a remarkable instrument and to still have it around today, albeit with many alterations over the years, is indeed a privilege.
Love the cse work and the "Atlas' figures holding up the pipe towers! those strange looking painted faces on the largest facade pipes always looked strange/creapy to me!
All i hear is skinner but I do have that bias!!
This organ originally was mechanical action (tracker)
Vox Humana 16? Never heard of that before. Please elaborate further?
Bombarde 32 is like a trombone/pousane and bassoon 16 hybrid?
Pedal 16' Bombarde has a somewhat brassy sound.
Revoiced?
What was the music at the end of the tour of the chambers?
Switched off. Video images too distorted due to 'too wider' angle lens setting being used. All looked distorted.
dude, you should NOT touch that shallot when you opened the reed, that is extremely sensitive! Even the slightest moisture from a human hand can affect the speech of that note!