I just wish more organists would play pieces like this, instead of all the dischordant, "academic" music they play at every organ concert. This was an outstanding performance of one of my many favorite organ works. Way to go, Daniel!
Wonderful performance!!! This performance is full of joy and energy!! So many organists play it too slowly and very borinly,but this is an awesome intepretation!!!!
I've a recording of Jane Parker Smith performing the Widor V on this instrument, and that's how I was introduced to that particular piece. Thus, I learned French with an English accent. I've also been lucky enough to attend a service at Salisbury and hear the Willis in person (and, coincidentally, the Adagio from the Widor V was played during the service. I do love how the pipe organ is unique amongst single musical instrument for having such regionally specific voice.
Marvellous playing....and he makes the organ sound French, almost like a Cavaille-Coll. Superb! There used to be a Supraphon recoding of Jiri Ropek on Prague's 'Red Organ' playing this piece. The interpretations are startlingly similar and equally excellent.
Salisbury Cathedral may be the most beautiful locus/place ("building" doesn't do it justice) I've ever been. When I went to Evensong there, they sang Byrd and I was transported.
It is fair to say I'm in love with this instrument and indeed the place itself - I adore this rendition of one of my favourite pieces for the organ. Thanks for posting!
Too fast or not, this guy's articulation is top shelf. So many people get a bee in their bonnet about the "intention" of the composer but the ultimate test of music is whether is sounds good, whatever the "interpretation". This is quite uplifting.
The speed plus precision plus romantic sweep of this performance are incomparable. For something different, check out his lovely Sumsion performances, also available on RUclips. Taste plus flawless technique -- H8rs be jealous.
Bob Crocker Thank you so much for the information re Daniel Cook's recording of the works of Herbert Sumsion. I have just listened to one of the pieces - absolutely exquisite on this glorious Willis organ. Many more hours of pure pleasure await. Thanks again and greetings from Dublin.
I've played this piece most of my life and it is a joy. It was recorded well and that helps. Organ is notoriously hard to record. It must have been gorgeous in live performance. Still, I would argue for a slower tempo. Most of the recordings on the net are too fast and rob the piece of it's dignity. It is more than a "touchpiece." Widor's Toccata is a touch piece and the ear takes in chords more that it does individual notes. Vierne's is a much more complex work with canons and modal changes. This performance was played at about 87 = half-note. I've played this in different rooms as slowly as 70 with detachment and room to breath so that phrases can taken in. I think too many times we try to show how quickly we can play something. It is actually harder for many of us to maintain a slower tempo. It demands a control that I sometimes cannot summon and that always disappoints me.
Dear Jerome; I'm with you... 100%. A little slower... at times would have revealed... more control. Emotional control, not just technical control. He's young and at some point in time... he's going to have to listen... to him self... and remember: "Why didn't I slow down a bit and then speed up and....?" Hi Jerome; I love the music of Erik Satie, Louis Vierne, Ravel, Debussy, Rockmomoff, Pet Shop Boys, my own music, etc. I'm now old, 77 yrs, old, classically key board training. And I love to listen to all kinds of new, all these new and wonderful interpretations. In overview, I say, "Not bad, but not inspired." Your word for the day is: LISTEN. lISTEN... AS BEST YOU CAN. lISTEN. for those moments of silence... Then breath. Do it again. Keep listening... to all kinds of artists and musician and healers in this... "Our... new age starts NOW! A S now in our World. Now. Wow. Stay in the flow.
Start practicing, each day focusing on the difficult sections. It took me a year to learn this piece but that was spread out working on other pieces during that time. One you learn it and have it under your fingers it’s easy to pick it up again and play it. Mr. Cook plays this with much spirit and vigor.
I agree with the other posters. SUPERB articulation. Marvelous technique. An excellent overall performance. Minor quibbles: A trice too fast - this work should be equal parts majesty and "élan". The élan is there, but the slightly pushed speed loses some of the majesty, IMO. Also, the use of the expression pedals is too abrupt in some passages. But in essence: Superb. My absolute favorite performance of this piece is by his countryman Simon Preston!
To goodchappy: The sound and realism of these instruments is nothing short of incredible. I have a friend in Downer's Grove, Illinois who has Hauptwerk installed on his organ, and he has both the Barton and WurliTzer ranks on it. And, this week, I'm going to see (and play) the "Paramount 450" in a home setting. The installation includes a custom-built WurliTzer 4-manual console, and a total of (I think) over 150 "ranks" of theater organ pipe sounds. Thank you so much for your comment!
+Pietro Ferrari And Widor's Toccata, #5, always suggests skiing at a fast clip, on a great mountain. In all the years of Silent Motion Pictures, I've always wondered, if any of the House Organists used Franck's "Piece Heroique" to score climactic battle scenes of War Movies, as the "good guys" are about to win great battles? That, would be fitting!! Cinematic Organs had/have some tonal limitations, compared to Religious House and Concert Hall instruments, but a savvy organist could make do.
There is no better organ to play it on , that this great FATHER WILLIS...........in an acoustically beautifully resonant cathedral. Nice camera work....
@ChaunceyOHara Here's what you can do: as soon as the video starts, pause it! While it's paused, it will continue to download. Come back to it 15 or more minutes later (or whenever it has finished downloading), and press play for non-interrupted performance!
Mooie toccata, fijne afsluiting van een mooie avond met Barenboim en zijn Western Orkest en nu dit wondervolle sluitstuk!!! Dank voor zoveel schoonheid!
Mr. Cook's execution of this piece reminds me of the late Pierre Cochereau's [definitive{?} recorded] performance of this, played on the staggeringly massive Notre Dame Cavaille-Coll instrument. Monsieur Cochereau's Recording Volume of all of Monsieur Vierne's entire Organ Symphony Canon--I guess recorded in the 60's(?)--comes in and out in print, and stays out of print, for terribly long periods of time, but I was VERY lucky to get one of the latest CD editions of it, about 10 or so years ago. In this vid, the Pipe Chamber Configurations looks very similar to San Francisco's Grace Cathedral. Two bravura organists come to mind, that I've heard and seen playing at Grace, of how they'd maxed out on the call-and-response capabilities of the differing locations of the assorted Divisions, Registers, and Chambers; those men would be Frederick Swann (apprenticed as most of you may know, to the late Virgil Fox) and Cameron Carpenter. Mr. Carpenter, especially, as he made me most effectively "dizzy" with his tornado of sound. Just about gave me whiplash, too, but I LOVED it!! He somehow was able to locate the "heavy reeds" of comparably equal intensity, everywhere on that instrument, to keep the main passage(s) panning all over the place.
Yes and good on Daniel Cook for his involvement in the sampling of this organ for Hauptwerk. Shows he supports the old tradition and is open minded to the future and the flexibility that Hauptwerk software can provide. To think I could (ha ha) potentially play this in my house and pretend I'm in the Cathedral is only just short of a miracle.
@downtown1961 - WHAT? The reeds on English organs are exceedingly fine! Of course, they vary from firm to firm, but of the main ones the following can be said: Hill - low pressure, either quite mild or very fiery. Either way not muddy! Willis (like this) - high pressure, stable tuning, astounding fire and éclat! Walker - similar to Willis. The chorus reeds often have stopped resonators with harmonics-inducing holes around the top. Harrison - rich and smooth as you describe!
@contraposaune - the action is modern H&H electropneumatic. The rest is - apart from additions and the enlargement and enclosure of the Solo by Willis III in the 1930s - all Father Willis. I think the console, though, is Willis III revamped by H&H.
for a couple of reasons (which I shall keep private), I hate to admit it, but this was performed very nicely by Mr. Cook. And, it seems this was played on the newly rebuilt organ @ St. Thomas. From what little that was visible it looks fantastic with both sides of the chancel replete with pipework. Of course the sound of the (sort of Skinner hybrid) organ is perfect for this piece!
@AnOrganCornucopia Ah Right, I thought it had some Harrison Connection of some kind. It's a great organ! One I hope to be able to add to my list of british cathedral organs I have played! Thankyou for your response :-)
The only way I know of is to have some sort of screen recording software that also records audio. I would suggest Audials for that, but it is a bit expensive. Hope this helps.
Outstanding performance, will filmed, on a great instrument, well recorded. Perhaps it ould be a tiny bit more nuanced: It is French, after all. But, many times better than most recordings and many, many more times better than the average youtube organ video. I say "bravo" Mr. Cook.
Your version is excellent, too! I don't see the absence of "musicality" you perceive. The contrasts between loud and soft are good and gradual. I like your Finale better but just my opinion. As for expertise in playing Vierne there isn't a person alive who has mastered that composer more than Chris Houlihan. Houlihan captures ALL of the moods in all six symphonies. He's the Vierne master if ever there was one.
Too fast! Tempo MUST be controlled, or this piece loses all of its drama. If you’re rushing like this then you haven’t been practising the work for long enough.
Видеоклипы
![[Notre-Dame] Sonate Nr. 1 - Final Alexandre Guilmant Opus 42](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/iYAZdW2IJRw/mqdefault.jpg)
Words alone don't do this justice. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up and chills go down my spine each time I hear it. Divine !
Such clarity at that speed is quite a feat. BRAVO!
I just wish more organists would play pieces like this, instead of all the dischordant, "academic" music they play at every organ concert. This was an outstanding performance of one of my many favorite organ works. Way to go, Daniel!
Wonderful performance!!! This performance is full of joy and energy!! So many organists play it too slowly and very borinly,but this is an awesome intepretation!!!!
I've a recording of Jane Parker Smith performing the Widor V on this instrument, and that's how I was introduced to that particular piece. Thus, I learned French with an English accent.
I've also been lucky enough to attend a service at Salisbury and hear the Willis in person (and, coincidentally, the Adagio from the Widor V was played during the service.
I do love how the pipe organ is unique amongst single musical instrument for having such regionally specific voice.
Marvellous playing....and he makes the organ sound French, almost like a Cavaille-Coll. Superb! There used to be a Supraphon recoding of Jiri Ropek on Prague's 'Red Organ' playing this piece. The interpretations are startlingly similar and equally excellent.
Now to be found as organist at Durham Cathedral, well done.
Beautifully done. I'm going to learn this great work before I leave this world. Please God. Thanks, and sent with love. CVD
Salisbury Cathedral may be the most beautiful locus/place ("building" doesn't do it justice) I've ever been. When I went to Evensong there, they sang Byrd and I was transported.
It is fair to say I'm in love with this instrument and indeed the place itself - I adore this rendition of one of my favourite pieces for the organ. Thanks for posting!
Too fast or not, this guy's articulation is top shelf. So many people get a bee in their bonnet about the "intention" of the composer but the ultimate test of music is whether is sounds good, whatever the "interpretation". This is quite uplifting.
The speed plus precision plus romantic sweep of this performance are incomparable. For something different, check out his lovely Sumsion performances, also available on RUclips. Taste plus flawless technique -- H8rs be jealous.
Bob Crocker Thank you so much for the information re Daniel Cook's recording of the works of Herbert Sumsion. I have just listened to one of the pieces - absolutely exquisite on this glorious Willis organ. Many more hours of pure pleasure await. Thanks again and greetings from Dublin.
I've played this piece most of my life and it is a joy. It was recorded well and that helps. Organ is notoriously hard to record. It must have been gorgeous in live performance. Still, I would argue for a slower tempo. Most of the recordings on the net are too fast and rob the piece of it's dignity. It is more than a "touchpiece." Widor's Toccata is a touch piece and the ear takes in chords more that it does individual notes. Vierne's is a much more complex work with canons and modal changes. This performance was played at about 87 = half-note. I've played this in different rooms as slowly as 70 with detachment and room to breath so that phrases can taken in. I think too many times we try to show how quickly we can play something. It is actually harder for many of us to maintain a slower tempo. It demands a control that I sometimes cannot summon and that always disappoints me.
Dear Jerome; I'm with you... 100%. A little slower... at times would have revealed... more control. Emotional control, not just technical control. He's young and at some point in time... he's going to have to listen... to him self... and remember: "Why didn't I slow down a bit and then speed up and....?"
Hi Jerome; I love the music of Erik Satie, Louis Vierne, Ravel, Debussy, Rockmomoff, Pet Shop Boys, my own music, etc. I'm now old, 77 yrs, old, classically key board training. And I love to listen to all kinds of new, all these new and wonderful interpretations. In overview, I say, "Not bad, but not inspired."
Your word for the day is: LISTEN. lISTEN... AS BEST YOU CAN. lISTEN. for those moments of silence... Then breath. Do it again. Keep listening... to all kinds of artists and musician and healers in this... "Our... new age starts NOW! A S now in our World. Now. Wow. Stay in the flow.
I so want to play this.
Start practicing, each day focusing on the difficult sections. It took me a year to learn this piece but that was spread out working on other pieces during that time. One you learn it and have it under your fingers it’s easy to pick it up again and play it. Mr. Cook plays this with much spirit and vigor.
What a great cathedral and Instrument!
I agree with the other posters. SUPERB articulation. Marvelous technique. An excellent overall performance. Minor quibbles: A trice too fast - this work should be equal parts majesty and "élan". The élan is there, but the slightly pushed speed loses some of the majesty, IMO. Also, the use of the expression pedals is too abrupt in some passages. But in essence: Superb. My absolute favorite performance of this piece is by his countryman Simon Preston!
To goodchappy: The sound and realism of these instruments is nothing short of incredible. I have a friend in Downer's Grove, Illinois who has Hauptwerk installed on his organ, and he has both the Barton and WurliTzer ranks on it. And, this week, I'm going to see (and play) the "Paramount 450" in a home setting. The installation includes a custom-built WurliTzer 4-manual console, and a total of (I think) over 150 "ranks" of theater organ pipe sounds. Thank you so much for your comment!
This is the actual organ, in Salisbury Cathedral.
Very good. Crescendos excellently handled.
Wonderful piece, beautifully played, and with a nice bright, English reed sound! (It's all a matter of taste!). Right speed too. Thanks for posting!
This has the best clarity of the differnt voices that I've heard.
I have seen and heard this played across many cathedrals of Europe and N America and this is a favourite interpretation.
This just blows my mind every time. Marvelous performance!
brilliant piece Louis Vierne well played
Thank you for an amazing thunderstorm.
Vierne's 1st Symph. Finale, is ALWAYS the musical equivalent, of entering Yosemite Valley!!
+Swithin Barclay Except for Widor's Toccata in his 5th Organ Concerto.
+Pietro Ferrari And Widor's Toccata, #5, always suggests skiing at a fast clip, on a great mountain.
In all the years of Silent Motion Pictures, I've always wondered, if any of the House Organists used Franck's "Piece Heroique" to score climactic battle scenes of War Movies, as the "good guys" are about to win great battles? That, would be fitting!! Cinematic Organs had/have some tonal limitations, compared to Religious House and Concert Hall instruments, but a savvy organist could make do.
There is no better organ to play it on , that this great FATHER WILLIS...........in an acoustically beautifully resonant cathedral. Nice camera work....
I never tire of watching this superb video. Daniel Cook is the absolute tops - now to be found at Westminster Abbey.
He is now Organist & MOC at Durham Cathedral.
This proves that great music can sound great on any organ! (As long as its pipe.. (; ..)
Nice consistent tempo and uniform articulation throughout. Amazing.
My favourite organ piece. Brilliant performance by Daniel Cook.
I agree on both counts!
@ChaunceyOHara Here's what you can do: as soon as the video starts, pause it! While it's paused, it will continue to download. Come back to it 15 or more minutes later (or whenever it has finished downloading), and press play for non-interrupted performance!
perfect, thank you
Magnificent performance and Fr Willis takes some beating. I think each excellent organ builder brings something unique to their work.
Mooie toccata, fijne afsluiting van een mooie avond met Barenboim en zijn Western Orkest en nu dit wondervolle sluitstuk!!! Dank voor zoveel schoonheid!
Excellent. Loved every second of it
I think it is an amazing performance!
Mr. Cook's execution of this piece reminds me of the late Pierre Cochereau's [definitive{?} recorded] performance of this, played on the staggeringly massive Notre Dame Cavaille-Coll instrument. Monsieur Cochereau's Recording Volume of all of Monsieur Vierne's entire Organ Symphony Canon--I guess recorded in the 60's(?)--comes in and out in print, and stays out of print, for terribly long periods of time, but I was VERY lucky to get one of the latest CD editions of it, about 10 or so years ago.
In this vid, the Pipe Chamber Configurations looks very similar to San Francisco's Grace Cathedral. Two bravura organists come to mind, that I've heard and seen playing at Grace, of how they'd maxed out on the call-and-response capabilities of the differing locations of the assorted Divisions, Registers, and Chambers; those men would be Frederick Swann (apprenticed as most of you may know, to the late Virgil Fox) and Cameron Carpenter. Mr. Carpenter, especially, as he made me most effectively "dizzy" with his tornado of sound. Just about gave me whiplash, too, but I LOVED it!! He somehow was able to locate the "heavy reeds" of comparably equal intensity, everywhere on that instrument, to keep the main passage(s) panning all over the place.
+Swithin Barclay The British had divided chambers in the chancel long before the U.S. did.
Wonderful articulation.
Mr Cook does such a superb job here. What a delight that he will soon be back in Westminster Abbey as Sub-Organist. Sheer perfection 1
He is now Organist/MofC at Durham Cathedral.
Yes and good on Daniel Cook for his involvement in the sampling of this organ for Hauptwerk. Shows he supports the old tradition and is open minded to the future and the flexibility that Hauptwerk software can provide.
To think I could (ha ha) potentially play this in my house and pretend I'm in the Cathedral is only just short of a miracle.
Plenty of musicality you just have to be able to appreciate it. Haven't heard Mr. Sakari but this is the best of many I have heard on YT.
@downtown1961 - WHAT? The reeds on English organs are exceedingly fine! Of course, they vary from firm to firm, but of the main ones the following can be said:
Hill - low pressure, either quite mild or very fiery. Either way not muddy!
Willis (like this) - high pressure, stable tuning, astounding fire and éclat!
Walker - similar to Willis. The chorus reeds often have stopped resonators with harmonics-inducing holes around the top.
Harrison - rich and smooth as you describe!
Fantastic!
@contraposaune - the action is modern H&H electropneumatic. The rest is - apart from additions and the enlargement and enclosure of the Solo by Willis III in the 1930s - all Father Willis. I think the console, though, is Willis III revamped by H&H.
I love this piece! Gorgeous performance!!
Superb !!! Thank you Daniel. CVD
for a couple of reasons (which I shall keep private), I hate to admit it, but this was performed very nicely by Mr. Cook. And, it seems this was played on the newly rebuilt organ @ St. Thomas. From what little that was visible it looks fantastic with both sides of the chancel replete with pipework. Of course the sound of the (sort of Skinner hybrid) organ is perfect for this piece!
What do you mean? Daniel Cook has a clean record, right?
It is Salisbury Cathedral’s Father Willis Organ.
5 Stars! Brilliant!
A superb interpretation.
Wonderful piece! Wonderful organ! Wonderful playing!
That is just a great tune with some hair raising bass lines. The Organist's co-ordination is amazing!
Wonderful. Just awesome.
Faszinierend, diese Präzision und ruhige Handstellung. Toll!!
Letter perfect!!!!
@AnOrganCornucopia Ah Right, I thought it had some Harrison Connection of some kind. It's a great organ! One I hope to be able to add to my list of british cathedral organs I have played! Thankyou for your response :-)
perfect!!!!!! i love!!!💖💖💖💖
So beautifully done :-)
Excellent! and not too fast!
The only way I know of is to have some sort of screen recording software that also records audio. I would suggest Audials for that, but it is a bit expensive. Hope this helps.
Did he catch that bus?
A faultless performance in my opinion.
wow.
AMEN!!!!
Am I right in thinking this was re-built and is currently maintained by H&H?
Trop vite. Suivez la musique. devante vous
Ingångsmusik på mitt bröllop för 16 år sedan.
Outstanding performance, will filmed, on a great instrument, well recorded. Perhaps it ould be a tiny bit more nuanced: It is French, after all. But, many times better than most recordings and many, many more times better than the average youtube organ video. I say "bravo" Mr. Cook.
!!!
Enthralling. By the end I was in a state of rapture.
Well done! But where is the musicality? Everyone should play Vierne as well as Mr. Pétur Sakari do!
Your version is excellent, too! I don't see the absence of "musicality" you perceive. The contrasts between loud and soft are good and gradual. I like your Finale better but just my opinion. As for expertise in playing Vierne there isn't a person alive who has mastered that composer more than Chris Houlihan. Houlihan captures ALL of the moods in all six symphonies. He's the Vierne master if ever there was one.
it's played too staccato for me:-(
way too fast!!! slow down! but, i will give you 5 stars though!
Too fast! Tempo MUST be controlled, or this piece loses all of its drama. If you’re rushing like this then you haven’t been practising the work for long enough.
it toooooo slow!!!!! Faster!!!!
Joachim Kaiser Please upload your version of it. I mean, you playing this faster. Thanks in advance.
Ildyify What the hell is wrong with you guy
horrible performance!
+mila laffers I won't delete your one voice of disapproval - would love to see your performance of the piece?
+mila laffers ROASTED
mila laffers Please upload you playing this better. Thanks in advance.