Outdoor organs you have known

[back52887]

Comments on another thread led me to remember the largest outdoor civic organ I had seen or heard. It was the Spreckels Organ in Balbos park, San Diego[ip]. Originally built in 1914, it is now a 3/73 Austin, and still in operation, with an official civic organist. See http://www.serve.com/sosorgan.

My recollections of 10-15 years ago are of a full sounding instrument, a symphonic organ with great versitility, but the lack of mixing caused bya non-reverberant setting made for aless than thrilling effect.[um][st]

What outdoor organs have you heard - or played? Has anyone found one in a place with good organ acoustics? I think maybe that if the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Denver had pipes, it would sound great!

How about Civic organ indoors or out that still have a staff organist playing them?

Hey Brit. Bros -- are any of those Civic Willisorgansstill in the hands of a paid professional?[Z]

Lee

[Havoc]

Re: Outdoor organs you have known

A famous one here in europe is the "Heldenorgel" in Kufstein (Austria). Not for the faint of heart since you are about 100m away from the pipes.
few pics: http://www.pressezone.at/presse/2005...eldenorgel.php
stoplist: http://www.musikland-tirol.at/html/m...ldenorgel.html

[soundboarddude]

Re: Outdoor organs you have known



The Spreckels organ is interesting, but I think organs outdoors would have too many tuning problems!

I don't think it's possible to have good acoustics in an outdoor setting, even in something like the Red Rocks ampitheatre.

[Guest]

Re: Outdoor organs you have known



There is also some organ that Dianne Bish played on the Joy of Music that was an outdoor organ at some college. It sounded pretty good on TV but they must have several ciphers, dead notes, and tuning problems.

[Guest]

Re: Outdoor organs you have known

I have been working in San Diego for some years now. When possible, I go to the Sprekels organ concerts at Balboa Park especially for the summer concert series on Monday evening. The big Austin is a nice instrument which sounds especially good when a player who is innovative in the selection of stops is performing. A wide variety of music is suitable for this instrument.

Two problems exist. The first is all the organ is rarely in tune together due to the te,perature changes especially as the sun goes down in the evening. The second is that there is little reveberation. What there is is quite selective as to seating location as the reverb. is due to reflections from other buildings.

The organ has a [img]file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/ALLANP%7E1/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot.jpg[/img][img]file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/ALLANP%7E1/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-1.jpg[/img][img]file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/ALLANP%7E1/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-2.jpg[/img]magnificent set of reeds. Ranks have been added over the years to enhance the capability of the instrument. Listening to the sound, I believe that little change has been made in the basic voicing thus retaining the original healthy sound.

[Chapelpipes]

Re: Outdoor organs you have known



There is also the (non-playable?[:(]) Roosevelt Memorial Park Wurlitzer in Southern California. (You used to be able to hear it five miles away before all the houses sprouted.)

In the not too distant future San Francisco should find a home and reinstall their Austin. [H]

In one sense the Cadet Chapel at West Point could be considered a "Civic" position. It is played very often. [ip]

Chapelpipes

[odellorgans]

Re: Outdoor organs you have known

Isn't there a Famous Ferris and Stuart at Round Lake Auditorium?

[soubasse32]

Re: Outdoor organs you have known



In addition to the Balboa Park organ, here are some other notable outdoor organs in the U.S.:

Ocean Grove, New Jersey http://www.oceangrove.org/auditorium_organ.html

Gardena, California, http://members.aol.com/theorganst/Page1.html

and the Bohemian Grove, Marin County, California. Dedicated in 1920, the organ contains 1,300 pipes. Designed for outdoor use, it is protected by a heated de-humidified building that is sealed up in the winter.