My wife and I were in Washington DC this past week to visit our son for a few days, and took one day to see the National Cathedral, which we had not visited in 10 years. As before, it was a wonderful experience.
As it happened, there was an organ "demonstration" at 12:30 that day, hosted by George Fergus, Assistant Organist. He seemed to be a personable and talkative sort, with good knowledge of the instrument and its history. There were probably a hundred or so folks in the audience (we all sat in the choir stalls), and he assumed that some at least knew little about an organ, so he began with the simplest explanation of console, pipes, wind source, etc.
Before the demo started, I thought we were going to get a really intimate talk, as there were only about eight of us waiting at the back entrance to the choir at the appointed time, but when the program began the other 90 or so people streamed in from the nave! Anyway, it was still a good time to be "up close and personal" with this great instrument and a fine ambassador for the organ.
He played a bit of this and that to show off individual stops and choruses, let us hear the zimbelstern and chimes and 32' stops, all for the "wow" effect. Then he finished by playing "Nimrod" and "Fanfare for the Common Man." With each piece he illustrated a different side of the organ -- the smooth crescendo from ethereal strings to grand full organ on Nimrod, and the rousing Festival reeds on Fanfare.
During the demo, he had played a bit on the Tuba Mirabilis, which sits on a chest to the left of the console, out toward the nave, and some notes on the Festival Trumpet, which is perched horizontally above the reredos of the Great Altar. For the fanfare part, he used them both together! It was of course stunning, almost literally... If it had gone on much longer I'd have needed to cover my ears! I think one might enjoy those big reeds more out in the nave rather than right there in the choir stalls!
Anyway, it seemed a quite good instrument, with very lovely sounds. The strings I heard on Nimrod were as lush and sweet as any I've ever heard anywhere. In the past I've heard complaints about this organ being too spread out to really control well from the console, but he seemed to have no trouble with it. A nice instrument.
As it happened, there was an organ "demonstration" at 12:30 that day, hosted by George Fergus, Assistant Organist. He seemed to be a personable and talkative sort, with good knowledge of the instrument and its history. There were probably a hundred or so folks in the audience (we all sat in the choir stalls), and he assumed that some at least knew little about an organ, so he began with the simplest explanation of console, pipes, wind source, etc.
Before the demo started, I thought we were going to get a really intimate talk, as there were only about eight of us waiting at the back entrance to the choir at the appointed time, but when the program began the other 90 or so people streamed in from the nave! Anyway, it was still a good time to be "up close and personal" with this great instrument and a fine ambassador for the organ.
He played a bit of this and that to show off individual stops and choruses, let us hear the zimbelstern and chimes and 32' stops, all for the "wow" effect. Then he finished by playing "Nimrod" and "Fanfare for the Common Man." With each piece he illustrated a different side of the organ -- the smooth crescendo from ethereal strings to grand full organ on Nimrod, and the rousing Festival reeds on Fanfare.
During the demo, he had played a bit on the Tuba Mirabilis, which sits on a chest to the left of the console, out toward the nave, and some notes on the Festival Trumpet, which is perched horizontally above the reredos of the Great Altar. For the fanfare part, he used them both together! It was of course stunning, almost literally... If it had gone on much longer I'd have needed to cover my ears! I think one might enjoy those big reeds more out in the nave rather than right there in the choir stalls!
Anyway, it seemed a quite good instrument, with very lovely sounds. The strings I heard on Nimrod were as lush and sweet as any I've ever heard anywhere. In the past I've heard complaints about this organ being too spread out to really control well from the console, but he seemed to have no trouble with it. A nice instrument.
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