Is anyone familar with these particular organs? I've never heard or played one before, and I'm playing one with my youth symphony in a few months. It's Opus 553, installed in the Jacoby Symphony Hall in Jacksonville.
It is not a casavant organ anymore. It was rebuilt by Quimby in 2001. http://www.quimbypipeorgans.com/jacoby.htm
You are in for a real treat. Get ready for a french romantic/symphonic organ adventure. It is a 4 manual with an echo division. It should be a joy to play.
If you need any more info or have some specific question just ask :)
Not having played one myself, I'd have to say it depends on what era the organ is from, as to its particualr qualities, but, all Casavants do sound kind of French. They are goos instruments, they are well built and well voiced.
[quote user="Austin766"]Not having played one myself, I'd have to say it depends on what era the organ is from, as to its particualr qualities, but, all Casavants do sound kind of French.[/quote]
I would agree completely that it depends on the era, however all Casavants do not sound French!
In the first half ofthe 20th century it was fairly common to hear rather English voicing - mainly due to the direction of Stephen Stoot. Two interesting examples of this were found in Toronto at the Royal York Hotel and at St. Paul's Anglican Church.
Many of the "French" organs of that era had Frenchstop names- but inside you would just as likely find leather-lipped diapasons and other Anglo/American trends.
In the '50's they jumped on the neo-baroque bandwagon, and they turned out some rather Germanic instruments.
In the '80's Casavant began "restoring"many of their grand old English organs;in many cases this "restoration" involved tossing out all the reeds and mixtures - replacing them with something closer to Cavaillé-Coll (who had just become fashionable again). The resulting fiery clang bears little resemblance to any of the "French" organs Casavant had produced previously.
I lament the revision of these grand old organs, as - in my opinion - theseunique, characterful organsnow all sound very similar.
End of rant. [^o)]
The good news is that I like Casavants, and find them interesting.
Sorry to have made the assumption about the "french" sound, I guess what I meant to say was that they have a generally "French" persuasion, and I guess that statement is kind of half true.
In 1983I escorted the late Richard W Pretzer who passed in his 40s a few years ago to the Allen works in Macungie. We were received royally and spent a day with Larry Phelps. This man designed 800 pipe organs! He was gracious, on the ball, and a genius.I have nothing but good to say of him.
PS: I persuded the client to go with John Rose of Trinity College in Hartford and a custom AOB 4m with 32 swell reed and 4 pedal 32s and a gallery and sanctuary organ; partly enclosed great and some sweet sounds like zauberflotes, celli celestes, oboe d amores, english horns and of course 2 powerful reeds- one enclosed in the sanct and one unenclosed in the gallery!!
Have you ever heard a horizontal trumpet with a percussive attack? The Casavant organ at one of the local churches has one like that. It is positioned about 8 feet above the floor at the front of the nave, so parishioners in that area get an earful.
SB32, thank you--I am (again) better educated. There are pews within 10 feet of this rank--sitting there (I did during a recital) is quite an experience!
I should add however, that I might question the wisdom behind putting such a stop so close to the listeners - yikes!!
Hearing damage is serious stuff.
Ideally, the louder it is the further away it should be.
It seems that so many builders are eager to add a chamade trumpet; or perhaps it is that so many organists demand having them. Unless the building is a huge edifice, a chamade is probably overkill.
Chamades are also very nice visually, but I have seen lots of installations where the trumpets are just too close for comfort. I reallydislike organs that shout in your face. [:S]
Have you ever heard a horizontal trumpet with a percussive attack? The Casavant organ at one of the local churches has one like that. It is positioned about 8 feet above the floor at the front of the nave, so parishioners in that area get an earful.
David
[/quote]
Any trumpet stop that is physically moved to a horizontal position will automatically have some percussive tone quality on account of the additional harmonics that horizontal placement will add plus the effect of the tone directed to the listener in a more direct way which can not be heard if the pipes are vertical.
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