TrulyGrace

Don @ the (Newly Restored) Organ

After teaching yesterday morning, and administrative work with Mayte, and after physical therapy with Cara, I met up with Karina, Maureen, and Christina for Friday fellowship at the Newman Center. We met Dorothy, Karina's friend from the Pathology department at UPMC. After many announcements, I drove the crowd (sans Dorothy) to St. Paul Cathedral...We spotted Don in the parking lot, too, and chatted ever-so-briefly.

As part of the Cathedral Concert Series, Don Fellows presented A Recital Demonstrating the Newly Restored Cathedral Organ last night. Because we were one of the last loft-bound seating groups, we sat in the westernmost part of the loft. I took some photos during the lecture/demo, which included the specifications of the 1962 Rudolf von Beckerath Organ. It is restored as close to the original intentions of the organ builder: "This organ is, musically speaking, in completely original condition," as George Taylor, of Taylor & Boody, the restoring firm, wrote.

Don spoke about the capabilities and restoration of the organ before the pieces in the program, and spoke about the organ after the program:

Petite Suite ~ Introduction, Intermezzo, Finale (Gerald Bales, 1919-2002)

Chaconne in E minor (Dietrich Buxtehude, 1637-1707)

Variations on a Dance Theme ~ Balletto del granduca (J.P. Sweelinck 1562-1621)

Vivace, from Trio Sonata VI for Organ, BWV #530 (J.S. Bach, 1685-1750)

Prelude and Fugue in A Minor, BWV #543 (J.S. Bach)

Chorale #3 in A Minor (Cesar Franck, 1822-1890)

Cantilena from Sonata #11, Opus 148 (J. Rheinberger, 1839-1901)

Finale from Symphony I for Organ (Louis Vierne, 1870-1937)

~~~~~
Don introduced us to the various pipes in the organ, by describing them verbally, visually with a laser pointer, and aurally by hearing the sets of pipes. He talked about the eight-foot pipes when describing what we would hear during the first Bach piece:

Great - Principal 8 foot

Ruckpositiv -
Quintadena 8 foot
Rohrflote 8 foot
Blockflote 8 foot

Pedal - Octave 8 foot
~~~
He described the Principal pipes, which "are like the strings, [the backbone of the orchestra,] the meat and potatoes" of the orchestra; before he played the second Bach piece.
~~~
Before my favorite piece of the evening (the Rheinberger), he spoke of using the two quietest sets of pipes:

Great - Koppelqedackt 8 foot
and
Pedal - Subbasse 16 foot

Don spoke of the desire of Paul Koch (a previous music director) to include the Koppelqedackt in the design of the organ.
~~~~~
Don spoke of how some of the original mostly-zinc pipes were replaced with more tin-bearing pipes, and how the foot of many pipes were enforced with copper. The rest of the pipes were cleaned, grind, washed, and lacquered to prevent oxidation. He also spoke about the how some of the cases bearing the organ pipes were reinforced with a thick layer of plywood at the back to enhance the original intentions about voicing that von Beckerath had---to improve the overall tone of the instrument. Some of the pipes (up to 600 pounds of metal each) were causing undue vibrations in the organ case during play.

All in all, a wonderfully informative concert, brilliantly, emotively played pieces. The evening at the Cathedral concluded with saying hello to Linda O, a cantor, Charles and Susan (who has a new cat, Moses's sis/friend), Dan, Fred, (both formerly of choir), and other choristers. Also saw Joe and Tina there.

Four of us headed to Gullifty's for a snack and jazz after the performance: Maureen, Karina, Nancy, and I...I drove.

Labels: cat, music, organ, St. Paul Cathedral, voice

posted by Grace @ 2/14/2009 09:05:00 AM