OP
Igor Kirkwood
Active Member
- Joined
- Jan 28, 2020
- Messages
- 109
- Likes
- 238
- Thread Starter
- #61
To find my best organ recording, you have to combine three necessary conditions:
-1/The composer and the excerpt considered.
-2/A high quality organ and perfect acoustics
-3/An exceptional organist and a very high level interpretation.
These three conditions seem to me to be met for
-1/ the recording of the Accord label: "Le Livre du Saint Sacrement" by Messiaen, excerpt from "the two walls of water" which relates the wrath of God drowning the armies of the Pharaoh of Egypt, the pursuit of Moses, under two walls of water, in the red sea.
-2/The organ, a huge Cavaillé Coll is housed in the very narrow nave of the Saint Ouen les Rouen church, with therefore an extraordinary dynamics (about 110 decibels max level).
Note the height of this nave which required the 17-meter-high roller pole. With 2 positions of the microphones according to the pieces interpreted (Neumann TLM 50), a close one for the pieces
in pianissimis and the other about fifteen meters away for the strong pieces.
-3/ the interpretation of the English-speaking organist, in 1996, Susan Landal not only allowed him to obtain the "Diapason d'Or" from the magazine Diapason but to be recognized as one of the most beautiful versions marketed.
In an impressive creshendo, the stereophony revives the inexorable advance of the two walls of water, the multiplied echoes of the sound waves evoke the lapping of the waters.
And finally, in a strong and unprecedented finale, the wrath of God overwhelms the Egyptians and the music-loving spectators, listening to this unique musical work.
Note that the listening installation must, for optimal results, both "pass" 110 decibels C, at the listening position of the listener, without any distorsion,and go down to 16 Hz to hear, or rather feel the 32 foot stops of the Cavaillé Coll organ.
-1/The composer and the excerpt considered.
-2/A high quality organ and perfect acoustics
-3/An exceptional organist and a very high level interpretation.
These three conditions seem to me to be met for
-1/ the recording of the Accord label: "Le Livre du Saint Sacrement" by Messiaen, excerpt from "the two walls of water" which relates the wrath of God drowning the armies of the Pharaoh of Egypt, the pursuit of Moses, under two walls of water, in the red sea.
-2/The organ, a huge Cavaillé Coll is housed in the very narrow nave of the Saint Ouen les Rouen church, with therefore an extraordinary dynamics (about 110 decibels max level).
Note the height of this nave which required the 17-meter-high roller pole. With 2 positions of the microphones according to the pieces interpreted (Neumann TLM 50), a close one for the pieces
in pianissimis and the other about fifteen meters away for the strong pieces.
-3/ the interpretation of the English-speaking organist, in 1996, Susan Landal not only allowed him to obtain the "Diapason d'Or" from the magazine Diapason but to be recognized as one of the most beautiful versions marketed.
In an impressive creshendo, the stereophony revives the inexorable advance of the two walls of water, the multiplied echoes of the sound waves evoke the lapping of the waters.
And finally, in a strong and unprecedented finale, the wrath of God overwhelms the Egyptians and the music-loving spectators, listening to this unique musical work.
Note that the listening installation must, for optimal results, both "pass" 110 decibels C, at the listening position of the listener, without any distorsion,and go down to 16 Hz to hear, or rather feel the 32 foot stops of the Cavaillé Coll organ.
Last edited:
