[Schalldampfer]

Recently I've been listening to this and that to broaden my spectrum of classical music, and I've come across Haydn's Organ Concerto No. 1 again, and I was just wondering what other suggestions you guys had regarding organ music. Of course, I have the quintessential Bach's Toccata and Fugue, but I'm looking more for just about anything that contains organ.

 

[JayG]

Don't forget Saint-Saens' Symphony No. 3. I like Munch/Boston Symphony. It's on RCA Living Stereo hybrid SACD, and it's an electrifying performance.

http://www.amazon.com/Saint-Saëns-Sy...e=UTF8&s=music

-Jay

 

[zumaro]

Olivier Messiaen's complete organ works played by Olivier Latry would be a challengingly enjoyable and exotic choice, or if that is a little daunting, pick up one or two separately available disks from Gillian Weir's complete set.

What about Poulenc's Organ Concerto - Gillian Weir and David Hill do a good version of that, or Hindemith's Kammermusik Nr 7 for Organ, continuing along a similar vein. In fact try the whole set of the Kammermusik recorded by Chailly, for a gebrauchsmusik feast, which is much more palatable than Hindemith's dour reputation would suggest.

For easier listening you could try Handel's Op. 4 or 7 concertos (Ton Koopman does a good complete set), or pseudo-concertos in the form of Mozart's Epistle Sonatas (not major Mozart but enjoyable anyway - try the King Consort's complete set out on Hyperion).

Other solo baroque organ music outside of Bach would suggest Buxtehude - no disk comes particularly to mind, but Bine Bryndorf's survey on Da Capo is OK. The music is obviously influential (if Bach who walked a few hundred miles to hear Buxtehude play is to be believed), but is also enjoyable in its own right.

Many other suggestions come to mind - Saint Saen's Organ Symphony, the finale of Mahler's 8th Symphony, anything by Widor etc etc

 

[mbhaub]

Get some of the Widor Organ Symphonies. #5 is the best known, with a justifiably famous finale. Most recordings (get digital!) are fine, but avoid the ASV series. I love the sound and performances on Novalis.

Then, the symphonies of Vierne. Spectacular sound from MD&G.

A magnificent, thrilling disk in on Reference, the Dallas Wind Symphony called Pomp and Pipes. Huge organ sound. You'll need a subwoofer.

 

[BAwig05]

You people are amazing, I love it here.

"The Glory of Gabreli" shows E. Power Biggs at his peak, aided by the Phlip Jones Brass Ensemble in a magnificent disc. (Sony)

There is a Decca Double of Peter Hurford playing Bach works.

"Glorious Pipes" is an incredible DG two disc set that is simply, well...glorious. Highly recomended indeed! It showcases some of the greatest organists of our age.

 

[hciman77]

Handel did a fair amount of Organ werkes and they are great but as far as I am concerned the Organmeister is J.S.Bach about 17 -20 CDs worth depending on the label, I have a full set but it is sadly OOP, but the Saint-Saens "organ" symphony (No 3) is also neat. Ton Koopman or Daniel Chorzempa do good Bach

 

[FalconP]

For JS Bach's organ works, the recordings by Helmut Walcha are something special: the texture is delightfully light and streamlined, giving it a special "chamber music"-like quality. Try the budget 2-CD set if you're not ready to plunge into the 12-CD box.

A lot of baroque music features the organ prominently; try out for example Corelli's 12 concerto grosso op.6.

In the classical/romantic period, the organ is mostly used in religious music, but Lizst has written some works that are fairly famous. I love the rendition of Jennifer Bates on the label ASV, but seems that these are not available on Amazon.

Jennifer Bates is also one of the prime exponents of Messiaen, and before the appearance of the Latry cycle (which I have yet to get), her cycle was regarded as the best. The Bates's recordings also benefit from excellent write-up material important in understanding these somewhat unorthodox works.

Czech composer Petr Eben is another modernist writing extensively for the organ, and like Messiaen, his inspiration is primarily biblical. His music is somewhat more approachable than Messiaen's, and he is as likely to write miniatures as long cycles. Nevertheless, the music is colorful and very individual. So far Hyperion is the only label championing his works (try for example the ten brief Momenti d'organ and the organ cycle Job)

Oh, don't forget Ligeti's Volumina if you want to blow your mind out.

 

[daycart1]

Brahms' last compositions, Op. 120, were for solo organ--they are amazing.

If you like the Haydn, then you should also check out the Handel organ concerti.

 

[Schalldampfer]

Wow! Thanks for so many suggestions! I'll go to the local music store back home and look through them to see what I can get.

 

[BAwig05]

The best of Peter Hurford-- Some of his classic work, as well as a recording made in 2005 after his retirement

Micheal Murray at St. John the Divine.-- I have been here. A very nice disc.

Naxos has SEVERAL unique series devoted to Organ music,well worth your time and easy on the wallet.

Consider Mendelssohn, Dupre, and Franck as excellent organ composers.

 

[clarke68]

Sorry, couldn't help myself...

 

[Organ-Man]

I see the most recent post is from 2008, so I thought I'd make my virgin newbie member post here. I am a music-degreed professional church organist, but by no means a stellar one. However, I have collected organ recordings, both audio and video, for about 25 years. I regret that when CD's virtually eliminated the availability of LP's, I donated my 20,000 or so organ LP's to an organ recordings archive at Westminster Choir College. But my CD and DVD organ collection is now several thousand, and between rips and downloads I have over 40,000 organ audio and video files. I'll be happy to make recommendations to those who are interested.
 
Given this web site's purpose, keep in mind that there is a difference between wanting recordings of highest quality compositions, highest quality performances, highest quality instruments, and highest quality recorded sound--most organ (and other, I dare say) recordings are not in the intersection of all those. But any recording that is highest quality in any one (or two) of those respects is probably worth considering. Fortunately the number of organ music CDs and DVDs is growing surprisingly well, as is the number of truly superior ones according to my opinion and the opinions of reviewers in the organ magazines (Diapason, The American Organist, etc.). I'll note however that professional reviews of organ (and many other classical) recordings place the performance over the other factors, of course.
 
I came to this site to look for recommendations for the best IEMs and headphones for organ music. The discussion I found was disappointing in content, not reflecting the unique sound characteristics of organs (especially pipe organs) and the IEM/headphone ability to do justice to the sound. When I have time, I'll go there and comment.