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Organ CDs with really deep bass

I'd like to request and share information with other classical-music audiophiles who are interested in classical pipe organ CDs that are exceptionally well recorded and have really deep bass. I have a couple of recommendations for now, and I'd be interested in hearing recommendations from any of you who are into classical pipe organ CDs that permit your state-of-the-art subwoofer to strut its stuff. (Please, no arguments/diatribes here about analog vs. digital, LP vs. CD. Plenty of room for that elsewhere.)

1. Jean Guillou, organist; Mussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition, Stravinsky, 3 Dances from Petrouchka; Dorian CD DOR-90117. D. B. Keele, who used to write speaker and subwoofer reviews for Audio, used this as one of his references for testing subwoofers and called it "one of my favorite bass demos." It has potent levels of really deep bass. As organ buffs know, most medium-to-large pipe organs have at least one (and sometimes more) 32-foot pipe (usually but not always a pedal pipe); this pipe has a fundamental of 16 Hz. This is one of the few recordings I know of that contains this note. An amazing, reference-quality recording. If you'd like to get evicted and are looking for a lease-breaker, this CD played on a good system with a first-class sub should do the trick. (All of the Dorian CDs I have tried of Guillou playing European organs of his design (three of them) have reference-quality sound and seemingly unlimited bottom-end response.)

2. Michael Murray, organist; The Ruffati Organ in Davies Symphony Hall: A Recital of Works by Bach, Messiaen, Dupre, Widor & Franck; Telarc CD CD-80097. Although not as colorful as the Guillou/Dorian CD above, this excellent CD also has prodigious deep bass that will give your sub plenty to do. To my ears, Telarc does a better job of recording Michael Murray (one of the best organists of our day) playing pipe organs than it does of recording orchestras. There are a number of superb Telarc CDs of Murray playing various interesting organs. This is not my favorite overall, but it is outstanding for deep bass.

Now let's hear from you guys. I'm all ears. Thanks.
texasdave
lenardd
24 posts
 
Have you seen this title from PentaTone?

http://www.pentatonemusic.com/pags/toccatadef2.htm

It is available at www.acousticsounds.com if you are interested.

You may also want to check out

http://www.sa-cd.net/search.php

and enter "organ" in the search box and select "title" for your option.

You will get a lot of SACD titles that you may be interested in.

dsk
36 posts
 
I have the Pentatone "Toccata" sacd referenced by Lenardd. It was recorded on the De Rijckere organ, Oostkerk, the Netherlands. It is a nice recording, to be sure, but not a bass powerhouse. The largest pipes are 16 footers, I think. Thanks to Texasdave for this thread. I have been in search of organ music to give my Bag End Infra-18 a workout. It's been getting a little pudgy.
dsk
36 posts
 
Inspired by this thread, I picked up a copy of "The Uncommon Bach", Joan Lippincott and George Ritchie, organists. The performance uses the Fritts-Richards organ in St. Alphonsus Parich Church in Seattle. The instrument has a 32' posaunen, a 16' subbass and a 16' posaunen. This is a DTS 5.1 surround disc on the PGM label web site is http://www.pgm.com. Can anyone recommend a good book as a primer for pipe organ construction and terminology for a non-musician? What is the difference between a subbass and a posaunen?
av2k
17 posts
 
There are many books written on pipe construction, some very technical. Take a look at the Organ Historical Society Website, www.ohscatalog.org. They have quite a few books available on-line. You might want to call them for a recommendation.

A subbass is a foundation flue stop usually found in the Pedal Organ. Typically, it is a 16' stop which produces a 32Hz frequency at Low C. The Posaunen is a reed stop sounding like a Trumpet or Trombone in the lower registers. At 32' a Posaunen will have a relatively weak fundamental frequency at 16 Hz, Low C. But the beating of the reed at this frequency provides power to the full ensemble or "full organ"

I haven't heard this CD but it sounds like a small scale organ, voiced in the Northern German style. Clarity of tone is more important here than really deep bass, especially for contrapuntal music like that of Bach.

I found real inspiration while listening to organ recordings and then listening to organ music. The clincher for me was music from the French Romantic Period of the 19th century (Franck, Widor, Guilmant, Vierne). Big sound, large instruments, and glorious music. Not very popular though!
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
I have a very old Mono LP titled "Liebert takes Richmond". It is non classical music, such as you might hear at an ice skating rink, played on a very large Wurlitzer, that gives meaning to the term "all the bells and whistles".. A great recording but technically outdated, and my copy is worn out.
Does anyone have a suggestion along these lines? J.S Bach need not apply.
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