Back-to-Back Comparisons of Important Organ Sounds

Don Cook
Crown Center Sheraton Hotel - CHOUTEAU A/B

We will listen to and compare some characteristic stops and choruses from organs in Germany, France, and America built over a period of 300 years.

The best organists and organ builders are keenly interested in the manner in which individual stops contribute to a combination. The relationship between the 8- and 4-foot principals on each division, for example, is central to defining an organ’s very nature.

For the research behind this presentation, good-quality recordings were made from a central seat in the audience. Every stop on diverse organs from Germany, France, Boston, and Utah was recorded, and the same four bars of music played on common combinations. Many interesting details emerge from back-to-back comparisons of sound clips, and from line graphs of the intensity (volume) levels.

Thursday, July 5
9:00 – 9:45am