This is an extraordinary performance. At the time of the concert, Mr Fox was in pain from the cancer that soon afterwards claimed his life, yet he exudes all of the energy and enthusiasm that has always personified his playing. He simply loved entertaining people.
So many negative comments. Virgil Fox's mission was to bring organ music to the masses. He spent $60,000 of his own money in 1977 (a lot in those days) for the Allen Touring Organ so that he wasn't limited to churches or concert halls. He could bring the music anywhere and everywhere. His style attracted those who normally would not want to listen to "classical" music. Because of him, thousands and thousands became new listeners of the music. By the way, do you EVER see sheet music on the music rack?
Are you sure it wasn't a Rogers touring organ? I only attended one of the Heavy Organ concerts in a movie theater in Hempstead, on Long Island NY. They had to "modify" the stage door to get the console in, lol. He played and inspired everyone in that room for HOURS. He explained each piece before he played. At one point he was playing at least 3 parts of a fugue with one hand, while demonstrating. I was floored, but there was never a moment where anyone doubted that for him, there was undying passion for the music. His interpretations were completely driven by the passion and love for music.
Thank goodness! I was wondering what was up. I'm usually not 180 degrees off. Thanks, Matt. BTW, any inside info on those decisions? I have nothing against Allen. When I first heard them in college in the late 60s, I was VERY impressed. Today's Rogers organs are WONDERFUL. This from a person who almost worships pipe organs. I adore the touring organ Cameron Carpenter designed. Unbelievable.
To my mind, Fox's musical conception of this piece is the most convincing of his Bach interpretations, and this is a great realization of it. All the registration and tempo changes are clearly organised and directed toward a narrative end--he makes the piece speak and tell a story--and the amazing thing, to me, is that this narrative conception in no way detracts from Bach's underlying musical framework. What a tempo in the fugue--It's exciting, rhythmically rock solid, but not too fast for the organ or the room. Thanks for sharing!
+Daniel Stipe Hello Danial:Your comment is interesting. What most people don't seem to realize is that all of the Masterworks Bach wrote tells a story. It is all very expressive if one wishes to make it so. Fox was daring enough to go against the puritanical thinking and give it some life, phrasing, and go and a little slow here and there. You should hear the people over here. They play like machines, no thinking , no emotion. Of course they were taught in Germany or by so called professors who studies there and are considered to have the sun shining from dark places.
Virgil knew how to work a melody. Bach left all this music to us… we who live in the 21st century. And now it's up to us how to interpret those notes… their speed, their dynamics, the rubato, the registration, etc. Live! Listen and live. Let the Music LIVE. Listen. Who cares about a missing note or two. For God's sake. Virgil; thank you for coming into our dreary, war ridden world with joy, love and enthusiasm. In a word, courage! Sent with love… today! CVD
@@bikdav Most solo artists play from memory rather than reading notes. It is only in ensemble performances such as chamber orchestras or symphonies that musicians play reading scores. Think of bands as well on stage, none of them have sheet music.
These videos are posted in honor of a artist that had a major impact on the organ and thousands of people. I know many concert artists, and none of them have ever admitted they knew what Bach was thinking. No one did. And no country, performer, or expert has ever laid claim that they knew unequivocally what Bach intended. Legitimately. All we know is that many people love Bach, and have performed his works in a personal way. Healthy discussion is fine, but I shudder when someone feels they have a special, celestial, inside insight into his performance intentions. Perhaps that's what keeps some artists from growing.
thank you for this most considered comment. in my mind, j. s. bach composed incredibly EMOTIONAL music within the "rules" of the baroque era. i believe it is impossible to understand that era and its rules while denying any infusion of emotion by bach into his compositions.
Virgil continues on after RIP!!! Greater then ever. I had the wonderful opportunity to attend one of his great organ concerts. It was an experience, an experience I shall never ever forget!!! His enthusiasm and great artistry were beyond human comprehension and oh how we enjoyed it. I look forward to seeing you and hearing you again, on the other side Virgil...thank you so much!!!
Writing as an extremely bad organist, I am more than happy to acknowledge a superlative musician and organ technician. His pedalling is breathtaking. A very great organist without a doubt. RIP Mr Fox. Your legacy will last for generations to come. Peter A
Yes I agree Fox was extraordinary on pedalling. He did make occasional little slips on the keyboard but he never missed on the pedals and I think few could beat him on his extraordinary pedal technique. A great exponent of Bach and the organ.
I saw him perform in 1974 while I was in college. I tried to go to every type of music concert available, rock, jazz, blues, folk, country, reggae, soul, pop, you name it. Virgil Fox educated us all about Bach, told incredible stories, made us laugh, and just blew the audience away with his performance. He was incredible.
I saw him play and met him backstage in the 70's. He was a delightful man and an absolute master at infecting the audience with the same enthusiasm he had for the music.
As an aged Brit, I happily admit that I wish I could have had a tenth of Virgil Fox's technical ability. Whether we personally like his Bach playing or not, surely we can agree that he was a superb organist? I grew up here in London knowing of Mr Fox, but never had the opportunity of hearing him playing live; I wish I had. An iconic figure in the organ world.
Très bonne version. Intéressante et originale dans sa registration. Très parlant !!! Et audacieux. Une vraie interprétation créative, comme cela devrait être. Du feu de l'invention !!! Bravo. Merci.Olivier F
I and two friends heard Fox play at a concert in Toronto during the 70s. I believe the organ he had at the time was Black Beauty. All of us were music students, two of us of the organ. So we were not prone to gushing over overrated performers. But I have to tell you, Fox blew us all away. His music selection, his skill, especially his pedal technique, and his registrations (something especially notable by organ students) were all awe-inspiring! We left that concert on a natural high I don't think I have experienced since.
One of my Heroes. Sadly I wasn't alive when he toured, but luckily, we have his videos to enjoy these godlike performances. Thank you for this upload...
Why is it so easy to make negative comments about someone clearly so talented, playing an instrument so complex.. I say it's beautifully done and I'd love to hear you do better. Please play for us all. I would love to enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed this. Bravo Virgil Fox. Bravo!
I too saw him at the PAC in Milwaukee in the 70's and a couple of other times he played there. Twice with Black Beauty and once with his Allen instrument. Mind blowing experience!
Thanks Virgil. It was a joy to listen to you play the works of Bach on the organ. One can think of Bach having a few beers and a shot wine as he sat down on a Saturday night and improvised. Few of us realize that his first love was the organ beyond all else. Here, he would meet God and when we hear Bach, we hear God. To the orphan and to Virgil, thanks.
I like and agree with your comments. I once asked Dr Willam Hayes, my organ professor at Westminster Choir College, how to interpret the works of Bach; his response to me in a nutshell was that his interpretation would never be the same as mine and that I should stop worrying so much about interpretation and simply make music to the best of my ability. I hope I've done this for 40+ years now. As for Virgil, he was indeed an entertainer who loved to WOW! his audience with his manual dexterity.
@@rbaltimo It's interesting how our comments come back to remind us of just how much our organ instructors influenced our playing almost forever. It's now been 48 years since I studied with Dr. Hayes and still think of him when I play certain pieces. I stand by my comment of 8 years ago. As for Virgil Fox, he as well as others like E. Power Biggs brought the organ back to the people. Both played with very different styles.
I had the honor of meeting him and talking and listening to him at a concert at the Marshall University Artist Series in the 1970's. It changed my life.
Thank you for posting! A brilliant and incredibly musical performance. There really is something 'wizard-like' about his physical relationship with the organ, that's accentuated by the camera angles, especially the angle from above as he seems to be conjuring the notes with the movements of his hands, with the occasionally free hand that nonchalantly reaches over to change registrations being like that of a wizard waving a wand, casting musical spells. Apparently there are some negative comments below. I didn't scroll that far down, as I was much too busy enjoying the music to do so...
I had the honor to speak and meet Virgil at an Organ Concert at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Buffalo NY in the late 70's. It was one of our scheduled AGO Concerts. After meeting him and watching him perform, I started to imitate some of his methods of a 'Heavy Organ' when I had the opportunity to perform on a large Instrument, my congregations loved it... May he Rest In Peace and we shall meet again †♫♪♫
I cannot understand those who have critics about this guy. Common, is your ego that big it blinds you that much? This dude is a genius and gave is whole life to achieve what he as done. So if you don't understand, at least give respect to a master.
The NHK Tokyo pipe organ in this video was manufactured by the Schuke Organ company of Berlin (1973). The organ, in 1973, had five manuals, 90 stops and 151 ranks of pipes including two 32 foot pedal stops. There are two organ consoles, one within the organ loft and the mobile onstage console Virgil plays in this video. There have been posts from folks who knew Virgil that he apparently requested some last minute re-engineering of the mobile console to make it more user friendly for his Tokyo concerts. The NHK mobile console was early 1970s analog-digital technology. That he could play the non-traditional NHK mobile console at all with considerable dexterity is remarkable. The pedal board appears to be flat and the vertical space between the five keyboards doesn't look especially good. Unfortunately the soundtrack on this video doesn't capture the dynamic range of the NHK pipe organ. Instead, the organ at times sounds like an analog-electronic instrument. One of the mysteries is discovering how Bach might have actually performed baroque era music. Several of his archived autograph scores have limited written performance indications, but most do not, they're generic in form. With the large number of live musical performances in the 18th century professional musicians probably instinctively knew how to perform from the most rudimentary autograph scores. While J.S. Bach focused exclusively on exploring every dimension of counterpoint composition his children in later life were exploring alternative styles of composition. Eventually things changed from formal baroque composition to the more relaxed classical composition styles of Mozart & Haydn and then eventually Beethoven and the 19th century Romantic era of composition. One of J.S. Bach's musician sons CPE Bach was among the transition composers and was a friend of Mozart, they reportedly met in London. Mozart also learned about CPE's father, J.S. Bach from conversations he had at music-patron salons in Vienna where J.S. Bach's scores held considerable historic interest. In 2011 I had the privilege of visiting the Thomaskirche and Bach Archive in Leipzig. I came away with the impression J.S. Bach was pushing everything musical to the limit, his musicians, the acoustic instrument technology of the era (there was no electricity, every organ performance required a team of bellows pumpers, oftentimes with handwritten music composition & performance by candlelight). Bach composed, and his Thomaschule students assembled, hundreds of handwritten compositions at his office in his Thomaschule apartment adjacent to the Thomaskirche. He owned many instruments including a two manual pedal clavichord. For awhile he was also a successful music instrument business-merchant In Leipzig. For special Leipzig organ recitals Bach reportedly preferred playing the city's largest and tonally versatile tracker organ at the University of Leipzig (50+ stops). These weren't high wind pressure instruments like we're familiar with today. In Germany, Bach was reportedly among the top in-demand organ construction consultants and inspectors. He inspected pipe organs of all shapes, sizes and tuning. He advocated standardized tuning, and composed the "Well Tempered Clavier" to illustrate the many types of musical possibilities provided by standardized tuning. When constructed properly a baroque era tracker pipe organ provided great dexterity and clarity of line for the performance of counterpoint. Many surviving 18th & 19th century tracker instruments in Europe can be played at a tempo as fast as any modern, electrically assisted, pipe organ (but without having electrically assisted registration). That's where 18th & 19th century console assistants (music students) could participate by doing the stop-registration changes for the organist during a concert. There's no reason to believe Bach played his own music slower or faster than the musicians of today. By all reports Bach was a natural and phenomenal virtuoso musician as illustrated in his composition of Brandenburg Concerto #5. There's also reason to believe Bach experimented with a wide group of tempos and what today is sometimes referred to as "expressive" performance style. A team of "stop pullers" at the tracker action mechanical console (his Thomaschule students, his children, etc.,) were there to help. His popular "St. John Passion" was the closest thing to baroque opera. In later life his children were introducing the elder Bach to new non-baroque styles of composition, the vanguard of the classical music genre. And one of Bach's last brilliant compositional masterpieces, "Art of Fugue", explores the science of baroque counterpoint to the extreme.
there is an "urban legend" that, whenever bach sat on the bench of an instrument for the first time, he would pull all the stops and offer, "let's see what kind of lungs it has". can anyone confirm or deny this? he was a "rock star" in his time, eh? his audiences begged him to perform the d minor prelude and fugue, so much so that he became sick of it. again, can anyone confirm?
With all due respect, if you take a closer look at the pedal board, you will see that it IS concave and radiating, in accordance with the AGO standard. According to the Virgil Fox Society newsletter at the time, when Fox first saw the mobile console, the pedal board was the traditional flat style. When Fox began considering how he was going to have to rework all of his pedalling, one of the NHK officials stepped up and assured him that they DID have an AGO-style pedal board available as well. I leave you to imagine Virgil's relief at THAT revelation! I have also read that when Schuke was commissioned to build this instrument, because it was the first time they had ever done an instrument of this kind, there was inevitably some sort of misunderstanding between them and NHK, especially when it came to the mobile console. This was most likely the reason that Fox demanded the changes that he did, especially with regard to the Swell division (there was no sub-octave coupler on the Swell Organ, some thing Fox would not accept, to say the least!). Also, the limited number of "free combinations" (in accordance with traditional German organ-building standards) made things very difficult for Virgil from a performance standpoint. Still, it all came out well in the end!
Tom Nichol AGO standard is only on American installed units, my father has played a few instruments abroad, and most in Europe have flat pedal boards, especially the older ones in Germany, and Denmark.
Yes, the NHK's pedal board does look concave, it's not completely flat as on many European instruments. At least the folks who designed NHK's Concert Hall had the foresight to have an alternative pedal board available for AGO musicians. That, along with Virgil's tremendous knowledge of organ design, undoubtedly helped improve the usefulness of the NHK stage console for organists who subsequently performed there. Wonder if the 1970s era NHK stage console is still being used today, or whether it's gone digital, might be an interesting research project during a future visit to Tokyo :)
Thank you for your comments. A minor correction to your narrative: it was Johann Christian Bach who was acquainted with Mozart in London. Mozart knew of and highly regarded C. P. E.'s music, but the two never met.
It's hard to understand how a human being can have so much going on at one time and keep it all straight. The A-minor fugue has to be one of the most devilishly difficult pieces of counterpoint ever composed. Yet, Fox's performance, at odds with what "historically-informed" advocates insist is the proper way to play one of Bach's fugues, is as close to technically flawless as is humanly possible, and eminently musical in all respects. Few organists could play at Fox's level, and none of them ever had Fox's passion and sense of showmanship, the latter which did so much to bring this music to people who otherwise would have never known it.
As for the lightning speed of the fugue, it seems to be at the same pace as one of his earliest 'live' recordings - - - the first one at the Fillmore, where he begins the concert with the Fugue in A. It sounds great at this speed.
You know, it really saddens me when "divas" get on here and post pathetic negative comments about a musical genius such as Mr. Fox. He has done more to win the hearts of audiences for the organ than any of you "purists" who think you know more about proper execution of organ music than anyone else. Who cares????? Interpretation of great music is highly personal and subjective, so please don't be hatefully critical of these great performances if you don't want others critical of you!
thank you for your comments. i am an organist. i knew virgil and interviewed him on the radio in new york city in 1974. in my opinion, the disrespect foisted at him is borne from a DENIAL, within the art music community, to recognize the evolution of the organ into the modern instrument it has become. that is because they blindly followed the "proclamations" of a Harvard physics major and amateur organist and organ-builder that the instrument was "dead" and could only be revived by reverting to 18th century building techniques. That made it easy for the rest to deride his interpretations, which, in the baroque period, were left up to the performer. enough said...
Fillmore East? well, sure, they dug it, as they were most likely "enhanced" -- Hell, I was! truly amazing, with his intelligent and entertaining commentary the icing on the cake ... I think he was playing the Rogers Touring instrument (correct me if I'm wrong about that, please) and it kicked ass -- loved the low end ... this might've been the performance where he gave us the mind blowing Middelschulte (spelling?) pedal showcase piece I'd bet, if at the end and people were shouting out requests, some lowlife shouted "Inna Godda Da Vida" he could've done a version to end all versions
I have always enjoyed Virgil Fox's interpretations of the many pieces I've heard him play. I would love to have seen him at the Fillmore Auditorium. What a great ambassador of classical music!
Virgil is an extraordinary performer not one to hold back and his performances are electrifying to say the least . He favors the modern electric powered organ to the air powered. As far as Bach as a performer on the organ that is unfortunate he never made recordings . But I do know Bach's greatest skill and love was in being an organist first .What is written is that he was the ultimate organist to ever had played the organ and IT would be safe to say that Virgil Fox would be in awe of Bach
To disagree, I ALWAYS got the impression that Virgil would prefer to play a fine pipe instrument, or even a very good one, especially a well-made tracker, to any electronic one, as they are seldom as well-matched to the room as a pipe organ. I saw him several times in both contexts- he treated his concerts with the electronic instruments far more as teaching opportunities, because he knew the audience had a far greater fraction of less-experienced listeners (quite correctly so). Churches and halls (at least in the US) were seldom designed with an electronic instrument in mind by the time of his death, and few enough of them were designed in the mid-to-late 20th Century around pipe instruments. It can take days, but certainly many hours to site the speakers properly in the hall, and crews frequently don't have sufficient time to do so with the mobile instruments when you need to be in and out in less than 24 hours- a few inches and/or a fraction of degree in displacement can make or ruin the best sound. Clever use of small fans to move some air can trigger wholly disproportionate subliminal responses in people too, to disguise the electronic source.
Music if for all to listen and share equally, those who go to school choose so of their own accord, those who don't choose so of their own accord. In any case, I, and by "I" I mean me, the person typing this, have found that music is a great way of sending a message. Virgil Fox chose to interpret this particular Prelude and Fugue in the manner a bass-trombonist such as my self would approach a triple forte marking. With great enthusiasm. I am glad he chose this route. I like perspective.
For Virgil Fox's birthday, I wrote on my FB page and posted this clip to my wall: Virgil Fox would have been 100 years old today! In tribute, here is Fox performing Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in A Minor. Perhaps one of the most daring presentations ever captured on film for a live audience; enjoy the powerful and majestic prelude, and the rhythmic dancelike drive of the fugue at lightning speed. A controversial interpretation - yes. A performing genius - I’ll yes that too!
if you take the time to review the vast number of comments posted here, you will find the single, key element absent from all of them is the EVOLUTION of the organ. like every other instrument, it has developed and changed over the centuries. unfortunately, in the 1950's, a nuclear physicist (charles fisk) declared the organ to be dying and proclaimed it could only be saved by reverting to baroque era building standards. the know-it-alls of the art music community followed him like lemmings. to this day, we spend millions of dollars building archaic instruments. most of the vitriol foisted at virgil is borne from his refusal to ignore the modern organ; disguised as negative critiques of his playing.
Someone way back (about a year ago) posted that it was impossible to play this Prelude & Fugue faster that does Fox in this video. There was a recording by Anthony Newman from about 1975 that was much faster. I just pulled the album and verified the time... 7:03. That's fast! I had trouble hearing the performance, as with this. It's like trying to understand someone who talks too fast. In my brain, it all disintegrates. Mike Wenger Raleigh, NC (real name... I hide behind nothing)
1. Construct and general parameters of the art by composer... composer creates the construct of the idea of a piece of art. Just putting this out there. The piece in question is just a line of notes, rhythm, dynamics, harmony, instrumentation (construct) of an idea of the construct in the many possibilities of music to a specific construct to a more specific construct within that music that becomes this piece in question.
2. Interpretation, expression of the elements of the construct and the construct in itself, the pieces and the whole and the whole to the pieces and how it all fits together in order to augment certain elements and diminish other elements and keep even some elements to the same in order to achieve an emotional and thoughtful interpretation of the piece in question to resonate to the musician and/or to resonate with the audience as best thought. Either way, unique to the musician. INTERPRET>PLAY.
Unfortunately, this magnificent instrument has been allowed to fall into disuse since Mr. Fox's death in 1980. I have been unable to find any listing of concerts in the NHK Concert Hall that even so much as mention the organ! (I also have been unable to find the stoplist or specification for it online!) A sad state of affairs indeed!
what would j. s. bach, himself, done with an instrument such as this? he, who composed the most incredible music within the confines of the "rules" of the baroque period, eh?
Yes I have heard Bach on steel drums too, it still sounds amazing. If there is a definition of perfect music, it has to be Bach. I disagree with Menuhin because music has to be expressed. Why do you think Glenn Gould was so popular? He made Bach music and people could feel it. That is the whole point of music, no? To feel something? Anyway, I feel Virgil and I miss him.
I am a piano and organist and I loved virgil fox from the time I was 14, He is technically wonderful, he breathes life into Bach a d all of you are correct listen to live at the Fillmore and Winterland albums he brought Bach to a heavy rock crowd,and they loved him! Most fair and honest people did! E. Power Biggs was the only other one at the time a tho excellent, little dry compared to Virgil! Love you all!!
@mapps101 Very well thought out comment. Mr Fox had terminal cancer, was probably in pain but determined to honour his prior engagements despite this. There are many organists today with a similar flamboyant style - it is part of their musicality. Had J S Bach had at his disposal this wonderful modern organ with all its bells and whistles, the mind boggles at what he would, not might have done at the console.
Yes...I think we can all agree that Fox was a master of the organ and quite the showman as well.How to interpret Bach's music I think is the question here.? I must agree with asnothe concerning the speed at which this piece is played.Power Biggs interpretation is much more to my liking.Speed,rhythm,registration I feel are more suited here'.A personal preference and is only meant as such.I think both Biggs and Fox were responsible for converting many thousands to listeners(if not lovers) of classical music.Bravo to boith and my thanks as well.
***** I am in complete agreement with you as far as Carpenter is concerned.In regards to Fox I will agree he was a brilliant organist.It's just that I find Bigg's interpretation of Bach's music more to my liking.So it's a difference of opinion rather than a critique of his playing or interpretation.
except that baroque, organ manuscripts (as well as other manuscripts of all kinds) were almost COMPLETELY devoid of performance markings. interpretation WAS LEFT TO THE PERFORMER. you can certainly choose to like biggs, but don't forget he CHOSE to embrace the reversion to 18th century building techniques in the mid 1950's.
@midiborg So, I can play Debussy horribly wrong and no one will care, so long as I express myself? And I guess that means I could play Bach using only a mixture of reed stop and no one will get annoyed or critical in the slightest, so long as I hit the notes? I think there should probably be a balance; and if people want to express themselves through Bach, because they happen to like his music, that's fine with me.
Chandros, you might want to learn more about Mr. Fox and his remarkable place in organ music and performance before you mock the dated nature of this performance. Virgil Fox is still one of the most influencial organists in the modern era and the reason many still go to organ concerts today.
just because he doesn't always play what's written in the score doesn't mean that he isn't a great musician. Music isn't just what's written in a score -- it's portraying emotion and human feeling through how you preform the piece
Sure... Ton Koopman does have CD's with "Best of Bach", "Bach plays Bach" and so on and therefore does exactly know how in Baroque the musicians played. If you hear Koopman on a modern organ like this (and he DOES play an such instruments), it will be a terrible happening. Vox here uses much of the possibilities the instrument offers - it's just genius! His interpretation is fluid, musicantic, makes sense etc. Are YOU able to play this piece such convincing?
Dude, I'm a rocker jazz fiend and 20 yrs classically trained organist and musically Virgil is a GIANT! I'll put him up against E power Biggs or Charles Rosen, or Glenn Gould!
@mapps101 oh pish posh -- bach was LOUD... he even said of his leipzig organ, 'let's let her breathe a bit...", and then proceeded to play the thing to the heavens in honor of god almighty.... virgil fox may not be technically perfect, but he plays with the spirit of bach unlike mere technicians, and if you don't get that, i am sorry for you...
he was not "technically perfect" here because he was dying of cancer. as a student at Peabody, he played more than a dozen concerts from memory and before becoming ill, played with technical perfection.
sen hic kasilmazmisin, Bach gibisin cok rahat enstruman sana degil sen enstrumana hakimsin. kolen yapmissin. 543 eser sayili la minor prelud ve fug Bach'in en sevdigim eserlerinden biridir. ve boyle bi renkli yorum hic duymamistim. cok buyuk birisin Virgil
Of course Bach didn't play like Fox! We can largely agree that we are fighting our own points here by trying to figure out where the overlap starts and stops. Bach was awesome! Virgil Fox was awesome! Bach simply wrote the idea of a specific variation in a general concept in music! Virgil Fox interpreted it in his own way that was meaningful to him and/or felt would resonate with his audience. 1. Written Score of Art. 2. Interpretation by player of his color (crayons in or out of lines, shade).
I dont dispute the fact you have studied classical music. I am an organist myself. Obviously , I have been brought up playing by a very biased school of thought , but my problem with fox , is he never really brings out the intricate beauty of bach , and only really goes for the big powerful sound of the organ , dont get me wrong its great - he was a showman , not a bach interpreter - that has its merits , dont get me wrong , he brought bach into the public eye - nobody else did that!!!
This is an extraordinary performance. At the time of the concert, Mr Fox was in pain from the cancer that soon afterwards claimed his life, yet he exudes all of the energy and enthusiasm that has always personified his playing. He simply loved entertaining people.
So many negative comments. Virgil Fox's mission was to bring organ music to the masses. He spent $60,000 of his own money in 1977 (a lot in those days) for the Allen Touring Organ so that he wasn't limited to churches or concert halls. He could bring the music anywhere and everywhere. His style attracted those who normally would not want to listen to "classical" music. Because of him, thousands and thousands became new listeners of the music. By the way, do you EVER see sheet music on the music rack?
Are you sure it wasn't a Rogers touring organ? I only attended one of the Heavy Organ concerts in a movie theater in Hempstead, on Long Island NY. They had to "modify" the stage door to get the console in, lol. He played and inspired everyone in that room for HOURS. He explained each piece before he played. At one point he was playing at least 3 parts of a fugue with one hand, while demonstrating. I was floored, but there was never a moment where anyone doubted that for him, there was undying passion for the music. His interpretations were completely driven by the passion and love for music.
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Kenneth Carrizal WOW! I've always thought it was Rogers and I'm glad I finally know the truth. I'm going to read all of those letters and thank you!
He had two Rodgers touring organs before the Allen.
Thank goodness! I was wondering what was up. I'm usually not 180 degrees off. Thanks, Matt. BTW, any inside info on those decisions? I have nothing against Allen. When I first heard them in college in the late 60s, I was VERY impressed. Today's Rogers organs are WONDERFUL. This from a person who almost worships pipe organs. I adore the touring organ Cameron Carpenter designed. Unbelievable.
To my mind, Fox's musical conception of this piece is the most convincing of his Bach interpretations, and this is a great realization of it. All the registration and tempo changes are clearly organised and directed toward a narrative end--he makes the piece speak and tell a story--and the amazing thing, to me, is that this narrative conception in no way detracts from Bach's underlying musical framework. What a tempo in the fugue--It's exciting, rhythmically rock solid, but not too fast for the organ or the room. Thanks for sharing!
+Daniel Stipe Hello Danial:Your comment is interesting. What most people don't seem to realize is that all of the Masterworks Bach wrote tells a story. It is all very expressive if one wishes to make it so. Fox was daring enough to go against the puritanical thinking and give it some life, phrasing, and go and a little slow here and there. You should hear the people over here. They play like machines, no thinking , no emotion. Of course they were taught in Germany or by so called professors who studies there and are considered to have the sun shining from dark places.
He was a wiz!, Hopping keyboards, changing settings at such crucial times in the piece....He makes Bach proud!
Virgil knew how to work a melody. Bach left all this music to us… we who live in the 21st century. And now it's up to us how to interpret those notes… their speed, their dynamics, the rubato, the registration, etc. Live! Listen and live. Let the Music LIVE. Listen. Who cares about a missing note or two. For God's sake. Virgil; thank you for coming into our dreary, war ridden world with joy, love and enthusiasm. In a word, courage! Sent with love… today! CVD
where was this recorded...? I adore Virgil!
@@Highinsight7 in the NHK Hall in Japan.
A maestro at the top of the mountain. The capacity, the elegance...bravo.
The shocking thing to me is that he plays a lot of his pieces from memory.
@@bikdav Most solo artists play from memory rather than reading notes. It is only in ensemble performances such as chamber orchestras or symphonies that musicians play reading scores. Think of bands as well on stage, none of them have sheet music.
These videos are posted in honor of a artist that had a major impact on the organ and thousands of people. I know many concert artists, and none of them have ever admitted they knew what Bach was thinking. No one did. And no country, performer, or expert has ever laid claim that they knew unequivocally what Bach intended. Legitimately. All we know is that many people love Bach, and have performed his works in a personal way. Healthy discussion is fine, but I shudder when someone feels they have a special, celestial, inside insight into his performance intentions. Perhaps that's what keeps some artists from growing.
thank you for this most considered comment. in my mind, j. s. bach composed incredibly EMOTIONAL music within the "rules" of the baroque era. i believe it is impossible to understand that era and its rules while denying any infusion of emotion by bach into his compositions.
Virgil continues on after RIP!!! Greater then ever. I had the wonderful opportunity to attend one of his great organ concerts. It was an experience, an experience I shall never ever forget!!! His enthusiasm and great artistry were beyond human comprehension and oh how we enjoyed it. I look forward to seeing you and hearing you again, on the other side Virgil...thank you so much!!!
@jamesmondok8635: It would be nice if someone recorded all of his past albums onto decent quality 💿 CD.
Writing as an extremely bad organist, I am more than happy to acknowledge a superlative musician and organ technician. His pedalling is breathtaking. A very great organist without a doubt. RIP Mr Fox. Your legacy will last for generations to come. Peter A
Yes I agree Fox was extraordinary on pedalling. He did make occasional little slips on the keyboard but he never missed on the pedals and I think few could beat him on his extraordinary pedal technique. A great exponent of Bach and the organ.
I saw him perform in 1974 while I was in college. I tried to go to every type of music concert available, rock, jazz, blues, folk, country, reggae, soul, pop, you name it. Virgil Fox educated us all about Bach, told incredible stories, made us laugh, and just blew the audience away with his performance. He was incredible.
I saw him play and met him backstage in the 70's. He was a delightful man and an absolute master at infecting the audience with the same enthusiasm he had for the music.
What a gift to be able to see and hear Virgil Fox as much as you want 44 years after he died. He was and still is my greatest inspiration!🎉
One of the truly greatest organists of all time. Beautiful! Stunningly played.Thank you James.
Bravo!
As an aged Brit, I happily admit that I wish I could have had a tenth of Virgil Fox's technical ability. Whether we personally like his Bach playing or not, surely we can agree that he was a superb organist? I grew up here in London knowing of Mr Fox, but never had the opportunity of hearing him playing live; I wish I had. An iconic figure in the organ world.
goosebumps for the whole video. awesome playing.
Très bonne version. Intéressante et originale dans sa registration. Très parlant !!! Et audacieux. Une vraie interprétation créative, comme cela devrait être. Du feu de l'invention !!! Bravo. Merci.Olivier F
I saw him in Hartford once. He was wonderful. I learned to love classical music because of him. I especially love the organ because of Virgil Fox.
i'm so glad we have any video at all of this great performer playing the greatest music written.
The undisputed master at his best..... R.I.P. Virgil.... we miss you, we love you, we know your in heaven with the greats.... bach by your side....
I always loved Fox playing the P&F in A min. You can just see the line of fire he creates with his awesome technique.
Amazing organist ! He is feeling and experiencing this music!
BWV 543, my favorite a minor. i saw him do this live 35 years ago. i will never forget that night, the night i fell in love with Bach.
I just ADORE Virgil Fox. He really put the hook in me in 1968 when I heard a recording of him
doing the Passacaglia on the Lincoln Center organ.
my God! I'm close to tears. Awesome!!!
god bless you, virgil. you understood this music like no one else.
I and two friends heard Fox play at a concert in Toronto during the 70s. I believe the organ he had at the time was Black Beauty. All of us were music students, two of us of the organ. So we were not prone to gushing over overrated performers. But I have to tell you, Fox blew us all away. His music selection, his skill, especially his pedal technique, and his registrations (something especially notable by organ students) were all awe-inspiring! We left that concert on a natural high I don't think I have experienced since.
I saw him once when I was 15 or so. Will never forget. It set me for life.
One of my Heroes. Sadly I wasn't alive when he toured, but luckily, we have his videos to enjoy these godlike performances. Thank you for this upload...
Why is it so easy to make negative comments about someone clearly so talented, playing an instrument so complex.. I say it's beautifully done and I'd love to hear you do better. Please play for us all. I would love to enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed this. Bravo Virgil Fox. Bravo!
I too saw him at the PAC in Milwaukee in the 70's and a couple of other times he played there. Twice with Black Beauty and once with his Allen instrument.
Mind blowing experience!
He knew all his music by heart! Amazing !
Thanks Virgil. It was a joy to listen to you play the works of Bach on the organ. One can think of Bach having a few beers and a shot wine as he sat down on a Saturday night and improvised. Few of us realize that his first love was the organ beyond all else. Here, he would meet God and when we hear Bach, we hear God. To the orphan and to Virgil, thanks.
its marvellous...i love the tempo changes...makes it live !
I like and agree with your comments. I once asked Dr Willam Hayes, my organ professor at Westminster Choir College, how to interpret the works of Bach; his response to me in a nutshell was that his interpretation would never be the same as mine and that I should stop worrying so much about interpretation and simply make music to the best of my ability. I hope I've done this for 40+ years now. As for Virgil, he was indeed an entertainer who loved to WOW! his audience with his manual dexterity.
BELOVED PROF. HAYS...I SWEAR HE KNEW EVERYTHING ABOUT MUSIC
@@rbaltimo It's interesting how our comments come back to remind us of just how much our organ instructors influenced our playing almost forever. It's now been 48 years since I studied with Dr. Hayes and still think of him when I play certain pieces. I stand by my comment of 8 years ago. As for Virgil Fox, he as well as others like E. Power Biggs brought the organ back to the people. Both played with very different styles.
Saw Carlo Curley last month in Portland. Played very well - wonderful memory!
I had the honor of meeting him and talking and listening to him at a concert at the Marshall University Artist Series in the 1970's. It changed my life.
Thank you for posting! A brilliant and incredibly musical performance. There really is something 'wizard-like' about his physical relationship with the organ, that's accentuated by the camera angles, especially the angle from above as he seems to be conjuring the notes with the movements of his hands, with the occasionally free hand that nonchalantly reaches over to change registrations being like that of a wizard waving a wand, casting musical spells.
Apparently there are some negative comments below. I didn't scroll that far down, as I was much too busy enjoying the music to do so...
I had the honor to speak and meet Virgil at an Organ Concert at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Buffalo NY in the late 70's. It was one of our scheduled AGO Concerts. After meeting him and watching him perform, I started to imitate some of his methods of a 'Heavy Organ' when I had the opportunity to perform on a large Instrument, my congregations loved it... May he Rest In Peace and we shall meet again †♫♪♫
I cannot understand those who have critics about this guy. Common, is your ego that big it blinds you that much? This dude is a genius and gave is whole life to achieve what he as done. So if you don't understand, at least give respect to a master.
The NHK Tokyo pipe organ in this video was manufactured by the Schuke Organ company of Berlin (1973). The organ, in 1973, had five manuals, 90 stops and 151 ranks of pipes including two 32 foot pedal stops. There are two organ consoles, one within the organ loft and the mobile onstage console Virgil plays in this video. There have been posts from folks who knew Virgil that he apparently requested some last minute re-engineering of the mobile console to make it more user friendly for his Tokyo concerts. The NHK mobile console was early 1970s analog-digital technology. That he could play the non-traditional NHK mobile console at all with considerable dexterity is remarkable. The pedal board appears to be flat and the vertical space between the five keyboards doesn't look especially good. Unfortunately the soundtrack on this video doesn't capture the dynamic range of the NHK pipe organ. Instead, the organ at times sounds like an analog-electronic instrument.
One of the mysteries is discovering how Bach might have actually performed baroque era music. Several of his archived autograph scores have limited written performance indications, but most do not, they're generic in form. With the large number of live musical performances in the 18th century professional musicians probably instinctively knew how to perform from the most rudimentary autograph scores. While J.S. Bach focused exclusively on exploring every dimension of counterpoint composition his children in later life were exploring alternative styles of composition. Eventually things changed from formal baroque composition to the more relaxed classical composition styles of Mozart & Haydn and then eventually Beethoven and the 19th century Romantic era of composition. One of J.S. Bach's musician sons CPE Bach was among the transition composers and was a friend of Mozart, they reportedly met in London. Mozart also learned about CPE's father, J.S. Bach from conversations he had at music-patron salons in Vienna where J.S. Bach's scores held considerable historic interest.
In 2011 I had the privilege of visiting the Thomaskirche and Bach Archive in Leipzig. I came away with the impression J.S. Bach was pushing everything musical to the limit, his musicians, the acoustic instrument technology of the era (there was no electricity, every organ performance required a team of bellows pumpers, oftentimes with handwritten music composition & performance by candlelight). Bach composed, and his Thomaschule students assembled, hundreds of handwritten compositions at his office in his Thomaschule apartment adjacent to the Thomaskirche. He owned many instruments including a two manual pedal clavichord. For awhile he was also a successful music instrument business-merchant In Leipzig. For special Leipzig organ recitals Bach reportedly preferred playing the city's largest and tonally versatile tracker organ at the University of Leipzig (50+ stops). These weren't high wind pressure instruments like we're familiar with today. In Germany, Bach was reportedly among the top in-demand organ construction consultants and inspectors. He inspected pipe organs of all shapes, sizes and tuning. He advocated standardized tuning, and composed the "Well Tempered Clavier" to illustrate the many types of musical possibilities provided by standardized tuning. When constructed properly a baroque era tracker pipe organ provided great dexterity and clarity of line for the performance of counterpoint. Many surviving 18th & 19th century tracker instruments in Europe can be played at a tempo as fast as any modern, electrically assisted, pipe organ (but without having electrically assisted registration). That's where 18th & 19th century console assistants (music students) could participate by doing the stop-registration changes for the organist during a concert. There's no reason to believe Bach played his own music slower or faster than the musicians of today. By all reports Bach was a natural and phenomenal virtuoso musician as illustrated in his composition of Brandenburg Concerto #5.
There's also reason to believe Bach experimented with a wide group of tempos and what today is sometimes referred to as "expressive" performance style. A team of "stop pullers" at the tracker action mechanical console (his Thomaschule students, his children, etc.,) were there to help. His popular "St. John Passion" was the closest thing to baroque opera. In later life his children were introducing the elder Bach to new non-baroque styles of composition, the vanguard of the classical music genre. And one of Bach's last brilliant compositional masterpieces, "Art of Fugue", explores the science of baroque counterpoint to the extreme.
there is an "urban legend" that, whenever bach sat on the bench of an instrument for the first time, he would pull all the stops and offer, "let's see what kind of lungs it has". can anyone confirm or deny this? he was a "rock star" in his time, eh? his audiences begged him to perform the d minor prelude and fugue, so much so that he became sick of it. again, can anyone confirm?
With all due respect, if you take a closer look at the pedal board, you will see that it IS concave and radiating, in accordance with the AGO standard. According to the Virgil Fox Society newsletter at the time, when Fox first saw the mobile console, the pedal board was the traditional flat style. When Fox began considering how he was going to have to rework all of his pedalling, one of the NHK officials stepped up and assured him that they DID have an AGO-style pedal board available as well. I leave you to imagine Virgil's relief at THAT revelation!
I have also read that when Schuke was commissioned to build this instrument, because it was the first time they had ever done an instrument of this kind, there was inevitably some sort of misunderstanding between them and NHK, especially when it came to the mobile console. This was most likely the reason that Fox demanded the changes that he did, especially with regard to the Swell division (there was no sub-octave coupler on the Swell Organ, some thing Fox would not accept, to say the least!). Also, the limited number of "free combinations" (in accordance with traditional German organ-building standards) made things very difficult for Virgil from a performance standpoint. Still, it all came out well in the end!
Tom Nichol AGO standard is only on American installed units, my father has played a few instruments abroad, and most in Europe have flat pedal boards, especially the older ones in Germany, and Denmark.
Yes, the NHK's pedal board does look concave, it's not completely flat as on many European instruments. At least the folks who designed NHK's Concert Hall had the foresight to have an alternative pedal board available for AGO musicians. That, along with Virgil's tremendous knowledge of organ design, undoubtedly helped improve the usefulness of the NHK stage console for organists who subsequently performed there. Wonder if the 1970s era NHK stage console is still being used today, or whether it's gone digital, might be an interesting research project during a future visit to Tokyo :)
Thank you for your comments. A minor correction to your narrative: it was Johann Christian Bach who was acquainted with Mozart in London. Mozart knew of and highly regarded C. P. E.'s music, but the two never met.
It's hard to understand how a human being can have so much going on at one time and keep it all straight. The A-minor fugue has to be one of the most devilishly difficult pieces of counterpoint ever composed. Yet, Fox's performance, at odds with what "historically-informed" advocates insist is the proper way to play one of Bach's fugues, is as close to technically flawless as is humanly possible, and eminently musical in all respects. Few organists could play at Fox's level, and none of them ever had Fox's passion and sense of showmanship, the latter which did so much to bring this music to people who otherwise would have never known it.
Listening to this once in a row is not enough like a lot of Bach! Put the replay button on and let it roll!
As for the lightning speed of the fugue, it seems to be at the same pace as one of his earliest 'live' recordings - - - the first one at the Fillmore, where he begins the concert with the Fugue in A. It sounds great at this speed.
That organ is now in the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove CA.
I had the pleasure of hearing Virgil Fox play at Old Dominion University back in the 1970's. He was amazing just as he is here.
You know, it really saddens me when "divas" get on here and post pathetic negative comments about a musical genius such as Mr. Fox. He has done more to win the hearts of audiences for the organ than any of you "purists" who think you know more about proper execution of organ music than anyone else. Who cares?????
Interpretation of great music is highly personal and subjective, so please don't be hatefully critical of these great performances if you don't want others critical of you!
thank you for your comments. i am an organist. i knew virgil and interviewed him on the radio in new york city in 1974. in my opinion, the disrespect foisted at him is borne from a DENIAL, within the art music community, to recognize the evolution of the organ into the modern instrument it has become. that is because they blindly followed the "proclamations" of a Harvard physics major and amateur organist and organ-builder that the instrument was "dead" and could only be revived by reverting to 18th century building techniques. That made it easy for the rest to deride his interpretations, which, in the baroque period, were left up to the performer. enough said...
He played at the Fillmore East to an audience of young people in the 60's & 70's. They loved it. "Go Virgil!"
Fillmore East?
well, sure, they dug it, as they were most likely "enhanced" -- Hell, I was!
truly amazing, with his intelligent and entertaining commentary the icing on the cake ... I think he was playing the Rogers Touring instrument (correct me if I'm wrong about that, please) and it kicked ass -- loved the low end ... this might've been the performance where he gave us the mind blowing Middelschulte (spelling?) pedal showcase piece
I'd bet, if at the end and people were shouting out requests, some lowlife shouted "Inna Godda Da Vida" he could've done a version to end all versions
I have always enjoyed Virgil Fox's interpretations of the many pieces I've heard him play. I would love to have seen him at the Fillmore Auditorium. What a great ambassador of classical music!
Love this piece; I practice it weekly. Love his look directly into the camera around 8:12 - what a master!
I saw him at the Performing Arts Center in Milwaukee in the mid 1970's. Arguably one of the greatest organists of our time.
Virgil is an extraordinary performer not one to hold back and his performances are electrifying to say the least . He favors the modern electric powered organ to the air powered. As far as Bach as a performer on the organ that is unfortunate he never made recordings . But I do know Bach's greatest skill and love was in being an organist first .What is written is that he was the ultimate organist to ever had played the organ and IT would be safe to say that Virgil Fox would be in awe of Bach
To disagree, I ALWAYS got the impression that Virgil would prefer to play a fine pipe instrument, or even a very good one, especially a well-made tracker, to any electronic one, as they are seldom as well-matched to the room as a pipe organ. I saw him several times in both contexts- he treated his concerts with the electronic instruments far more as teaching opportunities, because he knew the audience had a far greater fraction of less-experienced listeners (quite correctly so).
Churches and halls (at least in the US) were seldom designed with an electronic instrument in mind by the time of his death, and few enough of them were designed in the mid-to-late 20th Century around pipe instruments. It can take days, but certainly many hours to site the speakers properly in the hall, and crews frequently don't have sufficient time to do so with the mobile instruments when you need to be in and out in less than 24 hours- a few inches and/or a fraction of degree in displacement can make or ruin the best sound. Clever use of small fans to move some air can trigger wholly disproportionate subliminal responses in people too, to disguise the electronic source.
Touche'.....and I agree with the resilience of Bach's music.
amazing performance!!!!!! very original
putting aside all Virgil talk for a moment, let's hear it for Bach!
assolutamente fantastico sia l'organo e l'organista
Music if for all to listen and share equally, those who go to school choose so of their own accord, those who don't choose so of their own accord. In any case, I, and by "I" I mean me, the person typing this, have found that music is a great way of sending a message. Virgil Fox chose to interpret this particular Prelude and Fugue in the manner a bass-trombonist such as my self would approach a triple forte marking. With great enthusiasm. I am glad he chose this route. I like perspective.
For Virgil Fox's birthday, I wrote on my FB page and posted this clip to my wall: Virgil Fox would have been 100 years old today! In tribute, here is Fox performing Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in A Minor. Perhaps one of the most daring presentations ever captured on film for a live audience; enjoy the powerful and majestic prelude, and the rhythmic dancelike drive of the fugue at lightning speed. A controversial interpretation - yes. A performing genius - I’ll yes that too!
Beautiful!
That is exactly what I've been trying to say for the last year now. You really have a way with words.
Very well said indeed!
I will always think of my Dad when I hear Virgil Fox play Bach...
Very well said.
Justin
if you take the time to review the vast number of comments posted here, you will find the single, key element absent from all of them is the EVOLUTION of the organ. like every other instrument, it has developed and changed over the centuries. unfortunately, in the 1950's, a nuclear physicist (charles fisk) declared the organ to be dying and proclaimed it could only be saved by reverting to baroque era building standards. the know-it-alls of the art music community followed him like lemmings. to this day, we spend millions of dollars building archaic instruments. most of the vitriol foisted at virgil is borne from his refusal to ignore the modern organ; disguised as negative critiques of his playing.
so, where are any considered replies? they don't exist because no one can defend why the organ should not evolve, like every other instrument.
whats this!?! this seems from another world! bach lives for ever!!!
just awesome
Someone way back (about a year ago) posted that it was impossible to play this Prelude & Fugue faster that does Fox in this video. There was a recording by Anthony Newman from about 1975 that was much faster. I just pulled the album and verified the time... 7:03. That's fast! I had trouble hearing the performance, as with this. It's like trying to understand someone who talks too fast. In my brain, it all disintegrates.
Mike Wenger
Raleigh, NC
(real name... I hide behind nothing)
all of bach's works are performed, today, at ridiculous speeds. why is the organ any different?
Geniale
1. Construct and general parameters of the art by composer... composer creates the construct of the idea of a piece of art. Just putting this out there. The piece in question is just a line of notes, rhythm, dynamics, harmony, instrumentation (construct) of an idea of the construct in the many possibilities of music to a specific construct to a more specific construct within that music that becomes this piece in question.
2. Interpretation, expression of the elements of the construct and the construct in itself, the pieces and the whole and the whole to the pieces and how it all fits together in order to augment certain elements and diminish other elements and keep even some elements to the same in order to achieve an emotional and thoughtful interpretation of the piece in question to resonate to the musician and/or to resonate with the audience as best thought. Either way, unique to the musician. INTERPRET>PLAY.
7:00 is one of my favorite moments in music
7:00 is one of my favorite moments in music - this is extremely difficult to play even for seasoned masters
legend!
Unfortunately, this magnificent instrument has been allowed to fall into disuse since Mr. Fox's death in 1980. I have been unable to find any listing of concerts in the NHK Concert Hall that even so much as mention the organ! (I also have been unable to find the stoplist or specification for it online!) A sad state of affairs indeed!
child of his time, and in that time, with the knowledge at that time about barouqe music.... he is marvellous!
Wonderful performance. I wonder if the pedal entrance in the fugue with the mixture on was a not planned? Virgil handled it well, if it was....
And I AGREE FULLY WITH THAT !
LONG LIVE VIRGIL! IN THE GLORIA!
Always loved the pregnant dominant 7th at 7:48!
what would j. s. bach, himself, done with an instrument such as this? he, who composed the most incredible music within the confines of the "rules" of the baroque period, eh?
Great !!!!!
Yes I have heard Bach on steel drums too, it still sounds amazing. If there is a definition of perfect music, it has to be Bach. I disagree with Menuhin because music has to be expressed. Why do you think Glenn Gould was so popular? He made Bach music and people could feel it. That is the whole point of music, no? To feel something? Anyway, I feel Virgil and I miss him.
I am a piano and organist and I loved virgil fox from the time I was 14, He is technically wonderful, he breathes life into Bach a d all of you are correct listen to live at the Fillmore and Winterland albums he brought Bach to a heavy rock crowd,and they loved him! Most fair and honest people did! E. Power Biggs was the only other one at the time a tho excellent, little dry compared to Virgil! Love you all!!
@mapps101 Very well thought out comment. Mr Fox had terminal cancer, was probably in pain but determined to honour his prior engagements despite this. There are many organists today with a similar flamboyant style - it is part of their musicality. Had J S Bach had at his disposal this wonderful modern organ with all its bells and whistles, the mind boggles at what he would, not might have done at the console.
Yes...I think we can all agree that Fox was a master of the organ and quite the showman as well.How to interpret Bach's music I think is the question here.? I must agree with asnothe concerning the speed at which this piece is played.Power Biggs interpretation is much more to my liking.Speed,rhythm,registration I feel are more suited here'.A personal preference and is only meant as such.I think both Biggs and Fox were responsible for converting many thousands to listeners(if not lovers) of classical music.Bravo to boith and my thanks as well.
***** I am in complete agreement with you as far as Carpenter is concerned.In regards to Fox I will agree he was a brilliant organist.It's just that I find Bigg's interpretation of Bach's music more to my liking.So it's a difference of opinion rather than a critique of his playing or interpretation.
except that baroque, organ manuscripts (as well as other manuscripts of all kinds) were almost COMPLETELY devoid of performance markings. interpretation WAS LEFT TO THE PERFORMER. you can certainly choose to like biggs, but don't forget he CHOSE to embrace the reversion to 18th century building techniques in the mid 1950's.
Please, won't somebody tell me where I can get this concert on DVD!!
At 2:42 listen for the pasacaglia & fugue bass !!
Miraculous
I can't play this so fast even in my dreams...
@midiborg So, I can play Debussy horribly wrong and no one will care, so long as I express myself? And I guess that means I could play Bach using only a mixture of reed stop and no one will get annoyed or critical in the slightest, so long as I hit the notes? I think there should probably be a balance; and if people want to express themselves through Bach, because they happen to like his music, that's fine with me.
Chandros, you might want to learn more about Mr. Fox and his remarkable place in organ music and performance before you mock the dated nature of this performance. Virgil Fox is still one of the most influencial organists in the modern era and the reason many still go to organ concerts today.
Where have you heard better ?
I don't care for they way Fox played most things, but I actually enjoyed this performance.
just because he doesn't always play what's written in the score doesn't mean that he isn't a great musician. Music isn't just what's written in a score -- it's portraying emotion and human feeling through how you preform the piece
Sure... Ton Koopman does have CD's with "Best of Bach", "Bach plays Bach" and so on and therefore does exactly know how in Baroque the musicians played.
If you hear Koopman on a modern organ like this (and he DOES play an such instruments), it will be a terrible happening. Vox here uses much of the possibilities the instrument offers - it's just genius! His interpretation is fluid, musicantic, makes sense etc.
Are YOU able to play this piece such convincing?
Speed isn't everything, emotion IS
Dude, I'm a rocker jazz fiend and 20 yrs classically trained organist and musically Virgil is a GIANT! I'll put him up against E power Biggs or Charles Rosen, or Glenn Gould!
@mapps101 oh pish posh -- bach was LOUD... he even said of his leipzig organ, 'let's let her breathe a bit...", and then proceeded to play the thing to the heavens in honor of god almighty.... virgil fox may not be technically perfect, but he plays with the spirit of bach unlike mere technicians, and if you don't get that, i am sorry for you...
he was not "technically perfect" here because he was dying of cancer. as a student at Peabody, he played more than a dozen concerts from memory and before becoming ill, played with technical perfection.
sen hic kasilmazmisin, Bach gibisin cok rahat enstruman sana degil sen enstrumana hakimsin. kolen yapmissin. 543 eser sayili la minor prelud ve fug Bach'in en sevdigim eserlerinden biridir. ve boyle bi renkli yorum hic duymamistim. cok buyuk birisin Virgil
Bach is never to fast :)
Of course Bach didn't play like Fox! We can largely agree that we are fighting our own points here by trying to figure out where the overlap starts and stops. Bach was awesome! Virgil Fox was awesome! Bach simply wrote the idea of a specific variation in a general concept in music! Virgil Fox interpreted it in his own way that was meaningful to him and/or felt would resonate with his audience. 1. Written Score of Art. 2. Interpretation by player of his color (crayons in or out of lines, shade).
Correction: second half right.
First half right.
I dont dispute the fact you have studied classical music. I am an organist myself. Obviously , I have been brought up playing by a very biased school of thought , but my problem with fox , is he never really brings out the intricate beauty of bach , and only really goes for the big powerful sound of the organ , dont get me wrong its great - he was a showman , not a bach interpreter - that has its merits , dont get me wrong , he brought bach into the public eye - nobody else did that!!!