Newberry Memorial Pipe Organ: Woolsey Hall - Yale University

Track Listings
Disc: 1
1. Bach: Sinfonia from Cantata #29    
2. Krigbaum: Processional for the President    
3. Lecture-demonstration of stops, divisions given by Professor Thomas Murray    
4. The Diapasons    
5. The Flutes    
6. The Strings    
7. The Reeds    
8. Traditional: Bright College Years    
Disc: 2
1. Mozart: Fantasia in f minor, K. 608 Vaughan Williams: Two Preludes on Welsh Folk Songs (1956)    
2. Romanza    
3. St. David's Day    
4. Reger: Benedictus    
5. Reger: Introduction & Passacaglia in d Hindemith: Sonata 1    
6. Mässig Schnell    
7. Sehr langsam    
8. Phantasie, frei    
9. Ruhig bewegt    
10. Bonnet: Matin Provençale Karg-Elert: Two Chorale-Preludes from Opus 65    
See all 13 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews
Michael Alan Fox in The Absolute Sound, December 2001/January, 2002
"I don't believe any single purchase would be a better introduction to the pipe organ ....."

Album Description
Yale University has twin treasures embodied in the world renowned Newberry Memorial Organ and the resonant acoustics of the organ's home, Woolsey Hall. This documentary consists of two CDs and a 72-page book with a photo essay and numerous articles on the Newberry Organ. Disc One is a lecture with musical demonstrations of different organ stops and divisions of the Newberry Organ; the second disc is an organ concert recorded live. All performances are by Professor Thomas Murray, Professor of Music and University Organist at Yale.

The organ at Woolsey Hall, given by the Newberry family of Detroit, was originally built and later rebuilt by three of the finest organbuilders in the United States: the Hutchings-Votey Organ Company, the Steere Organ Company, and the Skinner Organ Company of Boston. These two rebuilds were unusually successful in creating an extremely beautiful and satisfying instrument. Nicholas Thompson-Allen and Joseph Dzeda are the Curators of Organs at Yale, and have kept the organ in immaculate repair, and today it is tonally and mechanically as it was left by the Skinner Organ Company some seventy years ago.

This pipe organ is among the largest organs in the world today with 12,617 pipes. The gigantic size of this instrument is not what makes it great, however; it is the almost infinite tonal palette of refined color that makes this organ very rare.

The music on these discs is widely varied to demonstrate the almost limitless tonal colors Professor Murray can achieve with this instrument. The massive earth-shaking thunder of the Newberry Organ is unleashed in the Reger Introduction & Passacaglia in d minor. The wide dynamic range of this instrument is heard in the Reger Benedictus by means of Professor Murray's masterful manipulation of the organ through a terrific crescendo to the full organ and back down to a hushed whisper. Paul Hindemith’s Sonata is treated in a symphonic manner with warmth and varied colors not found in the typical performance of the piece. The Procession of Nobles is a grand march with heralded trumpeting on the numerous high-pressure reeds on the organ. Professor Murray exudes musicianship with each note and the Newberry Organ responds, giving him a rich color palette of sound found in very few other places in the world.

Newberry Memorial Pipe Organ: Woolsey Hall - Yale University, Music, organist Thomas Murray, Krigbaum, Mozart, Vaughan Williams, Reger, Hindemith, Bonnet, Karg-Elert, Rimsky-Korsakov Bach
Newberry Memorial Pipe Organ: Woolsey Hall - Yale University
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • The Remarkable Woolsey Hall Organ
  • The Symphonic Organ at Its Best
  • The American Orchestral Organ par excellence
 Newberry Memorial Pipe Organ: Woolsey Hall - Yale University

ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

All Works by Wolfgang Amadeus MozartAll Works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
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ASIN: B00006IR4D
Release Date: 2001-09-05

Tracks:

  1. Bach: Sinfonia from Cantata #29
  2. Krigbaum: Processional for the President
  3. Lecture-demonstration of stops, divisions given by Professor Thomas Murray
  4. The Diapasons
  5. The Flutes
  6. The Strings
  7. The Reeds
  8. Traditional: Bright College Years

Tracks:

  1. Mozart: Fantasia in f minor, K. 608 Vaughan Williams: Two Preludes on Welsh Folk Songs (1956)
  2. Romanza
  3. St. David's Day
  4. Reger: Benedictus
  5. Reger: Introduction & Passacaglia in d Hindemith: Sonata 1
  6. Mig Schnell
  7. Sehr langsam
  8. Phantasie, frei
  9. Ruhig bewegt
  10. Bonnet: Matin Provene Karg-Elert: Two Chorale-Preludes from Opus 65
  11. Werde munter, meine Seele
  12. Mach hoch die T
  13. Rimsky-Korsakov: Procession of Nobles from the opera"Mlada"

Album Description

Yale University has twin treasures embodied in the world renowned Newberry Memorial Organ and the resonant acoustics of the organ's home, Woolsey Hall. This documentary consists of two CDs and a 72-page book with a photo essay and numerous articles on the Newberry Organ. Disc One is a lecture with musical demonstrations of different organ stops and divisions of the Newberry Organ; the second disc is an organ concert recorded live. All performances are by Professor Thomas Murray, Professor of Music and University Organist at Yale.

The organ at Woolsey Hall, given by the Newberry family of Detroit, was originally built and later rebuilt by three of the finest organbuilders in the United States: the Hutchings-Votey Organ Company, the Steere Organ Company, and the Skinner Organ Company of Boston. These two rebuilds were unusually successful in creating an extremely beautiful and satisfying instrument. Nicholas Thompson-Allen and Joseph Dzeda are the Curators of Organs at Yale, and have kept the organ in immaculate repair, and today it is tonally and mechanically as it was left by the Skinner Organ Company some seventy years ago.

This pipe organ is among the largest organs in the world today with 12,617 pipes. The gigantic size of this instrument is not what makes it great, however; it is the almost infinite tonal palette of refined color that makes this organ very rare.

The music on these discs is widely varied to demonstrate the almost limitless tonal colors Professor Murray can achieve with this instrument. The massive earth-shaking thunder of the Newberry Organ is unleashed in the Reger Introduction & Passacaglia in d minor. The wide dynamic range of this instrument is heard in the Reger Benedictus by means of Professor Murray's masterful manipulation of the organ through a terrific crescendo to the full organ and back down to a hushed whisper. Paul Hindemith's Sonata is treated in a symphonic manner with warmth and varied colors not found in the typical performance of the piece. The Procession of Nobles is a grand march with heralded trumpeting on the numerous high-pressure reeds on the organ. Professor Murray exudes musicianship with each note and the Newberry Organ responds, giving him a rich color palette of sound found in very few other places in the world.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars The Remarkable Woolsey Hall Organ.......2002-10-23

The Skinner organ in Woolsey Hall is one of the truly great organs of the twentieth century, and Joe Vitacco's excellent two-CD recording of Tom Murray, University Organist and Professor of Music at Yale University, performing a varied repertoire on it is a real treat. Much of the first CD is taken up with Tom Murray's fascinating history, explanation and demonstration of the instrument -- equally enjoyable whether you are a novice or an expert where organs are concerned -- and it is worth buying the CD set for this alone. The rest of the recording displays the instrument in many moods. It ranges from the joyous Sinfonia from Bach's Cantata No. 29, through virtuosic French and German impressionist pieces like Bonnet's Matin Provençale and Karg-Elert's Fling Wide the Gates, to sublimely beautiful pieces like Reger's Benedictus and -- as an example the sort of transcription playing for which Tom Murray is justly famous -- the Procession of Nobles by Rimsky-Korsakov. I think my personal favorite is the Hindemith Sonata No. 1, a piece that sounds good on almost any organ, and particularly wonderful on this one. The CD's come with an attractive 72-page illustrated booklet that gives a lot of helpful background information about the organ and the featured repertoire. There is something for everyone on this recording, and I thoroughly recommend it.
John Speller,
Quimby Pipe Organs, Inc.

5 out of 5 stars The Symphonic Organ at Its Best.......2002-10-01

If you are interested in the Romantic/Symphonic pipe organ and its music and if you can only own one CD, this is it! Here you will not only enjoy the masterful artistry of Tom Murray, but will learn more about the symphonic approach than any book or library books can teach. Tom Murray takes you on a guided musical tour through an instrument that most acknowledge is the ultimate in symphonic organ design. As an organ builder, I am often asked what is my favorite organ in the world. It's a tough question to answer since there are so many different tonal styles, but if I had to select just one it would be Woolsey Hall at Yale. This is an instrument of breathtaking beauty and emotional power. This recording reveals its unparalleled qualities in an engaging and entertaining manner.

If you are a person who likes music, but has not yet found an appreciation for the organ, this is also the one organ CD to put in your library. I will wager that the elegant musicianship and sumptuous sounds on this recording will change your perception of the organ as a musical instrument.

Jack Bethards
President and Tonal Director
Schoenstein & Co.

5 out of 5 stars The American Orchestral Organ par excellence.......2002-08-30

In Yale University's Woolsey Hall stands one of the largest pipe organs in the United States, the work of three New England builders over a quarter century, the last of whom, Ernest M. Skinner of Boston, brought the instrument to more than 12,500 pipes.
It is not so much the Woolsey Hall organ's size as its beauty that has given it a reputation as one of the finest pipe organs in the world. It can do passable imitations of French and English horns, orchestral flutes, and trombones, violins, violas, and cellos, oboes and trumpets -- it is an entire orchestra all by itself.
No organist knows this magnificent organ better than Prof. Thomas Murray, who in this CD takes it apart, section by section, stop by stop, explaining how the sounds are made, and then puts it all together again in a recital -- recorded from a live performance -- that demonstrates the full range of the instrument. There is music written for organ, from Mozart's Fantasia in f minor to Reger's massive Introduction & Passacaglia in d and Hindemith's soulful Sonata I, that will be familiar to organ enthusiasts, and some that is not so familiar but utterly charming, like Joseph Bonnet's Matin Provencale, a musical romp through Marseille. The final piece, a transcription of Rimsky-Korsakov's Procession of Nobles from his opera "Mlada," comes as a revelation and as a reminder as well: When Woolsey Hall was built, the organ in America was as much at home in the concert hall, and was nearly as popular, as the piano or the violin.
Everything in these recordings works together towards perfection -- the pipes, the resonant auditorium, the performance. I have been playing and listening to organs all over the world for more than 40 years, and collecting records for about that long. I've never enjoyed one more than this.

Music Review:

  1. Novak: Moravian-Slovak Suite for small orchestra Op32; Serenade in F
  2. Opera Intermezzi and Preludes
  3. Piano Romance [Import]
  4. Rheinberger: Complete Organ Works, Vol. 7
  5. Romantic Organ Music of the 19th Century
  6. Rossini: Overtures [Box set]
  7. Schubert: Symphony No. 2, Brahms: Symphony No. 2
  8. Schumann:Bunte Blätter, Op.99 and Blumenstück,Op.19/Brahms:Variations on a Theme by R. Schumann,Op.9
  9. Schumann, Dvorak: Piano Concertos
  10. Sonatas: C. Franck, J. Brahms, R. Schumann

Music Review

music review

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