Is the organ set for a comeback?ALL THE STOPS, a history of the pipe organ's development in America in the last two centuries, brings back childhood memories. My grandfather, George H. Stevenson, played the "mighty Wurlitzers" in the silent movie theatres of New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of and Brooklyn. Although he had stopped playing by the time I came along in 1954, my mother's stories of that time were wondrous. Perhaps because of this filial filial /fil·i·al/ (fil´e-al) 1. of or pertaining to a son or daughter. 2. in genetics, of or pertaining to those generations following the initial (parental) generation. connection I was such a nerd as a teenager in the 1960's, listening to E. Power Biggs Edward George Power Biggs (March 29, 1906 - March 10, 1977), more familiarly known as E. Power Biggs, was a prominent concert organist and recording artist of the twentieth century. , the great British organist who had an enormous following, rather than Jimi Hendrix Noun 1. Jimi Hendrix - United States guitarist whose innovative style with electric guitars influenced the development of rock music (1942-1970) Hendrix, James Marshall Hendrix . It was a great time to be a fan of the pipe organ, those huge, breathing instruments that most of us first encounter in church. Biggs' rival at the time (they were almost like rock stars) was American Virgil Fox, the Liberace of the organ, who staged "Heavy Organ" concerts, complete with psychedelic light show, at the marijuana-saturated Fillmore East theatre in New York. I, firmly in the Biggs camp, thought Mr. Fox a vulgar showman. Mr. Whitney, who works in his spare time as an assistant managing editor of the New York Times when he is not searching out, and playing, pipe organs around the world, vividly brings that era to life. He also writes engagingly about the American organ builders Ernst M. Skinner and G. Donald Harrison G. Donald Harrison (April 21, 1889 - June 14, 1956) crafted some of the finest and largest organs in the United States. He started out in 1914 as a patent attorney for Henry Willis & Sons, but after military service he began studying organ voicings and techniques. who had completely opposing views-Mr. Skinner aiming for a big, orchestral, romantic sound and Mr. Harrison the proponent of tonal clarity and a delicate sensibility friendlier to baroque music. Although one doesn't have to be an organ dweeb A very technical person. Dweebs sometimes call sales people "slime," anybody interested in technology for profit rather than the art of it. See nerd and geek. dweeb - An even lower form of life than the spod, found in much the same habitat as the former. to enjoy All the Stops, one's attention does flag a bit after the deaths of Mr. Biggs and Mr. Fox, perhaps inevitably. They were the proverbial tough act to follow and Mr. Whitney, in the following chapter, delves into the occasionally eye-glazing esoterica esoterica Medtalk A synonym for 'oddballs'–unusual causes of common complaints. See Anecdotal, Fascunomia. of organ tuning. However, in subsequent chapters, he does deliver the good news that, after a post-Biggs/Fox slump, the pipe organ as a concert instrument is poised for a comeback. What will take it to new audiences-and what we are still waiting for-are forceful, dynamic advocates like those distinctive performers of the recent past. BOOK REVIEW All the Stops The Glorious Pipe Organ And Its American Masters by Craig R. Whitney Public Affairs 323 pages, $46.00 |
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