1949 Kilgen-Moller-Wicks Organ - Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri - Part I

[@Geoplanetjane]

What a superb organ and. A stunningly beautiful cathedral.

[@suejackson5023]

I love this wonderful video, I love organ in our great Cathedral, and am so grateful for Horst Buchholtz's gifted direction of the music at the Cathedral. We are truly blessed. The first time I heard the toccata of Widor's 5th was the recessional of the Christmas Eve midnight mass at the Cathédrale Saint-Jean-Baptiste in Lyon (very appropriate) many years ago. And, the second time was just a few months later at an organ recital in the Cathedral. I know everyone has their own story about this piece. But, to me, Widor's 5th was written for just such a magnificent instrument as the organ in our Cathedral. So very happy to hear it included in this documentary.

[@antoniboleslawowicz8095]

A romantic organ par excellence, in some cases with sounds you won’t find anywhere else. Quite a wide range of color!

[@johnhenryholiday4964]

What a wonderful bass.... it thunders.... I love it....

[@youtubesketches110]

I was thrilled to hear this presentation and the instrument. I was even more awed when I heard this organ in person years ago.

[@bob94109]

Thanks for both parts of this tour of both the magnificent cathedral and organ. You and Horst are great !

[@bcat010]

Theres just something about an organ that makes it so mesmerizing to listen to.

[@seandiller963]

Enjoyed the Open Wood on my subwoofer!

[@WINCHANDLE]

The Basilica reminds me of St. Matt's Cathedral in D.C. Holy mosaic's. It's nice to see that there has been an ongoing maintenance and improvement of the organ. In so many RC churches, with budget problems, their pipe organs have gone to pot.

[@e.conboy4286]

William Shepard Membership and/or attendance is down in churches all over the country, and many budgets allow little financing for organ maintenance. Mon Dieu.

[@peteacher52]

A most interesting and informative session for organ geeks like me. What a marvellous instrument set in a resounding acoustic. What a pity, though, that the concluding piece had to be the tired old warhorse, Widor's toccata. Something different, please as most organists could play Widor upside down and back to the front Victor Borge style!

[@OrganMediaFoundation]

Check out our playlist of recordings from the Cathedral for some different examples: kzbin.info/aero/PLO-2EadZcjSuCJfVe6rvx74RCgFjra7S3

[@e.conboy4286]

Colin Well Colin, I’ve got a secret for you and the organists who pummel our ears with Widor’s Toccata..Nobody LIKES it . It’s like the horrible background noise played on TV. A worship service is dismissed with a benediction asking the Lord’s blessings, thanking God for His merciful care, when blammmmmmm , an organist practically shatters the stained glass windows with sonic barrier breaking Widor from which the once quietly meditating congregants are desperately struggling to escape! Great God organists everywhere, have you no mercy? Play it at home if you like it so much. Spare me. Lest I am misunderstood, I greatly love the music of organs and especially appreciate the talented organists whose skills bring these magnificent instruments to life. in a chapel, church, or cathedral I prefer the of our treasured hymns. Where else would we go to hear them and teach our children the hymns of our faith.?

[@HobbyOrganist]

@@e.conboy4286 Yeah I never really cared for these "big" organ works that drag on for 15 pages and beyond, Widor, Mendelsohn and all of the other usual "organ concert" composers whose names escape me, I much prefer to play and listen to the hymn music out of the Slovakian JKS book, kzbin.info/www/bejne/eqK6l4p9ea6KgNE the Hungarian SzVU book, the Hungarian Eneklo Egyhaz book, the German Evangelischen Gesangbuch l&ll "SKS" 1918 book "Slovensky Kalvinsky Spevnik" and the others I have. I would think we would want to hear the kind of music the organ would typically play and be heard playing

[@christophersoer2382]

Nice job gents!

[@christopherjhoh]

Very nice; thank you for sharing and taking us on such a complete tour of this magnificent instrument (and acoustic).

[@albertpeckham8708]

This cathedral with it's wondrous Byzantine style mosaic walls and ceiling is a sight and sound to behold!

[@accousticdecay]

Bucket list! Those big chorus reeds at the beginning sound like Moller. I like a strong diapason, and that incisive Sharf IV. I play a modestly appointed Allen digital organ, which is not perfect, but stays in tune, and fools people, who wonder which closet has the pipes stuffed therein. .....And, BRAVO, Maestro Hohman! What a thrilling rendition!

[@robertramsay5963]

So good to hear the flute celeste. That seems to be a rare treat in organs. I was watching your fingers while you were playing the rear organ. There must be quite a delay between pressing the key and hearing the pipe speak. You'll have to engage mind over matter, in this case, sound. Great fun!

[@praestant8]

Robert Ramsay Notice that the Ch flute celeste was tuned flat and the Sw. flute conique celeste was sharp.

[@robertramsay5963]

@@praestant8 I'm afraid my ear isn't well enough tuned to have noticed that difference, so thanks for pointing it out. What then happens if you were to couple the two celestes together? Would it be sweet or sour?

[@KennyCnotG]

@@robertramsay5963 in this case, sweet, but some people dislike that much spread between celestes. In the accordion world we call celeste tuning musette tuning, and many accordions will have a triple musette- 3 ranks of reeds at 8ft pitch, one tuned straight, one sharp & one flat, with the sharp & flat usually being around 12-18 cents plus & minus respectively. Some traditions tune them even further- old scottish goes as far as 24 or more in either direction! Enough to make one seasick haha. After being in the accordion world, going back to organ celestes never sound sound very out to me hahaha.

[@DavidKrautscheid]

the state trumpet reminds me a bit of that one in the st paul the divine..amazing stop

[@daleniehaus4309]

Wonderful video, and much appreciated!! Digital stops have made a lot of progress over the years, but really wish this and instrument such as this had real 32' stops. Understand that other stops outside the pedal are digital as well. Organ sounds great!!

[@Wanderlust598]

The Cathedral Bascillica Of St. Louis is a gem. Unfortunately, one of the statues dedicated to racial harmony was destroyed by a lunatic, but I feel blessed to have received the sacrament of confirmation here.

[@nicoangel690]

This beautiful Cathedral echoes the architectural Glory of ….The "Hagia Sophia" in Constantinople...the Marvel of Christendom

[@leonardobeau149]

Dunno if anyone gives a damn but if you're bored like me atm then you can watch all of the new movies and series on instaflixxer. I've been binge watching with my gf during the lockdown =)

[@willantonio6420]

@Leonardo Beau Definitely, I've been watching on InstaFlixxer for years myself :D

[@jonahfinn6852]

@Leonardo Beau Definitely, I've been using InstaFlixxer for since november myself =)

[@bachtehude2437]

Such a shame there aren't any real 32ft stops - there's plenty of space up in the gallery

[@samshearman5251]

Very informative!

[@legendary6790]

Take a shot every time he says "Uh Um" Joking aside this is a wonderful organ and I definitely need to see and hear it in person.

[@James_Bowie]

In my experience, Germans often pepper their dialog with "ja". You'd soon be three sheets to the wind if you took a shot at every ja.

[@WINCHANDLE]

Be nice, at least he isn't saying "like"..."its like a really powerful, like, profound diapason, which, like, you can play, like, all by itself..." Poor guy is probably nervous and is searching for the right words to explain something (the organ) which is really complicated. Public speaking can be tough

[@WINCHANDLE]

Also I detect a German accent. Bet he came here when he was about 6-10 years old.

[@davebarclay4429]

@@WINCHANDLE Really? His degree is from Berlin, he studied organ and conducting with various eminent German teachers and he was a chorus member and assistant with the Berlin Philharmonic Chorus, all before he was ten years old. Amazing.

[@iSNARK]

Almost every Kilgen I've played in RI (the 3-manual ones, anyways) has (or had) at least two 8' diapasons on the great, plus a 16' "double diapason". Interesting. Excellent presentation, good Doctor! BMP

[@stephenkunst7550]

Of course with those acoustics most organs will sound good. Lets hope that the mechanism (chests, relays, etc) are in goo order. These three organ firms built mechanisms which often need replacing.

[@youtubesketches110]

I disagree. My friend of mine who wanted to replace a Wicks organ complained that the thing he hated most about it was that it still works! Those magnets are pretty durable. - Most Wicks organs are nothing to write home about. But a few are grand.

[@missasinenomine]

Great acoustics! 0:57 3 seconds?

[@OrganMediaFoundation]

It's much closer to 8 seconds. The music is faded down at the point you indicated, so it's not a good example. Check out our playlist of videos from the Cathedral for better examples. kzbin.info/aero/PLO-2EadZcjSuCJfVe6rvx74RCgFjra7S3

[@missasinenomine]

@@OrganMediaFoundation Thank you!

[@貝慕敦]

What was the music that the organist played at the beginning of this video when Bret Johnson was introducing this video?

[@OrganMediaFoundation]

All the music is listed in the description of the video.

[@ThrowingKnivez7]

Jesus loves his bass!

[@timdaugherty5921]

So why did he not play the main gallery organ?

[@OrganMediaFoundation]

We shot this in early August. It was too hot to drag all the gear up there! for a few minutes of playing.

[@loyolapinto5232]

¡Cómo habla de rápido este tipo!

[@charlesdavis7087]

You got plenty of room for more digital sounds especially new age hybrids and digital voices. What a room...!

[@fenfrk]

What a ghastly idea. You would put a mustache on the Mona Lisa.

[@charlesdavis7087]

@@fenfrk Have you ever noticed that she doesn't have any eyebrows? I've been an organist for over fifty years and love to couple my Rodgers Organ with my KORG T3. You might have actually liked hearing the finale to Rockmoninoff's 2nd. symphony played at the organ with a full orchestra. It's a new age for all of us.

[@Geoplanetjane]

Hauptwerk?

[@Bouncybon]

Too much talking.... There was no need for the first introduction as the organist repeated the same material.

[@ScoG33]

So it’s a Kilmolwicker Organ lol

[@praestant8]

Unfortunate that such a large instrument and two enormous consoles still have so many digital voices. And wind sag when Fred Hohman ends the Widor! The instrument has a ways to go yet.

[@tedrichards6074]

I don't have a problem with modern quality digital voices although getting an authentic body shaking 32' is always going to be problematic for electronics!

[@chucklambooy8457]

Listening to the organ is wonderful but why must we have this obnoxious guy?????

[@rowanlidbury]

Wow.. What a place! thoroughly let down buy this bloated over extended mess. The instrument couldn't keep up! Sounded like they're all digital.

[@fenfrk]

Some people find problems with everything, rather than appreciate the good.