🎹 Is STRASSBURG the Best Free 'Baroque' Hauptwerk Organ? (Demonstration)

[@beautyinsound]

What do you think to Strassburg? This is a very authentic sounding organ, and considering it is free to download I think it should be in every Hauptwerk user’s library.

[@jerrymartin79]

A great sampleset indeed. I really enjoyed this video - production quality superb, as always. I look forward to more of these in the future - in particular for those sample sets that might not have a free/trial option - such a tour is invaluable to those who might be considering a purchase (and also - the educational value of registration ideas). Thanks for this!!

[@zaneclone]

WOW ! To say this sounds authentic is an understatement and a half !! Simply magnificent :D

[@clementmatchett]

Well, I had a few problems with downloading it, but it is working now and I agree, it is charming!

[@graphicconception]

Wonderful sound - Order placed and downloading now!! Thank you and thank you Piotr.

[@glasss1978]

No words how much I love this instrument! Every stop is so full, authentic and magical just on its own, it's unbelievable. And then you start adding them together... Thank you for raising my attention to it!

[@joelinpa185]

Oh, I love Baroque organs like this one! I am downloading the sample set as I type this. Thanks so much for making us aware of it.

[@kenmerola4797]

Awesome voicing (love the chiff) very suitable for Baroque music for sure. Thanks for demonstrating this organ!

[@bobbyhendley3084]

Agreed, that was a very beautiful chiff indeed!

[@OscarHerrick]

A wonderful sample set by Piotr Grabowski and the demonstration was just as good!

[@littlemissjonesthepiratebe7062]

I'm near Strassburg, :) !! Visited the cathedral and the organ is just stunning!!

[@bibliopolist]

Be aware that the Hauptwerk set is not from Strasbourg (German: Straßburg) in France (the one with the cathedral, and the one with more famous Silbermann organ in St. Thomas Church), but from Straßburg, a small town in Carinthia, Austria. See de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pfarrkirche_Stra%C3%9Fburg_(K%C3%A4rnten)

[@dfuhrman]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I've been enjoying this one for a while now and found it quite a nice little gem. It's probably the nicest acoustic space of all the free sample sets.

[@eddieking7736]

Richard, thanks for the demonstration. It just goes to show what wonderful sounds can be produced by a smaller sample set. One thing this demo has shown is that I must get my audio sorted. No where near as clear and brilliant.

[@mauricecoates3962]

Hi Richard. Thank you so very much for this video. I will be downloading it this afternoon and trying to install it. I recently bought a pedal to access the stepper more conveniently on my Viscount like the one you use. It works a treat! So, thank you once again for giving me the inspiration to do that too.

[@ralphchou4719]

Very nice indeed. Seems well suited for playing baroque era music. I wonder how Clerambeault's Livre d'Orgue would sound, particularly the Caprice from the Suite du deuxieme ton? It might be too thin on the reeds that usually sparkle in French baroque music.

[@AlessandroSistiMusic]

I don't have Hauptwerk, but if I wanted a grand choeur kind of sound on a free sample set, I might try using 8 + 4 + all the mutations on the grand-orgue in Grabowski's "Saint-Jean-de-Luz" sample set, and then coupling the trompette from the récit. You can find info on Saint-Jean-de-Luz on Grabowski's website. Unfortunately I don't see a demo available of a grand choeur registration on that sample set specifically. The best sample set I know of for classical French organ music is St. Pons en Thomieres, Orgue Micot, from Sonus Paradisi, which is a paid sample set of a three-manual organ.

[@AntoniusTertius]

I tried to load it on Heuptwerk but it froze it twice.

[@beautyinsound]

What happened? What were you doing when it froze?

[@AntoniusTertius]

@@beautyinsound I think I don't have enough memory ram. My pc got 8Gb of memory ram. Anyway, I downloaded Azzio and it worked! I have adored it! Now, I'll try Saint-Jean-de-Luz (choeur). Thanks fot answering it.

[@trevororme4646]

The HW club are indeed grateful to Piotr Grabowiski and this is one of the first freebies I loaded many moons ago now. Fantastic sample set, love the background startup noises too. One of the gems that's a pleasure to load up and play when not really in the right mood or frame of mind for loading and playing one of the biggy giga-gobbler monsters. Baroque through and through. Love it. Tx

[@PipeDreamerJacques]

This is what I wish every demo video was like. No nonsense and you just get to hear the instrument bit by bit in a very straightforward way. Thank you!

[@frederickneu9018]

What a marvelous organ. It made my Lutheran heart sing!

[@joelwilli5638]

A very nice sampel set! And a very nice presentation too!! Can you maybe make the same kind of video for the organ sampel set of Friesach?😀👍

[@beautyinsound]

Thanks Joel! Keep an eye out for other organs.... Friesach is in the pipeline :)

[@joelwilli5638]

BEAUTY in SOUND Ohh! I can’t wait to see and hear it! By the way, your videos are always of very high quality and it's fun to watch your channel, it's an honor! And it's perfect for learning English too! Keep it up!

[@rogerlewis3787]

I like this one Richard. Beautiful sounds with such clarity and acoustics

[@jsbe1429]

STRASSBURG in Austria!!! No Strasbourg, capitale of Alsace in France!!! Ok?

[@billraty14]

Lovely. The Pedal Kontrabass, Positiv Gedeact, and Hauptwerk Gemshorn are beautiful registers. The Plenum is bright without being abrassive or wearing. Quite charming.

[@jimshaw899]

I enjoyed this very much. I confess to an appreciation of the baroque organ with sparkling clarity, up front presence, and percussive pipe sound. I am also glad when pseudo-baroque instruments don't make my ears bleed. Make no mistake, I also relish the sound of Cavaille-Coll, Willis, Skinner, Casavant, Rosales, and a myriad of others - as long as none pretend, too hard, to be what they are not. I'd like to hear a recital on this instrument. Some appropriate Bach, Buxtehude, Purcell, Pachelbel, et. al. It's all an occasional change from the monumental instruments of later eras. My life rather pivoted when E. Power Biggs fed us Bach from the D.A. Flentrop at Harvard. i probably have every recording he made of it. This organ reminds me that Baroque period organs rarely indulged in sub bass tone of 32'. I would enjoy an exemplary use of the 16' and 10-2/3' (or two 16's) on the pedal to make a 32'. I was in college when I first heard that done, and I trudged right up to the organist after, asking where the 32' came from. That got me a huge grin and a short tour of the pipe chambers. "See! No 32'." Play on....

[@tdrobson]

I love that organ and use it regularly, not just for baroque but also for modern German works liked Hugo Distler. It was the first HW organ I installed.

[@paulhair6600]

Este órgão é simplesmente sensacional, funciona muito bem para musica Barroca Alemã. Meu sonho de consumo é possuir no meu computador, esse órgão e o Friesach. Quem dera eu conseguir terminar meu projeto de console midi em breve.

[@765bigben]

Wonderful sample set! Grandson Andy downloaded it last night. He already had Grabowski's Grand Orgue version, but now that he has the Hauptwerk software and lots of RAM, he grabbed this one. Thanks for the demo!

[@andrewmcgregor5929]

Thanks for the demo Richard, I am downloading as I write and can't wait to try it out! Yes please to the Friesach demo when you have time, which I use a lot on Hauptwerk.

[@arthurrobson2002]

Love the playing of the Bach G major prelude; such thoughtful articulation. Brilliant Richard thanks!

[@JMcdon1627]

The best demo. No nonsense. Beautiful sounding organ, the best of Baroqué. Thank you.

[@richardhoover4471]

Wonderful bell-like quality sounds of the stops. The Bach was fantastic! Thank you.

[@mudgebauer]

It sounds great. I wish Its nice that it is free. I only wish I had a console and speakers to go with it. thanks.

[@geezernorth]

I really like the way the stop names are displayed.

[@jacquessalernes8968]

j'ai cet orgue et d'autres,mais c'est le plus merveilleux de tous....

[@richardsnyder8]

Absolutely wonderful! Thanks! I lay back, close my eyes, put my Bose SoundLink Mini on my upper chest, and the sound is just wonderful!! I can feel all the bass notes just like if I was standing right in front of the pedal towers!

[@beautyinsound]

Striving for perfect audio immersion! 😊

[@danieoosthuizen5661]

Can hopefully also do Strasbourg soon!

[@jacobsekela8691]

Sounds absolutely wonderful. Do you think they’d have any organs from Austrian or Bavarian churches/cathedrals?

[@AlessandroSistiMusic]

Yup, do a web search for "Grabowski Obervellach" or "Grabowski Friesach" for some Austrian organs that Grabowski has sampled. The Friesach set is free to use, and the Obervellach is €129.

[@wanorman2007]

Wonderful sound! Pardon my ignorance, but what is "H-W"? (Edit) I finally figured out it's "Hauptwerk." I thought it was the name of a division in the Strassburg organ.

[@beautyinsound]

It’s the equivalent of the ‘Great’ - Division I. II = Swell and III = Solo

[@wanorman2007]

@@beautyinsound OK, thanks. I made an edit to my message before I saw your response.

[@danielmkubacki]

Cool organ.

[@Sshooter444]

Marvelous sound!

[@Leon-un5kz]

Lovely Demonstration! Do you use an app on the tablet to control your pc?

[@beautyinsound]

Yes, but not day-to-day.... only when I haven’t got the stops configured to my physical stops on the organ/Launchpads. It’s a Remote Desktop app on the iPad which makes perfect use of the touchscreen!

[@oliverfrancis1851]

BWV is the perfect piece for this organ ! Would love to see (as you know they are my favourites)Cavie Coll sample sets ! (Obviously won’t be as good as the originals in the room)

[@paulstockbridge2804]

Beautiful cathedral. I was in Strasbourg on 9/11 and went into the cathedral for peaceful prayer and reflection. Never got to hear the organ though.

[@jsbe1429]

Strassburg in Austria, no Strasbourg in Alsace France...😂😂😂

[@paulsausten]

Talking of Strasbourg - the French one! - would love to hear a Hauptwerk recreation of the Silbermann organ in St Aurelie where Schweizer recorded some Bach and the Franck Chorales in the 1930s. Though Schweizer's playing is unfashionable nowadays, my first encounters as a lad with Bach's organ music was through his recordings and I still hold them in much affection. Especially in the Chorale Preludes, I feel he captures totally the soul of the music. And we must not forget that when he made most of his recordings he was already fairly old and had only his pedal piano (which was falling apart!) for practice when he was in Africa!!