🎵 ORGAN DEMONSTRATION - Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford

In anticipation of his Easter Organ Recital, Richard Moore takes us on a guided tour of the 1978 Rieger organ of ‪@ChristChurchCathedralOxford‬!
Richard takes us through the colours of this glorious instrument using extracts of organ compositions.
I think this organ is wonderful, and I'd be interested to know your thoughts on it - please leave me a comment!
Rx
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[@magesterium2485]

Richard is a lovely person. Was recently here in Oxford for the day with our Organist's Association . And he demonstrated the organ for us as well as gave a excellent talk.

[@TimvanElderen]

Great return for Richard Moore! Good demonstration of how this organ distinguishes itself from other cliche British organs. Once again also an amazing recording, Richard

[@annmariecostello7273]

Thank you Richard and Richard. May you be blessed this Holy week and may you both continue to be a blessing to all the people who hear you play divine and sacred music for the glory of God and to get a tiny glimpse of heaven.

[@JamesMossop1996]

Thank you Richard McV & Richard M for a great demonstration of the Organ at Christ Church Cathedral Oxford :)

[@jerrymartin79]

Such ane xciting instrument. Thank you Richard and Richard! Really looking forward to the recital. The unmistakable and exciting Rieger sound. Beautifully recorded and presented as always!!!

[@joshwilson2763]

Great demonstration of the beautiful organ. Excited for the recital.

[@JSB2500]

Wonderful. Thank you. Such a musical organ. Haha, yes I mean exactly that. No hiding behind a wall of organ noise. Instead, the musician can speak clearly through it. Some of my most treasured organ recordings ever were performed on this instrument.

[@calvinrichardjoness]

Loved the demonstration by Richard Moore.. thanks for recording such a unique organ in the UK

[@WilliamFuoco]

I am so happy you came to Oxford! I live there and i feel so happy to see it on KZbin!

[@beautyinsound]

Thanks for having me 😉

[@WilliamFuoco]

@@beautyinsound 🤣

[@TerryYoung-tp9ir]

I like the sound of this organ. Nice demonstration. Thank you.

[@grahamtwist]

Superb organ and a fabulous demonstration: bravo!

[@martym61]

Enjoyed the demonstration of this fantastic organ. Looking forward to the recital.

[@drmarcushead9036]

I heard MC Alain perform a recital here around 1990-1. Filled the space well and didn’t realise there wasn’t a 32’ reed.

[@caroline.balfour]

The Bombarde devision reminds me of the chamades at St Laurenskerk, Rotterdam 😊

[@thewilliamtan]

Wasn’t Moore at another Cathedral Organ Demonstration? Can’t wait for the recital!

[@euanthomas]

Guildford

[@beautyinsound]

Yes, Richard did a recital for BIS at Guildford back in 2021. He’s returning for a second time!

[@drewcantrill-fenwick5185]

I was waiting to hear the Swell reeds

[@drdylanman]

What a beautiful instrument and demonstration! I'm very surprised to see that there are no 32' stops in the pedal, though.

[@nigelbrown4615]

very interesting registration, not your ususal English Cathedral. Looking forward to the recital, though the Durufle gets me each time, its a real emotional laxative.

[@raymondbeecroft4209]

Demonstrations are usually very long. And not too interesting. That was not the case this time. That is the way demonstrations should be and usually are not. Thank you for having such and understanding of what is correct and great. Thank you . b. g

[@Quince828]

Interesting. The organ is very bright, dare I say bordering on shrill for some stops. Perhaps that is the limitations of KZbin and small speakers

[@andrewloose3419]

What about the Voix Celeste? I’m sure that must be good given all the other sounds we have heard. 😀

[@johnspeller3666]

The story of how this organ came into being is quite complicated. Christ Church originally signed a contract for a three-manual-and-pedal French classical style organ with the American firm of Phelps & Associates and the old organ was removed, except for the case which the cathedral architect fortunately refused to let out of the building. Following the bankruptcy of Larry Phelps the cathedral signed with Rieger Orgelbau which was the firm prepared to deliver a new instrument in a reasonable time frame. On arrival the organ proved to be inadequate for the building and it was necessary to louden it considerably so that it was audible at the other end of the cathedral. I find the appearance visually unsatisfying. The Victorian chaire case is too large to match the original Smith case, and the raising of the position of the impost to accommodate the Swell is further to the detriment of the visual effect of the instrument. The best sounding organ I have heard in the building is neither the old organ nor the new one, but the temporary organ used while the main organ was down. This is the two-manual-and-pedal Father Willis organ now in Cuddesdon Parish Church.

[@beautyinsound]

Thanks for that - I didn’t know this

[@EElgar1857]

IMHO, a big Tuba would have been a better choice than those screaming trompettes. But a fine demo, none the less!

[@Jonathan-jw4uu]

This organ is very fine and good one but is there a reason that the stop layout is a bit strange, such as the Great having a order of 8, 16, 4, 8, 2, 4 instead of 16, 8, 8, 4, 4, 2

[@michaelhaslam6089]

The principal scale stops are in the left column (8, 4, 2, Fourn, Cym.) and the flute stops in the left column (16, 8, 4). Quite a common layout in this type of organ.

[@tobysherring1369]

I agree it is a wonderful instrument - full of colour and excitement and huge variety of tone, great for original recitals and voluntaries. But as a liturgical organ it struggles to accompany the choral repertoire including psalms, which are, after all, the daily staple for such institutions. I also find for that other staple, hymns, there isn’t enough variety of 8' foundations and variety comes from using one group of mutations or another, simply to get enough sound out of it (and similar instruments). The English hymn singing tradition is quite distinctive and requires a less continental sound, I think. Where I currently live there is a classical-continental organ with one decent 8' on the entire thing. It's all upper work and lacks the strong foundation chorus to support congregational singing. St Stephen's Bournemouth is my home organ and Whitlock had the (already impressive Hill) diapason chorus strengthened for this very reason. As a worshipper I know which instrument I prefer!

[@md95065]

If you watch the live streamed services from Christ Church you will see that, apart from opening and closing voluntaries, and a few anthems that require a "big noise", most of the services are typically accompanied (very effectively) on a small, second hand, 2 manual instrument in the North choir aisle.

[@tobysherring1369]

@@md95065 I think I may have seen that smaller organ. It says everything you need to know about the main organ!

[@sr3d-microphones]

Hi Richard, I'm still trying to get your information after you asked about which microphone you would like to test out. Can you ping me an email?

[@caroline.balfour]

Thanks for your comment! Richard isn’t looking for a new microphone to test at the moment, he is happy with his Neumanns. Best wishes

[@sr3d-microphones]

@@caroline.balfourRichard replied to my first email with a question, "which one should I choose", I am offering the binaural dummy head, the binaural gives a 3D "Like you are there experience" if you are unsure of what true binaural audio is I highly recommend listening to the church video on my channel wearing headphones and I'm sure you both would be quite interested to try it. I'm not looking for a payment of any equipment, BTW.