Ravel's Ondine on the organ

Ryan Kennedy, organist.
Thanks to Ray Nagem and Kent Tritle for hosting me at St. John the Divine Cathedral in New York City.
Something about those flutes in a "liquid" acoustic led me to think this would work... Taking a break and doing some Bach next :p
Ryan is currently accepting concert engagements for the 2017-2018 season. Please email [e-mail] with inquiries.

[@h.denisovan8900]

Ondine already sounds somewhat supernatural in its original version, but in this transcription for organ, it sounds completely spectral. *Phantastic*

[@toothlesstoe]

There could have been so many ways to screw up the sound of this piece on an organ, but you successfully avoided all those pitfalls. Congratulations, this is a superb, and undoubtedly superlative, arrangement and performance.

[@RaineStudio]

Ravel, the arch-colorist himself, would surely approve of this magic.

[@Charlie-vf8hw]

Being able to split the opening chords between two hands while playing the melody with your feet must make this piece so much easier

[@ryankennedy3109]

It really does! I think some people miss that transcriptions aren't about making music hard and impressive, but about making it idiomatic on a different instrument.

[@acidicjello1962]

Not to be dramatic but I now understand how the pipe organ could make church goers fear God. Astounding arrangement and performance.

[@Highinsight7]

This was a really GREAT idea... I THINK you should look at "Le tombeau de Couperin" ... now that might work VERY well on the instrument!!!

[@a55b47]

Amazing virtuosity! On my favorite American pipe organ.

[@ryankennedy3109]

You have good taste in American pipe organs; thanks!

[@johnlofthouse6159]

Ryan thank you beautifully played. You played the extra stop ( the aucuastic ) with real panache. I'm an old brit and still love the sound of the organ at st. paul s in London and the huge Willis organ at Liverpool Anglican cathedral. But I have to say the st. John's organ in the right hands is superb. I hope we hear you play there again, thank you again.

[@LittleCatBead]

Whoaaaaa! I am obsessed with this piece and because I can’t sleep I’ve been watching KZbin vids of who does the best climax and came across this. So good and mind blowing!

[@organboi]

Unbelievably amazing. And all memorized. Scarbo too. All the pianists who obsess over Gaspard should see this. And Argerich, Hamelin, Yuja, Pogorelich etc should all watch and listen to these Gaspard vids.

[@Poeme340]

I’m dumbfounded! Staggeringly beautiful interpretation!👍👍

[@mikebel74]

Brilliant! Thanks for posting this extraordinary performance.

[@zioman301]

Oh, this is ravishing! The organ sonorities intensify the 'magic-ness' of the piece.

[@franklinshouse8719]

Brilliant performance!!!

[@thedevilsreject23]

Absolutely brilliant- translates to the king of instruments superbly well and adds a vibe and feeling the piano just can’t -I would love to hear this in Liverpool Anglican cathedral- it would sound superb on it - again bravo 👏🏻 👍🏻🍻🥃

[@noiselesspatient]

Ravishing. Bravo and thank you.

[@richardharrold9736]

Agreed! I'd love to see this transcription published.

[@TonalPalette]

I love this on organ. This sounds amazing! 🎉

[@carl.christiansson]

Holy shit, you completely nailed it.

[@jorgealves6967]

parabéns pelo trabalho, muito bom!!!

[@aryamannirvan1738]

This is amazing

[@cirosca2]

Bravissimo anche in questa esecuzione! Complimenti al "grande maestro-musicista", ai genitori e in particolare al nonno che lo ha "accompagnato" e seguito nel suo "percorso formativo".

[@rafaelgomez-ruiz8569]

Mesmerizing!!

[@erikfreitas7093]

Sounds amazing!

[@sevon513]

Great moves! Keep it up, proud of you :)

[@estherassuied]

Ashtonishing !

[@Turanga1i1a]

Gorgeous, brilliant, eloquent, spectacular, and what else have you in many ways - both for the arrangement and the performance!! I swear, this arrangement matches and rivals, if not surpasses, the orchestrating prowess of Marius Constant!

[@EbenezerScroogeMcDuck]

It's so beautiful,magical..It feels unEarthly!!

[@samschaeffer8236]

Artistry in motion! How many parts can one person play at one time? There has always been a wellspring of creativity at St. John the Divine, when you consider the likes of Paul Halley, the Paul Winter programs, Dorothy Papadakos and Bruce Neswick. It's good to see this continue, along with the time honored traditional music. The organ itself is very capable and responsive, in order to accommodate this kind of performance. Bravo!

[@mattfauria1799]

Incredible

[@Skoogorganist]

Have you written down any of this absolutely stunning transcription?

[@ryankennedy3109]

I only had time to write out about half before my first performance of Gaspard de la Nuit, and never got around to completely finishing. Contact me privately if you're interested in seeing some bits

[@untersatz32]

Bravissimo! Absolute wonderful!

[@Paulofibonelli]

I would love to see you playing this piece at the Cavaille Coll organ at Saint Sulpice

[@richardharrold9736]

I seriously doubt the feasibility of pulling this off at Saint-Sulpice, the Barker-lever action and lack of any modern combination action would preclude it. The best organ in Paris for this sort of thing is St Eustache - look on Thomas Ospital's channel for some of his transcriptions.

[@Paulofibonelli]

@@richardharrold9736 Good point. I already have known Saint Eustache organ channel very nice transcriptions and live streamings every week. AROSS is not so compromised in that department unhappily but Saint Sulpice organ is my all time favorite. Thank you for your commment I apreciate it very much

[@Sircade]

thank God i searched for this

[@dwacheopus]

woooooow

[@powertube5671]

Amazing!

[@Arjunai]

Incredible :-)

[@3r7s]

wow

[@bifeldman]

Well, that’s something different.

[@metalfingerz4203]

3:31

[@katchum]

Wow, this must be the weirdest thing I've ever seen.

[@normancascioppo1456]

where's Scarbo? I don't know if I like Ondine organ trans. It's so a pretty on piano. I play Gaspard on piano ..it Ondine must be easier to do on organ. Cannot imagine how anyone would do Scarbo ..not enough notes

[@richardharrold9736]

He's also done Scarbo in the same recording session, look on his channel.