http://www.democraticunderground.com/10028401228Oh my.
MineralMan (89,245 posts) Mon Dec 26, 2016, 09:32 AM
Way Too Much Pipe Organ at Christmas
Our local CBS AM station, WCCO, like many radio stations, plays non-stop Christmas music starting on Christmas Eve and continuing through midnight on Christmas Day. I don't mind too much, and there are several radios in our house tuned to that station always, since it runs the CBS news every hour.
Now, I love pipe organs. I have since the early 1960s. So much that I worked for free as a 16-year-old with an organ builder, Richard Villemin, who was installing a pipe organ in the church I attended. For an entire summer, I spent most of my days learning about piper organs from that very patient man, and worked my butt off, all for the love of such a massive, amazing instrument. Later, I took lessons from our church organist, and even played for a few services.
Returning to the topic, one of the staples of WCCO's Christmas marathon is always pre-recorded presentations from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, offering "Music and the spoken word" writ very large. At one point yesterday, they rebroadcast an hour of the Tabernacle's organist, Richard Elliot, playing Christmas music for a concert. I hate to say it, but his performance may have put me off pipe organs forever.
The organ in the Salt Lake City temple is one of the largest, best equipped organs in the world. It's superbly maintained, always perfectly in tune, and capable of everything from subtle whisperings of music to thundering walls of sound. Well, Richard Elliot appears to forgotten all but the latter capability, since it seemed as though he had "pulled out all the stops" and used the Full Organ piston throughout his performance. Not only that, he appeared to have been set on demonstrating that he can play more notes than anyone in the world, all at the same time.
The result was pure mud coming from that majestic organ. At one point, he was playing three traditional Christmas carols, all at the same time. Since their harmonies were compatible, after all, why not? And all at the maximum volume available, and all with as many fingers on the keyboards and both feet on the pedal manual as possible, playing more notes notes than are humanly possible as fast as possible. It was a horror. Yes, he is a virtuoso organist. Yes he can amaze and astound with his playing. But, he chose to horrify, by playing everything at FFFF instead, including "Silent Night."
I was shocked and appalled. I turned to my wife, after that grotesque exercise was finally finished, and said, "The only thing he left out was playing "Shave and a haircut...two bits" to close out the number. No more, Mr. Elliot. Please, no more. If you do that again, I swear I will come to Salt Lake City and disconnect 90% of that organ's ranks before you play again. I will force you to treat the organ as less of a bludgeon with which to damage the hearing of your audience and more of a subtle and versatile musical instrument that can inspire wonder and create beauty.
And that is my Christmas music review for 2016. It is my opinion, of course. Thanks for reading.
Now, I dunno.
I'd been aware, all my life, of the quality and fame of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, which to the eye appears it can really boom out some music, a song.
But the first time I actually "heard" it, I was greatly disappointed.
They did
A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, the greatest song, ever, and I'd anticipated what with hundreds of voices and an organ the size of a ship, it'd be powerful, overwhelming, as Martin Luther had intended it to be.
It wasn't. It was pretty weak, timorous, hesitant.
I later "branched out" and "listened" to
A Mighty Fortress Is Our God by other groups, other places, other times. I'd always assumed it was the sort of song that would crack the air, shatter the walls, soar to the heavens, a song full of strength and vigor and enthusiasm.
Alas, I have yet to "hear" it sung that way; no matter the group, the place, and the time, they always do it in a diffident, hesitant, nervous, apologetic manner, as if they're afraid to "offend" by being "too enthusiastic" about their religious feelings.
