ORGANpromotion - Label for organimprovisation

CD- and DVD-Editions

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On this CD:

Organ Improvisations on the d-Moll Toccata and Fuge by J.S. Bach.

Gigantic improvisations on a gigantic music piece.

Volume 1 (release: January)

Listen to Peter Planyavsky:

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each CD:  € 12,00

First edition:

Daniel Roth „La Joie“ for organ, piano and orchestra

Guy Bovet „A Fancy for two to play“ for organ and piano

Christian Schmitt, organ

Kristin Merscher, piano

Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie

Emmanuel Plasson, conducter

On this CD:

César Franck, Fantaisie A-Dur

Julius Reubke, Sonate "Der 94. Psalm" für Orgel

César Franck, Prélude, Fugue et Variation op.18 für Orgel und Klavier

Sigfrid Karg-Elert, Berceuse mignonne F-Dur op. 29, 4 + Cantilene D-Dur op. 29,1

Guy Bovet, "A Fancy for two to play"

Daniel Roth, aus: "Licht im Dunkel" - 3. Satz "La Joie" (Live-Mitschnitt der Uraufführung vom 13.02.08)

Alexandre Guilmant, Symphonie Nr. 1 d-Moll op.42 für Orgel und Orchester III. Final (Live-Mitschnitt vom 13.02.08)

Booklet text in german, english and french, digipack

Price: € 15,- 

To progress from the simplest form of free music-playing - the small, simple freely invented melody – to a musical art form, is indeed a long journey.

That which the composer puts together artistically in complex small detail and written execution to a complete work, the improviser must develop spontaneously and in that moment. To invent and present music in the same breath demands not only a special artistic talent, but also a considerable measure of practise and study, a mastery of the various different styles and forms, of the musical devices in melody and rhythm, and, of course a virtuoso command of finger and pedal technique and of the instrument.

„Improvisation is the art of illusion“, said the eminent French organ improviser Pierre Cochereau. Rather like conjuring, the art of the moment, spontaneous and fascinating, we have preserved the moment with our recordings, always aware of the problems of such a “snapshot”.  Let yourself be  enchanted by the 8 x 4 seasons. How do 8 organists approach the subject? Baroque, romantic, modern? Listen to well-known songs, variations, moods, sound-painting, symphonic poetry. How do the organists approach the sound of the organ? The individual stops, the mixtures of sound, the full organ sound? What effect do the music and the instrument have on you?

Each organist develops his own view, his personal concept of the depiction of the  

„4 Seasons“: the seasons in a Christian context, mythological, allied to nature, in the form of children’s songs and folksongs, as a contemplation of texts and pictures, or wholly philosophical as a symbol of growth and death. Our only demand of all 8 organists was to arrange the hymn „Geh aus mein Herz und suche Freud“, and to portray a storm. How do the organists approach these prerequisites? How and where are the hymn and the storm integrated into the context of the work?

We thank the organists who have agreed to take on this tense, difficult and not wholly unproblematic project, and expose themselves to the artistic challenge of the theme and to competitive comparison. Improvisation means, of course, live. No editing, no repeats, no touching up. Each organist had 2 – 3 chances and attempts and after about 8 x 8 hours it was all over.

We also thank sound engineer Toms Spogis from the Ambiente Label in Algermissen for the wonderful, relaxed and ever-inspiring cooperation.

Special thanks go to the 8 organ builders, without whose support this project would have been impossible.

„Improvisation is the art of illusion, but what would life be without illusions“!  With this motto ringing in our ears we wish you many fascinating and magic moments with the 8 x 4 seasons.

Vol.1: Torsten Laux an der neuen Max-Reger-Orgel Weimbs in Weiden / ▪ Vol. 2: Pater Theo Flury an den drei Mathis-Orgeln der Basilika Einsiedeln(CH) / ▪ Vol.3: Gereon Krahforst an der neuen Jann-Orgel in Gunzenhausen / ▪ Vol.4: David Timm an der Rensch-Orgel in Albstadt / ▪ Vol.5: Laszlo Fassang an der neuen Mühleisen-Orgel der Philharmonie in Budapest / ▪ Vol.6: Markus Willinger an der Goll-Orgel in Erlangen /  ▪ Vol.7: Rudolf Lutz an der neuen Kuhn-Orgel Kloster Engelberg (CH) / ▪ Vol.8: Martin Schmeding an der neuen Jäger & Brommer-Orgel in Merdingen bei Freiburg / ▪ Redaktion: Prof. Dr. Hermann J. Busch; Edition of November 2007

each CD € 12,00, together in the box  € 59,80

Booklet text in german, english and french

Bachs “Orgelbüchlein” had the same motto „Dem höchten Gott allein zu Ehren, dem Nächsten draus sich zu belehren” – “In the glory of God alone in the highest and the edification of my neighbor“; the CDs are intended to give a stimulus for your own playing, to encourage curiosity and enthusiasm for organ-playing that is liturgical, artistic and still offers much variety.

They contain 204 examples of various ways of performing a chorale, always bearing in mind the demands of the highest artistic level. They range from a simple Bicinium to expansive symphony,  sonata and fugue.

Each of the  7 organists has his own individual language, totally personal yet subject to the thematic requirements and moods of the ecclesiastical year from Advent, via Lent, death and mortality  to the joy of Christmas in „O du fröhliche“, and the “Halleluiah“ of Easter.

To progress from the purely technical – as it were, the grammar of the language of music -- to the higher artistic spheres, inspiration is required. With improvisation this happens spontaneously, directly and totally incalculably on the instrument.

This is the all-decisive interface between player and listener: This is where the language becomes discernable; this is where exciting interaction can occur, which one cannot apprehend exactly, describe, much less plan for.

This aspect of our CD-series is especially worthy of attention: The 7 organ types, 7 different sonorities from the sound and response of individual pipes, individual registers, the mixture of registers, the sound of the complete work. How does the organist use the registers?  How are certain sound mixtures produced and used? How do you the listener respond to the organ?

Furthermore, this CD series offers for the first time a documentation of the German art of improvisation.

Our thanks to the organists who agreed to participate in this exciting, difficult project. Some of the problems arose from the fact that improvisation, recording and a planned reproduction are a contradiction in terms.  Improvisation means „live“, no editing, no re-recording, no electronic touching-up.  Even this was not always easy in the 7 recordings, chiefly because of external influences, including the noise of a surprise thunder-storm, street noise and church visitors. Some recordings took all night!

Thanks also to sound engineer Toms Spogis from the  „Ambiente“ label in Algermissen for the excellent and inspiring cooperation, and especially to the  7 organ builders, without whose support this project would have been impossible.

Music is a language and a communication!  With this motto we wish you an exciting, provocative experience with our CD-series „Organ improvisations“ offering the listener diversity of form and ever-new insights.

Vol.1: Ingo Bredenbach - Goll-Orgel Nürtingen - Advent ▪ Vol.2: Franz Josef Stoiber - Göckel-Orgel Düsseldorf - Weihnachten  ▪  Vol.3: Hans Martin Corrinth - Walcker-Orgel Ulm - Passion  ▪  Vol.4: Alfred Müller-Kranich - Weimbs-Orgel Aachen - Ostern  ▪  Vol.5: Jürgen Essl - Grenzing-Orgel Brüssel (B) - Pfingsten  ▪  Vol.6: Wolfgang Seifen - Stahlhuth-Jann-Orgel Düdelingen (L) - Heilige  ▪  Vol.7: Peter Planyavsky - Kögler-Orgel Haag (A) - Tod + Ewigkeit ▪ Redaktion: Dr. M.G. Kaufmann

Edition of September 2005

each CD € 12,00, together in the box  € 49,80

Booklet text in german, english and french

Content:

Summertime (George Gershwin)

Christ ist erstanden (Vipo von Burgund)

Pange Lingua Gloriosi (Claudianus Mamertus)

In Irish blessing (trad.)

Bewahre uns Gott (Anders Ruuth)

Die Nacht ist vorgedrungen (Johanes Petzold)

Verleih uns Frieden gnädiglich (Martin Luther)

So liebt Gott die Welt (Bob Chilcott)

Verleih uns Frieden (Matthias Nagel)

The man I love (George Gershwin)

Organ: Torsten Laux

Saxophon: Uwe Steinmetz

Price: € 12,- 

Augustinus Franz Kropfreiter was a important personality in Austria after 1945 and he is composer for sacred music of international interest. Succedor of Bruckner as organist in St. Florian, conducter of the famous "Sängerknaben St. Florian", composer of church music and chamber music.

This CD is a short overview of the sacred works of Kropfreiter.

The "St. Florian-Kantate" ends with the following text:

"Dies ist geschehen im Jahr dreihundertvier zu Lorch in Ufernoricum in den Tagen der Christenfeinde Diokletian und Maximinian. Regiert aber hat unser Herr Jesus Christus".

"Ihm gebührt Ehre und Ruhm in Ewigkeit".

SOLI DEO GLORIA!

Content CD:

Introduktion und Passacaglia für Orgel 1961

Orgel-Improvisation 1971

Magnificat für Sopran und Orchester

"Canticum Sancti Floriani Martyris" - "Florian-Kantate" für Bariton, gem. Chor und Orchester. Ergänzt und orchestriert von Thomas Daniel Schlee. Sätze: Introitus-Antiphon-Psalm-Antiphon-Passio Sancti Floriani

Price: € 15,-

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With this DVD and CD we want to honour one of the great organ personalities of our time. It is intended to document his long, versatile artistic activity as an interpreter and improviser, as university teacher and composer.

In a 45-minute interview in the „Salon Widor“, Daniel Roth talks about his life, his development and his activities. Experience Daniel Roth at home in his study at the house organ and at the piano. Accompany Daniel Roth on a trip through Paris, and hear the master on his organ in St. Sulpice playing improvisations, and pieces by J.S. Bach, C.M. Widor, and C. Saint-Saens.

For Daniel Roth, music and organ-playing are an affair of the heart! „Actually I wanted to be a pianist but my mother told me: become an organist, so that you can use your music to improve humanity“. „I came to music through Albert Schweitzer“.

That’s Daniel Roth: a musician in body and soul!

The accompanying CD has a selection of recordings of Daniel Roth at the organ of St. Sulpice.

Special congratulations for a very special anniversary.  With best wishes u.a. from:

Marie-Claire Alain, Wolfgang Baumgratz, Bine K. Bryndorf, Hermann J. Busch, Gilles Cantagrel, Suzanne Chaisemartin, Hans Haselböck, Edgar Krapp, Olivier Latry, Torsten Laux, Wolfgang Seifen…

90 minutes DVD, Dolby Surround in German, English and French. 50 minutes Audio-CD.

Price for DVD incl. CD € 29,90

DVD - Demo-Trailer

One of the modern organs of the world

 13 manuals, 72 stops, 10 parts, 10 keyboards

in the atelier in Barcelona, Transport to Tenerife, Montage

 and the first concert with Prof. Wolfgang Seifen and 7 organists

3^rd decembre 2005

Total time: 102 min.

The auditorium is located in Santa Cruz, the capital of Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain).

This building rises from the ocean as a symbol of 21st century Tenerife, where culture and art are a fortunate addition to the attractive climate and nature that characterize this island.

The organ, now part of the Auditorium in Tenerife, crowns the symphonic hall, an element that transforms the building itself into music. Its presence grants this hall, which has some of the best acoustics in the world, the title: "temple of music".

An advanced instrument – Innovative

Different aesthetic periods have seen different organs. There are gothic, renaissance, baroque, classical, romantic organs... the 20th century, however, has been incapable of creating a model of its own. Through effort, investigation and development, Blancafort OM has built an aesthetically and musically modern instrument. Its configuration has given the musician and the listener a wider and more flexible acoustic dynamic than traditional instruments.

3D Sound - Surrounds you

Rather than having one source of sound behind the orchestra pit (as is usually the case), the organ is divided into 8 sources that surround the audience (4 on each side of the hall) giving the sound more clarity and presence due to its proximity to the listener.

What is truly outstanding is the sound relieve that the organ player can establish with each side of the organ through dialogues, echoes, unisounds, etc., the equivalent of a 5.1 surround sound experience in music.

Sensitive Action

This instrument makes sensitive action a reality, showcased for the first time in a large format instrument.

This singular action system does not operate using the regular ON/OFF system, as is the case in most assisted action instruments, but rather through electronic data transmission (ELTEC) and high performance electromagnets (BLANCAFORT) that can reproduce the musician's keystroke with the utmost exactitude, maintaining phrase intention, trill, repetition, etc.

Reaction time for these electromagnets is 2 milliseconds due to its innovative design, the same time that it takes a high quality mechanism to reach the tension point that opens the valves. On the contrary, the best ON/OFF electromagnet on the market has a 15ms reaction time, and an electropneumatic system takes 50ms or more!

This instrument inaugurates the era of assisted action (not mechanical) for symphonic instruments, where precision does not forgo sound magnitude.

Variable touch

A new expressive dimension that has never been seen in the organ before.

Derived from the sensitive action system, this instrument also has a control called "variable touch" with which the musician can control the attack-decay emission sound from the tube, in much the same way a flute player would, making articulation and phrasing more flexible and expressive than conventional, existing organs.

10 Organists

Jean Guillou thought up the idea to add eight supplementary keyboards to the instrument, allowing the

organ to be used by an "orchestra" of up to ten organists playing simultaneously. Each of these keyboards activates one of the eight organ bodies as well as the portable organ, activated independently, and the conductor, which sits at the main console. This configuration allows for the

interpretation of symphonic transcriptions, repertoire pieces, improvisation and new pieces composed for this system.

Design

The design of the organ reflects the vanguard spirit of the instrument, as well as its incorporation into the architect's creation.

Every visible element has a naturalist and organic style, inspired by the shapes in Santiago Calatrava's building.

The facade - Defying gravity

The facade is an allegory for the basalt formations on the Gomera coast, known as "The Organs". It is made up of six fields with tubes 16' long, set at a 30˚ inclination and reflecting the perspective of the hall. The inclined and suspended arrangement of the tubes (generally arranged vertically) has been an unprecedented technical challenge met by employing special alloys, necessary to avoid certain deformations.   

Batalla - Musical Artillery

The "batalla" or horizontal Spanish trumpets are a characteristic of Iberian organs.

At the Tenerife Auditorium, they are only visible when the organ is in use. It consists of two blocks (one on each side of the hall) that move into the hall thanks to a high precision automatic mechanism that opens the trap door and slides each 400kg block outward.

The console - Pure blood

The console, where the organist sits, is the most vivid and visible part of the organ.

An "haute couture" piece of modern cabinet work, it boasts a highly complex geometric execution. This singularly lyrical sculpture is inspired by the external forms of the auditorium itself.

Its interior houses the most sophisticated traction system in the history of organ making.

Booklettext in german, english and spain

Price: € 24,80

DVD - Demo-Trailer

Eine professionelle DVD zum Aufbau und Funktion einer großen Kirchen- und Konzertorgel.

Im Verlauf der komplexen zweijährigen Restaurierungsarbeiten der Stahlhuth-Orgel von Düdelingen in Luxemburg (81 Register, 4 Manuale) entdecken wir das Innenleben eines einzigartigen Instruments und kommen nach und nach seinem Geheimnis auf die Spur.

Eine Dokumentation von Claude Lahr.

Film: 70 Min.; Bonus 37 Min.

Price: € 24,80

Vol. 1: From the beginnings of the organ up to the 17th century
The Italian Organ (Music by Frescobaldi)

The Spanish Organ (Music by Cabezon, de Arauxo)

The French Organ (Music by Attaignant. Grigny, Couperin, Daquin)
Organists: A. Isoir, R. Saorgin, F. Chapelet, J. Boyer
Visit to the Organ Building Workshop Bartolomeo Formentelli

Vol. 2: From Sweelinck to Bach
Music by Sweelinck, Buxtehude, Weckmann, Bach

Organists G. Leonhardt, B. Foccroulle

Vol. 3: The Golden Age of the Organ in the 18th century
Music by Marchand, Dandrieu, Bach – Organists X. Darasse, A. Isoir, G. Leonhardt
Visit to the Organ Building Workshop Daniel Birouste

Vol. 4: From Cavaillé-Coll to the modern Organ
Music by Franck, Widor, Reger, Messiaen, Alain

Organists M.C. Alain, L. Robilliard, R. Saorgin
 

Price: € 19,80 each

Special price all 4 DVDs: € 59,90

DVD 1:

Dupré, Prelude et Fugue op. 7, 3; Vierne, Berceuse + 6. Symph. Final; J.S. Bach, Toccata and Fuge F-Dur; Alain, Litanies, Duruflé, Prelude et Fugue sur Alain

Philippe Delacour at the Organ of Haerpfer-Aubertin in Chateau-Salins and at the Cavaillé-Coll-Organ Notre-Dame Metz
NTSC 4:3, 95 Minuten, english, german, french (2007)

DVD 2:

Buxtehude, Praeludium, Fuge and Var. C-Dur, Balbastre, Marche de Marseillais; Franck, Andantini + Piece heroique; Léfebure-Wely, Bolero; Boellmann, Toccata; Vierne, Carillon, Dupré, Te Deum + Cortège et Litanies, Widor, Toccata F-Dur

Philippe Delacour, Stahlhuth-Jann-Organ in Dudelange, Luxemburg
NTSC 4:3, 118 Minuten, english, german, french,  italien (2006)

DVD 3:

Jeanne Demessieux, complete organ works

Maxime Patel, Jann-Organ in Waldsassen
NTSC 16:9, 148 Minuten, english, german french. (2008)  spezial price all 3 DVDs  € 54,80

Price: € 19,80 each

DVD 1-3:  € 54,80

The Revolt of the Organs

"I've always wanted to shatter, to pulverise the organ..." (Jean Guillou)

The present DVD, the first in a series highlighting the recent artistic activities of Jean Guillou (born 1930), revolves around the recording of an exceptional performance of “The Revolt of the Organs”, opus 69 by Jean Guillou, for Great Organ, eight positive organs, percussion instruments and conductor.

Participants in this event were : Conductor: Johannes Skudlik - Organists : Jean Guillou, Roberto Bonetto, Winfried Bönig, Bernhard Buttmann, Silvio Celeghin, Franco Vito Gaiezza, Jürgen Geiger, Giampaolo Di Rosa, Jürgen Wolf - Percussion: Hélène Colombotti.
Eleven cameras and eighteen microphones were used to record the concert. Time: 30'04"

 

The documentary “The Alchemy of the Revolt” introduces the public to the origins of the work via Jean Guillou’s comments, discloses the complex organisation required to stage the concert, and presents the rehearsals. Time: 1h20'

The bonus features are: the recording of the “Concerto for two Keyboards in F major by W.F. Bach” (performed by Jean Guillou and Johannes Skudlik, time: 14'), and an Improvisation by Jean Guillou (time: 6'38") at the close of the concert, held in Paris in the church of Saint-Eustache on 19 June 2007.

Technical data
DVD-9 multizone • PAL • Total time: 2 hours 10 min • Sound: PCM stereo and mono • Dolby Stereo • Format: 4/3 et 16/9, 4/3 compatible • Languages: French • English and German subtitles

Preis: € 23,50

phone: 0049 - 7482 - 913 930

mail:  info@ORGANpromotion.org

fax: 0049 - 7482 - 913 929

Please ask for the transport costs. It's possible to pay with credit card.