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Best Organs On Holiday - Europe


Guest Hector5

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Guest Hector5

We have just spent the most sublime 2 weeks trogging through Burgundy and Provence and back to Burgundy (sorting out house purchase). On two chance occasions I heard the Cavaille Coll in the Cathedral on Aix on Provence. Prior to this I had a haircut in one of Aix' many clip joints in a vibrating chair - not an experience to be missed. Second only to the Cavaille Coll and the chair experience came a chance hearing of the organ at the basilica of St Maximin. Now this was a revalation - played for a wedding. I dashed in at 5.30pm (after a day on the beach at St Tropez) to collect a brochure on the organ. But damn - there was a priest busy blessing something - apparently a service, but the gift shop was still open. While clutching my brochure and a Xavier Darasse CD, the organ struck up, and I stopped moving - a Daquin Noel with all the force of goodness knows what! WOW what a sound - and all of this for the signing of the registers or photos. At the end of this THE wedding march by you-know-who - introduced by all the forces known to man, although I assume the famed Resonnance division, sounding like a chorus of orchestral trumpets. This could be heard down the street outside the basilica at the east end, so much, that I told my wife to get out of the car to listen, and she announced that she could already hear it through closed card windows!

 

Go and hear these organs - and preferably try the vibrating chair as well!

 

Hector (and Florence) in Burgundy

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We have just spent the most sublime 2 weeks trogging through Burgundy and Provence and back to Burgundy (sorting out house purchase). On two chance occasions I heard the Cavaille Coll in the Cathedral on Aix on Provence. Prior to this I had a haircut in one of Aix' many clip joints in a vibrating chair - not an experience to be missed. Second only to the Cavaille Coll and the chair experience came a chance hearing of the organ at the basilica of St Maximin. Now this was a revalation - played for a wedding. I dashed in at 5.30pm (after a day on the beach at St Tropez) to collect a brochure on the organ. But damn - there was a priest busy blessing something - apparently a service, but the gift shop was still open. While clutching my brochure and a Xavier Darasse CD, the organ struck up, and I stopped moving - a Daquin Noel with all the force of goodness knows what! WOW what a sound - and all of this for the signing of the registers or photos. At the end of this THE wedding march by you-know-who - introduced by all the forces known to man, although I assume the famed Resonnance division, sounding like a chorus of orchestral trumpets. This could be heard down the street outside the basilica at the east end, so much, that I told my wife to get out of the car to listen, and she announced that she could already hear it through closed card windows!

 

Go and hear these organs - and preferably try the vibrating chair as well!

 

Hector (and Florence) in Burgundy

 

Oh yes! St.Maximin's Isnard :rolleyes:

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...I heard the Cavaille Coll in the Cathedral on Aix on Provence.

...the organ at the basilica of St Maximin.

Go and hear these organs!

Hector (and Florence) in Burgundy

Hi, Hector,

As I'm sure you're aware, both these famous organs are available as Hauptwerk sample-sets - generally reckoned to be among the very best on the market so far.

D.

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An absolute gem.

A single Bourdon 8' could satisfy for hours there.

An though Frère Isnard worked with a deep sense

of economy of means; there is not a nail, not a wood

sheet too much there, the case is just a Facade, Pedal

and Résonnance share the same chest and pipes....But

it is built to last, and last, and last...Nobody would

dare touch that organ.

 

Pierre

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Hi, Hector,

As I'm sure you're aware, both these famous organs are available as Hauptwerk sample-sets - generally reckoned to be among the very best on the market so far.

D.

 

Go hear it in the flesh. My two cent the guy who will succeed imitating THAT is'nt

already born -will he ever?-

 

Pierre

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An absolute gem.

A single Bourdon 8' could satisfy for hours there.

An though Frère Isnard worked with a deep sense

of economy of means; there is not a nail, not a wood

sheet too much there, the case is just a Facade, Pedal

and Résonnance share the same chest and pipes....But

it is built to last, and last, and last...Nobody would

dare touch that organ.

 

Pierre

 

 

As Einstein said: "everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler."

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We have just spent the most sublime 2 weeks trogging through Burgundy and Provence and back to Burgundy (sorting out house purchase). On two chance occasions I heard the Cavaille Coll in the Cathedral on Aix on Provence. Prior to this I had a haircut in one of Aix' many clip joints in a vibrating chair - not an experience to be missed. Second only to the Cavaille Coll and the chair experience came a chance hearing of the organ at the basilica of St Maximin. Now this was a revalation - played for a wedding. I dashed in at 5.30pm (after a day on the beach at St Tropez) to collect a brochure on the organ. But damn - there was a priest busy blessing something - apparently a service, but the gift shop was still open. While clutching my brochure and a Xavier Darasse CD, the organ struck up, and I stopped moving - a Daquin Noel with all the force of goodness knows what! WOW what a sound - and all of this for the signing of the registers or photos. At the end of this THE wedding march by you-know-who - introduced by all the forces known to man, although I assume the famed Resonnance division, sounding like a chorus of orchestral trumpets. This could be heard down the street outside the basilica at the east end, so much, that I told my wife to get out of the car to listen, and she announced that she could already hear it through closed card windows!

 

Go and hear these organs - and preferably try the vibrating chair as well!

 

Hector (and Florence) in Burgundy

 

 

=========================

 

 

I've said previously that "I don't do French," so forget about organs!

 

My only introduction to Burgundy was courtesy of Formula One Management, when we dropped (literally....like the proverbial stone) into Moulins airport (a small field with a nissan-hut planted upon it). After getting quite a mauling from a German pilot who obviously regarded himself as the Red Baron no.2, it was into the town and my first ever taste of French cuisine on native soil. Magnifique! (That was just the bread!)

 

What a beautiful place, with the old castle, the cathedral (I believe a Mutin organ), a lovely town square and absolutely deserted because (a ) It was Sunday and (b ) the Grand Prix had ended at the nearby Mangy Cours circuit.

 

I will never forget the drive to Hockeheim for two reasons.

 

Firstly, I lost a racing-car in Dijon! Well, not quite, but I took the wrong route and should NOT have been in Dijon with a Formula One car, and the small boys of Dijon went wild with excitement To them, it was just the mustard!

 

Anyway, I scambled out of the transporter and bought a pot of mustard to bring back home, which was then possible. To-day, (like Holy Water from Lourdes), it would be regarded as a potential terrorism threat, even though it has nothing on English Mustard, which must come close to pure TNT on a ham sandwich.

 

I digress, of course, as usual, and as I had done very seriously with said racing-car; now on the "most wanted" list of missing vehicles, the centre of an international "incident" and probably being searched for by Mirage fighter-jets with live ammunition on board.

 

Anyway, I eventually reached the right highway, and trundled said vehicle up to Hockenheim in Germany.

 

What beautiful countryside the Burgundy area is; quite magical in fact, where vineyards dramatically give way to enormous villas, and every vista is different.

 

The home of my favourite wine, 'Mersault' it is just the most stunningly pastoral, unspoiled and beautiful of regions.

 

Pity about the organ-music, but I guess they can't have everything!

 

MM

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=========================

 

Mangy ? Shome mishtake, shurely ? Or is it an MM version of Franglais ?

H

 

 

==============================

 

 

Half the world may spell it as Magny-Cours, but this is the official address of the Circuit de Nevers, which one presumes is at least half correct:-

 

CIRCUIT DE NEVERS MANGY-COURS - MANGY COURS - FRANCE

Technopole

58470 Magny-Cours

France

 

Interestingly, even the circuit gets it wrong on the third line as set out above, and which I cut and pasted from the official site.

 

ITV get it wrong, but good old Murray Walker didn't for the BBC.

 

He just said things like, "I wonder if Lewis Hamilton remembers what happened here in 1987?"

 

(Lewis Hamilton would have been one year old at the time!!!!!!!!)

 

Or another classic, "I bet he's furious with himself. I wouldn't like to be inside that helmet with him!"

 

:rolleyes:

 

This, of course, has absolutely nothing to do with organs.

 

MM

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This may have nothing to do with organs, but I am a great F1 fan!

 

 

=============================

 

 

I keep hoping that a brilliant organsit will take up Formula 1, but so far, it has only been concert-quality pianists.

 

The late Francois Cevert (killed in an accident) gave up his musical ambitions for F1, but was an outstanding pianist.

 

Elio de Angelis was also a fine pianist, and young Adrian Sutil of Germany, was recently heard on TV rattling his way through Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue.".

 

Of course, Sir George Thalben-Ball raced an ERA around Brooklands in the 1930's: his team-mate being Billy Cotton, the band-leader.

 

The things you learn on this board!!!!

 

MM

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