Gli organi Mascioni sono stupendi. La loro architettura e i loro suoni raccontano al mondo il meglio dell'arte organaria italiana. Grazie, Mascioni, per questo vostro capolavoro. Grazie, maestro Lorenzo Ghielmi, per avere dato il primo soffio di vita a questo stupendo organo con una magistrale esecuzione.
The voicing and breathy sound of this great new organ fills one with delight and admiration. A glorious triumph that will light hearts and minds to God for many decades to come! God bless the skilled hands of the organ builders!
I love this wonderful cathedral by the late Kenzo Tange; and made a special point of visiting it when in Tokyo five years ago (before the mayhem!). I did not know it had received a new organ though.
The cathedral is built in the shape of a broken cross - it could be "thought to symbolise the broken body of Christ "as commented elsewhere by someone. In fact the "stark and sombre interior" can make someone to think of Christ's death on the cross and the sacrifice it represents....the architect was a great Japanese architect, Kenzo Tange. Thank you Kenzo Tange - may your soul rest in peace.....
Ancora una volta, grandi italiani ricordano al mondo quanto l'Arte musicale sia stata e sia ben rappresentata da loro. Ed anche quanto quest'Arte sia presente nel design e nella cura che solo grandi artisti artigiani sanno esprimere con la propria passione.
"Its a work of mechanical and musical art. No microprocessors in this one." Oh yes there is! Those pistons don't work combination actions with trackers! That early section of the video that showed some console details was all I needed to see that electronics are involved... Many trackers TODAY involve computer memory systems / combination actions... Just look at the Dobson at the Kimmel Center... With a remote console (on stage) to electrically control a tracker organ and all its functions, an amazing 'blend' of the old and new within the same instrument (O:
@gngeannakakes probably because it's a neoclassical instrument, with an Italian/German connotation, and for this kind of instrument you don't need a larger compass, assuming that you want to be faithful to its inspiration. A full 5-octave manual compass and 32-note pedal board would be appropriate for a symphonic/eclectic instrument, but this is not the case.
I’ve attended two recitals here and found the acoustics downright horrible. The organ builders obviously did there best to compensate but have been hampered not just by the long delay but by very confused near side wall reflections. Much as I appreciate cathedral sized accoustics this one didn’t work for me.
Quello è un gran bell'organo a canne ; lo dico perchè ho avuto occasione di suonarlo con il permesso di un sacerdote portoghese che era in attesa di una concelebrazione di vescovi poco dopo la mia performance. Per l'occasione ho suonato un mio preludio dai 6 preludi composti da me per l'organo.
Caro Andrea ho avuto modo di provare lo splendido Jaquot del duomo di Catania dove Padre Giuseppe Maieli, mi ha tessuto gli elogi alla Ditta Mascioni per lo splendido lavoro effettuato su un organo fermo dal 1956....io ho avuto la fortuna di tornare a Catania dopo 50 anni (avevo 19 anni, quando mi hanno fatto titolare e suonare il Serassi della chiesa dei Minoriti)..ed ho suonato in Duomo dove avevi fatto la revisione...grazie ho condiviso per un caro ricordo ...Enrico Basaldella
This organ was installed into the building in 2004, 40 years after the building was finished in 1964. For some strange reason orientals prefer trackers.
Not so strange. I am not a professional at all - but it seems to me that many traditional (think old!) Japanese instruments are themselves light sounding instruments. Perhaps the trackers just sound more "right" to them. It certainly sounds beautiful, fits the space and if it also fits the preferences culturally of the people - then it is a perfect fit. The Mascionis are to be congratulated.
+AndreMascioni *This three-manual mechanical-action's layout is straightforward.* The _Recitato_ is in the main case, masked by the GO Principale 16 (the bulk of the _Gran Organo_ being beneath); and the _Positivo_ is at the gallery rail. Is the _Organo di Pedali_ at the rear of the case, or in the sides? And are mixtures confined to cimbalae, as I understand to be the norm in 19th-Century and later organs of the Italian school? (Historically, the non-cimbalic principals of the Italian school were in single ranks, a typical Gran Organo running breakless from Principale 16 to Vigesimasixta 1-1/3, with Vigesimanona (F6) 1-2 through Cuadrigesimatria (F4-F5-F6) 1/4-1/2-1-2 breaking back an octave at the 6.1 kHz pipe.)
@ProfRikk I understand your arguement, but I like writing sometimes in the Baroque style and I find that when I transcribe some Baroque pieces, e.g. the Bach Sinfonia and the Ramoe pieces (see my site), I need the high F# and G pedal notes and sometimes the higher manual notes. Just getting the shortened manual and pedal spans precules playing newer Baroque style compositions and transcriptions on these instruments. Honoring the past is different from living in the past.
Я В МОЛОДОСТИ ЗАНИМАЛСЯ НАСТРОЙКОЙ И МЕЛКИМ РЕМОНТО Ф_НО !!! НО НАСТРОЙКУ ОРГАНА ВИЖУ ПЕРВЫЙ РАЗ !!! КАК НАСТРОЙЩИК ОРЕНТИРУЕТСЯ СКОЛЬКО НУЖНО ОБРЕЗАТЬ ТРУБУ ??? СПАСИБО ИНТЕРЕСНОЕ ВИДЕО !!!
A beautiful instrument, however, why limit the keyboards to 56 keys and the pedalboard to 30 keys? How much more would it have cost for full 5-octave manuals and full 32 note pedal board?
@Bradford Dale, organist In other words - My grandfather did it this way so I should do it this way. I wonder why the range of nearly every musical instrument has been extended to what it is today. After all, you have not seen any Baroque music written for more than XX notes so it should be necessary. Progress is obviously NOT your most important product. Stupid narrow minded thinking by a bunch of people promoting the lies about the benefits of tracker organs. They were built that way because there was no other technology. If you want to live in the dark ages, go to it.
This is a result of narrow minded thinking that revived a fad - mechanical action organs. 90% of these are living lies having electric pull downs to operate intermanual and manual to pedal couplers negating any so called benefits of touch. That touch is because of the imbalance of pressure between the inside and outside of the windchest. Play the keys of a tracker organs without the blower on and they are sluggish and soft. Just like any electronic organ. AND standing 50 feet away you can't tell what the action is. Of course those lovely chiffing pipes, really defects in speech before builder found out how to eliminate it and play legato. All in all this who tracker thing is a fad that had brought about the destruction of more organs than all the fires, vandalism and water damage ever did. There is NO scientific proof of any claim made by these fanatics,
Having heard this instrument at a few recitals I found it a contradiction in some ways. The tracker action works well with smaller scale works but the long & at times overpowering delay in the acoustic, especially with louder romantic repertiore, can mask a great deal of detail and expression. So, I think what I’m trying to say is great instrument, shame about the architect.
This is St Mary's Roman Catholic Cathedral, seat of the Cardinal Archbishop of Tokyo. Designed by Kenzo Tange in the Sixties, it is a fabulous concrete 'brutalist' building, with a very serene ambience. Went there last year: and our Japanese guide was surprised to discover that he used to live down the road when he was young!
