Search - Johann Sebastian Bach, Virgil Fox :: Bach: Great Organ Works

Charlotte E. from BURLEY, ID
Reviewed on 8/9/2007...

Wonderful if you like organ music. This is the organ at it's best played by one of the best. Excellent recording!

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Caveat Emptor

David A. Kemp | Plano, TX USA | 12/13/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Virgil Fox (1912-1980) was, with E. Power Biggs, one of the best known organists of the 1950s and 1960s. But any resemblance to Biggs, Biggs' preferences in organs and music, and Biggs' style of playing, ends there; two organists could hardly have been less alike. For many Fox became a byword for razzle-dazzle, crowd-pleasing organ showmanship that was long on virtuosity and short on taste. The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music says of him: "As organist at Riverside Church in New York, 1946-65, he became a tourist attraction. During the late 1960s his penchant for flamboyant showmanship and oratory enabled him to reach out to a new generation, touring with an electronic organ and a psychedelic light show." I regret to say that this description fits my mental image of Fox as the vulgar and garish "Mr. Showbiz" of the organ and self-styled proponent of "heavy organ," a kind of flashy Las Vegas type touring with his electronic organ and psychedelic light show. Ugh! But that image is probably unjust, certainly incomplete. He had legions of fans, and in his own way he was a proselytizer and got many people interested in the organ who otherwise might not have been. Those who admired him found him a colorful, unconventional, creative player who made interesting, offbeat choices in registrations and interpretive decisions. As Bach programs go this is a pretty hackneyed one, limited to standard chestnuts ("Bach's Greatest Hits"), but at least it's all Bach, instead of the treacly stuff Fox sometimes liked to play and record. This CD has the advantage of being a budget-priced cheapie, but the offsetting disadvantage of being only 40:23 long. As you might expect of a cheapie CD like this one, there are no notes (no information about Fox, the music, or the organs, other than simply identifying them) and no information about recording dates. The issue date of the CD looks like 1988; the CD itself bears a copyright date of 1974; this just may be about the date of the recordings, which are identified as analog. I suppose we should be grateful that RCA took the trouble to identify the organs Fox was playing. The first two selections (the most substantial ones) were recorded on the Royal Albert Hall organ, London; all the rest on the Riverside Church organ, NYC, which for so long was home base for Fox. Both are enormous organs. I am an organ buff and a Bach buff, and must admit that I am not fond of Bach played on enormous organs like these. Biggs and others have demonstrated long since that Bach goes better on smaller organs (in smaller spaces) that emphasize clarity and articulation than on huge instruments (in huge spaces) that emphasize grandeur, power, volume of sound, reverberation. I don't care much for the sound of either of these two huge organs, at least as we hear them here, and by today's standards neither would recommend itself as a good choice for Bach. So how does the CD stack up? The engineering is not bad at all, really quite listenable: highs are not the smoothest or sweetest in town; bass is surprisingly full and deep. The Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, that ubiquitous warhorse, gets a performance that is very free, with heavy, exaggerated contrasts in dynamics (Fox goes in for some echo effects) and tempo (a good deal of arbitrary taffy-pulling of tempos, it seems to me). It certainly is "different" and doubtless will make purists cringe, but it's entertaining (you wonder what he's going to pull out of his bag of tricks next) and on its own terms I suppose it's effective. Dull it ain't. The "Little" Fugue is heavily but impressively done. I found it the best performance on the CD. After the first two pieces, my interest in this recital flagged rapidly. Some of the remaining slighter fare ("favorite Bach tunes") are played with registrations that to my ears are too "churchy" sounding, and some of them made me feel like I'd stepped into the undertaker's chapel. Overall I found this to be "heavy organ" indeed--ponderous, bloated, outdated Bach, historically uninformed and with good taste in short supply. (Alas, I fear I'm never going to make a Virgil Fox fan.) This CD is best recommended to admirers of this organist. If you are looking for a good introduction to Bach, or a recommendable sampling of his best organ works, I'm afraid this isn't it. (Try E. Power Biggs, Peter Hurford, Michael Murray, Marie-Claire Alain, Christopher Herrick.)"

Organ Bach

David Gottner | 09/27/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Virgil Fox is probably the best interpreter of Bach's organ works. The Tocatta & Fugue in D minor is totally awesome -- definitely the best I've listened to on a recording, and I have several. What makes it great is the atmosphere and the large selection of tone colors that Virgil plays in this interpretation. Many other organists don't vary the tone colors in the D minor fugue, which makes them sound more bland. The organ used on this recording is just great!The other works sound fresh as well. The "Air on a G String" is different enough to make it interesting even if you have heard it zillions of times. The tempi are just right for all of the works.The recording is a good quality ADD, yet has tape hiss. (bummer.)"