Thu Sep 27, 2018 7:10 pm
I agree with much of what has been said about this organ above, particularly that the best way to learn registration is to sit for hours trying different combinations. Once you know the organ, this permits a much wider range of creative registrations and sounds. It is truly a thrilling experience to hear pieces creatively registered by a master of a particular organ! On the other hand, I have seen first hand that many organ players just want to be able to play the organ, without worrying too much about registration and being creative in that respect. I am by no means a professional organist, however, I have spent many hours with this particular sample set experimenting, so I will try to pass on what I feel I have learned. Hopefully those more skilled in the art will be able to provide corrections or comments based on the below
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Recit: Cor de Nuit 8*
Grand: Salicional 8
Pedale: Flute 8 or Bourdon 8
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Recit: Cor de Nuit 8, Voix Celeste 8*
Grand: Bourdon 8 or Flute Harmonique 8 +/- Salicional 8
Pedale: Flute 8, Bourdon 8 or Soubasse 16 + Flute 8 or Bourdon 8
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Recit: Cor de Nuit 8, Voix Celeste 8, Viole de Gambe 8 or Flute Octav 4
Grand: Montre 8 +/- Bourdon 8 or Flute Harmonique 8 +/- Flute Douce 4
Pedale: Violon 8, Bourdon 8 +/- Soubasse 16
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Recit: Cor de Nuit 8, Viole de Gambe 8, Voix Celeste 8, Flute Octav 4**
Grand: Montre 8, Prestant 4
Pedale: Soubasse 16, Flute 8, Bourdon 8
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Recit: Cor de Nuit 8, Viole de Gambe 8, Flute Octave 4, Basson et Hautbois 8**
Grand: Bourdon 16, Montre 8, Prestant 4 (+/- Recit a GO)
Pedale: Soubasse 16, Violon 8, Flute 8, Bourdon 8
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Recit: Viole de Gambe 8, Flute Octav 4, Flageolet 2, Trompette 8 (Recit Anches)
Grand: Bourdon 16, Montre 8, Prestant 4 (+/- Recit a GO)
Pedale: Soubasse 16, Contrebasse 16, Violon 8
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Recit: Trompette 8, Clarion 4 (Recit Anches)
Grand: Bourdon 16, Montre 8, Prestant 4, Doublette 2 (+/- Recit a GO)
Pedale: Contrebasse 16, Violon 8 (+ Tirasse GO Pedale) or Bombarde 16
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Recit: Basson 16, Trompette 8, Clarion 4 (Recit Anches)
Grand: Bourdon 16, Montre 8, Prestant 4, Doublette 2 (+/- Recit a GO)
Pedale: Contrebasse 16, Bombarde 16 (+/- Tirasse Recit Pedale)
Notes:
*/** I haven’t included any mixtures in the scheme. Sonus Paradisi’s excellent treatise on French organ registration mentioned above suggests that they may be used with louder stops to add some power. In practice on this organ, I found they are barely audible. Rather, based on my reading I feel that Cavaille Coll didn’t feel mixtures fit in very well with the timbre and concept of his organs, and that mixtures were added to appease members of the congregation who missed the sonority of the classical French organ mixtures (and mixtures in general!). As a result, I tend to use them with softer stops (*), which I think gives them a nostalgic quality. In theory though, you could add them as a +/_ to the stops indicated by the (**).
-In practice, on the Recit, the organ appears to be balanced so that you can use any combination of Cor de Nuit 8, Viole de Gambe 8, Voix Celeste 8, Flute Octav 4, and Basson et Hautbois 8 with relatively similar volume for each (though combined they are louder). This means you can be very creative with this particular set of stops, trying all kinds of combinations. I usually use the Violin 8, Flute 8, and Bourdon 8 in the pedal to balance.
-The Montre of the Grand and the Trompette of the Recit appear to be balanced quite well with each other, so that you can use them together with the Recit a GO, or use the trompette with many GO registrations as a solo voice. It overwhelms most of the other stops of the Recit, so you can add it at any time using the recit anches onto another registration for more power or a more soloistic voice.
-I haven’t included the Voix Humaine, principally because I feel it is best used as a character stop. Voix Humaine sits somewhere between the Basson et Hautbois 8 and the Trompette 8 in terms of power. It can be used instead of the Basson et Hautbois 8, or used to add interest to registrations with multiple reeds instead of the Trompette 8. Alternatively it can be used as a solo stop on the recit, or alone or in combination with softer stops such as the Cor de Nuit 8 or Flute Octav 4 for accompaniment with a solo consisting of a stronger voice such as the Montre 8, Prestant 4 in the Grand
-I found MDA’s video of Vierne’s Adagio from Symphony No 3 immensely helpful, especially for Pedale registrations that balance. Kenneth Udy did a very good job (and likely spent a lot of time) adapting a piece that is probably much easier to play on a 3 manual French organ to this organ, and I think he did it very successfully. Worth studying for sure.
-You could probably add 2 or more levels to each dynamic above, which is part of what makes these organs so fun to play and so creative to register. I’m sure a book could be written on the possibilities. This is part of what makes Cavaille Coll organs so interesting and enjoyable to play.