{"id":162,"date":"2021-02-18T17:03:26","date_gmt":"2021-02-18T16:03:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.tontonwes.eu\/?p=162"},"modified":"2024-05-14T07:38:15","modified_gmt":"2024-05-14T05:38:15","slug":"thursday-throwback-5-widor-toccata-from-symphony-for-organ-no-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.tontonwes.eu\/index.php\/2021\/02\/18\/thursday-throwback-5-widor-toccata-from-symphony-for-organ-no-5\/","title":{"rendered":"Thursday Throwback #5: Widor – Toccata from Symphony for Organ No. 5"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Now then… this poor little blog has been moribund for nearly a year (and what a strange year it has been). More about that later but in the meantime here’s another musical throwback. No, not back to 1879 when it was written but to my first weeks at university in 1985 (rereading my post for Throwback #4<\/a> brought this to mind). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I lived in a hall of residence for my first year. My neighbour B was also a fresher but he was a few years older than the rest of us, having already worked in the private banking sector before starting his studies in Petroleum Engineering. He was something of a character; aloof, worldly-wise and slightly intimidating. As a result I found him rather hot, but I considered his musical taste to be abysmal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One afternoon I had enough of yet another hellish punk thrash album and reached for a favourite LP of organ classics (from Ripon Cathedral, I think) and soon Widor’s famous Toccata was drowning out the cacophony on the other side of the wall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it finished six minutes later, there was silence from next door. Then I heard a door open followed by a knock on mine. Oh-oh I thought… and sure enough there was B when I opened the door. I got the impression he wasn’t happy but before I could stammer anything, he exclaimed “What the fuck was that? It was fantastic.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I can’t say we became friends after that incident and in fact we saw less and less of each other as he got involved in the uni’s musical scene and we kept very different hours, but there did seem to be a certain mutual respect which wasn’t there before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s Hector Olivera’s interpretation of the piece. I’ve deliberately chosen to feature a version on a digital organ – an Allen, arguably the finest – to show what the technology can do. Purists might shudder but in my opinion there’s a clarity in this rendition that’s sometimes missing from pipe organ versions. Today a mid-range digital organ will surpass many smaller pipe organs and is a far more accessible proposition, thereby helping keeping the king of instruments alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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