Stereophile
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<img src="http://www.stereophile.com/images/683rotm.jpg" alt="683rotm.jpg" width="250" height="250" hspace="10" vspace="4" border="0" align="right" /><b>JAMES WELCH: <i>Magnum Opus</i></b><br />James Welch, Organist, and D.A. Fletnrop, Organ-builder.<br />Wilson Audio W8111 (LP). David Wilson, eng.
<p>
Hearing this organ gives one delusions of grandeur! How wonderful to be rich as Croesus and be able to commission an organ like this for one's (baronial) home. At any rate, those of us who don't live in Seattle can hear it at home, thanks to this superb recording.
</p><p>
True to its title, this is as much a recording of the organ as it is of the organist. Full specifications are given on the back, and although it is not Flentrop's largest organ in terms of number of ranks of pipes, it is physically the largest: it contains a 32-foot Pedal Prestant which emits a floor-shuddering 16Hz!
</p><p>
James Welch has chosen a diverse program to display this unusual instrument. It ranges from the 17th Century through the 20th, and opens with the familiar Bach <i>Toccata and Fugue in d</i>, which allows Mr. Welch to demonstrate the 32-foot pipe. This is followed by a simple and charming Bach Chorale, <i>Liebster Jesu, wir sind hier</i>, BWV 731. The next work, <i>Fantasie, pour le verset Judex Crederus au Te Deum</i>, Opus 38, by Alexandre-Pierre-Francois Boely is something of a showoff piece. Mr. Welch states that a friend of his calls it "a real bellows-buster," and that it is. Needless to say, it is a dramatic work, and ends with the entire forearm being laid across a large group of notes low on the manual
[Source: http://www.stereophile.com/content/recording-june-1983-imagnum-opusi]
<p>
Hearing this organ gives one delusions of grandeur! How wonderful to be rich as Croesus and be able to commission an organ like this for one's (baronial) home. At any rate, those of us who don't live in Seattle can hear it at home, thanks to this superb recording.
</p><p>
True to its title, this is as much a recording of the organ as it is of the organist. Full specifications are given on the back, and although it is not Flentrop's largest organ in terms of number of ranks of pipes, it is physically the largest: it contains a 32-foot Pedal Prestant which emits a floor-shuddering 16Hz!
</p><p>
James Welch has chosen a diverse program to display this unusual instrument. It ranges from the 17th Century through the 20th, and opens with the familiar Bach <i>Toccata and Fugue in d</i>, which allows Mr. Welch to demonstrate the 32-foot pipe. This is followed by a simple and charming Bach Chorale, <i>Liebster Jesu, wir sind hier</i>, BWV 731. The next work, <i>Fantasie, pour le verset Judex Crederus au Te Deum</i>, Opus 38, by Alexandre-Pierre-Francois Boely is something of a showoff piece. Mr. Welch states that a friend of his calls it "a real bellows-buster," and that it is. Needless to say, it is a dramatic work, and ends with the entire forearm being laid across a large group of notes low on the manual
[Source: http://www.stereophile.com/content/recording-june-1983-imagnum-opusi]