I’ve always found that pipe organ music is a great way to show off a nice stereo/set of speakers, especially the low bass notes, with a quality set of speakers, you won’t only just hear the low bass and resonance, you’ll feel it as well
What are your favorite “shake the walls” pipe organ songs?
One of my favorites is, I think, the epitome of Pipe Organ music, Bach’s “Tocatta and Fugue in D-Minor”, a piece of music much beloved of classic horror films, and a great way to test the limits of your speaker’s low-frequency response, when the crescendo builds from the thundering bass to the bright high treble, it can be a tactile as well as auditory experience
So, what are some other good examples of pipe organ music (no religious songs, please, I’m looking more along the lines of classical music)
Any number of Bach’s pieces for organ, such as these popular ones: the “Jig” fugue, Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, Fantasia and Fugue in G minor (“Great”) BWV 542.
Another well-known piece is the last movement (toccata) of Symphony #5 for organ by Charles-Marie Widor.
There’s also Symphony #3 by Saint-Saëns (“Organ”); Concerto for Organ, Strings, and Timpani by Poulenc.
I second rowrrbazzle’s choice of Vidor’s fifth symphony. Most of the symphony is pleasing but not overly aggressive, but when the toccata kicks in it’s all hands to the lifeboats and to hell with your neighbors.
My favorite pipe organ music is Virgil Fox Live At the Fillmore East. It’s out there somewhere on vinyl, 8-track, and MP3 downloads. There is a push for the CD and rumors of a boxed set.
Come weep for one of Nashville’s greatest losses in the flood three weeks ago: a two and a half million dollar pipe organ at one of our concert halls.
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