# Best pipe organ music? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 22, 2010, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-pipe-organ-music/540325 "2010-05-22T01:12:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-pipe-organ-music/540325/1 "2010-05-22T01:12:16Z")
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) ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-pipe-organ-music/540325/2 "2010-05-22T03:42:41Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-pipe-organ-music/540325/3 "2010-05-22T04:17:20Z")
A few more of the most popular pieces. Louis Vierne: Finale from Symphony #1 for organ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rJxpPoMwU0](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rJxpPoMwU0) Carillon de Westminster [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSfX6M\_mRLk](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSfX6M_mRLk) Jehan Alain: Litanies [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVbUVI1eDl8&feature=related](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVbUVI1eDl8&feature=related) Boellman: Suite Gothique Marcel Dupré: Variations sur un noël [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tmnWhaQC4c](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tmnWhaQC4c) Prelude & Fugue in G minor [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K17jiNewPTk](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K17jiNewPTk) (you can sing the subject of the fugue to the composer’s name! 🙂 ) ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-pipe-organ-music/540325/4 "2010-05-22T06:04:36Z")
Look for something by Peter Hurford. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-pipe-organ-music/540325/5 "2010-05-22T06:16:10Z")
> [@MacTech](#): > > One of my favorites is, I think, the epitome of Pipe Organ music, Bach’s “Tocatta and Fugue in D-Minor”,… Yeah, that is the classic, but I also heard it once on a street in downtown Stuttgart played on two accordians, and those guys kicked ass. ---
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-pipe-organ-music/540325/6 "2010-05-22T06:51:19Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-pipe-organ-music/540325/7 "2010-05-22T07:01:16Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Pray\_for\_peace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pray\_for\_peace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pray_for_peace)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-pipe-organ-music/540325/8 "2010-05-22T23:44:02Z")
Thirding the Widor. I couldn’t find any recording on YouTube that does the it justice. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-pipe-organ-music/540325/9 "2010-05-23T00:16:12Z")
[Found it](http://www.amazon.com/Toccata-Fugue-Great-Organ-Works/dp/B00000E2R4/ref=sr_1_49?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1274573305&sr=1-49). 1. Bach: Toccata and Fugue in D minor 2. Bach: Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring 3. Albioni/Giazotto: Adagio in G minor 4. Purcell: Trumpet Tune in D major 5. Mendelssohn: Wedding March 6. Franck: Chorale No. 2 in B minor 7. Murrill: Carillon 8. Davies: Solemn Melody 9. Widor: Toccata from Organ Symphony No. 5 Awesome collection, meant to be played at volume level 11. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-pipe-organ-music/540325/10 "2010-05-23T06:56:35Z")
Add in: Karg-Elert: _Nun Danket_ Guilmant: _March on a theme of Handel_ (Starts slow, builds up) Mendelssohn: _War March of the Priests_ But the OP asked about [wall shaking](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Wpn7xyzUqg&feature=related)… 😃