# What's that pipe organ music that everyone knows? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 5, 2001, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-pipe-organ-music-that-everyone-knows/85696 "2001-10-05T23:28:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-pipe-organ-music-that-everyone-knows/85696/1 "2001-10-05T23:28:40Z")
I want to download that rather spooky pipe organ music that goes NAH-nuh-NAH . . . nah-NYUUH-nah. Anyone know what it is? I want to say it’s one of those “B” composers, but I know it’s not Beethoven and I doubt it’s Bach. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![DPWhite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d26b3c/32.png) [@DPWhite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPWhite)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-pipe-organ-music-that-everyone-knows/85696/2 "2001-10-05T23:30:34Z")
You are probably thinking of Bach’s Tocatta and Fugue in D minor. Really great piece. The first couple of measures are used as a cliche in movies and such as a spooky cue, but it is so much more! ---
**Author:** ![Swampwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Swampwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swampwolf)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-pipe-organ-music-that-everyone-knows/85696/3 "2001-10-05T23:30:55Z")
If it’s the one I’m thinking of, it’s Bach’s Toccata & Fugue in D Minor. (which reminds me of a great limerick) If it isn’t the one I’m thinking of, than it isn’t B’s T&F. ---
**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-pipe-organ-music-that-everyone-knows/85696/4 "2001-10-05T23:58:04Z")
Another vote for the Tocatta & Fugue in D Minor. Given that I’m on a Civ kick lately, I want to encourage all Civ2 players to build JS Bach’s Cathedral and listen to the sample - THAT is the best part of the piece. Better than the first few measures, by far. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2001, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-pipe-organ-music-that-everyone-knows/85696/5 "2001-10-06T00:07:17Z")
I agree that it is almost certainly Toccata and Fugue. I had wanted to download it myself about a year ago. I didn’t know the title, and neither did my roommate, so I just ran a search on “Dracula pipe organ music”. Apparently I’m not the only one who knows the piece by that “title”, as I got plenty of hits and learned the real title and composer as well. ---
**Author:** ![MarkD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/839c29/32.png) [@MarkD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarkD)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2001, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-pipe-organ-music-that-everyone-knows/85696/6 "2001-10-06T00:40:39Z")
Could it be a Grieg composition? ---
**Author:** ![TheeGrumpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@TheeGrumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheeGrumpy)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2001, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-pipe-organ-music-that-everyone-knows/85696/7 "2001-10-06T01:23:08Z")
You mean “In the Hall of the Mountain King”? Or some other Grieg piece I don’t know about. 'Cause “Mountain King” is for orchestra. And the orchestra arrangement of T&F rocks too, BTW. ---
**Author:** ![TheeGrumpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@TheeGrumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheeGrumpy)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2001, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-pipe-organ-music-that-everyone-knows/85696/8 "2001-10-06T01:23:26Z")
You mean “In the Hall of the Mountain King”? Or some other Grieg piece I don’t know about? 'Cause “Mountain King” is for orchestra. And the orchestra arrangement of T&F rocks too, BTW. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2001, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-pipe-organ-music-that-everyone-knows/85696/9 "2001-10-06T02:54:59Z")
Yo, Doghouse, click on [this.](http://www.imarvel.com/class5.htm) Is that the music you were thinking of? I love the Internet. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2001, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-pipe-organ-music-that-everyone-knows/85696/10 "2001-10-06T02:57:02Z")
The website kinda steps on the NAH-nuh-NAH . . . nah-NYUUH-nah part while it’s still loading, so maybe rewind and go back to the beginning once you get it loaded. J.S. Bach, Toccata and Fugue in D Minor. ---
**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:** [October 6, 2001, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-pipe-organ-music-that-everyone-knows/85696/11 "2001-10-06T04:03:29Z")
About 18 months ago I was in Stuttgart and I heard a couple of street musicians play the Bach Toccata and Fugue on two accordions. And it kicked ass. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2001, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-pipe-organ-music-that-everyone-knows/85696/12 "2001-10-06T05:25:01Z")
… get the CD **E.Power Biggs (love that name!) at the Mighty Wurlitzer Organ** and crank it! The _Toccata and Fugue in D minor_ will blow you away like it does that guy in the Memorex (?) ad who’s sitting in the chair in front of his speakers! Quasi ---
**Author:** ![Iguana\_Boy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@Iguana\_Boy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iguana_Boy)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2001, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-pipe-organ-music-that-everyone-knows/85696/13 "2001-10-06T14:26:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by blessedwolf \* > \*\*If it’s the one I’m thinking of, it’s Bach’s Toccata & Fugue in D Minor. (which reminds me of a great limerick) If it isn’t the one I’m thinking of, than it isn’t B’s T&F. \*\* Well, what’s the limerick!! ---
**Author:** ![Swampwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Swampwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swampwolf)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2001, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-pipe-organ-music-that-everyone-knows/85696/14 "2001-10-06T14:51:00Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by Iguana Boy \* \*\* > [@](#): > > Well, what’s the limerick!! \*\* Took long enough for someone to ask! 😉 A woman in North Carolina Placed fiddle strings 'cross her vagina With the proper sized c\*cks, What was sex became Bach’s Tocatta and Fugue in D Minor. ---
**Author:** ![Sultan\_Kinkari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7bcc69/32.png) [@Sultan\_Kinkari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sultan_Kinkari)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2001, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-pipe-organ-music-that-everyone-knows/85696/15 "2001-10-06T16:30:27Z")
[sub]Spooky pipe organ music?[/sub] _Here comes the bride_? ---
**Author:** ![ScriptAnalyst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@ScriptAnalyst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ScriptAnalyst)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2001, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-pipe-organ-music-that-everyone-knows/85696/16 "2001-10-06T19:35:11Z")
I was glancing through a music textbook years ago, which said that the title “Toccata and Fugue in D Minor” is a redundancy. Apparently, a toccata is a piece of music that includes a fugue. Whatever the name, this has to be the familiar piece of spooky music. It’s been used in numerous films, going at least as far back as 1934’s THE BLACK CAT, with Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. Steve Biodrowski [http://www.thescriptanalyst.com](http://www.thescriptanalyst.com) ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-pipe-organ-music-that-everyone-knows/85696/17 "2001-10-07T03:07:33Z")
> [@](#): > > Apparently, a toccata is a piece of music that includes a fugue. Ummm, not necessarily. I think your music textbook was getting a little above itself. A “toccata” just means a particular kind of bravura keyboard piece, designed to show off the musician’s dexterity. It doesn’t necessarily include a fugue. What is a [toccata?](http://www.pacificsites.com/~chrisk/edutech/frames/toccata.htm) > [@](#): > > The word, toccata, is derived from the Italian word “toccare” which means to touch, hit or tap. The toccata is a musical composition that originated in the 16th century as an ending to lute dances. Typically, the toccata is a short piece featuring passages requiring a high level of technique. What is a [fugue?](http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/g_fugue.html) > [@](#): > > A composition, or compositional technique, in which a theme (or themes) is extended and developed mainly by imitative counterpoint. > In the opening section, the ‘exposition’, the main theme or ‘subject’ is announced in the tonic. after which the second ‘voice’ enters with the answer, i.e. the same theme at the dominant (or subdominant) pitch while the first may proceed to a countersubject. This procedure is repeated at different octaves until all the voices have entered and the exposition is complete. An extra statement of the subject or answer following on the exposition is called a ‘redundant entry’; a set of such entries is a ‘counter-exposition’. This is possibly where the music textbook got its factoid. From the fugue article above: > [@](#): > > Another kind of fugue emerged from the keyboard toccatas of Froberger and Buxtehude, and the idea of including fugal passages in the toccata led to the ‘prelude and fugue’ combination. This website is excerpted (by permission, it says) from the _Grove Concise Dictionary of Music._ You can have fugal passages in a toccata, but a toccata and a fugue are different musical forms. Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor is called a “Toccata and Fugue” because it contains both a toccata and a fugue, separately. [http://www.light.demon.co.uk/bhso/bachtocc.htm](http://www.light.demon.co.uk/bhso/bachtocc.htm) > [@](#): > > The word “Toccata” literally means “touch”, and is usually associated with a work for solo keyboard instrument which requires great dexterity on the part of the performer and, overall, a piece of dynamic brilliance. > > The Fugue “a 3 voci” follows directly, and is interspersed with free fantasia sections. Bach heralds the work’s end with a recitative passage, then through alternating slow and fast passages (based on a fragmented hint of the Fugue’s first subject) the music reaches its magisterial final bars. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-pipe-organ-music-that-everyone-knows/85696/18 "2001-10-07T05:43:50Z")
Just wanted to say thanks for all the replies, from all the wonderfully informed people on this board. Now, silly me, I can’t think of any _other_ pipe organ music besides this one, though I am trying to find Fondel’s Wedding March with Barnyard Accompaniament, preferably played on a B.S. Johnson. ---
**Author:** ![Glenoled](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Glenoled](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glenoled)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-pipe-organ-music-that-everyone-knows/85696/19 "2001-10-07T12:50:12Z")
I was wondering about another Bach song… all I remember is very sketchy… I remember that it was on a tape my brother had, of Bach songs, that it was fast, that (iirc) it was played on modern keyboards, and I think I remember my brother saying something to the effect of, that song was written to be performed by one musician, but it took 6 to reproduce it. Any ideas? lol Glenoled ---
**Author:** ![monny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc348/32.png) [@monny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monny)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-pipe-organ-music-that-everyone-knows/85696/20 "2001-10-07T13:02:13Z")
[hijack] since we’re on songs, I was wondering if anyone knows this song from Luc Besson’s “Taxi” (a French film). The upbeat, Spanish/Latin song that they played at the opening credits, I think. Ok admittedly not a very good description but I really want to find that song! [/hijack] [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-pipe-organ-music-that-everyone-knows/85696.md?page=2)