He is one of the few that actually know how to make this piece sing sky high.

I love how this Schnitger organ tuned at A=495Hz makes this piece sound like its in E Major. The temperament makes the Fugue sound very celestial and victorious.

We always listen to this very Fugue while driving home from skiing in the dark November/December Nights, gets you right in the vibe for Christmas!

@robertgift, To you it may seem "defective". But these kinds of organs have character that a "perfect" instrument could never have. I'd say the technological limitations of 300 years ago are completely worth enduring if the artistic result can be as high as this.

@advisorC101 T'was a defect then, remains so now. Notes are not meant to be starved for air. Unless the tremulant is activated, they are to be steady and even, not affected by insufficient design.

Unbelievable... is this really Koopman? So slow? What a wonder. Very nice.

Favolosa

Brilliant! You deserve all the praises I can offer Thank you Ton. CMW.

& Jhr. Humphrey. Brilliant organspel. Merci.

Of course; Koopman + JS Bach...what a superb combination!! Thank you! Natürlich; Koopman und/plus Johann Sebastian Bach.........Ausgezeichnet! Vielan Dank!

Just perfect and great interpretation.

Gefällt mir sehr gut, was bei Koopman nicht immer der Fall ist !

Absolute.

Brilliant !!!

Extremely good comment. I agree.

Since organs are not blown by blowing into pipes, why would such a defect be desireable? I have blown organs using a bellows. Even then, the air supply was sufficient. The notes were not starved and unsteady. They should correct this defect but also allow the correction to be turned off for those who want to hear the historic design defect.

No. The organ does not try to imitate instruments. Otherwise there would not be measures-long pedal notes. But when I play, I place "breaths" in musical lines and fugue subjects, just as Helmut Walcha also did. Playing trumpet, I play the rapid and repeated notes steadily, not as though starved. Of course the notes are not perfectly steady, but that is the goal. Fortunately they do not bounce and sound starving for air in time with other notes speaking causing the unsteady wind.

Wonderful! Wish they would fix the unsteady wind defect in this organ.

@advisorC101 Not "artistic benefits" unless one considers these defects "artistic". Perhaps you mean "authentic". I know of organ builders trying to be so authentic thathey reproduce these defects today. As an organist who also tunes organs, I consideer unsteady wind a mistake. We have added auxilliary bellows to absorb and fill in pressure transients to stop the annoying defect. They should be added to all historic organs - withe ability to switch off if historic defects are desired.

So have I.

@robertgift, That's not the point I was making. Try looking at the artistic benefits. Organs back then aren't what "organs" today are.