I played this for one of Widor's students, Arthur Poister of Syracuse University and he told me Widor wants it played like this recording. He also said Widor was insulted by the know-it-all Americans that think it should be played at the speed of light. I'm proud to have the insight of the composer from this organ lesson.

It's glorious. Played at exactly the right speed, simply because he decides which speed is right.

Hé is playing the Toccata at a speed that takes into account the acoustic properties of the church. I have heard it, notes indistinguishable from one another, by being played too fast in a cathedral with an impressive. echo.

At the tempo that the composer played this Toccata, the melodic tapestries become apparent, akin to a curtain slowly undulating in a very light breeze. This is awesome and it is God's Providence that the recording has survived to the present day. Wonderful! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Agree

Don Lunn First of all, he was 88 at the time of the recording. A piece like this takes a significant amount of physical exertion to play on a large French tracker organ. Secondly, one can hear all kinds of mistakes (wrong notes) in the performance. Thirdly, by the time he gets toward the end, his tempo is a good bit faster than when he started. Finally, he's in a huge reverberant building. Saying that this is "THE" tempo is like saying you'd play a hymn with the same tempo and articulation in Westminster Abbey as you would in a 100 seat hotel ballroom. Makes no sense.

I think if you read through the comments,you are in the minority.I play the Organ,admittedly not as good as he could.My comment still stands,Even if it makes no sense to you.HE was the composer,HE played it how he wanted it to sound.

Don Lunn Minority or not, my comment takes into account very important context that the other [very simplistic] comments do not. The fact is that he ends the piece at the tempo at which most good organists do in fact play it is of interest, even at age 88. All that said, a large percentage of organists who attempt this piece don't play it accurately enough to do it justice at any tempo -- and those organists do tend to be the super speed demons.

HBK30075 Maybe he had a good reason for upping the tempo. I think it adds to the piece. There are times in life when things move slowly & quickly. At 88, this is without doubt a masterpiece.

Thank you Duncan.Someone else who thinks the Man who composed it,knew how to play it.I'm sure HBK will call your remark,simplistic though.Because "his" comment takes into account a very important context that the other (very simplistic ) comments do not.

Sounds perfect to me....

F*** YEAH!!!!!

So true! You make me cry in a good way.

Absolutely true! Many people forget that this is "Musique Royale" and not "Mickey Mouse"

It's the masters music he plays it how ever he want.I totally agree.I love this way.When I am exiting the temple after my wedding.So majestic!!!Or at my funeral exiting the temple.

At age 88 that was awesome!!!!

How would he feel about the great Diane Dish and her tempo😂

And 3 it's his dam song!!!!!

Yes, and steady tempo...great pedal "a melody of it's own" in a sense...

Sean .R I LOVE this! You can hear everything, way to many times, it’s so fast you can’t make much out of it!

That’s true indeed.

I am glad that I am not the only bassoonist who appreciates organ music!! XD

@@umbertofilineri4635 Other bassonist here

Dianne Bish plays everything far too fast. If I were an organist and Mr Roth had invited me sit at the console where Monsieur Widor had sat and play the same piece... I am sure i'd be a bag of nerves & in desperate need of peeing. But damn it i'd wear diapers & let nothing ruin the moment. Playing one of the most famous pieces of organ music on the same organ it was written for is an incredible honour. I am sure C.M. Widor would have known the acoustics of the church and the peculiarities of the organ and he wrote the music accordingly. Did he ever write any commentary on the manuscripts about the tempo?

@@NJPurling The Bish recording on KZfaq should be removed. An insult to a great composer.

Bish plays nothing well. She's a "show pony", like E. Power Biggs was.@@NJPurling

Ulrich Janßen Today's world is much too fast, with a "I want it and I want it now,"...perhaps the internet has done that to us but,I prefer it a little faster than Widor is playing...IMO, it's a personal musical taste.

+Ulrich Janßen c'est vrai Ulrich mais dans la V.O on s'ennuie un peu ..non ??

The original is always the template...

+christian matuszewski Non!

paul Alexander+ Played at this tempo is NOT regal and majestic, more like something you would play for a funeral. I am a master organist, and organist play the tempo faster to make it more regal and majestic as well as it is the way majority of the people want to hear it, and not just organists. I helped several large churches hire new organists, and this piece is quite popular for interviews. The Organists that played this slow, did not get hired, but those that played it faster to what we are use to and preferred, were hired. My organ teacher, she was more traditional and played the hymns and music to slow. Palm Sunday came, and she asked me to play All Glory Loud and Honor, and the whole service for pratice playing with the congregation. Her next words are "I know you, you will pick up the speed and improvised to much, and play it more majestic on full organ, and the congregation and pastors prefer the traditional so play it like I would. When the time came, she could see that I was going to do, what I feel is right. so she gave in and said..."do what you want". So the bells rang and I introduced the melody on Full Pedal, with some improvising, and played the 4 verses very festive. She was shaking her head the whole time, and in between 3rd and 4th verse I played a improvisation build up to the last verse, and she was getting angry, and I did this to all the hymns, all of a sudden the packed congregation stood up at the end of the service, turned around and gave me a standing ovation including both pastors. After service, people were asking the organist and the pastors if we enlarged the organ, and got a new fantastic organist, or a guest organist because that is just what they want for hymn singing, because before it was to slow and boring. I could see my organist teacher felt uneasy and felt out of place. She acted like her whole career was crushed. Next thing I know, the congregation asked me to be the organist, and do something more with the almost non music program. Before, the adult and youth bell, and choirs would sing/play a couple times a year, but spent a lot of time practicing for just a few times. Also no organ concerts as well, except for the one when they dedicated the new organ. So I picked things up, had the bell and choirs play much more, and not just for Christmas and Easter only. We did many more concerts with packed houses and people standing due to lack of seats, and always did collections and that money was used for the new and improved music program. It was all traditional, but far more majestic. The first year, we collected enough money to not just pay for the whole music program, but put in a totally new PA system and more mics for the music program, and expand the organ from 56 ranks to over 120 ranks with a gallery and a front Antiphonal organ. and in 3 years by the time for the final payment on the organ was made, it was paid off. We also had recording equipment installed and started making CD's. The traditional music program grew so large, so did the membership and we built a new Gothic Sanctuary that was 3 times the size as the original, and much higher, and expanded the organ from 120 to over 230 ranks. All because I played Hymns faster. The Church went from 4,200 communicate members and with 2,000 members present in 4 services on the weekends to over 2,500 members present in each service x 2 services a weekend. We had to add video and more audio in the whole church campus, because the full pre-K -12 grade school, gym, fellowship hall, chapel [old sanctuary] was a packed house, including every class room. All because I played Hymns faster. So slower is not always better or favored by every one else.

Zita Menyhárt Agreed.

Thank you - I agree.

Could you imagine being able to have heard Liszt play?

@@geofffikar3417 It would be great!

it was recorded in 1932 so it wont be up to today's standards stop complaining and just listen to the great m music idiot

Sergio Bonfiglio There is simply zero evidence that the reason he plays this tempo is NOT because of his advanced age. Stop with your speculation and confidence in what may be a false assertion.

As a stand-alone piece, likely an encore following a concert of other composers' (well, usually one composer, and we all know who) works. it tempts an organist to play it fast because it is not in the context of the organ symphony, an interesting work in its own right.

Couldnt agree more!

Condivido a pieno.

YES ! SO TRUE !

Nah, He pants are on fire and she can't pee until she gets off the bench.

What a funny and lovely way to express it.

OneEyePI she fucks a lot of songs up that way! It comes of harsh!

She doesn't iron, all her clothes are plastic sequins.

Or that she had the last bus from the church...or train...

Kathleen Hazeldine j

Kathleen Hazeldine BS. He's 88. Have you ever heard Rubenstein play at 90? He plays slower and with much less energy and accuracy. You cannot tell by a recording of someone at age 88.

@@djmotise Tell that to Colette Maze, who turns *105* this July.

@@djmotise Also, have you ever heard of a Barker lever? Widor probably would have had to retire earlier than the age of 89 had the Barker lever never been invented.

Yes, Widor's Tempo in the Grand Style of his era ! ! ! we forget and only want to show off how fast we can play leaving musicality behind, playing as if we needed to catch the last train out of town, so we rushed through playing displaying our technique...where is the musicality ??? Metronome setting at 50 interesting. And, tracker keyboards with assistance of the Barker Leaver system...

I agree with you. BTW, I think you meant "bowels" of the earth; people used to use bellows to pump air into organs for the organist. 😊

More Likely a lot of Notre Dame or St. Sulpice.

Yes, the accoustic environment is the fundamental aspect that sets the Pace/Tempo

Richard Crossman well said id say!!!! :-)

Richard Crossman Composer or not, you try playing this piece on a tracker organ at age 88 and see what tempo you muster. Don't be so sure of your opinions.

@@djmotise This organ uses Barker Levers. Sure it is all operated by trackers but the keyboards are NOT directly connected to the wind chests.

@@djmotise believe me, the tempo has nothing to do with his age

​​@@cromorno8749 And why should I believe you? You can hear him struggling with it. He's old and can't play it the way he conceived it. No crime.

Agreed! Sophie Veronique Choplin played it for me!! "por vous, for you" she said to me at the console. An experience I shall never forget

And I thought Tempe was in Arizona...lol

often think of Irving Berlin's comment..."where's the melody" here one gets it all, manuals accompanying the grand Pedal theme as it comes and goes...

Yall better stop shading my girl Diane Bish😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

Patricia Davidson Come on Madam. You are aging this old chap. This piece blinds us to other works of his. His quads and triplets blend too much for me, but that beautiful man wrote it and I am eternally grateful.. WASP

You can´t take musical performances out of the general circumstances of life. Our whole life is way faster than in those days and so is our sensibility in general. To me it´s not a coincidence that almost all old recordings are slower than today´s performances.

That's not necessarily a good thing, though.

Ah - and by the way: He´s making a lot of mistakes. But due to his age that´s understandable of course.

Widor had had a lesson with Lemmens in which he was admonished that the true excitement in playing isn't in tempo, but rhythm. Widor recalls: "It is nothing," Lemmens said mechanically, "without will." What did he mean by "will?" I did not dare to ask him. I finally understood: it is the art of the orator, its authority manifested by the calm, the order and just proportions of the discourse. To musicians, the will shows itself above all through rhythm."

Anonymusum+ Lets see what you can do at 88 years old, and see if you are authorized to talk about his mistakes. So i suggest you keep this point to yourself.

People critical of this are total boneheads. It’s otherworldly fabulous!

It depends on the acoustic. In a very reverberant acoustic, this tempo is awesome. But in very dry rooms, faster may work better.

I wonder if the pedal pipes are slow to speak. Not knowing their wind pressure it's hard to tell. When Widor "launches" them, they seem to lag just a bit, particularly with two different notes played in sequence. This recording is priceless, given the eras' lack of technology!

Dear Josh hope you now record it!

Probably the first sensible comment I've read................

It's all played on the pedals

in know right?! such a cool video

Organists were better instructed then.

the first rule of organ playing - economy of movement

Joan Nemeth Bless you, sister, for your observation.

Bingo, Moritz. Well said, sir.

Uhm . . . an "affinity" for Bach is not exactly "eclectic." He's arguably the greatest musical genius who ever lived.

@@davidgooding810 redundant comment. Notice the "but".