Charles-Marie Widor - Toccata (from Symphony for Organ No. 5)
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- čas přidán 20. 01. 2016
- - Composer: Charles-Marie Jean Albert Widor (21 February 1844 -- 12 March 1937)
- Performer: Frederick Hohman
- Year of recording: 2008 (Live on the Schantz pipe organ at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark, New Jersey, USA)
Toccata from Symphony for Organ No. 5 in F minor, Op. 42, No. 1, written in 1879.
The fifth movement of Widor's Symphony for Organ No. 5 is often referred to as just "Widor's Toccata" because it is his most famous piece, it only lasts around six minutes. Its fame in part comes from its use as recessional music at wedding ceremonies.
The melody of the composition is based upon an arrangement of arpeggios which form phrases, initially in F, moving in fifths through to C major, G major, etc. Each bar consists of one phrase. The melody is complemented by syncopated chords, forming an accented rhythm. The phrases are contextualised by a descending bassline beginning with the 7th tone of each phrase key. For example, where the phrase consists of an arpeggio in C major, the bassline begins with a B flat. - Hudba
My church uses this as the postlude for the Easter Vigil, and every year no one leaves until this piece is finished
Are you perhaps an Episcopalian? We LOVE this piece and no ne leaves a pew until the end.
Where I live it's used as the postlude for the christmas "Christmette" (don't know the english word) and no one leaves too. It's a really greate piece
@@islanderblondi5210 The word your looking for might be "Midnight Mass" . Where do you live?
@@Pipedreams89 ah thanks! I live in southern Germany :)
@@islanderblondi5210 Which city do you live in? I was stationed near Kassel from 1969-1971.
I played this at the end of my childhood friend's memorial service. Brings tears to my eyes everything I hear or play this magnificent work.
R.i.p. Brianna Cassidy
I had this played at our local church after exiting the church after our marriage in 1983. Our organist and choirmaster practiced and performed this especially for me, being a previous choir member, he was talented and a true friend. Love this music so much.
I first heard this piece when I was 12 years old. I was walking downtown past a church when I heard this, promptly did a 180 and walked in to listen. I watched the organist completely exhaust herself. I have been an "organ groupie" ever since (lo these 60 years later.)
Bless you for that! My mother just passed at 92, and I found her request for her memorial service. "Maybe invite the congregation to remain seated for the closing voluntary, Toccata from Symphonie V. That makes beautiful music rather than the spoken word from the last service...."
When I listen to organ live, I often cry.
My oldest sister used this piece as the procession after she and my BIL were married. They are STILL married (since 1989) and it was the most memorable wedding ever, because of this gorgeous organ toccata.
I first heard this on our wedding day, nearly 50 years ago, played by the great organist Richard Marlowe at the chapel of Trinity College, Cambridge, my alma mater. We walked out to these soaring melodies. Peter Adams, the Trinity College chaplain who married us said he had never had a couple walk so slowly, but we wanted to listen to it to the end. I had never been to a wedding before my own!
Bittersweet piece for me. It was the postlude of my parent's funeral and it's one of my dad's favorites. She passed away 5 years ago during my freshman year of high school but I think of her every time I hear it.
everyone has to listen to this song atleast once in their life, i was on choir tour and we went to a church to sing and we stayed for the service. it was a easter sunday and they ended off with this song, there is absolutely no words on how i could explain how i felt, it was a sense of amazement and comfort. i couldn’t move i was in such shock, this was my first time ever hearing an organ live and it was the most beautiful thing i’ve ever seen in my life.
Sure totally moving music and thé organ right hand part IS something !!! And then thé left too ....
I teared up the first time I heard this
Some of us hate the fact that by the time the theme returns in the pedal in octaves that most of the congregation are already gone and miss the best bit.
Sathrandur some of us know what’s coming from the first notes and so wait. Tea can wait until later... 😀
Our parish knows to wait until the end. It’s become a tradition that no one moves until the last note is played ... we are blessed to have a gifted young organist who plays this piece so beautifully.
We, too, have a fabulous organist who, after service, plays a fabulous prelude; at least twice a year it is the Widor. Most, if not all, of the congregation stays...and she is given a huge ovation. As it SHOULD BE!
I've always thought that too. A bit like Bach's Tocatta & Fugue in D Minor.
Samuel Whitehead What are you talking about?
My Lord! This gorgeous piece makes you so glad and grateful to God to be able to hear! To rejoice in His unfathomable blessings! Thankful for every breath He bestows on us! Thankful to try to give Him our best of all we do. Alleluia! All praise and thanks be to God! ♥️ This is so beautiful! So uplifting! I think it makes you glad to be alive. Wonderful! 👑✝️🕊️
Song was played at my grandfathers funeral. My kids go to daycare at a church and someone was practicing it when I picked them up. Took me back 18 years.
I turned pages several times for a pipe organist friend who played this piece at weddings and community concerts. Imagine being so overwhelmed not to remember to turn a page! I would come out of my reverie and look at my friend's feet to find where he was in the score, the bass pedal notes so powerful. My favorite section is at the end when my friend would dramatically slow down, pause, then press the full organ button unleashing a gorgeous finale. He would play this piece rightfully to show off after newlyweds had left the cathedral. I'd look down from the organ loft to see many wedding attendees sitting down listening instead of leaving to congratulate the newlyweds. Always the showman.
Bob Bentz - I loved reading everybody’s comments. Then when I found yours, I paused. My dad was a concert pianist in Poland 1930’s before immigrating to the US. He was an genius organist & beautiful tenor voice all his life at several churches in the Detroit suburbs. When you said “you turned pages”, that brought back huge memories! I couldn’t read any of the music, but dad would nod to me ‘when’ to flip the page! He worshipped God with his whole being when at that organ bench ... his heart, ten fingers, ten toes, made it very hard to attempt to turn a pages & pages of music! The most impressionable memory of my childhood, seeing many of the parishioners gather near the organ to hear him play. Thank goodness for CZcams as I would have no other means of being able to hear this magnificent masterpiece as frequently as I like! I have my dad’s organ shoes. 🎹💙
I played this for my senior recital at University of Montana back in 2016 and I required a page turner!!! For sure! No way I would do this by myself! It was my requirement of me going to out of state college. My dad told me, if you learn Widor's Toccata in college we'll pay for your schooling. I accepted. :) What was worse, during the recital. A cipher went off come the last two pages... Before the final chords I quickly decreased the crec. pedal, swell shade, hit the cancel button; then I turned both pedals back to full volume and quickly pressed the stop to secure the final chords in 3 seconds of the rests time. My professor was pleased with me. It was a wonderful feeling after the concert. And this was the closer, followed by my encore piece of Manheim Steamroller's Toccata in G Major Toccata where a percussionist played the drumset alongside the organ. Super fun concert!
Wow! that sounds like a pilot trying to safe land a wonky plane - with success!
🌹
This is an uplifting and brilliant piece of music, I can’t describe why I love it so much it’s just so refreshing and light for organ music
Light and fresh because it's French 🇫🇷🥖
To me it sounds like all the vampires have awoken and are about to feast on the word. Don't know how to see this as refreshing and light nor how this could be a wedding song.
I am also an unabashed lover of this piece, and I agree that it's really hard to describe why I think it's so great. It just is!
@@amandamarie4567We had it as the recessional/postlude at our wedding. Yeah, it gets dark in the middle, but it begins very official sounding, and ends incredibly triumphantly, in our opinion. And it’s so emotional.
One of those universally popular pieces that will never die. I love the way organists can hold that final high F loud and clear while the harmony changes under it. Although you can play this piece on a piano with "some" success, only the organ can do that.
This piece is the sole reason I started learning the Organ 2 yeara ago. I already palyed the piano before but Organ is so fricking amazing!
I started about 4 weeks ago!
Organ is like playing four pianos at the same time in skill, and in sound it is just a whole different level. A level of its own really. Nothing else comes close.
THIS is what the grand old organs were meant to play. Even if Widor wasn't born until much later. My mother took organ lessons so she could play this, her favorite organ piece. She gave up! Classically trained, Lawrence graduate, but she never stopped loving it nor shall I. Those fabulous end chords always make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Magnificent!
First heard this piece performed at the Colchester Carols for All Concert in 1969, when I was 9. I never got over it. Truly magnificent!
When I attended St Bernard College in Cullman, AL, the Benedictine monks would parade into the church accompanied by this wonderful music. It was so grand.
I love this masterpiece will never leave until it's finished!🙏❤
I heard this piece of music in 1963, played by a 17 year old Schoolboy at a School concert. It has stayed in my conscious from that night !!
where is that schoolboy now?
richard ashton - seriously, I have every note marked in my memory but cannot read a single note! My dad, a church organist & choir director early 1950’s-1980.
My brother and I used to call this the "Hurry up and get out" postlude.
I begin my day listening to The absolutely beautiful Piano version of the Ch. M Widor Toccata! I can hear each musical note separately! I am partially deaf and to be able to hear clear definite music is a Gift from God!!
I'd finish this before even leaving even when it's a Postlude piece
Hi do you have a link? I am partly deaf in mid and softer tones so I am swamped with the higher ranges
This music makes me think of the glory of heaven coming to earth. Our church organist tried playing it and couldn't turn the pages fast enough.
This was played as the exit song when when we had my grandfathers coffin and we walked out with him on our shoulders as the pallbearers
I had it played also for my dad at his funeral!
After Church on EASTER! ABSOLUTELY!!! ❤️❤️❤️
Delighted to boast that I was a regular page turner for Dr Donald Hunt (Gloucester/Torquay/Leeds/Worcester - b1930 d2018).
He had the impresarios gift of talking about completely unrelated subjects whilst playing. This always reminds me of turning for him when he would say “what was the Cricket Score this afternoon?” or some such question after which a conversation ensued! Happy Days RIP Donald.
This piece has been a favorite of my mother's family for ages.. My uncle requested that this be played at his funeral
Dont to him worry, Im playing this in heaven every morning!
I used to love playing this whenever possible as I knew my teacher hated it, and I loved to watch him meltdown. Another teacher of mine taught at Stanford Univ for many years and as its Chapel organist performed it many times for 1000's of weddings and Xmas too I reckon. I'd sit up in his loft with him at the might murray harris console and turn pages, too. Lol🎼🎹
Cool story bro!
This is the best and most musical performance of Widor's toccata I have ever heard. It is strikingly well articulated, very consistent tempo and musically played. 11/10 to the organist. My thanks to the person that added the score in the video. It is strange how editions differ, for instance my version as articulated phrases in, no doubt for a slower performance. However I like the version given here.
Jaundré Scheltema Widor revised a lot, perhaps too much at times. But this version is the one normally performed as most will probably agree it's a little better than the others, especially in the final bars; the score here is not the 1918 edition even though that's what's being played.
Well recorded too. The bass has weight and throbs when the biggest stops play while the rest of the range offers a nice balance of articulation, spaciousness and depth.
E.Porwer Biggs plays a good version of this piece as well .
Oh wow. I love this piece so much. Absolutely brilliant no matter how many times I hear it. Brilliant!
My favourite piece of music of all time. Great stuff
Mine as well. At St.Joseph's Seminary in Mtn. View (CA) in the Sixties Fr. John Olivier would play this as a recessional after some special mass, and I would stand in the upstairs choir loft with the giant pipes as ecstatic as I'll ever be in this life.
How could 50 people give that a thumbs down?? Maybe they're jealous . . !?!
Hohman gave an excellent performance here !!
I can see musicuans/ organists giving thumbs down for the interpretation of how the performer plays it. I've heard faster/ slower versions and how the organist takes the grace notes.
they surely didn't listen to the music
Listening to this performance, no wonder people cry at weddings!
Woe to those that do not listen to the whole piece live. Woe, woe WOE to them.
They played this at the funeral of my great grandfather. He enlisted in the Swedish Navy in 1901 and served through both world wars and retired as a Commander. He spent his later days writing books with his memoars and pictures from his service. He passed away in 2000 and I will probably never experience such a grand funeral again with honor guard and everything.
Well done, of course. It is especially nice to see the score passing by as we hear it. Musicians, and not just organists, appreciate this addition! Thanks.
Widor the Master of Organ
Some organ consoles look like Boeing cockpits -- and there is even a copilot.
I hope to play this before I retire.
You mean the registrant? The big trackers can be a handful, and one or more extra pair of hands can make the difference between a magical performance and a stillborn one.
These are usually fine musicians in their own right, and as familiar (or more) with the instruments as the artist tickling the ivories.
As for the Boeing cockpit, have you seen the console of the Cavaille-Coll at St. Sulpice?
5610winston They need at least 2 co-pilots there- and Olivier Latry said that the old console of the Notre-Dame organ needed 5 registrants!
So many don't understand the magic of the old instruments, so many are too ready to tear out the old linkages and replace the mechanical-pneumatics with computers.
This is one of my most favorite organ selections ever since I heard the late Dr. Luther T. Spayde play it upon my entrance to Central Methodist University in 1972! It is a magnificent work!
I mean.... possibly the best one-hit-wonder ever....
One hit wonder? You should listen to Widor's Opus 69 symphony for organ and orchestra, arguably superior to Saint Saens, or Martin Bacot's performance of the Bach Memento arrangement of the finale from the saint Matthew Passion (played on the Cavaille-Coll organ at Saint Sulpice) or the scherzo from the Symphonie Gothique (or the entire Symphonie Gothique), or the Symphonie Romane, or the Sixth organ symphony, or the Piano Trio or the Piano Quintet or.....
Widor actually wrote tons of utterly bewildering music, well-worth checking out!
@@5610winston that's literally the definition of one hit wonder... he had loads of other great pieces but he's only known for this one.
@@philipgerlach7074 Bach? The youngest of the son-of-a-Bachs died almost seventy years before Widor was born.
Yes. Widor had many talented organists as contemporaries. He taught lot of them, including Louis Vierne and Albert Schweitzer.
@@julianmatthews5785 Not for us organists! We know lots of wonderful stuff from him.
This piece is really beautiful and full of positive energy, thank you! Now I want to set it as ringtone.😁
I want this for the recessional at my funeral: get everyone out of the church fast, then to the cemetery, and then to the
luncheon...drinks are on me!
At my mother's funeral we say Joyful Joyful We Adore Thee as we were walking the casket out, just as we reached the narthex, this piece started. (by my design) It had never been played in our Lutheran church (on our new pipe organ). It was a fitting last moment for my mother and her 88 years of worship! Thank you Widor.
It was the exit song for my grandfathers today
This was always my wish, and I'm 73 now. Trouble is, no one can play it!
This beautiful piece is filled with such joy!! I would love to hear it as a wedding recessional as well as at Easter!! One can’t help but shed a tear for the hope and joy contained therein.
It was our wedding recessional, played by a good college friend who was by then a professional organist. It was great!
The British Royal family often use this as a wedding recessional
It is said that if this piece is played too loud near the join in the Earth's tectonic plates it can cause devastating earthquakes
God i hope so
It wasn’t unexpected though
Посчастливилось слышать это музыкальное произведение вживую на органном концерте, восторг!
Das ist das großartigste Stück, was ich je gehört habe. Zuerst auf einer kleinen Orgel von einem Kirchenmusikstudenten wunderbar gespielt. Dieses Stück lässt ich nicht mehr los.
Mesmerising, magical piece. It creates an aura of grandeur.
Astonishing
Just stopping in to show this beautiful piece of music off to a person very dear to me. Hope everyone finds the peace in it that I feel.
They played this after a Traditional Latin High Mass at my Church last Sunday. This song slaps
Most interesting to be able to follow the musical score on screen, synchronised with the playing.
Thank you for the most authentic performance of this toccata. I studied this piece under Arthur Poister of Syracuse University YEARS ago, who studied the piece under Widor himself. Widor's main criticism of most organists playing this is their lack of understanding of the symbol for STACATTO. Many people slur notes all over the place where Widor did not mark. The also changed the original phrasing. And then the tempo. Yours is about what Dr. Poister told me that Widor wanted. Thank you again for being a real artist and not a race car driver as so many people are while playing this piece. I told Diane Bish what Widor said once at a concer of hers and she snarled at me and walked away. We know better.
Diane Bish presents herself as such a humble and angelic servant of the Almighty. Love to hear this inside story revealing her true colors.
She also incorrectly DOUBLES the tempo of the last two bars, as do several organists, such as James Kennerly. She fell into the trap of turning the half-note value into a quarter-note one, and whole-note value into halfs. Her musicianship is in serious question here.
@TheRenaissanceman65 Indeed, and it's actually quite difficult playing it slower, because the timing of individual notes cannot rely solely on the rebound effect, and the articulation, being considerably exposed, has to be much more subtle and intelligent.
I would personally be bold and play the staccato sections on really punchy reed stops ESPECIALLY if the acoustics are really wet. Or just get a percussion ensemble to play this piece because you can't get much more STACCATO than certain PERCUSSION instruments… czcams.com/video/vtwtvezrx00/video.html
Personally, I would love to see organists such as Diane Bish tackle a transcription of the fourth movement of Symphony No. 3 by Vittorio Giannini: czcams.com/video/FfKHMeNjCS8/video.html
My teacher said that a theatre organist would find it impossible to play this since they slur every note and insert dozens of others. It should take 6 mins to play. Bish always sounds like she's in a race. It's not a competition.
One of my all-time FAVORITE organ pieces!! Thanks for including the score! :)
Haven't been able to return to this since starting in computer science at Stanford when programming wrestled me away from music. At least I can listen to it!!! World's top marriage song for the recessional. Only secular one blessed by the Pope!!!!!!!
Certamente a obra mais famosa de Widor. Lembro-me de tê-la ouvido em um CD de meu pai, quando criança, e ter ficado fascinado. Umas primeiras obras de órgão do romantismo que escutei.
Love it so much!!!!
I have been page turner in Leeds for Dr Donald Hunt (Leeds, Gloucester, Worcester, UK) during this (and other complicated pieces). He happily nodded and in between page turns would hold conversation about Leeds Uniteds’ weekend performance, or Cricket at Headingley, or about the forthcoming week’s appointments! A genius.
Bobby D Ugh. That's not genius. That's total non-musicianship. Talking and joking during great music. Ridiculous.
Awesome to see the score !!! Merci. J’ai vécu sur la Rue Charles-Marie Widor à Paris !!
That's great! Did you make a photo you can share?
Sheer Majesty!
This was the postlude for my Final Profession of Religious Vows. It was just glorious!
I need to learn this piece
ok this is not what I was expecting, incredible
This was the postlude at my wedding. ❤
Nice choice !
wow, this is a masterpiece
この曲はおそらく1960年代（私が小学生だったころ）日本航空（JAL）のテレビ広告で使われていた曲だ。確か「東京は夜の７時」に続いて、「ロンドンでは12時、お昼の時間」とか、「ニューヨークでは朝の6時、一日が始まろうとしている」というような、世界の時間をとり上げたCMとして、憧れのような気持ちを持って見て、聞いていた。その曲を幼いながらずっと覚えていて、それが Charles-Marie Widor のこの曲だと知ったのは大学生のころだったと思う。
This music was probably used in a TV AD for Japan Airlines (JAL) around 1960's (when I was in elementary school, almost 50 years ago) in Japan. The narration was perhaps like this: "Tokyo is 7 o'clock at night", followed by "12 o'clock in London, lunch time" or "6 in the morning in New York, the day is about to start." I watched and listened to it with a feeling of admiration, hearing the music theme. After that I had long remembered this melody as a child and finally I got to know it was Charles-Marie Widor's Toccata when I was a college student.
I dont understand you, but you are welcome!
Zam this is my fav! Greetings from the USA!
Fans of Yes will recognize the references to this in Geoff Downes' keyboard parts on "Machine Messiah."
True" Isn't Geoff brilliant. ! 🎹🎶
@@Davai007 Yes! "Friends make their way . . . into systems of chance"
En el 2010 tocó Federico Cabella esta tocatta de Widor de forma excelente en iglesia Los Capuchinos que poco valor damos a nuestros excrlentes artistas ROU
A former Director of Music at my home church had a student who learned this and play it as a Postlude after a service...AND HE WAS 13! Steven, you did a fantastic job!
Thank you, Olga.
I once heard this piece played. It was good. The same day I drank a beer and saw a pigeon.
Thought I'd just share another fascinating story. There's so many here in the comments.
I want this played at the end of my funeral.
2:29 is phenomenal!!
I discovered this masterpiece many years ago, thanks to the legendary Progressive Rock band "Yes" and their song "Machine Messiah".
Wonderful music for organ👏👏👏👏
May God bless you . -Wonderfull organ, magnificant player, greetings to the Cathedral of Sacred Heart in Newark/New Jersey Thank you.
This piece always moves me a great deal. It's like it ties my life together.
Bravo!
Wonderful...
This was used at the end of a wedding I attended last weekend at Grays Inn. Incredible piece of music!
People must stay in their places for this piece, and preferably stand up in honour of this.
Sylvia Purdon Oh please. Stand up? At a concert?
IF, 1968, springs on to mind.....
Yes, as they were emerging from the College.
Perfect music for the last few lines of Goethe's Faust: Wanderlicht! Wunderlicht! Uber und on!
One of, if not the best recording I've heard. Fantastic registration.
Freddie Mercury, Jane Seymour, Fashion Aid 1985... Pure magic...
Profound Exuberance
I submit that part of the power of this ecstatic piece stems from the fact that Widor was one of the greatest authorities on Bach of his day.
This is my preferred tempo, much slower than Diane Bish but faster than Widor himself.
I can never get past the urge almost every organist has to hold the last note of the last arpeggio through the final Amen.
Widor himself did so, creator's prerogative, but the score clearly shows a beat and a half of rest between that note and the chord in the second half of the bar. The silence in this brief rest allows the reverb to fade away, adding to the majesty of the finale.
Find a recording (or better, a live performance) played by the score, and you'll hear the difference.
@@5610winston Thanks. I'm going to look into this. That would completely change the ending, and this score clearly shows it as you mentioned.
5610winston but wait a second... if the creator himself exercised this prerogative, doesn't that make it a valid interpretive option for the rest of us?
Colin Sapsford organist Christ Church St Laurence Sydney Australia played this exquisitely during his long tenure there. What an honour to have known him
Thank God for Shazam, otherwise this piece would haunt me in my dreams 😅
I love it ❤
Eines der kraftvollsten Musikstücke, die je geschrieben wurden - in dieser Aufnahme meisterhaft Interpretiert! * one of the most powerful music pieces ever written - masterly performed in this recording!
I heard it for the first time, but for some reason it is a calming performance. I would like to listen to other songs a little more.
The best version!!
Brilliant!
When I attended or listened to the Easter services at Riverside Church in NYC, this was the postlude, and it still is. When I hear this music, I imagine the women running from the empty tomb of Jesus to tell the apostles and disciples the angels' message that Christ has risen!
I came here today because I was watching videos from First United Church of Oak Park (Chicago, IL) of their Lent 2022 "Fast from Whiteness" where they used music, poetry, and other works from BIPOC people during their Sunday services. On their website, I peeked ahead at their bulletins for later Lenten and Easter Sunday music, and this toccata was listed as their Easter Sunday postlude.
He’s so much better live 🙏🙏😭
This is Masterpiece
Excellent.
Who's tinkling the ivories in this rendition? - good tempo and the best double thump on the final chord of any playing I have heard
phénoménal !