Les Deutsch's Organ Recordings |
| This page contains demonstration recordings of my Hauptwerk organ designs. To find details of these organs, visit my organ software page. I made these recordings directly from Hauptwerk's audio capture capability using an Apple MacBook Pro for the sounds and my Rodgers 945 organ for control. The selections are meant to show off the varied tone colors of the organs. All files are in mp3 format. The recordings of my 3-Manual English Organ include a custom voicing performed by Mark Williams of Savannah, Georgia. Mark is both a professional voicer and an organist intimately familiar with English organ practices. Inspired by Mark, I completely revoiced my Expanded Schantz organ for my recording of Frank's Final. |
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| Recordings of the Expanded Schantz Organ (version 1.2) |
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Praamblen und Interludien
by Hermann Schroeder
1 Maestoso
2 Moderato
3 Andante
4 Vivace
5 Andantino
6 Allegro
7 Allegretto con moto
8 Vivo |
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| Recordings of the Model 945 Organ (version 1.1) |
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| The Bach fugue is, of course, one of his most famous compositions. "Forgotten Dreams" is a lesser-known orchestral piece by Leroy Anderson, the same composer who wrote "Bugler's Holiday", "The Typewriter", and "Sleigh Ride". Jean Langlais is one of my favorite 20th organ composers - probably because of his use of complex chords and odd time signatures. The "Incantation" is a real show piece and not for the faint-of-heart. "In an 18th Century Drawing Room" is my own arrangement of one of Scott's most famous compositions. It is almost note-for-note identical to the original recording - quite a finger buster! You can download the sheet music on my Raymond Scott page. FInally, I have Von Suppe's most popular overture, "Poet and Peasant". This is my own arrangement. I started with the original score and a couple of my favorite reference recordings. This setting has everything from the original - but it requires double and triple pedaling, and lots of fancy fingering. You can download the sheet music to try it yourself. All I ask is that you give me arranging credit. It would also be nice to get recordings of other organists playing this arrangement. |
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| Recordings of the Three-Manual Litomysl organ (version 1.1, Dry Samples) |
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| Recordings of the Three-Manual Litomysl organ (version 1.1, Wet 24-bit "version 2" samples) |
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Eight Little Preludes and Fugues
by J. S. Bach (or maybe J. T. Krebs, a student of Bach's) |
Prelude and Fugue #1 (C Major)
Prelude and Fugue #2 (D Minor)
Prelude and Fugue #3 (E Minor)
Prelude and Fugue #4 (F Major)
Prelude and Fugue #5 (G Major)
Prelude and Fugue #6 (G Minor)
Prelude and Fugue #7 (A Minor)
Prelude and Fugue #8 (Bb Major) |
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| Like many organists, these were some of the very first pieces I studied - when I was 11 years old! I have played them of and on for a very long time and I decided to revisit them once again for these demonstration recordings. Back when I was 11, most organists believed these were written by J. S. Bach himself. In the interim, some musicologists have suggested that J. T. Krebs, a student of Bach's, actually wrote them - for the pedal clavichord. Regardless of what you believe, these are still fine organ works. They are called "little" because they are short. Some of them are actually quite challenging to perform. I have used them occasionally for short recitals, particularly for audiences not accustomed to organ music. The Prelude in #8 was recorded on a modifcation of the Three-Manual Litomysl organ created by Al Morse. It uses multiple release samples, allowing the very fast passages to be heard more clearly - thank you Al! |
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| Recordings of the Three-Manual English Organ (version 2.1 with custom voicing by Mark Williams) |
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The "Throop Institute March" is an "official" march for the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The original name of the college was "Throop Institute" (pronounce "troop"). I play this at the conclusion of every Caltech commencement ceremony. "Powerhouse" is the most famous composition of Raymond Scott - another of my musical interests. Since I am trying to promote the music of Raymond Scott, you can download the sheet music for my arrangement of Powerhouse for your own performances, completely free of charge. I only ask that you give me arranging credit in any concerts or recordings.
I will be adding more organ recordings to this site as I find free time. I intend to have demonstration recordings for all of my organ designs in the coming months.
Be sure to visit the Night Blooming Jazzmen main pages. This is the Dixieland band with which I spend a great deal of my musical time. It is a great band and we will be very happy to see you at our performances or sell you CDs and DVDs!
Also, check out my Raymond Scott page to see another of my musical projects - reconstructiung the music of the great Raymond Scott, a composer you probably haven't heard of though you can likely hum many of his tunes. |
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| Recordings of the Jeux d'Orgues d'Trois Claviers (version 1.0) |
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| "Flapperette" is a piano novelty piece from the 1920s. I play a lot of these in my side career as a pianist for a Dixieland band. I thought this one lends itself very nicely to the concert organ. The "Little" Bach Prelude in C Major is probably the easiest piece attributed to Bach - but it has a special meaning to me. As a small child, I would listen to my father play this on our old Conn Artist tube organ. It was the piece he could play completely! He went on to invent the digital organ, developing the system that Allen released in the late 1960s. I recorded my own transcription of Franz von Suppe's Light Cavalry Overture. I was not happy with other transcriptions I had found so I went back to the original score and a couple reference recordings to create this one. You can download it for your own use as long as you give me transcribing credit. |
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