Monday - The Day on Temple Square
Introduction to the Day
Monday was set up quite differently than any day we have had on an organ crawl thus far, because there were several organs to see on Temple Square. Dr. Moorman-Stahlman separated us into several groups. Each group was given a time slot in one of the three buildings in which the organs where housed. We will follow my group's day through Temple Square [Charles, Dwight, and I].
**Note - We are the first and only group to ever receive this amount of time on the Temple Square organs = A BIG Thank You to Dr. Elliott for that opportunity.**
The Convention Center
My group began in the convention center from 9 AM - 12 PM. We each had one hour of playing time on the Schoenstein organ that fills the convention center.
The first point I want to make is that the three of us were taken aback when we entered the main stage of the convention center and saw the sight that was the convention center. The sheer size of the center is amazing. Dr. Elliott told us that it takes approximately 4 minutes to walk from one side of the top row of chairs to the other. When the center is seen on TV it definitely does not look like that, what a sight it was!
After we got to the bench, Charles was the first to begin playing, and Dwight and I went for a little behind the scenes tour of the Convention Center. We were able to see how the stage is adjusted for each season and then we walked through the pipe chambers to get a glimpse into the guts of the monster organ. We also had the chance to see some of the mechanics in action as the stage was being reconfigured as we were there playing.
Soon Charles' time was up on the bench and we had to pry him up because he was having such a great time. Each of us had a similar experience as the organ was just such and impressive instrument. Every single one of us enjoyed playing the organ and listening to our music on the instrument and its variety of sounds. We loved playing around with the variety of sounds it offered that many classical organs do not (such as the amazing Diaphone stop!). And before we knew it, we had to leave the convention center for the noon organ recital and lunch time.
Noon Recital and Lunch
Clay Christiansen was the organist for the noon organ recital on Monday. The noon organ recitals are a tradition at the tabernacle and are one of the primary duties of the tabernacle organists [quick fact: there are three full time organists and two part time organists]. He played a wonderful recital and we again spoke with him and then Dwight and I went for our packed lunch in a garden center outside of Temple Square [food and drink are not permitted within Temple Square]. Then we returned to the Tabernacle for our first afternoon session of organ playing!
The Tabernacle
Once again Charles started off the fun in the Tabernacle, but this time we had work to do. We could not simply doodle around and play with the organ, we had to find the best registration possible for our recital piece. Later in the day we were scheduled to have a recital for our group and Dr. Elliott in the Tabernacle so this was our time to prepare ourselves on the organ. In face all of us took almost our entire hour figuring out what sounded best for our pieces. It was a real challenge at the Tabernacle organ because sitting at the console is actually one of the worst places to hear the organ! In fact, the organ sounds really quite bad at the console. The best place to hear the organ is out in the balcony.
We each did get a chance to play around with the organ a bit and experience the way it was constructed. It turns out that we found this organ to be a little less satisfying as the player than the Convention Center organ, however the organ as a listener was quite an amazing instrument. The advantage of the instrument is the room itself because of how acoustically amazing the Tabernacle is. That is the true power of the Tabernacle organ and it's 206 ranks of pipes. Even if sitting and playing is not always the best experience, listening is always a wonderful treat!
Assembly Hall
By far our favorite instrument was the smallest recital instrument we played and it was the Sipe Tracker organ in Assembly Hall. It was a beautiful instrument that played baroque music beautifully. I personally think what made this organ our favorite was that it was so amazing to play as the organist and as the listener and it had such a great feeling as a tracker organ. As the organist you felt in control and felt as if you were one with this organ. It was a really great experience, and truly brought the music to life unlike many other instruments are able to do. We each enjoyed this instrument and the three practice rooms that reside below in the practice rooms.
I actually loved playing more than just baroque music, such as that of Bach of Sweelinck, on this organ. I pulled out my German composer, Johannes Mathias Michel, who composes jazz! What a rush to play jazz on that organ. It was a great time playing through those three jazz dances and the registrations sounded amazing! Plus the room livened up and you could just feel what each one was saying! This organ was truly a great instrument for its smaller size.
Assembly Hall is where our organ playing explorations ended, and the rest of our day began. Look to the next post to hear about the recital and what happened for dinner and then later on come back and see what happens on Tuesday!
**Note - We are the first and only group to ever receive this amount of time on the Temple Square organs = A BIG Thank You to Dr. Elliott for that opportunity.**
The Convention Center
The first point I want to make is that the three of us were taken aback when we entered the main stage of the convention center and saw the sight that was the convention center. The sheer size of the center is amazing. Dr. Elliott told us that it takes approximately 4 minutes to walk from one side of the top row of chairs to the other. When the center is seen on TV it definitely does not look like that, what a sight it was!
 |
| Dwight at the console |
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| Charles at the organ console |
Noon Recital and Lunch
Clay Christiansen was the organist for the noon organ recital on Monday. The noon organ recitals are a tradition at the tabernacle and are one of the primary duties of the tabernacle organists [quick fact: there are three full time organists and two part time organists]. He played a wonderful recital and we again spoke with him and then Dwight and I went for our packed lunch in a garden center outside of Temple Square [food and drink are not permitted within Temple Square]. Then we returned to the Tabernacle for our first afternoon session of organ playing!
The Tabernacle
Once again Charles started off the fun in the Tabernacle, but this time we had work to do. We could not simply doodle around and play with the organ, we had to find the best registration possible for our recital piece. Later in the day we were scheduled to have a recital for our group and Dr. Elliott in the Tabernacle so this was our time to prepare ourselves on the organ. In face all of us took almost our entire hour figuring out what sounded best for our pieces. It was a real challenge at the Tabernacle organ because sitting at the console is actually one of the worst places to hear the organ! In fact, the organ sounds really quite bad at the console. The best place to hear the organ is out in the balcony.
We each did get a chance to play around with the organ a bit and experience the way it was constructed. It turns out that we found this organ to be a little less satisfying as the player than the Convention Center organ, however the organ as a listener was quite an amazing instrument. The advantage of the instrument is the room itself because of how acoustically amazing the Tabernacle is. That is the true power of the Tabernacle organ and it's 206 ranks of pipes. Even if sitting and playing is not always the best experience, listening is always a wonderful treat!
Assembly Hall
By far our favorite instrument was the smallest recital instrument we played and it was the Sipe Tracker organ in Assembly Hall. It was a beautiful instrument that played baroque music beautifully. I personally think what made this organ our favorite was that it was so amazing to play as the organist and as the listener and it had such a great feeling as a tracker organ. As the organist you felt in control and felt as if you were one with this organ. It was a really great experience, and truly brought the music to life unlike many other instruments are able to do. We each enjoyed this instrument and the three practice rooms that reside below in the practice rooms.
I actually loved playing more than just baroque music, such as that of Bach of Sweelinck, on this organ. I pulled out my German composer, Johannes Mathias Michel, who composes jazz! What a rush to play jazz on that organ. It was a great time playing through those three jazz dances and the registrations sounded amazing! Plus the room livened up and you could just feel what each one was saying! This organ was truly a great instrument for its smaller size.
Assembly Hall is where our organ playing explorations ended, and the rest of our day began. Look to the next post to hear about the recital and what happened for dinner and then later on come back and see what happens on Tuesday!
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