I'm not sure what the difference is between your initial reaction just below and your subsequent correction; both sound right to me. The pipe organ is a mighty instrument that seems to have been designed for elaborately resonant spaces like churches to evoke powerful feelings, and composers have taken advantage of that.
But I'm sure it's a great delight to have a pipe organ in one's home, as your friend does! One of the many interesting things about pipe organs is that they're all different--much more so than, say, pianos or violins. The late organist E. Power Biggs made a recording in which he played the same Bach organ piece on 14 different European church organs, made from the 15th century to the 20th century, to show off the characteristics of each one. More info about pipe organs: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pipe_organ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pipe_organ Wikipedia says that from the 17th to the late 19th centuries, the pipe organ was the most complex man-made device in existence. As such, it was ultimately displaced by the telephone exchange. Ann wrote: << That is wonderful, wonderful. I am not sure why I find this sound, this music so expansive and exhilarating. Maybe it is a combination of the acoustics echoing off the beauty of the spires and around the intricate filligree of the cathedral screens and stonework. It all contributes to this timeless sort of forgotten memory feeling I get, as if this music, the nature of the this sound is really ancient and imbedded in my DNA. I thought you might find this interesting. A very close and dear family friend of ours has an organ installed in his townhouse in Portland Maine. Here are some links to his home and instrument: http://pipedreams.publicradio.org/gallery/us_northeast/maine/portland_plumb_hope-jones.shtml http://pipedreams.publicradio.org/gallery/us_northeast/maine/portland_plumb_hope-jones.shtml Go to photo 18 for more info: http://www.mainememory.net/sitebuilder/site/187/slideshow/221/display?format=list&prev_object_id=446&prev_object=page&slide_num=1 http://www.mainememory.net/sitebuilder/site/187/slideshow/221/display?format=list&prev_object_id=446&prev_object=page&slide_num=1 Correction: maybe acoustics are the result of a combination of the notes played, the vibration of the sound through air, hitting the various architectural elements of the Cathedral or other enclosure thus creating the culmination of all of this as the final sound, the "acoustic". Nevertheless, I'm diggin' those big organs right now - just add a little frankincense and a Christmas choir and I'm right in my element. Leonard Cohen just ain't cuttin' it for me. >>
