Volume 2, No. 4
Exploring trends in the arts
When I hear music, I fear no danger. I am invulnerable. I see no foe. I am related to the earliest times, and to the latest.
–Henry David Thoreau
In this issue...
Aesthetics: Digital Organ Sound–better than pipes?
Artist Profile: Eva Keller Carson's "Leaving Chincoteague"
Writing: Art of the Short Story with Rudyard Kipling
Music essay: Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy
Aesthetics
Aesthetics: Digital vs Acoustic Organs
by Terry Yount, Executive Editor of Mere Beauty Journal
Do speakers amplifying pipes make authentic organs irrelevant?
The dialogue between experts has been going on for decades, actually since the invention of the Hammond Organ. The argument for digital organ sound goes something like this.
Digital technology in the 21st Century is absolutely stunning in its accuracy as a mime of pipes. Why bother with the expense of pipes when you can have a perfectly tuned imitation going that fills your church or cathedral? Maybe it’s time to retire the pipe organ entirely.
The other argument--for pipes alone --makes the opposite point.
It’s time to update the manufacturing process
for pipe organs in the USA, streamline and reduce costs for producing smaller instruments. Although production of organ sound is entirely manageable with digital technology, there is one problem --the inadequacy of speakers. Authentic pipe organs in concert halls, cathedrals, and parish churches are testimony to the longevity, quality, and inarguable value of acoustic organ sound produced live in a room.
This post is on Quora by contributor Robert L Gerrard:
I just LOVE digital synthesis of sound. I firmly believe there’s far too much unsound criticism of digital clones of real instruments, because once they’re recorded for distribution, or used on stage through a large PA system, there’s actually NO discernible difference. The real thing through amplifiers and speakers sounds the same as a (properly made) recording through the same system.
HOWEVER…
The real thing heard directly does NOT sound the same as a recording played through amplifier and speakers. A pipe organ in a church does not sound the same as a digitally reproduced pipe organ through amplifier and speakers.
The simple and inescapable difference is that the pipes move interacting columns of air - far larger than are moved by the cones of speakers. The ranks of pipes create a completely different acoustic environment, one that a pile of speakers can never match.
No speaker on the planet can compete with a rank of 32 foot pipes. Ironically, they are the most expensive to make and require the most space. Many of Walker Technical Co. early additions were simply 32 foot bourdon, principal, or bombarde --to save money and space.
HOWEVER…
The difference doesn’t justify the massive difference in purchase cost, installation cost, running cost, and space used. Most people won’t KNOW the digital sound isn’t as impressive, because it’s impressive enough.
I always feel though, if the sound is just coming from a bank of speakers, it might as well be a recording… why have a living, breathing (and usually invisible) organist when it’s all digital anyway? As I said at the start: The real thing through amplifiers and speakers sounds the same as a (properly made) recording through the same system. And because of that, I think the digital system devalues the live performance.
Call me old fashioned, but in a Cathedral, I want to see and hear a living breathing creaking and groaning and wheezing and rumbling and vibrating pipe organ played by a living breathing (possibly creaking and groaning and rumbling and vibrating) human.
Despite stalwart advocates for pure pipes, we currently have a binary system for producing organ sound–either acoustic or digital. Not all is lost, however. I have some suggestions:
Organ builders reimagine and modernize their methods. American organ builders should adopt cost-saving practices like Skrabl, Oberllinger, J W Walker, and others in Europe. The historic and authentic manner of producing a pipe organ (irrespective of its artistry) is achingly slow. We can manufacture mechanically superior organs. We can do it more cheaply.
Organists who decry digital sounds because they aren’t ‘authentic’ support struggling companies by having their pipe organ refurbished, rebuilt, or augmented with actual pipe sounds, not digital copies that go out of fashion in 10 years.
Teachers who tell their organ students that digital sound is ‘just as good as’ acoustic pipe sound are doing a disservice to the entire organ industry. When a student trusts us (I am a teacher, too) for responsible attitudes about technique, repertoire, musicianship and tone color, it seems remarkable that some who teach (no names here) are quick to adopt the shrill, pervasive rhetoric of digital organ enthusiasts. We can teach actual facts, not repeat baseless claims, so our students hear from their teachers what actually drives digital sound production--speakers whose cones cannot excite the volume of air in a room as true acoustic pipes do.
Performers are often asked what they most enjoy about an organ they have just given a recital on. When given this fresh opportunity, why would a player who trained on real pipes in a Conservatory refuse to state the obvious? Are we afraid to offend the committee who is writing our check?
Promoters at the American Guild of Organists in your town could do a better job of presenting the actual truth about digital sound. In my experience, these folks are many times the ones who ‘roll over’ and play dead as the digital parade comes through. We can have a Walker representative give a workshop on how the fine organ-like sounds are produced; we can also balance it with a local builder or technician at an organ firm who may explain how an acoustic (real pipes) organ is essentially superior to its digital cousins--acoustic pipes ring the room better than speakers do.
Of course, this is all a ‘pipe dream’ if organists (and some of their teachers) refuse to state the obvious. In the worldwide organists community there is much disagreement about how the sound is produced. There is little disagreement about what constitutes beautiful organ sound. Unintended consequences result when organists ‘roll over’ for the digital advocates–the demise of some smaller and esteemed historical organ builders. By agreeing with digital advocates, might we even contribute to the loss of builders who left hundreds of well-loved organs in houses of worship? Organists who care, and I am one, must speak up.
For starters, we can disagree with some uninformed conclusions. Recently a guest organist played a recital on a cathedral pipe organ with digital enhancements--but the resulting sound was unbalanced and ineffective. A local organist easily ridicules some less distinguished pipe organs. A number of fairly large pipe organs across the USA were replaced by cookie-cutter prefab digital ‘organs’ at half the cost (at least for now). I could go on.
I realize ‘authenticity’ is a precarious word to use in this discussion. Looking around at the postmodern approach to the arts in general, it is no surprise that we are on a downward trajectory in the US and Europe. Is it my imagination, or is there a growing disrespect for historical arts in our culture? I am reminded of Heather MacDonald’s words:
“The attack against classical music is worth examining in some detail, for it reveals the logic that has been turned against nearly every aspect of Western culture over the last few years. That logic displays a hatred of beauty, a brittle intolerance of the past, and a self-righteous certainty that the orthodoxies of the present are uniquely just”.
*From Heather MacDonald, “The Crusade Against Classical Music”
I will remain among those hopeless souls who prefer aesthetic merit over immediate gratification. I will reject voices that call for abolishing pipes for less costly digital substitutes. The 'worthless' pursuit of craft or aesthetic merit may find a smaller audience, but I am among them..
Artist Profile
Eva Keller Carson
When a serious artist produces striking work, it deserves attention. Her “Leaving Chincoteague” is among several oil on canvas works (below).
See her collection and bio at evakellercarson.com.
Writing
Art of the Short Story
As children we may encounter stories like Berenstain Bears or The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. These were simply read to us by a parent or older sibling. But for the Edwardian child growing up in the mid-20th century, the frequent bedtime (or other) companion was Rudyard Kipling’s Just So Stories. In particular, “How the Leopard Got His Spots” is one of my favorites. You may have heard of it. In case you haven’t, or haven’t read it aloud to a child (or read it for yourself for an adult laugh), it is beauty in language.
You might begin your 'Just So lesson,’ to explore the story's charm. Read this story aloud to someone in your circle, or to a child who needs a story before bed. It may take multiple nights to finish. Either way, you are reading Mr. Kipling's mastery of a literary form, intended for British children, which can’t be a bad thing,
Excerpt:
How the Leopard Got His Spots
In the days when everybody started fair, Best Beloved, the Leopard lived in a place called the High Veldt. 'Member it wasn't the Low Veldt, or the Bush Veldt, or the Sour Veldt, but the 'sclusively bare, hot, shiny High Veldt, where there was sand and sandy-coloured rock and 'sclusively tufts of sandy-yellowish grass. The Giraffe and the Zebra and the Eland and the Koodoo and the Hartebeest lived there; and they were 'sclusively sandy-yellow-brownish all over; but the Leopard, he was the 'sclusivist sandiest-yellowish-brownest of them all a greyish-yellowish catty-shaped kind of beast, and he matched the Veldt to one hair. This was very bad for the Giraffe and the Zebra and the rest of them; for he would lie down by a 'sclusively yellowish-greyish-brownish stone or clump of grass, and when the Giraffe or the Zebra or the Eland or the Koodoo or the Bush-Buck or the Bonte-Buck came by he would surprise them out of their jumpsome lives. He would indeed! And, also, there was an Ethiopian with bows and arrows (a 'sclusively greyish-brownish-yellowish man he was then), who lived on the High Veldt with the Leopard; and the two used to hunt together the Ethiopian with his bows and arrows, and the Leopard 'sclusively with his teeth and claws till the giraffe and the Eland and the Koodoo and the Quagga and all the rest of them didn't know which way to jump, Best Beloved. They didn't indeed!
Music Essay
Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy
by Eric Grossberndt
Music can speak to our souls in a profound way that cannot be accomplished by the spoken word. Music rejoices with us in moments of triumph, consoles us in times of sorrow, and allows us to meditate and be inspired. Though it is easy to be transfixed by music in all its power and beauty, I believe that at its finest, music does not seek to steal the spotlight. It does not force the listener to “look at me.” Rather, music serves to enrich our own lives…whether in restful solitude, a moment of celebration with loved ones, or anywhere in between.
We all have certain pieces of music that hold a special place in our hearts. As each person is uniquely created by our Heavenly Father, the music that resonates with each one of us is different. Since I was a boy, I have been fascinated with classical music, with Ludwig van Beethoven ranking as one of my favorite composers. Though I have read little of Beethoven’s own life, I almost feel as though I have met him. When I listen to his music, I can hear a complex web of emotions that bear a striking resemblance to my own life, and so in a way I can relate to some of his struggles and triumphs. It is almost as if he is in the same room, speaking to me as he would a close friend.
One Beethoven opus that has had a profound impact on my life is his Choral Fantasy (op. 80). I was first introduced to this work when it was rehearsed and performed by my college choir. At the time, I was battling a serious form of bi-polar disorder and was often subject to severe mood swings, from euphoric heights to feelings of utter helplessness and despair. This music was a comfort to me because it seemed as though Beethoven was setting to music exactly what I was feeling. As a result, the music came alive in a very real and personal way. I encourage you to take a listen for yourself as I describe what I hear throughout the piece:
The work begins with an extended solo piano in a tense and pensive tone. Most of the opening section has an agitated feel as the notes often repeat, moving back and forth, around and around, always going somewhere, yet nowhere, trying to hold itself together, but eventually falling into anguish and chaos. After several minutes, the string section quietly enters the scene and opens a dialogue with the piano, which appears to have a calming effect. Next, the woodwinds speak up, and finally the strings return, building to a climax and a moment of triumph as the music brightens to C-major. The piano returns with the principal theme of the piece, which is very pastoral and light-hearted, a far cry from the agitated state evident during the first several minutes.
Several of the orchestra members join in the merriment, each lending a friendly air while the piano provides complementary support. The flute, the oboe, the clarinet, and bassoon each provide their own variation to the joyful song. Ultimately, the strings return, building to an irrepressible climax that overflows with pleasure and excitement. The piano and the entire orchestra engage in a cheerful dialogue over the next few minutes.
Just when it seems like things could not possibly get any better, the piano suddenly stumbles back into agitated despair. The strings try to help – with limited success. Another agitated outburst occurs moments later, ending with an extended trill – as if the piano is paralyzed by fear. Finally, the woodwinds arrive with a soothing tone, which seems to work…the piano’s troubled state dies down and is replaced by a calmer, happier tune.
The piano appears to be at peace, but soon the anxious trill returns until the horn section arrives in triumph, immediately brightening the mood. However, as soon as the horns fade away, the piano is back to its brooding, confused, wandering thoughts. As before, the strings quietly step back in to assist once again, but this time they are joined by a choral presence to reprise the main triumphant theme, only more powerful than before. This time, the power of the joined forces of the entire orchestra and the choir carries the day, delivering a thrilling coda to close the piece.
I cannot help but notice that whenever the other members of the orchestra lend their voice, it immediately serves to brighten the mood. It underscores how essential it is to be in fellowship – not only with other people – but also our Creator. The closing lines of the chorus say that “when love and strength are united, Divine grace is bestowed upon Man.” God is our strength and ever-present help in trouble and the giver of every good gift. Each and every day of our lives, we can see His beauty and power reflected in the gift of music.
Eric Grossberndt is a follower of Mere Beauty, a supporter of the arts,
and resident of Central Florida.
Dive Deeper...
Be sure to explore the links in each article to find more pieces of the ‘arts puzzle’ in the world around us. If you spend only a few moments going through this issue, please share it with a friend.
Mere Beauty is a forum to encourage artists to explore works of beauty,
share resources, and go deeply into the treasures around us...
A Word from Terry Yount
Executive Creator, Mere Beauty
We depend on you, the subscribers to MB, for most of our marketing to the wider culture. If you spend only a few moments going through this issue, please share it with a friend. If you need questions answered, please get in touch following the link below.
As always, take every opportunity to contemplate the beauty all around us. Once you have fully enjoyed the experience of transcendent music, literature, architecture, painting, and more–pass it on to someone who may need it.
We'd love to know your thoughts about Mere Beauty. Your feedback, as always, is welcome.