XAVER VARNUS PLAYS BACH'S TOCCATA & FUGUE IN THE BERLINER DOM
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Xaver Varnus plays Toccata and Fugue in D minor (edited by Mendelssohn and Straube) on the great Sauer Organ of the Berliner Dom. Recorded live on the Opening Night of the "Berliner Internationaler Orgelsommer 2013".
Xaver Varnus' first piano teacher was Emma Németh, one of the last pupils of Debussy. He has played virtually every important organ in the world, including those in Bach's Thomaskirche in Leipzig (2014), Berliner Dom (2013), Notre-Dame (1981), Saint-Sulpice (2006) and Saint-Eustache (1996) in Paris, National Shrine in Washington, D.C. (1985), and Canterbury Cathedral (2004), as well as the largest existing instrument in the world, the Wanamaker Organ in Philadelphia (1985). His Quadruple Platinum Disc winning album "From Ravel to Vangelis" (SONY, 2007), is the best-selling organ CD ever. As a Canadian citizen, Xaver Varnus resides in Berlin, and in Brooklyn, Nova Scotia Peninsula, where he opened Varnus Hall in a 19th century church. "Put simply, Varnus is a monster talent, every bit as stimulating and individual as the late Glenn Gould" (The Globe & Mail, Canada's National Newspaper). "He is one of the most influential figure in organ music in the early twenty-first century." (Mark Wigmore, The New Classical FM, Canada).
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At the time of its dedication in 1905, the great Sauer Organ of the Berliner Dom was the largest in Germany, with its 7269 pipes and 113 registers, distributed across four manuals and pedals. The court organ builder Wilhelm Sauer, from Frankfurt on the Oder, created an instrument that embodied the newest technical and musical developments of German organ building at the time. In that way, the organ met the high expectations of both the organ builder and his client: in the Protestant Cathedral of the capital city, there was to be a monumental, modern, and in every way extraordinary instrument of the highest quality. The organ of the Cathedral of Berlin represents the highpoint of Sauer’s career. At the same time, it marks the end of the long development of Romantic orchestral organs, whose sound corresponds to the characteristic sound of a symphonic orchestra of that period. Today, the organ in the Cathedral of Berlin is the largest late-Romantic pneumatic action organ in the world that has survived in its original condition.
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🎧 About This Track
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✨ Highlights
- 🏆 Over 10 million views - a proven favorite
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💡 Listening Tips
- 🔁 Enable looping for continuous relaxation
- 🎛️ Try the Ambient Sound Mixer to customize your experience
- 📱 Works great through phone speakers or Bluetooth
💬 What Listeners Say
""And what instrument do you play?" "The Cathedral"."
— @dharusiokay9426 👍 2,047
"The silence between notes is so much more important than people think and this guy nailed that"
— @samworlock1987 👍 1,661
"It's nice to see an organist who understands they are not only playing the organ, but the entire building. His timing as the sound decays across the auditorium is impeccable."
— @Ladco77 👍 9,866
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To fully enjoy "XAVER VARNUS PLAYS BACH'S TOCCATA & FUGUE IN THE BERLINER DOM", we recommend the following approach:
- Set the Scene: Find a comfortable position, dim the lights if possible, and minimize distractions.
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- Try the Mixer: Use our Ambient Sound Mixer below to customize the audio with additional sound layers.
This 12:11 track is ideal for relaxation, focus, sleep. With 21.5M views, it has become a trusted choice for thousands of listeners worldwide.