These items are our picks for Christmas Gifts and Christmas themed choices. This collection is specifically made up of items that are extremely popular around the holidays.
Our DVDs also make great Christmas Gifts:
Virgil Fox's historic 1964 Command Classics recording of the Wanamaker Organ is now available on CD!
The famous LP original was taped on state-of-the-art 35-mm magnetic film to capture the Wanamaker Organ's unsurpassed dynamic range.
This re-release from a Master Tape kept in the vaults of the Wanamaker Store is newly digitized, with a DVD featuring the same music content as the CD—in 5.1 surround sound—plus the Kaleidoplex Digital Light Organ and two bonus videos: CBS-TV's "La Belle Epoque" (30 min.), and a 1980 Fox Evening Magazine interview and mini-recital at the Wanamaker console.
Each unit contains two discs (a CD and a DVD) and a deluxe illustrated booklet. Hear the recording that was voted one of the 100 best records of the century by Stereo Review during the centennial year of Edison's phonograph.
Played on the Wanamaker Organ:
WAGNER: Fanfares from Parsifal
VIERNE: Carillon de Westminster
BACH / FOX: Come Sweet Death
MULET: Thou Art the Rock (Tu es Petra)
ELGAR: Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1
FAURè: Nocturne from Shylock
WAGNER: Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde
The CBS Camera Three program, which is titled La Belle Epoque, was performed in a TV studio on Fox's touring organ. Fox plays:
HARRY ROWE SHELLEY: Fanfare
GUILMANT: Marche Religieuse
IVES: Variations on America
ELGAR: Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1
The 11-minute TV interview was shot at the Wanamaker Organ in 1980 by Group W's Evening Magazine syndicated TV series in Philadelphia. Performance clips include Dr. Fox playing excerpts from Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor and the Gigue Fugue. Russ Stanton is the host.
NEW DVD and CD! See and hear the Wanamaker Organ in all its majesty in this CD / DVD set featuring Peter Richard Conte and Maestro Rossen Milanov with Symphony in C! Includes Saint-Saens’ towering “Organ” Symphony No. 3, Elgar’s Cockaigne Overture and Pomp and Circumstance March No. 4, and the spine-tingling Poulenc Concerto in G Minor for Organ Strings and Tympani!
Thomas Murray narrates the DVD, which also includes behind-the-scenes glimpses of the concert a segment on gilding the Wanamaker Organ display pipes; a rare recording of the voice of John Wanamaker; a Bob Krist tribute to the Wanamaker Organ called “The Voice of Philadelphia,” a film showing the spontaneous eruption of the Hallelujah Chorus by the Opera Company of Philadelphia during a daily concert; the Friends of the Wanamaker Organ Story; and several bonus video extras.
Saint-Saens: Symphony No. 3 in C Major “Organ”
Elgar: Cockaigne Overture and Pomp and Circumstance March No. 4 (Organ/Orchestra)
Poulenc: Concerto in G Minor for Organ, Strings & Tympani
Hosted by PETER RICHARD CONTE and THOMAS MURRAY
Ever wonder what it is like to actually play the Wanamaker Organ? Where do you begin? What do all the stops sound like and how do you combine them? Peter Richard Conte and Thomas Murray take a tonal tour of the 28,750 pipes of Rodman Wanamaker's gigantic Orchestral Color Machine.
In this companion piece to our Curator's Tour DVD (sold separately) share musical insights from two of today's top symphonic organists! The comprehensive, three-hour DVD, filmed in the hushed Grand Court after Store hours, includes...
HIGHLIGHTS
[] A division-by-division tonal tour of the stops
[] Demonstrations of the art of transcription playing
[] Themes by Grieg, Lemare, Schumann, Widor, Mouret, Tchaikovsky, Bach
[] Insight into the Console's design and special controls
[] An exploration of unusual stop combinations and sounds
[] A tour through all the Percussions
[] A visit to Yale's Woolsey Hall and Harkness Tower Carillon
[] A tour of the Rodman Wanamaker Flag Collection
[] Examples of of how stops sound inside and outside the chamber
[] Explorations of the Crescendo Pedal and its Division Cut Outs
[] Demonstrations of the fascinating technique of Thumbing extra melodies
[] Tutorials on the Organ's coupling system and unusual controls.
[] A ride in Professor Murray's vintage Rolls-Royce
[] Scenes of a demonstration of the mighty Woolsey Hall organ at Yale
MUSIC
[] Moonlight Music from the Opera Capriccio (Richard Strauss)
[] Imperial March (Edward Elgar)
[] Scherzo from Sonata VIII (Guilmant)
The companion booklet includes a detailed essay on how to play the Wanamaker Organ, with insights from Peter Richard Conte, Keith Chapman, John Binsfeld, Virgil Fox and others, and a division-by-division overview of the Wanamaker Organ's evolution and tonal resources.
An Excellent History and Tour aimed at General Audiences, with lush Keith Chapman Music!
Our bestselling DVD of the World's Largest Playing Musical Instrument! Images show every cavernous pipe chamber, ethe interior of the massive console and sample sounds of numerous stops from this Philadelphia landmark as the colorful history of the fabled department store it graces unfolds.
Narrated by Nelson E. Buechner with music selections by Peter Richard Conte, Keith Chapman and Virgil Fox. Included are detailed features on the Store and the Christmas Light Show.
Curator Curt Mangel also presents a fascinating behind-the-scenes segment on the ongoing restoration at Macy's. From the Friends of the Wanamaker Organ. The DVD has all region codes enabled so it will play on any NTSC (or multi standard) DVD player and any computer capable of playing DVDs. Order now!
Bonus Music Program Details Below
Breathtaking Music Including Pictures at an Exposition!
This new, never-before-released historic video record of Keith Chapman's landmark 1986 concert marked his 20th anniversary as Wanamaker Organist and the Organ's 75th anniversary. See and hear the World's Largest playing pipe organ under concert conditions!
Includes close-up performance shots, a video pipe-chamber crawl with Macy's organ curator Curt Mangel, a feature on the organ's history, and a tribute to Shorty Yeaworth and the Wayne Concert Series. Hosted by Pipedreams' Michael Barone.
Bonus extras include vintage scenes of the John Wanamaker Store, a piece on the Philadelphia Organ Quartet and a Keith Chapman TV commercial. This ambitious film was never put together by impresario Shorty Yeaworth, but footage from the three-camera shoot was assembled in 2010 by his son Kris Yeaworth and the Friends of the Wanamaker Organ.
Includes a replica of the original concert program with added reflections on Chapman's astonishing career. Thrill to the majesty of 29,000 pipes in Chapman's capable hands! Order now!
Musical Program and Exciting Bonus Video Features Below
Hosted by PETER RICHARD CONTE and THOMAS MURRAY
Ever wonder what it is like to actually play the Wanamaker Organ? Where do you begin? What do all the stops sound like and how do you combine them? Peter Richard Conte and Thomas Murray take a tonal tour of the 28,750 pipes of Rodman Wanamaker's gigantic Orchestral Color Machine.
In this companion piece to our Curator's Tour DVD (sold separately) share musical insights from two of today's top symphonic organists! The comprehensive, three-hour DVD, filmed in the hushed Grand Court after Store hours, includes...
HIGHLIGHTS
[] A division-by-division tonal tour of the stops
[] Demonstrations of the art of transcription playing
[] Themes by Grieg, Lemare, Schumann, Widor, Mouret, Tchaikovsky, Bach
[] Insight into the Console's design and special controls
[] An exploration of unusual stop combinations and sounds
[] A tour through all the Percussions
[] A visit to Yale's Woolsey Hall and Harkness Tower Carillon
[] A tour of the Rodman Wanamaker Flag Collection
[] Examples of of how stops sound inside and outside the chamber
[] Explorations of the Crescendo Pedal and its Division Cut Outs
[] Demonstrations of the fascinating technique of Thumbing extra melodies
[] Tutorials on the Organ's coupling system and unusual controls.
[] A ride in Professor Murray's vintage Rolls-Royce
[] Scenes of a demonstration of the mighty Woolsey Hall organ at Yale
MUSIC
[] Moonlight Music from the Opera Capriccio (Richard Strauss)
[] Imperial March (Edward Elgar)
[] Scherzo from Sonata VIII (Guilmant)
The companion booklet includes a detailed essay on how to play the Wanamaker Organ, with insights from Peter Richard Conte, Keith Chapman, John Binsfeld, Virgil Fox and others, and a division-by-division overview of the Wanamaker Organ's evolution and tonal resources.
At last! This comprehensive DVD is the first complete filmed tour of the Wanamaker Organ. Curt Mangel and Michael Barone (Public Radio's Pipedreams) explore every nook and cranny of the world's largest playing pipe organ.
Thrill to backstage areas and detailed vistas of a forest of almost 29,000 pipes, including areas not safe to take most visitors.
Shot in letterbox format but playable on any U.S. DVD player and TV or any computer, the film lasts more than three hours.
More Information Below
Peter Richard Conte, Rudy Lucente, Colin Howland and Michael Stairs as they put four organs through their paces at the same time! Hear four sets of keyboards together in sonic-spectacular arrangements garnished with deft comic touches.
PROGRAM
TARTINI/KREISLER: Variations on a Theme by Corelli
MARIANUS MULLER: Sonata in C Major for Four Organs
HYMN TUNE: How Firm a Foundation
DELIUS: Winter's Night (Sleigh Ride)
BACH: Brandenburg Concerto V
SIBELIUS: Finlandia
SULLIVAN: Overture to HMS Pinafore
FELIX ARNDT: Nola
JOPLIN: The Entertainer
TSCHAIKOVSKY: Waltz of the Flowers
DEBUSSY: Clair de Lune
ROSSINI: William Tell Overture
Guilmant - Jongen -Widor — A Perfect Niagara of Sound!
This Gothic CD together with this full-length Friends DVD video includes the full 2011 Centennial Concert of the Wanamaker Organ featuring Peter Richard Conte with Rossen Milanov and New Jersey's Symphony in C Orchestra! Narrated by Michael Barone.
DVD Intermission features include a demonstration of different kinds of organ pipes by Curator Curt Mangel and Michael Barone, a tour of the Friends Sound Studio given by its designer Jim Stemke, and opening-and-closing musical fantasy sequences giving a suggestion of what happens when the powerful Wanamaker is switched on and off.
Writes reviewer Rollin Smith of the CD: "Now you can have in your living room what Alexander Russell described when he heard the Widor Symphonie: A Perfect Niagara of Sound.. There is no one in the world as adept at displaying the Wanamaker Organ as Peter Richard Conte, and it shows on this CD. The whole is a thrilling and artisic experience. The orchestra is top-notch, impeccable in its ensemble playing, and gorgeous in its shading. This is one CD not to miss: the combination of organ, organist and orchestra would be hard to beat." Order yours now!
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Spectacular, rarely heard or never-before-heard works for organ and orchestra are played by Peter Richard Conte at the Wanamaker Organ and the New Jersey orchestra Symphony in C directed by Stilian Kirov in this DVD+CD set produced in cooperation with the Friends of the Wanamaker Organ. Recorded in a live concert in the Grand Court of Macy’s, Philadelphia. On the DVD video presentation of the program, Thomas Murray introduces the music and the features.
LISZT/DUPRÉ: Fantasia & Fugue on Ad nos ad salutarem undam, arranged for organ & orchestra by Dupré in 1930, and lost until discovered in 1997
GIGOUT: Grand Choeur Dialogué arranged for organ & orchestra by Guy Ropartz ca. 1900
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, arr. organ & orch. by Peter Richard Conte
GUILMANT: Symphony No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 42, for organ and orchestra
I. Introduction (Largo e maestoso) et Allegro
II. Pastorale. Andante quasi allegretto
III. Final. Allegro assai
Includes a lavisly illustrated booklet and complete Specification