I played this beautiful organ chorale prelude transcription in church recently - and thought I'd record and share on Piano World.

Happy Holidays !!

https://www.box.com/s/s9ggqeklg63zeu4c7b72

A ponderous piece, played on a ponderous instrument! Your piano sounds huge! Quite powerfully done, Carey. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks Andy -

Actually here's another "take" of the piece which is more nuanced (and probably more effective than the recording I originally posted above). The bass of my Mason and Hamlin BB is definitely huge. Sort of like having a pipe organ in my living room !!

https://www.box.com/s/w6qxha3wo2alo2ltf5gv

That's a huge difference! LOL! I'm not sure which take I like better--the first one is played with so much power, passion and conviction in the bass that the poignant treble moments really contrast and tug the heart strings. The second one is very lovely and well mannered and balanced... I like 'em both.

I'm sending you a PM with more thoughts about playing for microphones...

I like both. Very well played as usual.

I only prefer a much quieter bass.

Thanks for sharing.

Thanks Hakki - I appreciate the feedback !!

Actually I prefer a quieter bass as well. When I performed this chorale prelude at church recently on our newly acquired used Baldwin SF-10, I had absolutely no problem keeping the bass octaves subservient throughout - and no problem making the melody sing. With the naturally powerful bass on my home Mason and Hamlin BB, keeping the bass in check (using the una corda pedal throughout) while making the RH sing is more of a challenge.

Also - the texture of this piece is often rather thick - much more so than is evident in the recording. There are two (and sometimes three) voices in the RH - which need to be brought out while still being subservient to the melody. Thus, this transcription of the chorale prelude is a tad more difficult to play than it sounds. It is well worth the effort, however.

Decided to go with recording # 1.

Here it is on YouTube with all the bells and whistles.

http://youtu.be/sbgaG2E0r5s