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Este, Mascioni (1937) Sample Set + Warrington Announcement

Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2023 3:41 am
by zurek
I wish to introduce a new Sample Set for the Hauptwerk software to you. It is the virtual model of the Mascioni Organ in Este (Italy). The organ in the Santa Maria Delle Grazie Basilica was built in 1937 as their opus 498. The instrument consists of 2 manuals and a pedal, alltogether 28 sounding stops. The instrument is a fine example of the Italian Cecilian reform organ. Its multifaceted symphonic characteristics are remarkable, notwithstanding the limited stop layout. The stops blend extremely well and the glorious church acoustics (the reverb time up to 7 seconds) adds to the spectacular result. Both manuals have full principal choruses crowned with multi-rank mixtures. There are the typical solo stops Viola, Dulciana, Flute 8 (which is a Flute harmonique), colorful reeds Clarinetto and Trompeta, and there are two undulating stops, very characteristic for Italian repertoire: Coro Viole and Voce Umana. The sample set can be used in Hauptwerk version 4.2 and any higher version (incl. HW 7), the Advanced version is necessary due to the size of the virtual instrument. It is available in a surround 8-channel multi-perspective layout (direct, diffuse, distant, rear), the listening position can be varied via a built-in mixer. The sample set is offered in plain wave format, no dongle encryption was used.

More details, including the specification and audio demo samples of the instrument may be found on the Sonus Paradisi web pages.

The vol.1 is free for everyone to download and test. It features more than half of the stops of the organ without any limitations. This demo sample set alone is a nice 2 manual organ on its own.

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Aristide Cavaillé-Coll organ of Warrington Parr Hall

I also take the opportunity to make an early announcement of the forthcoming Cavaillé-Coll sample set. We are preparing a sample set of the Warrington Parr Hall organ. The organ was built in 1870 for the private Hall of John Turner Hopwood, later moved to Ketton (1875), finally transferred to the Warrington Hall (1926), which is a theatre today. The organ has 3 manuals and some 45 speaking stops, including a 32' in pedal, but it is still a chamber organ, voiced originally to fit a small private room. I must confess, that I have never heard such tender and refined voicing before. This sample set will be a true revelation, because it is so special among other Cavaillé-Coll's production, and also because the organ is today somewhat forgotten, almost unused for any public performance. Its unusual sound is therefore known only to a small group of specialists. The sample set should appear within 2 months.