November 20, 2013
THE DIAPASON
The University of California at Berkeley Music Department announces a new concert organ in Hertz Hall. The instrument has three manuals and pedals, with 35 speaking stops, and was built by the Noack Organ Co. Designed in the North German tradition that was prevalent in the early eighteenth century at the time of J. S. Bach, the organ will also be good for nineteenth-century music and contemporary repertoires. It is a tracker-action instrument, with a strictly mechanical connection between the keyboards (and pedalboard) and the mechanism that allows air to enter individual pipes. In preparation for its arrival, the walls around it in Hertz Hall were redecorated in Dutch metal, which not only looks beautiful but also helps the acoustic. With the oak of the organ case, the silvery color of the metal pipes, and the gold of the walls, this new organ is a magnificent addition to campus equipment.Inauguration celebrations took place on November 23.Other events featuring the new organ:Saturday, December 7, 8:00 pm: Hertz Hall, University Baroque Ensemble concert:Works by Vivaldi and Pergolesi, including a performance of the rarely heard Organ Concerto by Domenico Paradies (1707-91), which is being resurrected for this performance. This tuneful work was very popular in eighteenth-century London, partly due to the cheerful sounds of the cuckoo on which much of the music is based.Friday and Saturday, December 13 and 14, 8:00 pm: with UC Berkeley Symphony Orchestra, concert including the Third Symphony by Camille Saint-Saens, (the "Organ Symphony")Sunday, December 15, 3:00 pm: short organ recital by university organist Davitt Moroney (works by Froberger, Louis Couperin, and Bach), followed by Camille Saint-Saens, "Organ Symphony"
