The Magnavox Chorus and Virgil Fox - Christmas Favorites

My friend Ernie shared this one many years ago, but I decided to transfer my own copy, not so much because I am crazy about the Magnificent Magnavox Chorus (they aren't) but because they split the LP with the magnificent Virgil Fox (he is).

Oh, the Magnavox folks aren't bad - they are pleasant to listen to. But Fox is a constant delight, and this album is half his doing. It's a nice addition to his Christmas catalog, some of which has appeared here previously.

Virgil Fox

The LP was a promotional item, probably given away by dealers who handled the Magnavox line of audio equipment and televisions. I believe it is either from 1957 or 1958. The notes make reference to 1956 in the past tense, and in 1959, the LP would likely have had to be in stereo, to be current with the dual-channel equipment that was new in the market. This one is mono. (UPDATE: reader Boursin, a wily person, checked the matrix numbers in the dead wax, which have a code that tells us that the record was pressed in 1956.)

The choir's repertoire is almost exclusively holiday favorites. Fox, however, ranges more widely. The cover and labels do not identify what he is playing, unfortunately, and I don't know most of the pieces. So I have labeled them generically as "Organ Interlude" and the like. If any organ savants out there know these pieces, please let us know what they are!

Just to be clear, the chorus and Fox do not perform together. Magnavox must have licensed the organ cuts to fill out the LP and bring some star power to the proceedings. As far as I can tell, the Fox items do not appear on any of his other records. He performs at the organ of Riverside Church in New York, where he was in residence from 1946-65.

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More Hymns from Virgil Fox

I thought I would follow up my earlier Virgil Fox posts with another outstanding early collection from the famed virtuoso organist.

This set of great Protestant hymns is a sequel to his A Treasury of Hymns, and is in some ways preferable because it was done on pipe organ rather than an electronic instrument.

These 1957 recordings are from New York's Riverside Church, Fox's own territory, and its Aeolian-Skinner organ.

Promotional flyer from 1957

No recording can convey the physically palpable sound of a great pipe organ, particularly a vinyl pressing with very long sides, which necessarily restrict low frequencies. Nonetheless, this example is fairly successful, giving a good impression of the instrument, if without the gut-shaking deepest tones. I have used an ambient stereo effect to bring out the resonance of the recording space.

This repertoire is highly suited to the holidays, at least for this blogger, being familiar, comforting and inspiring. Hope you enjoy these simple gifts of the season.

All my earlier Fox shares are still available - links are in the comments.

Hymns with Virgil Fox

My two previous Virgil Fox posts have been amazingly popular. I am not one to argue with success, so here is a third.

But while I won't take issue with Fox's approval rating, I might quibble with his choice of instruments here.

This selection of popular hymns is played for the most part on an electronic Hammond Concert Organ. I for one usually find the sound of these instruments strange and unnatural - always have. However, Fox had no problem with them and later made quite a living with his flamboyant recitals on portable electronic instruments.

Fox

The recording of the Hammond took place in Church of the Incarnation in New York. There are two churches by that name in the city; it's not clear which was used. The cover shows a small town church, which probably didn't even have an organ.

Not all the songs on this 1954 LP are on the Hammond. Although the cover does not mention it, the last five selections ("Abide with Me," "O God, Our Help in Ages Past," "Faith of Our Fathers," "Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus," and "Alleluia Sing to Jesus") are clearly performed on a pipe organ.

I am guessing that RCA took down these final hymns at the same time that it recorded Fox's 1954 Christmas LP offered here last December. Those sessions were in Riverside Church, where Fox was the organist. It's possible that the LP of hymns was originally designed to be a 10-inch album, and RCA later decided to make it a 12-incher, necessitating another session. (The bigger format was then beginning to supplant the smaller one.)  Both the hymn record and the Christmas album came out in both 12-inch and double-EP format, the latter of which is equivalent to a 10-inch record.

The sound is excellent.

Virgil Fox - Organ Reveries

I enjoyed the Virgil Fox Christmas LP so much that I pulled out another of his early albums for transfer. This one, on Columbia, dates from 1951.

1952 concert poster

For the program, Fox chose a collection of familiar and mellifluous pieces, which the label issued under the title Organ Reveries. (I might note that the "War March of the Priests," included here, hardly qualifies as a "reverie".) A contemporary review in Billboard called the set "a frank bid for the general, unsophisticated market for those buyers who would take fright at a fugue," while acknowledging that Fox plays the pieces "with respect, admiration and fine technical ability."

As with the Christmas album, Fox is at the organ of Riverside Church in New York, where he was music director. However, the organ here had not yet been replaced by the Aeolian-Skinner Fox played for his holiday program. Here the instrument is the original 1930 organ installed by Hook & Hastings of Boston, although by that time it had already acquired the Aeolian-Skinner console seen on the cover.

The Hook & Hastings was never considered a great organ, but it does make a splendid sound. The album must have been popular; Columbia later reissued it with a different cover featuring the large pink blob shown at right.

Like the unsophisticated folks who enjoyed these chestnuts in the 50s, I delight in Fox's musicianship and will be offering some of his other LPs as time goes by.

Virgil Fox's First Christmas Album

Virgil Fox was a much applauded and much derided organist who was known both for his technique and his flamboyance. Scorned as the "Liberace of the organ." he also had quite a following and made some great recordings, this among them.

"Christmas Carols on the Organ," one of RCA Victor's 1954 holiday offerings, is the first of Fox's four seasonal LPs, and one of his first of any repertoire.

I am no organ expert - and in general avoid pop organ records - but this is extraordinarily well done, both in performance and recording.

Fox in 1954

In 1954, Fox had been the organist at New York's Riverside Church for eight years, and would remain there until 1965. Here he is performing on the church's Aeolian-Skinner organ, which I believe had been newly installed to his specifications.

Fox had a reputation for being slick, loud and sentimental, but you will find little of that here. His playing always remains well within the bounds of good taste, yet he also injects considerable life into this well worn material through his remarkable control, which he uses to inject a dance-like lift to the contours of these simple tunes.

The sound has an ideal balance of resonance and presence, with just enough church reverberation for my taste.

RCA issued this material both as a 12-inch LP and in abbreviated form as a double EP, with a different and preferable cover (below) by the American regionalist painter Adolf Dehn. I admire Dehn, but why is it that these nostalgic scenes always feature a sleigh and someone waving from the front porch?