DESCRIPTION:
Viennese music performed in Vienna. When I uploaded this before, I attributed it to the wrong organist (bad notes on my part, taken many years ago). Here's the re-edited version, giving credit where credit is due. Franz Schmidt's Prelude in D major, performed by Franz Falter (in 1977) on the IV/125/169 Kauffmann instrument installed in the gallery in 1960. For reasons that I haven't been quite able to determine, this instrument has been sitting idle (broken?in need of restoration? deemed unsuitable?) since 1991, when the (much smaller) Rieger instrument was installed in the front of the church.

Schmidt is a woefully under-performed composer of the early part of the 20th Century (he died in 1939), who wrote for almost every classical genre.

The bell at the beginning is Pummerin, at over 44,000 lbs the largest bell in Austria & the 3rd-largest swinging bell in Europe. It's rung only on certain special occasions, such as New Year's Eve.

Once again, thanks to Martin Doering of Die Orgelseite for the use of his magnificent pictures. YouTube doesn't do them justice: take a look at his web site. There are hundreds of organ pictures that are startling in their clarity. I don't know what kind of camera Martin uses, but I suspect it's not the one in his cell phone.