SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Oct. 28, 2017 (Gephardt Daily) — Mormon Tabernacle Choir organist Richard Elliott has used his skills and perhaps the world’s most famous pipe organ to reproduce a Halloween classic.
Elliott has posted a rendition of the eerie “Toccata in D Minor” on YouTube.
It’s likely that when Johann Sebastian Bach composed “Toccata” more than 250 years ago, he didn’t intend it to be attached to Halloween, a holiday with roots stretching back two centuries.
And Bach could never have imagined his composition would become part of the soundtrack of films including “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” (1931), “The Black Cat” (1934), “Disney’s Fantasia” (1940), “Sunset Boulevard” (1950) or “The Phantom of the Opera” (1962), among others.
Not to mention the eerie piece being featured in countless haunted houses, holiday answering machine messages and front yard sound systems to greet trick or treaters.
But few to none of those versions can compare to Elliott’s, especially with the addition of wailing wind, a thunder bolt and some theatrical fog.
To check out the video for yourself, click on the player above.
He is a fantastic musician, Bach a fantastic composer BUT to play in a “church”. Poor taste? You bet!
Where else are you gonna find a pipe organ, if not in a “church”? This was seriously composed 250 years ago by a master of the art, and you think it shouldn’t be played in a church.
They play lots of things that aren’t church related on that pipe organ. Have you ever been to a tab choir Christmas concert? They invite special guests and play songs that that person is known for and very rarely are they even the slightest bit religious in nature. A classical composition can be played in a church without batting an eye and little to no questioning.
That was awesome!!! Especially loved the lighting, smoke and props. And Sherry, the conference center is not a church.