Bach Gamut

"The whole audience sat silent and attentive, transfixed by Virgil's dynamic and musical approach to the transcendent counterpoint of Sebastian Bach … these ‘Bach Gamut' concerts were tours de force, and I marvelled at Virgil's stamina and prodigious technique." – Richard Torrence and Marshall Yaeger, Virgil Fox: The Dish

"He tossed off one after another of the monumental preludes, toccatas, fantasies and fugues with comparative ease, permeating them all with pure joy. The audience erupted with spontaneous praise after each of the mighty blockbusters" – Ted Alan Worth, Virgil Fox: The Dish

A household name among organ fans, Virgil Fox (1912-1980) was one of the most loved organists of the twentieth century. Fox made more than sixty best-selling albums over the years on Columbia, RCA Victor, Command, and other labels. This original release, engineered by Reference Recordings' own Keith O. Johnson, is from a live recording of a landmark sold-out San Francisco concert in 1976, in which Fox performs on the grand Ruffatti pipe organ in St. Mary's Cathedral. A thrilling program of Bach blockbusters for the organ! Virgil Fox was the featured performer at many of the national conventions of the American Guild of Organists, he performed three times at the White House, and was selected by the State Department to represent the U.S. at 1952's first International Conference of Sacred Music in Switzerland. In his long and brilliant career, Virgil Fox gave recitals on practically every important organ in the world. He was the first non-German artist to perform the works of J. S. Bach at the Thomaskirche in Leipzig. In 1977, to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of his concert debut, he played a sold-out concert ("The Bach Gamut") at Kennedy Center, at Tokyo's NHK Hall, and in San Francisco, where the present recording was made.