Main content
This programme will be available shortly after broadcast

4. Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City

Anna Lapwood invites us to join her on tour and on the way discovers an organ whose pipes look like french fries and one that’s as loud as a jet engine.

Anna is in Atlantic City, New Jersey, to visit the Boardwalk Hall organ, which holds multiple world records. Anna demonstrates how much slower she has to play a piece to make it audible in such an enormous space, and shares some of the few recordings that have been made on that instrument. She also finds that there is more to Atlantic City than its organ with 1,235 stop tabs. She explores a barbershop quartet that takes you back in time to the area’s days as a holiday resort, and discovers recordings by musicians based in and around New Jersey including composer Betty Jackson King and the Attacca Quartet. We also hear from Nathan Bryson, Curator of Organs at Boardwalk Hall, about the second, smaller organ lurking in the same hall.

Plus, an exclusive version of Widor’s Toccata for spontaneous organ duet where Anna is joined by 9-year old Nykoda…

Anna Lapwood appears courtesy of Sony Classical, a label of Sony Music Entertainment.

A Tandem Production for ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 3

Release date:

56 minutes

On radio

Sat 9 Nov 2024 13:00

Broadcast

  • Sat 9 Nov 2024 13:00

Knock on wood – six stunning wooden concert halls around the world

Steel and concrete can't beat good old wood to produce the best sounds for music.

The evolution of video game music

Tom Service traces the rise of an exciting new genre, from bleeps to responsive scores.

Why music can literally make us lose track of time

Try our psychoacoustic experiment to see how tempo can affect your timekeeping abilities.

Podcast