Virgil Fox

Virgil Keel Fox (born May 3, 1912 in Princeton , Illinois , † October 25, 1980 in Palm Beach , Florida ) was an American organist. He was best known for his "Heavy Organ" concerts, in which he skillfully combined the music of Johann Sebastian Bach with rock 'n' roll music and a sophisticated light show.

Live and act

Virgil Fox was born on May 3, 1912 in Princeton, Illinois to Miles and Birdie Fox. The boy's extraordinary talent was recognized early on. At the age of ten, Virgil Fox accompanied the church service on the church organ. At the age of 15 he played his first organ concert in front of 2,500 people at Withrow High School in Cincinnati . At 17 he was the first organist to win first prize at the Biennial Contest of the National Federation of Music Clubs in Boston .

From 1926 to 1930 he studied in Chicago with the German organist and composer Wilhelm Middelschulte . Other teachers at that time were Hugh Price, Louis Robert and Marcel Dupré . In 1931 he received a scholarship to the Peabody Institute of Music in Baltimore , the oldest music conservatory in the USA. At the age of 20 he played five organ concerts without grades, passed 18 exams with the top grade and was the only freshman student in the history of the Peabody Conservatory to be awarded an artist's diploma. In 1936 he took over the management of the organ department at the Peabody Conservatory and served as organist at Brown Memorial Church.

In August and September 1938 he played on a concert tour in Great Britain and Germany . Fox was the first non-German organist to perform a public concert in the Thomaskirche in Leipzig .

In 1942, Fox was enlisted by the US Army Air Force and performed over 600 concerts in three years to raise money for the armed forces. After his release in 1946, Virgil Fox performed 45 organ works by heart in three sold-out concerts at the Library of Congress . In the same year he was elected organist of New York's famous Riverside Church , where he worked for 19 years until 1965 - including under the musical director Richard Weagly. During this time the first recordings of his concerts were made.

Virgil Fox was inducted into the American Guild of Organists (AGO) in 1946 . He played three times in the White House (on the piano). In 1952 he was selected by the Foreign Office to represent the USA at the first international conference for church music in Bern ( Switzerland ). In the same year he was also voted the most popular organist in the United States. In 1963 he received an honorary doctorate from Bucknell University . In 1964 he received the prestigious award for former graduates from the Peabody Conservatory.

During his long and brilliant career, Virgil Fox gave concerts on practically every major organ in the world. In 1936 he gave the first paid organ concert at the Kilgen Organ at Carnegie Hall in New York . In 1962 he participated with E. Power Biggs and Catherine Crozier in the opening concert of the Aeolian Skinner organ at the New York Philharmonic Hall in Lincoln Center . In 1963 he gave the first solo concert there and produced the first recording of this new organ. He has given concerts in Westminster (Durham), Lincoln's Cathedral ( King's College, Cambridge ), Notre Dame and Ste. Clotilde (Paris) and the Marienkirche (Lübeck) . In 1973 he played in front of 3,000 people at the sold-out Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC In 1974 he inaugurated the organ he designed at Rodgers Carnegie Hall. In 1977 he celebrated his 50th concert anniversary. Under the motto "The Bach Gamut" ("The Bach Scale") he played in front of sold-out stands at the Kennedy Center. In Tokyo he played at the NHK Hall and performed Joseph Jongen's Symphony Concertante with the NHK Symphony Orchestra .

Probably the most daring concert was given by Virgil Fox in 1970 in the mecca of rock music in New York's Fillmore East . He played works by Johann Sebastian Bach on the Rodgers Touring Organ, combined with a light show. He discussed with the audience from the stage and brought them closer to the pieces, which led to a completely new dimension in his concerts. For nine years he toured all over the country with “Heavy Organ” and gave concerts in various cities, colleges and festivals. Virgil Fox must be credited with bringing Bach's music closer to the younger generation in an innovative and exciting way. Despite the frequent rejection and critical attitude of many of his colleagues and some music critics, who found his approach too cocky.

But Fox was very successful and played in the course of his career in front of more than six million listeners worldwide. Virgil Fox has also produced more than 60 recordings since the 1930s. Many of these have been re-released, and many projects are underway to release previously unreleased recordings. With Georges Prêtre and the Paris Opera Orchestra he made the first recording of Jongens Symphony Concertante in 1961 . Its last recording was made on May 6, 1979 at Riverside Church. In the time before his death, Virgil Fox was busy publishing a book on the technique of organ playing together with Robert Hebble.

Virgil Fox's last performance was on September 26, 1980 at the opening concert of the Dallas Symphony season. Virgil Fox died on October 25, 1980 at his home in Palm Beach, Florida. He died of cancer that he had fought against for more than five years. The funeral services took place at his home in Palm Beach, Florida and at the Crystal Cathedral ( Garden Grove, California ). A memorial service was held at Riverside Church in New York.

literature

• Richard Torrence, Marshall Yaeger (Eds.): Virgil Fox (the Dish). An Irreverent Biography of the Great American Organist . (Special Edition: Book, CD, DVD). Circles International, New York 2001, ISBN 0-9712970-0-2

Web links

• Friends of Virgil Fox
• The Virgil Fox Legacy
• The Virgil Fox Society
• The Virgil Fox Allen Touring Organ