Organ Safari
Organ Safari
Simon Abbott and Leah Collins Lipsett
Join Simon and Leah as they bike across Europe, seeking out big, bizarre and beautiful pipe organs and their human handlers.
Episode 025 — Lucerne
Of all the big beasts on the Savannah, there is none larger than the Subcontra C of the principal 32’ of the Hofkirche St. Leodegar Organ in Lucerne. Join intrepid explorers Leah and Simon, and their guide Wolfgang Sieber, as they track down the world's largest organ pipe — a pipe that could swallow you whole.
Oct 5, 2017
30 min
Episode 024 — The Cinema Organ
Perhaps we should have called the episode "The Theatre Organ", because the specimens we examine are all American. Pith helmets girded tight, safariers Leah and Simon venture into the wilds of California to study this little-understood animal. 
Jun 28, 2017
59 min
Episode 023 — Brother Georg's Organs
In our many years of safariing, this is the craziest piece of pipe organ DIY we have ever come across. Brother Jorge's Organ San Patricio contains parts of dozens of other instruments and has been a lifetime in the making.
Jun 20, 2017
39 min
Episode 022 — Sion
His stupefying single-mindedness yet again on display, Simon brings us another contender for the world's oldest organ—this time from the wilds of a Swiss mountaintop. Oldest or not, the organ at the Valère Basilia in Sion, Switzerland is a singularly fascinating beast.
Jun 1, 2017
46 min
Episode 021 — Fratelli Ruffatti
Simon rolls a natural twenty on his charisma check to explain to Leah his visit to the wondrous workshop of the Fratelli Ruffatti, prominent international organ builders. In addition to the D&Desque forges and foundries, we learned about the Ruffatti-Canada connection and some inside stories from the Crystal Cathedral.
Mar 25, 2017
52 min
Episode 020 — The Spreckels Organ
We examine a New World species, whose natural habitat is not a cathedral or a hockey arena, but rather it makes its home in the out of doors. The Spreckels Organ in San Diego is the world's largest outdoor organ, and playing and maintaining it can be quite tricky. Come and visit this American landmark with us.
Feb 17, 2017
53 min
Episode 019 — The Organ Café
Our safari takes us to a church that is keeping the organ popular, and an organ that epitomizes the Reform Movement.
Dec 4, 2016
25 min
Episode 018—Orgelbaumuseum
The Norrlanda organ, currently in a museum in Stockholm, is reckoned to be the oldest surviving organ fragments in the world. There is a working replica at the Orgelbaumuseum in Ostheim, Germany—a paradisiacal museum dedicated to the building of organs.
Sep 23, 2016
30 min
Episode 017—Schmalkalden
We investigate the beautiful Renaissance Klangfarbe of a historic instrument in the Wilhelmsburg Castle at Schmaaaaalkalden.
Aug 11, 2016
24 min
Episode 016 — The Europaorgel
Of all the weird species spotted on this safari, there is none stranger than the Europaorgel—a crazy chimera of sounds from all the countries of Europe. Plus some outlandish mutations.
Jul 21, 2016
26 min
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