The World’s GREATEST ORGAN PIECE...Undiscovered for 100 years

Añadido: 2026-05-05

[00:00:00]What are the most famous two notes in the entire of music history?

[00:00:06]I know what you're thinking. It's the theme from Jaws.

[00:00:11]No, it's much older than that. In fact, it's a piece from the 1700s which was left unpublished, uncatategorized, unnoticed for more than a 100red years after its composition.

[00:00:26]And yet I could take you anywhere at the click of my fingers and perform this piece and it would sound magnificent.

[00:00:37]Why don't we put that theory to the test?

[00:01:00]Oh, the glories of an English spring day. Hello friends. Today we're back in Dorset in a village called Ascerswell on the way to Bridport and I'm here to play perhaps the greatest organ piece ever composed.

[00:01:18]Certainly the most famous organ piece in the entire world I would say.

[00:01:26]And just coming into view is the mighty tower of the building where I shall be performing it. And that building is called St. Michael and All Angels Church here in Aswell.

[00:01:40]Beautiful ancient Dorset church.

[00:01:51]This church isn't actually as ancient as you might think. Only the tower is medieval. The rest was demolished and rebuilt by our old friends, the Victorians.

[00:02:05]They were masters of illusion. And I must confess, they had me fooled.

[00:02:24]Wait, hey.

[00:03:10]I can still hear the crows and there is a certain glooiness and awe about this particular church which is very fitting for the mood of the piece that I've come to play here.

[00:03:28]And already I'm struck by the pipe organ. An imposing instrument shaped kind of like a wedge because it has to fit underneath the roof of this sloping transcept.

[00:03:47]There's a real power about this organ without it making any sound at all. And it says on the side, this organ is erected by the people of Ascaswell in the year 1919 to the memory of those men of the village who laid down their lives in the Great War 1914 to 1918.

[00:04:15]It's such a powerful memorial, isn't it?

[00:04:18]And of course, it still speaks today with, I'm sure, the same gusto that it had more than a hundred years ago.

[00:04:27]Well, let's hope it can do some mighty organ music justice.

[00:05:19]I don't know.

[00:05:59]Amen.

[00:06:19]Amen.

[00:07:36]Heat.

[00:07:52]Heat.

[00:08:16]Heat. Heat.

[00:08:27]Hey, heat. Hey.

[00:09:09]Formidable, unbeatable, monumental. Takarta in D minor by Johan Sebastian Bark.

[00:09:18]I expect you think that that piece was composed for some grand concert somewhere, but no.

[00:09:27]In fact, we have no idea why it was composed, and we have no idea what inspired it. All we know is that it was probably written by a chap about my age.

[00:09:38]Although, if he wrote it down, we've never found the manuscript.

[00:09:45]There's only one manuscript of this piece and it isn't by the composer.

[00:09:50]So, how do we even know it was by him?

[00:09:53]Well, we can't say for certain, but it is genius. For a start, why would anyone do this, thunderous rolling chords with no preparation, simply as an effect? It was revolutionary at the time, and it still sounds revolutionary today. The composer was a genius, but he is just the beginning of this story. And he is not the only genius of today's tale.

[00:10:44]JS Bark now known as one of the greatest composers who ever lived.

[00:10:51]But during his lifetime, he was not.

[00:10:54]Bark was an organist. He wrote for the church and for the glory of God. He fathered 20 children and he worked until he was blind.

[00:11:06]But he was no celebrity.

[00:11:09]When he died in 1750, most of his music was left unpublished.

[00:11:15]around a thousand compositions.

[00:11:19]Manuscripts like this one, now stored in a highsecurity vault, were of no interest to the wider public. Bark's music was ingenious. It was intellectual, but it was also terribly old-fashioned.

[00:11:37]The age of enlightenment had begun, and that meant goodbye bark.

[00:11:49]Sometimes it takes a cheap keyboard to make a profound point. And here's mine.

[00:12:05]compared to this.

[00:12:21]The first example was by Mozart who was very popular at the time after Bark died and the second one was by the old wig himself.

[00:12:31]JS Bark's music was considered old-fashioned.

[00:12:35]It's severe. It's complex. It's what we call contraundal.

[00:12:40]There are lots of different lines weaving in and around each other. And that was not trendy.

[00:12:47]It was much better to have a simple tune which people could sing along to.

[00:12:54]So Bark's music remained unatategorized, unpublished, floating around, hidden in the libraries of various different churches for the next 80 years or so until one great genius stepped in.

[00:13:13]That genius was called Felix Mendelson, but he was barely 20 years old at the time.

[00:13:21]Mendelson was lucky to be born into wealth, class and culture.

[00:13:27]His father was a banker, his mother a musician, and the young Felix started piano lessons when he was 6 years old.

[00:13:38]However, fate was delivered through his great aunt Sarah, who'd been a pupil of JS Bark's son, Wilhelm.

[00:13:49]So, here's our direct link to Bark's family, and it gave Sarah certain privileges, one of which was ownership of a collection of Bark's handwritten manuscripts.

[00:14:04]No surprise then, that when her great nephew was 15 years old, he was allowed to set eyes on them. Felix was mesmerized, and the wheels of history were set in motion.

[00:14:19]At this point in our tale, it's worth just taking a brever, catch our breath, gather our thoughts as we explain our new character, Mendelson.

[00:14:29]You might not know who Mendelson is. You might not know any of his music at all.

[00:14:34]You may not believe me when I say that he was a genius. Well, you will after hearing this short piece of music which Mendlesson composed when he was 20 years old.

[00:15:17]There can be no greater testament to Mendelson than Fingle's Cave.

[00:15:23]But the same year, 1829, he set his sights on bark.

[00:15:29]Using original manuscripts, Mendelson staged a performance of the St. Matthew Passion in Berlin.

[00:15:39]This was the first grand rendition of Bark since his lifetime, and it was a huge success.

[00:15:49]The audience included royalty, poets, and philosophers, and they were captivated.

[00:15:56]A giant was reborn.

[00:16:06]But what about Takarta and Fugue?

[00:16:09]Well, thanks to Mendelson, it was published at last in 1833.

[00:16:16]A 100red years of darkness had come to an end and Bark rose to the summit of musical excellence and to me he's never been surpassed.

[00:16:35]So next time you hear the two most famous notes in music history, well, you have Felix Mendlesson to thank for that. Without him, that ancient, fragile manuscript, a vital link back to a genius may well have been dumped in the proverbial rubbish bin of history.

[00:17:01]If you've enjoyed this film, don't forget to click the subscribe button. It doesn't cost a penny, but you'll be notified about my next video. I have some masterworks floating around in my head, and I would really love you to hear them and see the churches where I shall be performing them. So, don't forget to subscribe.

[00:17:24]If you've particularly enjoyed this film, you can also support me financially if you'd like to.

[00:17:30]Just look underneath this video and there's a PayPal link. It's the best way to donate to support my work. If you click on that, you can leave a small contribution if you'd like to. Thank you so much for your support.

[00:17:47]Until next time, I leave you with the mighty fugue from BWV565, JS Barks Fugue in D minor. Thank you so much as always for watching.

[00:18:02]Cheerio Heat. Heat.

[00:19:03]Heat.

[00:19:08]Heat.

[00:20:59]Heat. Heat.

[00:21:14]Heat. Heat.

[00:21:37]Heat.

[00:21:56]Heat.

[00:22:13]Heat. Heat.

[00:22:22]Heat. Heat.

[00:22:44]Heat. Heat.

[00:23:05]Heat.

[00:23:27]Heat.

[00:23:50]Heat. Heat.

[00:24:30]Heat. Heat.

[00:24:52]Heat.

[00:25:10]Heat.