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 th

Episode 024 — The Cinema Organ

Jun 28th, 2017 59m 12s

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.

Episode 023 — Brother Georg's Organs

Jun 20th, 2017 39m

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.

Episode 022 — Sion

Jun 1st, 2017 46m 39s

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 sing

Episode 021 — Fratelli Ruffatti

Mar 25th, 2017 52m 23s

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 Ru

Episode 020 — The Spreckels Organ

Feb 17th, 2017 53m 47s

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

Episode 019 — The Organ Café

Dec 4th, 2016 25m 43s

Our safari takes us to a church that is keeping the organ popular, and an organ that epitomizes the Reform Movement.

Episode 018—Orgelbaumuseum

Sep 23rd, 2016 30m 42s

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 o

Episode 017—Schmalkalden

Aug 11th, 2016 24m 57s

We investigate the beautiful Renaissance Klangfarbe of a historic instrument in the Wilhelmsburg Castle at Schmaaaaalkalden.

Episode 016 — The Europaorgel

Jul 21st, 2016 26m 4s

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.

Episode 015 — Haarlem

Jul 19th, 2016 26m 21s

All the beasts of the veldt, or so it seems, have gathered at the Sint Bavo waterhole in Haarlem for the International Organ Festival.

Episode 014 — St. Andreas

Jul 17th, 2016 24m 18s

In an attempt satisfy his Captain-Ahab-esque obsession with finding the oldest organ in the world, Simon journeys to the St Andreas church in Ostönnen.

Episode 013 — Jacobikirche

Nov 13th, 2014 17m 51s

In the last episode involving our experienced wilderness tracker Ed, we visit the Schnitger organ in Hamburg's Jacobikirche. In the words of Albert Schweitzer: "This organ will become the pilgrimage destination of all organists of the old and t

Episode 012 - The Famous Mr. Walcker

Nov 11th, 2014 22m 2s

Simon spends a day in the bush with the reknowned Walcker tribe, and learns much from their oral history.

Episode 011 - Lubeck.mp3

Oct 31st, 2014 16m 54s

Buxtehude and Bach, bombs and beautiful organs, and a blend of blood-curdling artwork—just in time for Halloween. Join safarist Simon and our guest, the mad trapper Edward Ocampo-Gooding as they visit the churches and organs of Lubeck, Germany.

Episode 010 - Nieuwe Kerk

Oct 21st, 2014 30m 31s

After having disappeared for a month, Simon wanders out of the jungle with exciting tales of savage Dutch organs. Featuring the lovely Bernard Winsemius.

Episode 009 - ASLSP

Aug 20th, 2014 36m 9s

Simon's friend Edward has flown in to the veld to be our guide for the very wild ASLSP project in Halberstadt.

Episode 008 - Saint-Denis

Aug 13th, 2014 17m 42s

The 800-pound gorilla of the organ-building world, Cavaillé-Coll, built his first organ in Saint-Denis in 1841. To see it in the wild, Simon and Leah have to brave the harshest region yet on the safari: downtown Paris.

Episode 007 - Poitiers

Aug 6th, 2014 22m 49s

We have spoored a magnificent specimen of an endangered species, the French classical organ, in the cathedral of Poitiers.

Episode 006 - Organ Music in Iberia

Aug 1st, 2014 23m 47s

Two weary travelers look back on a month in the Iberian Peninsula: its deserts, its organs and its misadventures.

Episode 005 - El Escorial

Jul 23rd, 2014 14m 15s

Simon finds an obstinacy of organs at the San Lorenzo Basilica of El Escorial. Featuring mad Dutchmen, Spanish gold, and potential for fire—in short, something for everyone.

Episode 004 — Toledo

Jul 8th, 2014 14m 51s

Leah and Simon cross vast wildernesses to track down the Emperor's organ in Toledo, but have trouble picking it out from the ten pipe organs in the cathedral.

Episode 003 - Evora Cathedral

Jun 24th, 2014 12m 24s

Simon and Leah get within a football field of the oldest working pipe organ in Portugal, at the Evora Cathedral.

Episode 002 — Sao Vicente de Fora

Jun 22nd, 2014 10m 8s

Simon and Leah feel bad about the long wait for the Evora Cathedral episode, and so publish a mini-episode for appeasement purposes. The organ at the church of São Vicente de Fora is a big instrument with a personality to match.