Grand Ophicleide: Fill & Download for Free

Oh, by far it would have to be the pipe organ.This is the console for the organ in the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ. It is the largest pipe organ in the world. The Grand Ophicleide in the organ's Pedal Right division, speaking on 100" wind pressure, is recognized by Guinness World Records as the loudest organ stop in the world.No human playing an instrument by mouth could ever equal this.The organist will play this stop at 8:40. Turn up the volume.

I agree with Christopher’s response, but think he is being a little tongue-in-cheek as he presumably knows full well that notwithstanding all those grandiose orchestras (the harps! the ophicleides!!) he was also capable of the most superb delicacy, even in the Requiem - e.g. in the Hostias. Other examples - Hylas’s song from les Troyens, most of L’Enfance du Christ. He knew that the grand effects were best appreciated if set against moments of quiet repose.But the grand effects can be Olympian - literally so when his Te Deum was used for the torch lighting ceremony at the Sydney Olympics. What an imaginative, perfect but unexpected choice! (I first realised that something was going wrong with the lighting when I noticed that they had started to repeat the music.)

Works with chorus pretty much always tip the scales. Verdi’s Requiem, Brahms’ Ein Deutches Requiem, Beethoven’s Ninth, Mahler’s 2nd and 8th come to mind as very large works with big groups. The one that always strikes me as being “what was he THINKING when he wrote this” big is Berlioz’s Grande Messe des morts (a.k.a. Requiem- death seems to require a lot of music, don't you think?).Here's the band:OrchestraStrings25 violin I, 25 violin II, 20 violas, 20 violoncellos, 18 double bassesWoodwinds4 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 cors anglais, 4 clarinets in B-flat, 8 bassoonsBrass12 horns (4 parts + 2 extra in Mvt 2), 4 cornets in B-flat, 4 tubasPercussion16 timpani (10 players), 2 bass drums, 10 pairs of cymbals, 4 tam-tams4 brass choirsChoir 1 to the North: 4 cornets, 4 trombones, 2 tubasChoir 2 to the East: 4 trumpets, 4 trombonesChoir 3 to the West: 4 trumpets, 4 trombonesChoir 4 to the South: 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, 4 ophicleides (usually substituted by tubas)VoicesChorus:80 sopranos and altos (exact ratio not specified), 60 tenors, 70 bassesTenor soloI'm not even going to count all of that, but it's freaking HUGE. The performance notes also say that in the case of a really big chorus, say 700–800 singers, the whole chorus should only be used on the Dies irae, Tuba mirum, and Lacrimosa. For the rest of the Requiem, only 400 singers should be used. For real?Berlioz was nuts in all the best ways.