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Discography LHXXX A.Becquart
LHXXX F.Kopp • LH518 • LH530 • LH545 • LH553 • LH585
LH605 • LH615 • LH625• LH630 • LH640 • LH650 • CH660

The recordings of the LHXXX made when the organ was in the possession of Albert Becquart rank among the best ever made in general and by the Decca Record Company in particular. For these recordings, the organ was brought to the Decca/Fonior-studio in Brussels in 1954, where most of the repertoire arranged by August Schollaert was recorded (a letter of this arranger, containing a list of tunes recorded by Decca that haven't been released on records, is still in possession of Mr.Jan L.M. van Dinteren at Geleen (NL)); so all tunes listed below were arranged by August Schollaert.
The first recordings brought onto the market were 78rpm-records, of which some contain small medleys which are actually a selection from larger ones (as appears from books still in the collection of the Rorive family). On some of the recordings, a bassdrum- and woodblock-player can be heard, probably to add some dynamics and more rhythm. There were eight of these records, of which I'm missing three; these are the ones I do have (note: 22.450 was also released on 45rpm-single as 9.22.450):
• Decca 22.394: A: Hier ben 'k weer (polka-fox) (J.Stevens-B.Schoepen)
B: De paardenmolen (wals) (J.Stevens-B.Schoepen)
 Decca 22.450
(On this record – which was also released in a French version – the organ actually accompanies a famous Belgian singer, Bobbejaan Schoepen.)

  
• Decca 22.435: A: Le carrousel (J.Stevens)
B: Me voilà (J.Stevens-B.Schoepen)
(These are the 'instrumental' versions of the tunes on Decca 22.394.)
  

• Decca 22.443:

A: Entrée des gladiateurs (J.Fuçik)
B: En traîneau (R.Eilenberg)
Decca 22.450
• Decca 22.448: A: Medley 139: Mama el baion (M.Gillar)
                     De eerste kus (P.Kreuder)
                     Op een zeemansgraf (J.Hoes)
B: Medley 140: Kom over de brug (B.Benjamin-G.D.Weiss)
                     Wat je naam was, dat ben ik vergeten (E.Storch)
                     Met een piek en een kwartje (J.Livingston-R.Evans)
• Decca 22.449: A: Medley 141: De jodelende sijs (G.Coben)
                     Kleine nachtegaal (G.Winkler)
                     Am 30. Mai (K.Erpel)
B: Medley 142: Bonmama (H.Evert-W.De Nuyt)
                     Vergeet mij niet (F.Roland-H.De Bleecker)
                     Vodka fox (H.Simon)
 
• Decca 22.450: A: Medley 143: Mets deux thunes dans l'bastringue (H.Constantin)
                     La petite cruche (R.Swing)
                     Le piano du pauvre (L.Ferré)
B: Medley 144: La goualante du pauvre Jean (M.Monnot)
                     C'est si doux (G.Ruiz)
                     C'est magnifique (C.Porter)
 
• Decca 22.451: A: Medley 145: Sh-boom
                     Malagueña
                     Skokiaan
B: Medley 146: La fontaine des amours
                     Magic tango
                     Mister Sandman
 

Next came four 25cm-33 1/3rpm records, labeled "50 ans de Succès". Although they appeared first on the Decca-label in Belgium, vol.2 and 3 were also released in Great Britain and Australia (!); Fonior also released the first volume in the Netherlands on the Omega-label under the title "Op de kermis", and the second and third volumes were also released in France as "La Fête à Neuneu N°2" and "La Fête à Neuneu N°3". Vol.2 was also released on CD in 2008 by IODA on the Hallmark label.
"Blaze away" and "King cotton" from vol.2 were also released in Germany on Decca DX1862 ("Rummelplatz-Musik", 45rpm; the record also contains recordings of Dave Mackersie at a hammond organ). The first three tunes of vol.4 were also released in Germany on Decca 45rpm single ("Rummelplatz-Musik Nr.2", Decca DX2005 and Telefunken DX2005; the other tunes on the record are played by Mortier organ "The Black Cat" and another Mortier organ).
A selection of 6 tunes (Blaze away/Blue devils/King Cotton/Tausendkünstler/A l'attaque/Praterveigerln) was also released on the A-side of a Brazilian (!) LP ("Hi-Fi Fiesta", Hi-Fi Masterpiece / Master 527); on the B-side there is a medley played by the Amsterdamse Politiekapel.
• Decca BS.133192:
   (vol.1)
   [Omega HS.133192]
 A: Un pot-pourri de succès populaires (1ère partie)
B: Un pot-pourri de succès populaires (2ème partie) 		Decca BS.133192
• Decca BS.133195:
   (vol.2)
   [LF1264 (GB)]
   [LFA1267 (AU)]
   [110195 (F)]
 A: Blaze away (marche) (A.Holzmann)
    Wiener Blut (valse) (J.Strauss jr.)
B: Blue devils (marche) (H.Williams)
    La belle Galathée (ouverture) (F.von Suppé)
    King cotton (marche) (J.-Ph.Sousa) 		 
Decca BS.133192
Omega HS.133192
• Decca BS.123.222:
   (vol.3)
   [LF1290 (GB)]
   [LFA1290 (AU)]
A: Tausendkünstler (H.L.Blankenburg)
    Fontaine lumineuse (E.Waldteufel)
    A l'attaque (H.L.Blankenburg)
B: Praterveigerln (F.Soucoup)
    Wiener Faschingskinder (C.Vogel)
• Decca BS.123.238:
   (vol.4)		 A: Die Rose vom Wörthersee (H.Lang)
    Tchiou tchiou (N.Molinare)
    Op Sint Anneke (H.Beeckman)
    De trappers van Alaska (Ch.Humel)
    Maria van Bahia (P.Misraki)
    De jodelende fluiter (J.Dante)
    Veel te dik voor mij (R.McLean)
    Cuanto la gusta (G.Ruiz)
    Le régiment des mandolines (H.Betti)
    Fleurissez-vous mademoiselle (Fr.Freed)
    Hup faldera (W.Quanz)
    C'est chouette la musique (P.Misraki-L.Saroni)
B: Hoor de muzikanten (H.Stent)
    Appeltjes van Oranje (Fr.Heatherton)
    Hoop-di-doo (M.De Lugg)
    A la mi-août (P.Misraki)
    Marche des copains (P.Misraki)
    Veri vera Veronika (A.Batzem)
    Wat een club is dat (D.Pelosi)
    Wedding Samba (A.Ellenstein)
    Tot wederziens (E.Storck)
    't Is weer lente (W.Ferdy-H.Erger)
    Johnny Johnny (J.Dante)
    Dat is weer een feest (K.Wheeley)

 
Omega HS.133192
  
 
When 30cm-33 1/3-recordings became popular, Decca also released the tunes of vols.2 and 3 mentioned above on this format. This record became an instant success because of its high recording quality and magnificent arrangements. During the years, this record was released over and over again with different sleeves, different tune order, … but the record companies never put a picture of the organ on the sleeve; in Great Britain, it was even released with a picture of a Welte orchestrion on the front cover (London LL1644)! Other versions include Week-end LPWS169 and Omega LPX461. Below is given the example of a release in Great Britain on Decca in the Ace of Clubs-series (ACL1124, available in a mono and a stereo version). Petty fact: music of this organ was used in the movie "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang".

Decca - Ace of Clubs ACL1124:
[London LL1644]
[Week-end LPWS169]
[Omega LPX461] 		A: Blaze away - march (A.Holzmann )
    Vienna blood - waltz (J.Strauss jr.)
    Tausendkünstler (H.L.Blankenburg)
    Fontaine lumineuse (E.Waldteufel)
    A l'attaque (H.L.Blankenburg)
B: Blue devils - march (H.Williams)
    The beautiful Galathea - overture (F.von Suppé)
    King cotton - march (J.-Ph.Sousa)
    Prater violet (F.Soucoup)
    Vienna carnival (C.Vogel)

 Ace of Clubs ACL 1124
ACL1124
 
A last series of recordings of the organ when it was owned by Albert Becquart, was made by the Victory record company. Although these recordings are a bit 'flatter' in sound than the previous ones, the quality is still reasonable and they contain an interesting repertoire (although some tunes also appeared on previous records).
Victory first released the recordings on two 25cm-33 1/3rpm-LP's – one with waltzes and one with marches (VLP531 and VLP532) – but afterwards, most of these tunes were combined onto a single 30cm-record (VLP30008); although this one has the title "Belgian Organ vol.1", there wasn't released a second 30cm volume (at least as far as I know). This recording was released again later on as Omega 333.049. VLP532 was also released in France as "Orgues de manèges" (Festival FLD 322).
The titles and composers' names as printed on the sleeves contain a lot of mistakes (e.g. the sleeves always erroneously mention the waltz "A toi" by Waldteufel instead of "Wedding of the winds" by J.T.Hall); I try to give the correct ones below.
• Victory VLP531: A: Sang viennois (J.Strauss jr.)
    Aimer toujours (F.Paradis)
    España (E.Chabrier-E.Waldteufel)
    En traîneau (R.Eilenberg)
B: La petite valse (J.Heyne)
    Tesoro mio (E.Becucci)
    Wedding of the winds (J.T.Hall)
    La chasse aux gazelles (A.Calvini)

 Victory VLP531
• Victory VLP532:
[Festival FLD 322 S] 		A: Vienne reste Vienne (J.Schrammel)
    Unter dem Siegesbanner (F.von Blon)
    Jogo (M.Mouton)
    Semper fidelis (J.-Ph.Sousa)
    Cavalery parade (R.Macher)
B: Blaze away (A.Holzmann)
    Sumba boy (F.Weirneinicke)
    Generalissimus (P.Lincke)
    Kaiser Friedrich (C.Friedemann)
    Gruß an Kiel (Fr.Spohr)

Victory VLP531
Victory VLP532
Victory VLP532
• Victory VLP30008:
   [Omega 333.049] 		A: Colonel Bogey (marche) (K.J.Alford)
    Sang viennois (valse) (J.Strauss jr.)
    Vienne reste Vienne (marche) (J.Schrammel)
    Aimer toujours (valse) (F.Paradis)
    Unter dem Siegesbanner (marche) (F.von Blon)
    España (valse) (E.Chabrier-E.Waldteufel)
    En traîneau (galop) (R.Eilenberg)
B: Blaze away (marche) (A.Holzmann)
    La petite valse (valse) (J.Heyne)
    Jogo (marche) (M.Mouton)
    Tesoro mio (valse) (E.Becucci)
    Sumba boy (marche) (F.Weirneinicke)
    Wedding of the winds (J.T.Hall)
    La chasse aux gazelles (galop) (A.Calvini)
Victory VLP30008
Victory VLP30008
 
 
Albert Becquart had also released a 45rpm-EP (Decca 450.050) with the title "Vive la foire" (in the Netherlands it had the title "50 ans de succès"), which contains the following tracks:
Decca 450.050: A: Vieux Bruxelles (P.Leemans)
    Semper fidelis (J.-Ph.Sousa)
B: España (E.Chabrier-E.Waldteufel)
    La petite valse (J.Heyne)







Decca 450.050
Decca 450.050
 
 
In 1964, the Decca Record Company in London released a 45rpm EP (DFE 8594 (mono)) entitled "Mammoth Fair Organ Music", featuring two tunes played by the Becquart Hooghuys on the B-side (the A-side has the overture to "Leichte Kavallerie" by von Suppé played by White's Gavioli). The tunes, both arranged by August Schollaert, already appeared on other recordings; the titles are: Blue devils (H.Williams) and King Cotton (J.-Ph.Sousa).
  
LHXXX F.Kopp »
Page updated on 22.03.2010