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Listen to Virgil Fox, watch music videos, read bio, see tour dates & more!

Virgil Fox

Classical

View Artist

Top Songs By Virgil Fox

Listen to O Come, O Come Emmanuel by Virgil Fox, see lyrics, music video & more!
O Come, O Come EmmanuelVirgil Fox
Listen to Cantata No. 147 (Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben): Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, No. 10 (Jesus bleibet meine Freude) by Virgil Fox, see lyrics, music video & more!
Cantata No. 147 (Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben): Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, No. 10 (Jesus bleibet meine Freude)Virgil Fox
Listen to Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565 by Virgil Fox & Slovak Philharmonic Choir, see lyrics, music video & more!
Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565Virgil Fox & Slovak Philharmonic Choir
Listen to Wachet Auf! (Sleepers Awake) by Virgil Fox, see lyrics, music video & more!
Wachet Auf! (Sleepers Awake)Virgil Fox
Listen to "Little" Fugue in G Minor by Virgil Fox, see lyrics, music video & more!
"Little" Fugue in G MinorVirgil Fox
Listen to A Mighty Fortress Is Our God by Virgil Fox, see lyrics, music video & more!
A Mighty Fortress Is Our GodVirgil Fox
Listen to Fantasia (quasi variazione) on the Old 104th Psalm, for piano, chorus & orchestra by Virgil Fox, see lyrics, music video & more!
Fantasia (quasi variazione) on the Old 104th Psalm, for piano, chorus & orchestraVirgil Fox
Listen to Cantata No. 140: Sleepers, Wake by Virgil Fox, see lyrics, music video & more!
Cantata No. 140: Sleepers, WakeVirgil Fox
Listen to Toccata In D Minor, BWV 565 (From Toccata and Fugue In D Minor) by Virgil Fox, see lyrics, music video & more!
Toccata In D Minor, BWV 565 (From Toccata and Fugue In D Minor)Virgil Fox
Listen to Trumpet Voluntary by Virgil Fox & Daniel Guss, see lyrics, music video & more!
Trumpet VoluntaryVirgil Fox & Daniel Guss

Latest Release

Listen to Christmas Carols on the Organ by Virgil Fox
ALBUMChristmas Carols on the OrganVirgil Fox

More albums from Virgil Fox

Listen to Bach Famous Arrangements by Ralph Gustafsson
ALBUMBach Famous ArrangementsRalph Gustafsson
Listen to Virgil Fox at Carnegie Hall, New York City, December 20, 1972 by Virgil Fox
ALBUMVirgil Fox at Carnegie Hall, New York City, December 20, 1972Virgil Fox
Listen to Recital in the City by Lynn Trapp
ALBUMRecital in the CityLynn Trapp
Listen to The Girard College Recordings by Virgil Fox
ALBUMThe Girard College RecordingsVirgil Fox
Listen to The Art of Virgil Fox, Vol. 2 by Virgil Fox
ALBUMThe Art of Virgil Fox, Vol. 2Virgil Fox
Listen to Organ Spectacular by David Paul Briggs
ALBUMOrgan SpectacularDavid Paul Briggs
Listen to The Art of Virgil Fox by Virgil Fox
ALBUMThe Art of Virgil FoxVirgil Fox
Listen to Soli Deo Gloria 2 by Virgil Fox
ALBUMSoli Deo Gloria 2Virgil Fox
Listen to Soli Deo Gloria by Virgil Fox
ALBUMSoli Deo GloriaVirgil Fox
Listen to Encores by Virgil Fox
ALBUMEncoresVirgil Fox

Virgil Fox's Popular Music Videos

Watch Adeste Fidelis (O Come All Ye Faithful) [Live On The Ed Sullivan Show, December 24, 1967] music video by Virgil Fox
Adeste Fidelis (O Come All Ye Faithful) [Live On The Ed Sullivan Show, December 24, 1967]
Virgil Fox

About Virgil Fox

Listen to Virgil Fox, watch music videos, read bio, see tour dates & more!
Hometown
Princeton, Illinois, United States of America
Born
1912
Genre
Classical
Virgil Fox was one of the most popular and accomplished classical organists of his time. He often generated controversy because of his flamboyant performance style, which involved the use of lights during live performances and often liberal changes to the scores he was playing. Yet Fox, a brilliant technician and insightful interpreter, maintained broad appeal and never used ostentation or eccentricity to camouflage diminishing technique or failing skills. By age ten, Virgil Keel Fox had developed sufficient skills to serve as organist at local church services, and after four more years he displayed virtuoso skills in his first public concert, in Cincinnati. At age 16, he began studying with Wilhelm Middelschulte, then organist of the Chicago Orchestra (now the Chicago Symphony Orchestra). In 1929, Fox won first prize in the National Federation of Music Clubs' Biennial Contest, held in Boston. Fox gave two particularly prestigious recitals at age 19, the first in London's Kingway Hall and the latter in Carnegie Hall, audiences on both sides of the Atlantic greeting his performances with enthusiasm. He enrolled at the Peabody School of Music in Baltimore in 1931, where he studied organ with Louis Robert. He graduated one year later with an artist's diploma, then traveled to France where he studied from 1931-1933 with Marcel Dupré. In 1938, Fox returned to Peabody as head of the organ department, a post he retained until 1942, when he enlisted in the military service. As a member of the Army Air Force, Fox gave numerous recitals during the war to draw financial support for the Allied effort. He was discharged in 1946 and that year accepted the position as organist of New York's Riverside Church, where he remained until 1965. There he cultivated much of his trademark flamboyance. Over the years, Fox performed three times at the White House, ironically enough it was on the piano. In 1952, he was selected to represent the U.S. State Department in Bern, Switzerland, at the First International Conference of Sacred Music. Fox participated in one of the most memorable organ concerts in New York's history when he joined E. Power Biggs and Catharine Crozier in 1962 to play in the inaugural concert for the New York Philharmonic's new organ at Philharmonic Hall (Lincoln Center). By this time, Fox was already active in the recording studio, turning out numerous LPs of music, from Bach and Handel to Fibich and Jongen. He made around 60 recordings in his lifetime, many of which are still available in various reissues on a number of labels. Fox's accomplishments were recognized in the academic world when he received an honorary doctorate degree from Bucknell University, in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, in 1963, and a Distinguished Alumni Award from the Peabody Conservatory in 1964. He helped design the new Rodgers organ for Carnegie Hall and gave the instrument's inaugural recital in 1974. Three years later, he gave a memorable sold-out Bach concert at the Kennedy Center. Typically, Fox would tour the country during these years playing a large Rodgers electronic organ and provide lighting effects to accompany his performances. In 1976, Fox was diagnosed with cancer and succumbed four years later in Palm Beach, Florida. Amazingly, despite his deteriorating health, Fox, known to be strong-willed and deeply religious, performed his last concert only a month before his death on September 26, at the opening concert of the 1980-1981 season of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. ~ Robert Cummings

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