Jump to content
Mander Organ Builders Forum

french amateur

Members
  • Posts

    36
  • Joined

  • Last visited

french amateur's Achievements

Newbie

Newbie (1/3)

0

Reputation

  1. A bit of french critism... First a good one : the organ sounds more "coherent" now than it sounded since the last restoration. But, as pointed out a very good article by Michel Roubinet : in times of very tight budget for culture, and especially pipe organs, when the Sacré Coeur's ACC organ had to be "restored" with only 150,000 € or so, was it necessary to enlarge again this instrument, and drift it further from its ACC state (already long gone, that's true...) ? Then just a personnal remark, Cattiaux and Quoirin are very good organ builders, but it's strange to have an "ultrasymphonic" organ by two builders that despise any symphonic or post-symphonic organ since two decades... Plus, having seen it and tried it (and several other friends too), the console looks particularly ugly and cheap to me (though it's not, it's actually very fine work and good materials...), and is not very convenient... Just my impressions...
  2. I don't know if such an advertising in in the rules of the forum, but I apologize by advance if it isn't. So, ladies and gentlemen, from the 6th to the 14th of July, will be held the "Académie de Dieppe". http://academie-dieppe.blogspot.fr/ The "Claviers Anciens" ("ancient keyboards") courses are already full packed, but there is still places in the "Claviers modernes" ("Modern Keyboards") and Plain-Chant classes. With visit of the marvelous organs around Dieppe and Rouen (yes, I know what you're already thinking about !). This year, there will be special insight in the XXth century french repertoire and french organs. Quite despised in France at the moment. They will learn to appreciate it in 10 or 20 years, as usual, and regret all they spoiled in between... Usual story ! Dieppe is not that far from UK, there is still ferries from New Haven, if I remember...
  3. To MM : french humour...
  4. Having played it a few times, I confirm that the Manchester Town Hall organ is something like an hybrid of ACC and Lewis. I really hope it will NOT be "rebuilt" but simply restored as such, or just with minor alteration to improve one or two points that could be (in my very very humble opinion). I regret I had no occasion to hear the Rochdale instrument then.
  5. Really interesting ! At the monent, I'm reading the history of the english organ by the late S. Bicknell, and this illustrates it perfectly. Thank you Pierre ! I still regret I did not take the time to try the Samuel Green organ in St Paul, Salford...
  6. I think we do speak about the same person. Being a scientist I use myself lots of open source and commercial softwares, and I understand both points of view. I do not agree on the idea of "small is beautyfull", but that's another point. Good luck for your programmation project! I can't help you, alas, as I have very, very few skills at programming. At lab I'm more an exprimental person than a computer one. Or let's say no more than a basic user... But if you need some translation, I may help, occasionnaly.
  7. A friend of mine actually uses such a program to draw chests since a few years. But it's not open source as he made it himself using both Visual Basic and Autocad. That's a pretty heavy thing, and he begun to build it in 1999 as far as I remember to have it fully working in 2003. It also draws metal foils and wood pieces for pipes provided the scales, pitch and pipes details have been properly put in the system. It allows drawing pipes on the chest to estimate the space required. He is certainly not the only one to use this type of home-made software. You may find people that can help you for programming this, I bet, that would save you some work !
  8. Oh, great, recordings of this instrument are very rare... And those silly ideas you mention about "purity", "decadence" etc. ruined lost of symphonic organs and almost all french post-symphonic organs, alas. Thanks a lot ! N.B. I know this organ, I heard it and visited it, that's really an impressive instrument, with great subtility but also mighty power, and very nice to see inside. I do love the stentor chorus, particularly the 8' stentor, sounding exactly like a horn !
  9. The liverpool link is amazing ! Recording quality, organ quality, organist too... Thanks a lot !
  10. You should try to contact Denis Lacorre, the very good organ builder maintaining this wonderfull instrument.
  11. I heard this instrument a couple of times, and it doesn't sound that bad ! I would certainly not scrap it as easily as it seems intended... There is plenty of redundant organs in UK asking for a roof on them, I hope this will not end with one more neo-baroque or nea-classical instrument...
  12. Sorry, but I already tried to get more info from this friend, but couldn't manage. The only thing I know is that there is some nice things in the organ at the moment (probably the one untouched), and that the cathedral organist hates this organ. I will try however to have some more information...
  13. I think it is from Jardine, as I played several Jardine organs around Manchester, from the same period, and they all seems to suffer the same uncomfortable consoles ! This said, it's not ugly, even if it's a bit heavy. The two "pilars" being doors hiding the old electric combination system, that explains partly the wideness of these pilars.
  14. The console. Extremely uncomfortable, the pedals are too far under the keyboards. A view of the ballroom from the top of the organ. Wonderfull building and very good acoustic in this room. Not dead and not too much reverberating.
  15. As far as I heard from a friend, the former Tarragona organ was something like an Aeolian-Skinner offered by a rich american lady... Slaughtered by Organeria Espanola in the 70's. (At least that's what I have been told, I may have misunderstood...) But the local organist prefered to have a new baroque-like copy made rather than restore the Aeolian-Skinner. Not exactly my cup of tea, I wonder what will happen to the old organ, and if it was possible to have something good from it, despite the "glorious" work of OE.
×
×
  • Create New...