Happily Allan Wicks October 1968 recording of Ridout's Seven Last Words was reissued on the complete "Great Cathedral Organ Series" set by Warner/EMI in 2011.
You might be referring to 1977 Decca Phase Four LP by Leslie Pearson, recorded at All Souls, Langham Place entitled "Organ in close-up." I think the programme was of organ popular pieces - Widor Toccata, Wachet Auf, T&F in d, Litanies etc
Thank you for posting this pointer to E H Warrell's Autobiography and Marc Rochester's review of it. His appointment as Organist at Southwark Cathedral in 1968 was slightly less out of the blue than it would at first appear; he is listed in Wikipedia as the assistant between 1937-1954 although he would have been away on war duty for some of that period.
Seconded. The entire service was marvellous, the acoustic is now so much better for music since the removal of the original ceiling tiles. The Howells St Paul's service was very fine, as Darius has said. Do listen to it on BBC Sounds in the next month if you have an opportunity.
For many years I have lurked on this forum, visiting every day but rarely posting. There are many wiser and better informed members, and I feel poorly qualified to contribute.
I am greatly saddened by sudden collapse of Manders, and the dispersal of their wonderful team of craftsmen. As others have said, their instruments will be a long-lived reminder of their work.
I hope many forumites will join the new forum and have every expectation it will continue where this one leaves off. Many thanks to Steve for getting this set up in good time.
I have a vague memory that Anthony Halliday and Iain Simcock performed Beethoven's 5th Piano Concerto (the Emperor) at Westminster Cathedral many years ago with the piano at floor level beneath the west end organ gallery. The seating was turned round so the audience was facing the performers. I cannot recall who arranged the orchestral parts for organ.
I've just stumbled across a live video stream of this evening's recital at Gloucester Cathedral being given by Jonathan Hope. Parry and Vierne 2.
https://www.facebook.com/gloucestercathedralorganrecitals/videos/1354141388019622/
Leslie Pearson made an LP with the microphones very close to the pipework in order to cut out any natural resonance (not much at the best of times!) at All Souls...but I don't recall its title.
John Scott had a soft spot for the music of Percy Whitlock and was President of the Percy Whitlock Trust. I believe the last solo CD he recorded before leaving St Paul's Cathedral was of Whitlock's music, including the marvellous Organ Sonata. Any Whitlock work would be very appropriate.
The secret for blind organists is to set the registration for an entire programme on pistons. I know that David Aprahamian Liddle makes full notes about the layout and tonal quality of every instrument he plays before registering any piece so that setting pistons is a fairly straightforward matter; every combination can be checked by listening and adjusted if necessary. Obviously a sequencer or stepper is ideal, but a good supply of adjustable pistons is all that's required. The story told in Alfred Hollins' autobiography about sensing the temperature of a lighted stop knob simply doesn't work at speed because it takes too long for the brain to process small variations in temperature.
David uses registrants to assist with stop changing when playing on large instruments without modern playing aids. Additional rehearsal time is necessary and the whole business is obviously more challenging. It can be done very successfully, as his complete performances of Widor 7 and Widor 8 on the Father Willis organ at St Dominic's Priory show.
The 1947 orchestration of the Elgar Organ Sonata was by Gordon, not Arthur, Jacob. The timings indicate the YouTube performance is that by the RLPO conducted by Vernon Handley in Aug/Sept 1988 which I find to be of good sound and brisk in the manner of Elgar's own performances. There is an alternative commercial recording by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by Richard Hickox, recorded in May 2006 and at a rather more leisurely speed.