Jonathan Lane

Been there, done that! A thankless task indeed!

I would be happy to take on responsibility through my company, although we would seek some form of fundraising to ensure it is viable, as a small company we probably couldn't afford to pay the full ongoing costs. However, I am open to the idea of saving the forum in its current form.

This is not the evidence I am reading. Shouting caries the droplets much further, but singing (properly, and I'm not saying all choirs do so) does not send them as far as loud speaking, such as reading a lesson. However, it is developing science!

This is really very sad. Manders led the way through the second half of the Twentieth century with restorations of war damage and then some very fine new organs across the world.

Indeed, the next few years are going to be tough for the church and choral music. I am not sure it is the case at Sheffield that politics or finances have anything to do with it but rather a desire to be the best in the UK, which has been somewhat elusive of late for the cathedral's music. Personally, I think they are taking the wrong approach by disbanding the choir and starting again, especially in regards to the children (boys), who will suffer the effects on their mental health for the rest of their lives. The double whammy is actually a triple whammy, because the world was going into recession before Covid-19, adding that and Brexit, finances are going to be difficult for many decades, perhaps another reason why disbanding is foolish at this point.

So the Dean is concerned that there are one or two people at Evensong, well so am I, but, the purpose of Choral EVensong is to offer worship to God, not put bums on seats, but as he said later there are difficulties with the time, so a solution without disbandment is possible. To answer his specific points: "It was very encouraging that contributions to consultation showed broad agreement. To summarise the the findings: we want a choir that is full--which has not been the case for some time - Already identified as caused partly by the limited schoolaccess, widen it. we value our choral tradition here very deeply, but we want the choir to be singing at services with much larger congregations - Improve the choir, by treating the musicians with a little more respect and care than appears to have been the case. we want greater flexibility, experimentation, and imagination in our worship - Yes, so widen the intake of musicians of all ages, and develop new choirs to give wider opportunity, and therefore greater resources for wider and different forms of choral worship. we want to raise our ambition for excellence in singing, so that once again we will be one of the best, if not the best, Cathedral choir in the UK - This is achieved by trust, respecting and investing in your musicians. By a wholesale dismissal, the foundation for the next attempt at a musical life at the cathedral has already been undermined, because there is a risk that if it doesn't go the way the cathedral want, it will be disbanded again. our Diocese and Bishop as for better provision for Diocesan services, not least in light of the new Diocesan strategy - So? It has been done elsewhere very successfully without disbanding the choir. members of the congregation--very strongly--want systematic provision for choral worship every Sunday of the year - Yes, I refer honourable members to the answers given earlier. To achieve all this, Chapter received the recommendation to close our current provision, restructure, and begin again with a fresh vision. Since last summer, Chapter has been planning to make these hopes a reality under God. In our discussions, we have also been considering these additional questions: will recruitment be stronger if we extend our reach, and work with a wider group of schools? As “a place for all people” we have been asking ourselves if our Choir can better reflect the diversity of our city. - Yes, of course, a bigger pool means greater possibilities, but, children are very canny, they are not going to join something that doesn't display excellence, and are going to be wary of something that has previously been shut down because it was regarded as 'not fit for purpose.' what might a more flexible provision of music actually look like? should we be considering entirely new ventures, such as a short Sung Eucharist on Friday lunchtimes when the city is full of people? - Yes, Friday Sung Eucharist, Matins, Compline, and other opportunities, provided by multiple choirs, while respecting mixing boys and girls has huge problems of its own. How about, Boy's Choir, Girl's Choir, Junior choirs for both, training choir, teenagers choir for those who's voices have broken (I detest that expression, but it is succinct, they have broken, ideally they are changing to be even better!), student choir, adult chamber choir, choral society, other small groups drawn from within the aforementioned choirs, all leading to greater resources, more opportunity, ability to provide a wider range of services and other events, and to build a social 'choir family' to be supportive and affirming of one another. should focus on a new student choir, and from which we can build up our provision? Do we need more choirs? - Yes and yes, see previous answer. how can we make proper provision for boys whose voices break? Would this be a VI Form choir for young men and women? - Yes and yes, see earlier answer. are we able to offer choral Evensong at 17.00, when the city centre is much fuller? - Why not? That’s already a long list, but as we reflected, Chapter discerned three further issues: It has become impossible to go into a mixed sex school and only audition younger boys, or older girls. Schools rightly require parity of treatment, and so do the Cathedral’s own values. Does this mean that we should have two choirs of younger children? Or one choir of boys, as at present, and one of girls at the same ages? - Indeed, and that should never be the ideal, recruit all ages, boys and girls, for the choirs provided for, to allow all of them to attend. We were already aware of the challenge of live-streaming but following COVID it is clear that we will need to live-stream all major services. How we can best live-stream choral worship in our building is not obvious, and in any case we will need to find significant new funding for the equipments such as permanent microphones and cameras - Indeed, but funding should be possible as all churches and cathedrals seek to modernise their way of accessing congregations and vice-versa. The church has lagged behind in use of such technology, save for some of the large charismatic-evangelical ones." The importance as I see it is to respect and protect those who already contribute to the worship, and sadly I believe disbanding the choir will cause untold harm to the children already involved. What really needs to be done is to retain all current singers, and appoint a new Master of the Music who has a vision for an open, extensive, and adventurous programme of music in worship of the necessary excellence that draws musicians and congregations to itself. It needs a person of vision and energy, but from what I have heard from various sources, that person needs to be trusted, and there is a suggestion there has been some bullying in the workplace. Not even the strongest person will perform to the highest expectation if they are dealing with such other influences and pressures. The person appointed needs experience, it is not a task for someone relatively new to the scene, they need guts, vision, integrity, ability to communicate, and above all passion for the maintenance of a choral programme on such a scale. It would be far easier for anyone coming in to build from the current position than start afresh. Starting afresh on vision and mission is important, but to build on what is there will cut a huge amount of development and training time out of the process, and might see excellent results in five years rather than twenty years. Just my thoughts, as someone who has happily retired from such activities!

On the subject of three phase rectifiers, can anyone supply me with a data sheet or instructions on how to change the DC output voltage on the unit attached in the photo, or manufacturer and model number if you have it. Thanks, Jonathan

I'm a bit confused by your comment, there is a Tierce, so therefore ample means to play both the Cornet Voluntary and the continental repertoire that require the Cornet, as well as other registrations that a Cornet alone would not allow for. Surely the principle reason for the instrument is the accompaniment of the Opus Dei, and as such, the specification appears not only complete but comprehensive. The Mander organ and the Willis organ before that both had a Tierce, but only one.

Thank you all, very useful information. I knew there were people who would know more than me on this subject! As David says, it is very difficult to tell from a stoplist what an actual stop is or how it is configured.

Thank you Marc, I suspected SA might lead the field! Do you know if there is a list? Its really just ideal curiosity.

Ok good people, I am sure there are plenty of you out there with greater knowledge of African organs than I! I would be interested to know how many organs in Africa have true 32' stops, i.e. not Acoustic or Electronic. Stopped or Open 32' flues and 32' reeds. Jonathan

Seems remarkably good value for money!

Nice bit of incense too!

Very interesting to read these comments, especially as we have just spent ten days at Nuneaton removing the organ! As I haven't been here for a bit I hadn't seen the thread. However, to answer a few questions and in no particular order. The old console was not of high quality and was certainly not a converted drawstop console. I advised complete scrapping, the electrics were old and failing and the console itself was made of poor quality veneer that at 40 years old looked twice its age in real life, even if not so bad in photos. The organ was specified as a four manual, but never completed. Being Pedal, Great, Swell, Choir (not installed), Solo (partly installed) and a Choir Pedal (not installed). I will in due course send a specification to NPOR, as planned and as completed. The pipework and the main chests are secondhand, with much of the pipework being of very high quality. The rest was added new, and did a good job for a while. I saw the organ first last year when I agreed to buy it, and then we removed it between April 20 and April 29 this year, up scaffolding, as it was on the gallery with absolutely no access. The scaffolding was a God-send as was the electric winch, there would have been no other way of getting the organ down. I have posted photos of the removal on my facebook account. https://www.facebook.com/jonathan.lane.756/media_set?set=a.10152932595363717.1073741851.576728716&type=3 The organ ceased to work in 2014 due to a fire in one of the blowers. This was why Cousans tuning contract would have been cancelled. The church is lovely, and the people fantastic. Fr Mark, the church wardens and helpers from the church were most hospitable and very keen to make our task as comfortable as possible. We were there on a Sunday, and consequently, we were invited to sing with the choir. The people were lovely. There was an article in the Nuneaton News, which was a full page and good coverage of the story, although I must say, there was no way I used the word 'quite' quite so often!! http://www.nuneaton-news.co.uk/Churchgoers-bid-farewell-organ/story-26375319-detail/story.html It is sad in some ways that the organ has been lost, but it was a mongrel and nothing special, so of no historical interest. the electronic replacement is more than adequate for their needs, however, I would always urge to repair or replace with a pipe organ if at all possible.

They don't have it apparently!