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parsfan

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Anybody been to any of the summer organ festival recitals yet? Must admit the programmes have not grabbed me but David Sanger's recital on 15 August looks promising. He concludes with the finale from Vierne 6. Territory he knows well. Those who collected ye olde LPs will recall his recordings of the Vierne Symphonies for Meridian at the Italian church in Ckerkenwell. Big definitive performances on a modest organ. I am sure that the Filsell recordings at Rouen are also exciting.

 

I wonder if the Abbey have produced a glossy brochure for the series as usual, hopefully with a photo of the refurbished console. One feature of this brochure that I value is that the recitalists write their own programme notes.

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Anybody been to any of the summer organ festival recitals yet? Must admit the programmes have not grabbed me but David Sanger's recital on 15 August looks promising. He concludes with the finale from Vierne 6. Territory he knows well. Those who collected ye olde LPs will recall his recordings of the Vierne Symphonies for Meridian at the Italian church in Ckerkenwell. Big definitive performances on a modest organ. I am sure that the Filsell recordings at Rouen are also exciting.

 

I wonder if the Abbey have produced a glossy brochure for the series as usual, hopefully with a photo of the refurbished console. One feature of this brochure that I value is that the recitalists write their own programme notes.

 

JF at the Abbey on Tuesday was fab. I think, more than anything else, simply because he chose to play music that really suited the instrument. The two previous recitals were very disappointing. The last particularly so, since it was recommended in The Times(?) as gig of the week. I suspect many organ-music virgins will never attend a recital again. At one point, I longed for a handful of wrong notes simply to wake me up. It's all very well to champion 'new' (!) music, but who in their right mind would end with the Gowers Toccata (without even an encore to raise the spirits?)!

 

The brochure is excellent as ever, tho' sadly no console pic (but this year with spec). I'm looking forward to Hans Fagius next week.

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Many thanks for this.

 

No surprise abtout JF. A white heat player at the top of his game. I still recall his Dupre series at SPES. Yes, on a point that I have mention before, I do think that a full length recital needs a major work and HF will provide this next week with Frank's GPS.

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You would think that after six months of work on this unique console that either the Abbey or Harrison's website might carry a photo. The Abbey website has not updated the Organ' spec.

I'm sure if you can email H&H, they could accomodate a photo when the site is next updated. I would personally be more interested to see what they have done with the Salisbury console, which I gather has been relieved of all Willis III ebonised finish - no doubt some will consider this treachery.

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I'm sure if you can email H&H, they could accomodate a photo when the site is next updated. I would personally be more interested to see what they have done with the Salisbury console, which I gather has been relieved of all Willis III ebonised finish - no doubt some will consider this treachery.

 

Actually this was carried-out years ago, in 1978. The music desk was re-made and the stop-jambs re-organised, with the Pedal and Choir organ stops exchanging places. Since that time, the only remaining parts of the console which retained the characteristic Willis ebonised finish were the key slips, the key cheeks and the panel above the fourth clavier, below the music desk. Presumably it is these parts which have now also been returned to a natural mid-oak finish.

 

Apparently the claviers have all been renewed - although I suspect that H&H have been unable to rectify a serious shortcoming (literally) - the Swell and Solo keys are quite short - rather more so than those of the Choir and Great organs. Even if one is used to this console, it is necessary to be extremely careful when playing on the upper two claviers, in order to avoid accidentally pressing pistons. Since the general pistons are immediately above the Solo clavier, this can result in some exciting registrational effects - with unintended kaleidoscopic changes in the tone-colours employed. Without entirely rebuilding the console, I doubt that H&H were able to effect a remedy for this odd situation, particularly since the loft is comparatively shallow.

 

Since the lighting in the organ loft at Salisbury is not that good, personally I would not wish to have the entire console in black (as Truro used to be and Hereford still is).

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Many thanks for this.

 

No surprise abtout JF. A white heat player at the top of his game. I still recall his Dupre series at SPES. Yes, on a point that I have mention before, I do think that a full length recital needs a major work and HF will provide this next week with Frank's GPS.

Excuse the initials, but what the F**K is this all about? I'm sure it makes you fell very smug writing in code but doesn't it defeat the object?

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Since the lighting in the organ loft at Salisbury is not that good, personally I would not wish to have the entire console in black (as Truro used to be and Hereford still is).

Well I have yet to experience Salisbury, but I really like the console at Hereford and find, as an occasional visitor, it very comfortable and easy to feel at home with. The main difficulty is in negotiating the precarious ladder to the loft whilst carrying an attache case full of music, not made easier by the spreading waistline...

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Many apologies. I was referring to Jeremy Filsell's recital series at St Peter's Eaton Square where he played the complete works of Dupre over a number of weeks. On the day that I composed the post that you refer to, Hans Fagius was due to play Franck's Grand Piece Symphonique at an Abbey recital. If anyone is in London this evening, David Sanger rounds off the Abbey's summer recital series at 1900. Be there or be elsewhere !!

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You would think that after six months of work on this unique console that either the Abbey or Harrison's website might carry a photo. The Abbey website has not updated the Organ' spec.

:huh:

Curious.... since there is no mention of the work on the console on either the Harrison website or the Abbey's website, are we to assume (living in the frozen wastelands of the north) that the whole thing is merely a rumour??

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