DaveHarries

Something from Finland. Petri Koivusalo (DoM, Espoo Cathedral) playing Vierne's "Carillon de Westminster". The images early in the clip of the cathedral surrounded by fallen snow makes me wish I could see that for real. Dave

..... well, almost! Not live though. For those of us who use Facebook this has turned up on the FB page of St. Albans Cathedral. Pity one or two of the notes don't sound quite right but not too bad though. Dave

Staying in Germany, and perhaps an apt choice of clip to follow on from Barry's post in view of the location of the organ in the clip, here is William Walton's "Crown Imperial" played on the Schuke organ of Magdeburg Cathedral by Martin Kondziella. I like those reeds, particularly at the end! Dave

A quick heads-up: the music list on the website of Exeter Cathedral says that tomorrow (10th January) at 4pm will be the installation of Tim Noon as the new DoM. The music list for this service reads: Responses: Bernard Rose Hymns: 57, 48 (NEH) Psalm: 46 Canticles: Herbert Brewer in D Anthem: There shall a star (Mendelssohn) Voluntary: Final (Symphonie I) - Vierne The service sounds like it may be a fairly full house as it also includes the installation of the new headmaster of the Cathedral School and new choristers. I would probably go if I didn't live in Bristol as I have never heard either Brewer's Canticles or the anthem by Mendelssohn. Dave

Same setting as we are having in Bristol Cathedral: 10am start with Choir + Organ + Orchestra. Usually a full house but the Bishop is preaching: the Dean is doing the midnight service tonight. Merry Christmas one and all. Dave

This clip is worth a listen. I presume that the loud reeds heard at 4:45 into the clip are Tubas and they seem to be good for trying to quieten noisy tourists (!) from their location which is, I believe, above the west door seen in that part of the clip. Anyone know what the wind pressure is on them? Dave

A great shame. Even though I have not played an organ for a few years I am lucky enough to have NPOR E01290 about 10 minutes walk from my house. I did play a few notes on it after it was installed and a very fine instrument it is too. My sympathies to those who knew him: RIP. Dave

Just went looking for the link in Vox's post but the link has vanished. Dave

No idea Paul. If you read the text under the "Uploaded 4th Jul 2010" bit it simply says "Liverpool Cathedral". I have never heard either organ live and so I have no idea. Dave

Here is a rendition of one of my favourite pieces, Lefebure-Wely's "Sortie in E flat". The organ is the Klais in the Halgrimskirkja (Reykjavik, Iceland) but the instrument that Richard Lea is playing is the Willis of Liverpool Cathedral. Dave

RIP. The second big loss to church music in recent times, the other having been the demise of John Scott. May Sir David rest in peace and rise in glory: the debt owed to him for his legacy of music is considerable. Dave

Further to my post above there is also the sermon on the St. Thomas' (NY) website: http://www.saintthomaschurch.org/calendar/events/worship/15180/solemn-funeral-liturgy-for-john-scott/sermon and the service leaflet: http://www.saintthomaschurch.org/uploads/calendar/John_Gavin_Scott_(1956-2015)1.pdf The sermon includes mention that John's wife had a son earlier this month, named towards the end of the sermon as Arthur John Gavin Scott. A fitting tribute IMO. Dave

Also there is this on the website of St. Paul's Cathedral: https://www.stpauls.co.uk/news-press/latest-news/john-scott-commemoration-arrangements Dave

Evening all, Thought some members here may be interested to learn that the days of the pipe organ at St. Nicholas, Ashchurch (Gloucestershire) could well be numbered in its present home. I passed the church today (25th August) and the noticeboard on the main road advises that, due to the organ having cost a considerable sum in maintenance in recent years, a fundraising campaign (for £17,500 IIRC) is now underway to replace it with a Viscount electronic. I wonder if someone will save the pipe instrument. Dave

Very sad to hear this. John Scott was one of the organists I had always wanted to hear play live: sadly I will never get that chance. Although there are a few clips of him on YouTube there is nothing quite like hearing an organist play live. I would echo the sentiments written at the end of pcnd5584's post which, for those of us unfamiliar with Latin, translate as: May the angels lead you into paradise; the martyrs receive you in your coming, and may they guide you into the holy city Jerusalem. A choir of angels welcome you, and with Lazarus once poor you have eternal rest. Whether that is taken from an anthem or not I have no idea. But how I wish I had been aware of the concert at Hereford: the trip from Bristol would doubtless have been worth it and I would certainly have made it. There is a very good and quite entertaining obituary in today's edition of "The Times" which, for those who haven't heard of it, is a newspaper here in the UK: sadly you can't view said obituary unless you have a subscription. No doubt Choir & Organ will come up with something lengthy in its next edition. Meanwhile, in addition to the websites of St. Thomas (New York) and St. Pauls Cathedral (London) the websites of Hereford Cathedral, Wakefield Cathedral and the 2015 Three Choirs Festival also carry tributes. Nothing on the website of St. John's, Cambridge: looks like they haven't got round to posting anything yet - or haven't heard. The one from St. Pauls can be found at https://www.stpauls.co.uk/news-press/latest-news/john-scott-st-pauls-organist-and-musical-genius-dies-aged-59 and includes a YouTube clip at the end of JS conducting choir, orchestra and congregation doing "Hark The Herald Angels Sing". RIP John. Dave

Came across this as a related link from another clip. Not a piece I think I have heard previously but nice sound. Dave

Norwich Cathedral did indeed have 5 manuals following the rebuild of 1889 (5 manuals & pedals, 64 stops) by Norman & Beard but sadly a fire put paid to this instrument in 1938. The fire, which was caused by an electrical fault, took place during Choral Evensong and destroyed almost the whole instrument: the state of the instrument a week later can be seen in this view from the choir: http://www.georgeplunkett.co.uk/Norwich/Cathedral/Choir%20view%20west%20a%20week%20after%20organ%20fire%20%5B2331%5D%201938-04-16.jpg Must have been a most frightening experience for all present, not least whoever was playing! HN&B built a wholly new instrument in 1938-42 of 4 manuals & 105 stops with "rather more than half of the 6655 pipes new". I guess that some of the remains of the organ were taken down before the photo above was taken? Either way we can be thankful that the damage from the fire wasn't considerably worse. N&B 5-manual organ of 1899: NPOR N06483 Dave

Robert Fielding (who was my organ teacher when I started out) spent quite a few years there and I didn't realise he had gone. Has he retired, or simply gone elsewhere? And when did he finish? Dave

Very sad news: looks like it was a really lovely church. BBC News now reports that a 16-year old teenager has now been charged with arson, being reckless as to whether life was endangered. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-33266042 In the bottom picture we see the organ sticking out from the arch just before the chancel arch. There is no sign of this in the top picture and, in consideration of that and the fact that daylight can be seen through the arch on the right, I suspect that the organ is, at best, badly damaged if not a total loss. Dave

Merci, tiratutti David

Confirmed also by the website of Exeter Cathedral: http://www.exeter-cathedral.org.uk/content/homepage-news/new-director-of-music-appointed.ashx Dave

Hi all, BBC has been reporting all day that a fire broke out in the roof of the basilica of St. Donatien, Nantes at just after 08:30 BST (10:30 French time) during a morning mass. Fortunately it seems that the city's fire brigade arrived pronto and managed to confine the fire to the roof although I am guessing, in view of the lack of tiles on the roof now, that some of the roof may have fallen in. Reports say that "the roof and the back part of the basilica - where some wooden beams have given way - have been severely damaged and efforts are now under way to save several previous objects inside the basilica, most notably its organ". Full picture (from the website of "The Independant"): http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/fire-engulfs-basilique-saint-donatien-in-nantes-10320298.html BBC News report: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-33134463 I guess the organ may - at least in part - be dismantled for a while to allow for repairs to take place. Pity the fire had to happen but it seems, fortunately, that the blaze was not as serious as it might otherwise have been. Dave EDIT: Thanks to AJJ I understand that this is a basilica, not the cathedral: I had presumed that the basilica and the cathedral were the same building. I cannot edit the subject heading though. Thanks, AJ.

Hi, Probably not of too much interest to this forum but I thought I would post it here in case. Today's Daily Telegraph (UK) contains on obituary for Robert Schuller, who commissioned the Crystal Cathedral (California, USA) and what is described as "one of the world's largest pipe organs". I link to it here for anyone interested. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11616037/Robert-Schuller-televangelist-obituary.html HTIOI, Dave

Evening all, Just found this clip of the Waldsassen Basilica and it features an improvisation on the abbey organ. What piece is being improvised on and who, if known, wrote the improvisation? It is not a piece I recognise. The improvisation starts about 55 seconds in. Cheers, Dave

Evening all, Having got back on Sunday afternoon from a splendid residential retreat at Lee Abbey (nr. Lynton, North Devon) - who can resist a view like this: - and in the evenings they have something called "Christ In Quiet" which is basically a chance for prayer. During these CiQ sessions there is music played off a CD in the background. On the Saturday evening the CD of music heard at the CiQ session contained a piece sung by a choir and the anthem (?) contained the line "Sing to God with a joyful heart" (the only line I could make out the words to) but I was unable to find out what the piece was. Does anyone here have any ideas what the piece might have been? I did make a discreet recording of about 2 minutes of it if anyone thinks they might know: I can forward the sound clip by email for anyone who fancies trying to ID the piece. Cheers, Dave