DaveHarries

Yes, I would rather have a go at that site myself. Dave

Hi all, It is unfortunate that almost nothing is known of the organs of Hereford Cathedral before the end of the 18th Century. However, we do know that in the late 1520s - mid 1530s one John Hichons (Hychons) was making and repairing organs of the day. He appears at Hereford Cathedral on a few occasions. The records are written in English that is by no means perfect thus among the entries regarding Hychons' work at Hereford comes this gem: ============== 10 October 1532. John Hychons suspended for "incontinence" (surely that should be "incompetance"??!! - LOL) and compelled to sign a bond for 100 marks (£66 13s 4d), pledging himself to completeby 2 February 1532/3 an organ which he had begun to build. ============== (Source for above information: "The Organs & Organists of Hereford Cathedral", page 28) Does anyone know if there are any similar errors like that in records elsewhere? I would be suprised if there isn't at least one other somewhere. Dave

I've heard "Mass of St. Louis" done by Bristol Cathedral's boys choir on a couple of occasions: let them sing it and it sounds superb. Dave

Hi all, Just thought I would ask what is your favourite setting for a Eucharist? Mine has to be Speller's "Mass of St. Louis" but whats yours? Dave

Christ Church (with Emmanuel) in Clifton, Bristol has a cimbelstern mounted on the side of it. It was added by David Wells when he rebuilt the organ in 2001 and I have heard it used to good effect on one occasion when the organist used it at the end of a hymn that was, if I recall, "Praise to the Lord the Almighty the King of Creation" and very nice it was too. I went to the 2001 reopening recital (seeing as I only live about 10-15 minutes from the church by car) and it was done by Wayne Marshall. It was a highlight of the evening when it came to the church's organist - whose name escapes me - having to pick a theme for WM to improvise on. The theme picked was that of "The Flintstones" which caused a good deal of amusement with the audience and, despite the ideas being a bit slow to come, WM went on for at least half an hour. A great evening. I don't know how much use the cimbelstern still gets as, with Christ Church not being my local church, I don't get to go there too often. Dave

The update has been made: I have just checked. Dave

My favourite organs (out of the ones I have heard) are below. The first two are in order of preference with Bristol top of the list and Cologne second. The remainder (3-5) are in no order of preference. 1. Bristol Cathedral, UK Always sounds utterly superb to my ear. Certainly my favourite organ in Bristol. 2. Cologne Cathedral, Germany This applies to the newer Klais. I first heard this the year it was completed. I was stood below the organ gazing up at it and someone played a chord on it that made me almost jump out of my skin because it was so loud. I have not heard the older (1949) Klais since it was restored though. 3. St. Mary Redcliffe, Bristol, UK This one is my second favourite organ in Bristol. To my ear it doesn't sound as nice as the Cathedral one. 4. St. Nicholas, Amsterdam, NL This is the church with the enormous front that stands right opposite Central Station in Amsterdam. I have been to church here a couple of times. Nice organ by Sauer and sounds fine but not, IMO, as nice as the other three. 5. Not sure what to put here. Will leave it blank for now but if I think of an organ to go here then I will edit the post. Dave

I got picked up from work in the middle of that first piece (the Mozart) and I could have sworn that I recognised part of that piece as having been played by Jos van der Koy on the 1735-37 Muller organ in St. Bavo, Haarlem duing one of the programmes that made up the Howard Gooddall's Organ Works TV series a few years back? I have all 4 programmes of that series on VHS. But overall a superb performance in that concert: not just by David Goode but also by the RAH organ itself: sounded in excellent voice. Just a pity we can't have more organ in the Proms though. Dave

Hi all. Anyone know if there is any organ music (preferably solos but no matter either way) in the 2006 Proms @ the RAH? Haven't yet seen any signs of some but might just be inattentiveness on my part. Dave

This looks like it needs work on it but would it be worth doing? We would have to get it out of Bolivia first....... http://www.galeon.com/nolime/album270063.html Any thoughts? I don't understand Spanish though but good pictures which suggest a lot of work needs doing. Dave

Hi all. What is the most remote place on this planet that you have wanted to go to, or which you have ever been to? I wouldn't mind a chance to go to a certain island 950km West of Oslo, 600km North of Iceland and it is called Jan Mayen which is a territory of Norway. Currently has a scientific station but visits are possible to the public for 34,900 Norway Kroner this year (about £3070). Check the website for the island and you might see why I would go there as it looks great if desolate. But would you want to go to a place as remote as this? Dave

Hi all. Just found this photo on the website of the Norwegian territory of Jan Mayen which, for anyone who has no idea where it is, is located 950km West of Oslo and 600km North of Iceland. Brrrrr.... Anyway, you ever seen a cloud with this (or any odder) shape? Photo taken by one of the crew on Jan Mayen. Dave

Dave

No sign of the cat on the ordgan bench. WHich cat is it out of the 6 on the cats gallery? Dave

I remember hearing the nave organ for the first time in 1999. I jumped straight out of my skin as I was standing below it when someone struck up with a loud chord. Dave

According to this news article, it would sound like it. Translation: ======================= Kölner Domorgel mit neuen Pfeifen (Cologne Cathedral organ with new pipes) http://www.ksta.de/html/artikel/1144908096069.shtml Cologne - during the festival mass on Easter evening, two new stops in the organ of Cologne Cathedral were played for the first time. The new "Tuba episcopalis" (Tuba of the Episcopacy) and "Tuba capitularis" (Tuba of the Cathedral Chapter) are installed over the west door of the cathedral and are on extremely high wind pressure according to a communication by the diocese on Tuesday. Like the Royal Trumpets in St. Paul's Cathedral, London the high pressure stops in Cologne Cathedral will only continue to be heard in large services. The American organist and composer Stephen Tharp composed the "Easter fanfare" for occasions like this. (Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, 13th April 2006) ======================= (For anyone who missed the picture: a great shot with the new pipes on the right. Source: Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, 13.04.2006) Having spent a few years learning German I did that translation without the aid of Babelfish so it might be a bit wrong in parts. Dave

I like cats as well. I once sent the local church cat to sleep by playing random chord on the organ at the church. There was no service at the time. I drew two stops: Voix Celeste 8' and Saliconal 8' then closed the swell flaps and played random chords for about 2 minutes. The cat was asleep by the time I finished. He was still purring tho and it was a bit louder than the notes I was playing. Dave

For anyone who doesn't know what this is about, Click here for the article from "The Times" newspaper. This is absolutely (...) pathetic IMO. These regulations threaten a craft that has been in Europe for more than 2000 years, and probably longer than that. There is no alternative to the alloy that is used for metal pipes (unless they are made from wood, but organs would be boring like that) so stuff the EU legiuslation. This puts the livelihood of more than 800 people here in the UK, plus more across Europe, North America and possibly other parts of the globe. And actually, whilst I think of it, the lead measurements apply to electrical equipment! Does an organ pipe classify as electrical equipment? I think not, so couldn't someone could mount a challenge to this directive on those grounds? STUFF THE E.U! Dave

Thanks! I will. I have never heard the Flentrop organ and I hope I will get round to it some day! Dave

Hi dude. Here are a couple of ideas for concert venues, both churches and both quite large. I have been to Amsterdam on three occasions for a short break and, for the last two, I have made a habit of going to morning service (11am, IIRC) at the church of St. Nicholas, opposite Amsterdam's main railway station. The sight of the church from the public transport interchange area outside the rail station is this: The organ inside is, I think, a large 3 manual. I have heard this played during church services (they take account of the tourists at this church: the service sheets are printed in Dutch, English and a couple of other languages as well!). In the nave, a number of panels - one of which looks like this (click here) - portray parts of St. Nicholas' life. Here is the organ: St. Nicolaas (Nicholas) Church, Prins Hendrikkade, Amsterdam Built by Sauer, 1899. Worked on by Sauer (1904). Maintained by Bernhard Koch (1914/1921/1928/1931) and changed a bit by Adema/Schreurs (1960). Restored by Verschueren in 2000/01. This organ sounded accoustically superb at the last service I attended there (November 2004). I had a chat with the organist after the last service I went to there and I think he was Scottish. I might have been wrong though on that point but his English was word perfect. In the South of Holland, a slight journey by train (just under 80 minutes including 1 change) will take you to the town of Breda. A bus is best for getting to the town cente here: the park - known by the locals as the "National Park of Breda" - - takes 15 minutes walk end-to-end. In the town centre, a short walk down Grote Markt is a side road called "Nieuwestraat". At the far end of this pedestrian-only street is a church (it is, unbelieveably, not marked as a cathedral - it should be!). This church is called the "Grote of O.L.V Kerk te Breda" (Great Church of Our Holy Lady, Breda). A considerable amount of time and money was put into restoring this church between 1904 and 1999 and it shows both outside and inside. For some reason, the church interior here reminds me of pictures I have seen of St. Bavo, Haarlem. The organ of this church - seen above at the end of the church - has been altered many times over the years and has, in that time, become an organ of 4 manuals and 53 stops and it claims to be the biggest 4 manual mechanical-action organ in Holland (according to the church's website). Superb organ in all accounts. I will give you a short history of this one in Breda when I can find the book on its history. The last major work in Breda came from Flentrop in 1969 but a good portion of that organ is older: the chair case dates from 1534 (Hendrik Niehoff?) when it was constructed as the church's organ at that time! Even if you don't sing in Breda then the church is still worth a visit: miss it at your peril!!! Dave Photos in this post are my own work: © 2004.

Ah! Excellent work there, Paul. Great to see something comming from it. It adds to confusion, however, that the following entry appears under "Organ Builders" on a website called YELL.COM: ------ Cawston & Daniel Organ Builders Ltd Beach Avenue, Clevedon, Avon BS21 7XX Tel: 01275 873273 ------ Dave

One more new organ soon to be built (I am aware that it is on order) is an organ for the chapel of Wills Hall, University of Bristol. I am not sure who is building this one but will post photos when the instrument is finished. In the meantime, does anyone know who is building this one? Dave

My slight disaster happened when I was booked in to play Midnight Mass on December 24th 2003. This was at my local church and the organist at the time - who died in December 2005 - was absent and had gone on holiday. One of the choir members had been taught by the regular organist how to play the choir anthem so I mercifully didn't have to do that bit. Anyway, about 11:50pm, when I was in mid-hymn and had just done verse 1, there was a power faliure which cut the organ's electricity supply for about 60 seconds. I first swore (without opening my mouth to any extent) and finished verse 2 (played silently: I knew what keys to press because Candlelight was in use for the service) just as the electricity came back on and allowed music for the rest of the service. What was interesting was that the congregation didn't seem to notice the lack of organ: they carried on singing. Dave

Very entertaining affair mate. However, if - as I believe - you are talking back to Clifton here, was the organist Gwillam Isaac? Sounds a bit like him to shove people around a bit because I seem to remember he could be a bit tempremental. Dave

Hi John. That is extremely good to know. Thanks for passing the info on. He gave me a tour of those Clevedon works when I was a young lad (about 8 or 9 y.o?) and let me have a pipe for a souvenir. I still have that pipe and it still plays. Regards to Chris, Dave