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DaveHarries

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Everything posted by DaveHarries

  1. Greetings, Today's (07th April) edition of The Daily Telegraph here in the UK contains an obituary for David McElderry, MD of the Wells Kennedy Partnership, who died 15-Feb-2021 aged 64. Dave
  2. Greetings all, Some members here may recall my posts from 2009 and 2018 about the efforts to build a historical replica of the organ of St. Elizabeth, Wroclaw (Poland) that was built by Michael Engler (1752-1761), was worked on by other builders (1848, 1867, 1879, 1907 & 1939) and escaped destruction during WW2 (1939-1945) only to be lost in a fire that gutted the church on 09-Jun-1976. A photo of 10th June 1976 shows how complete the destruction of the organ was: https://polska-org.pl/9069037,foto.html?idEntity=546812 It is good to be able to report that the work on the organ is now well underway. The organ is being made by a three-way consortium: - Orgues Thomas (Stevelot, BE): Windchests - Organowe Zych (Wolomin, PL): case and supporting structure. - Orgelbau Klais (Bonn, DE): Action, console, wind system, pipework and intonation (voicing?) The website of Zych is live but makes no mention of the project; the website of Thomas mentions it but with no links to any information. On the other hand the website of Klais gives a history of the organs of St. Elizabeth and suggests that the Engler-origin organs of Grüssau and Olomuc are serving as models (presumably for things like pipework metal alloys) for the Wroclaw organ. The page on the Klais website can be found at https://klais.de/m.php?sid=551 and contains historical pictures of the Wroclaw organ as well as pictures of the 1724 Engler of St. Nicholas, Brieg (Brzeg), Poland which was sadly lost in 1945. You can also on that link find impressions of how the organ in Wroclaw is planned to look when finished. It seems that the comparison with the organ of 1752 will be very good indeed. I am sure I read very recently (although I forget where) that inauguration is planned for sometime in Autumn 2021: what a pity I am unlikely to be there. I hope videos will appear online in due course: I think it will be splendid. Hope this is of interest. Dave
  3. Order of service, for anyone wondering, can be found at https://d10okuw2vik61v.cloudfront.net/uploads/2021/03/Easter-Day-Evensong-2021.pdf That "singing of the organ" bit sounds, if an early edition of Choir & Organ is anything to go by, like part of the dedication mass of the organ of Notre-Dame, Paris following the work of the early 1990s. That service featured something similar. Dave
  4. Hi all, I seem to remember that the "Great European Organs" series (Priory Records?) was discontinued a few years back. But an idle few minutes at work today lead to me thinking up this question. If Priory Records decided to record one final disc in the "Great European Organs" series and gave you the chance to record the disc in a venue of your choice: a) Where would you choose to record it? b) What would be the one piece you would have to include as part of your line up? For me the answers would be: a) Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul, Cologne (Germany) b) Toccata-Prelude on "Von Himmel Hoch" (Garth Edmunson) for which I would use the transept and nave organs simultaneously. Two organs both by Klais (Transept: IV+P/102; 1949/2002; Nave : III+P/53; 1998) both of which can be played from the transept console. I will be interested to see what other people would do. HTIOI, Dave
  5. Slight correction if I may: Assistant Organist of St. John's according to the college website. https://www.sjcchoir.co.uk/about/james-anderson-besant Nothing on the social media of the cathedral or the college but the website of Exeter Cathedral carries this: https://www.exeter-cathedral.org.uk/news-events/latest-news/assistant-director-of-music-appointed/ Dave
  6. I tuned in online for the Eucharist on the 7th March: the organ sounded superb. I will be sure to tune in online for the Evensong on Easter Day too though. Dave
  7. Read online this evening that Dr. Richard Shepherd MBE, DL, FRSCM, a composer, former educator, and Director of Development and Chamberlain of York Minster, sadly died on 20th February at the age of 71 after a long illness. I had never previously heard of his music until I attended the enthronement service for the current Bishop of Bristol, a former Dean of York, at Bristol Cathedral back in October 2018. One of the anthems for the service was "Eternal light, shine into our hearts", a prayer of Alcuin of York (735-804) which Dr. Shepherd had set to music especially for the service: it was superb. May he rest in peace. Dave
  8. A look on the NPOR records for St. Mary Redcliffe makes no mention of Robert Allen and neither does the copy I have of the history of the organs there. As for the address in Longfield Road, St. Andrews it still stands but I can't imagine how she coped with no electricity. Dave
  9. Greetings A.D and welcome to the forum. Dave
  10. Exeter Cathedral have posted a picture of him. Dave
  11. Ashley Grote did his excellent New Years Day recital from Norwich Cathedral with a camera in the organ loft. It is always good to see a view that, if you were in the Cathedral sitting in the Nave, you probably wouldn't get to see otherwise. I hope organists will continue with this once we are back to normal. Dave
  12. Good to be able to see from the Twitter feed of Wimborne Minster that work on the organ started on Monday 01st February. Let us hope all goes well both for Manders and the Minster. Dave
  13. The organ of Auckland Town Hall sounds in excellent voice with Tim Noon at the console accompanying the Auckland Symphony Orchestra with the Finale from Saint-Saens' Organ Symphony no.3. The clip is dated 04-Nov-2013. Dave
  14. Likewise. Perhaps shows a lack of maintenance on someone's part. Dave
  15. Glad to hear this. Hopefully their partnership on the Wroclaw organ will restart too. Dave
  16. A shame to hear of this. Back when I was learning the organ while at school I used some of his books. RIP. Dave
  17. Indeed. Congratulations Wayne. Dave
  18. I heard it on the radio *and* watched it on the TV. Enjoyed both. Not without using my phone because I have no speakers on my PC. I am also a shortwave radio listener too (listening only, not transmitting) so I would have tried it for an experiment. Maybe next year. Dave
  19. I hadn't noticed that the BBC's broadcast of Midnight Mass was from Clifton Cathedral (which is not far from me). I had lessons for a time on the organ there and my teacher was someone whose name I decline to mention on this forum (I haven't seen the person in question on this forum for a considerable time but they were, IIRC, a member of it). It was an enjoyable instrument to play and I am glad it is being kept in good order. Dave
  20. I would like to take this opportunity not only to thank our new hosts for keeping this forum running and also my fellow members for their contributions over this unusual year. I wish you all a Merry Christmas as well as all the best for what I hope will be a brighter and better 2021 for us all. Dave
  21. Indeed. When my local church - St. Mary's, Stoke Bishop (NPOR D07728) - was reordered and refurbed back in 2011 the organ was wrapped both on its main (choir side) façade and on the side (nave) façade. However someone doing the work managed, in mid-to-late 2011, to make a hole in the wrapping which, through ingress of dust, rendered the organ unplayable for some weeks. The remedial work was done in early 2012 IIRC, at no cost to the parish. Although the organ remains with the same specification as it had when rebuilt in 1979 the accoustic, thanks at least in part to the reordering, is rather dry nowadays. Dave
  22. For those of us (like myself) who have shortwave radios the BBC World Service is airing the Kings service. Not sure if I should post the frequency information here unless anyone is interested though but it will be live. Dave
  23. My favourite recording of Garth Edmunson's "Von Himmel Hoch" prelude is this one played by Andrew Lucas at St. Paul's Cathedral. Sounds great with a decent pair of noise-cancelling headphones. Dave
  24. Very sad. I don't live in the area but I love exploring churches, particularly old ones. In this instance, however, one under arrest suspected of arson. It appears from the pictures on BBC News that the tower, spire and outer walls survived, which is something, but the loss of the rest is very sad especially at this time of the year. Organ was II+P/14. NPOR N00467. BBC News links is at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-55158763 and more details can also be found on the Diocese of Derby website at https://derby.anglican.org/en/news/latest-news/fire-damage-at-mackworth-all-saints-extensive.html which confirms tower, spire and extenal walls are all intact. Dave
  25. Bristol Cathedral are doing online bookings for services. No music booklet for December has yet been produced though but I imagine one will appear soon. It could well be that the chapter, along with our (still fairly new) Dean, are still working it out and you can't rush things in times like those we find ourselves in. I am booked in for the 6pm service this coming Sunday though which is, I believe, planned to be an Advent service of sorts. Dave
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