Tony Newnham

Sorry Richard - take a look at church history & the history of church music - there has been constant change, and "traditional services" are NOT inherent in the church! If they were, every church world wide would be the same. Tony

Hi Good to have the official line. Daily prayer is important - even if, as in most ctahedrals, the attendance is low, prayer is still offered on behalf of the community. As to style of worship, as a Baptist, I'm no great fan of the archaic language in BCP - and I rarely attend BCP services (said or sung) - but I find it's perfectly possible to worship Almighty God in that situation - and just as possible in the liveliest Charismatic church. Worship that is offered "in Spirit and in truth", it's acceptable to God - and I find the attitude of mind of the worshipper is significant. When I attend a church service, I go prepared to worship. If you go to be entertained, then that's all you can expect! Every Blessing Tony

Hi I'm a member of the Bradford association, and previously Cambridge, where I was on the committee for a while. On balance, I find membership worth while - but other committments means that I can't always get to every meeting. Every Blessing Tony

The problem here is that many of my colleagues have no idea at all musically - and all too often don't want to know or change their own ideas. I thoroughly agree - that's what I've always done and I've never had any problems with it. As you say, get the first verse over and the congregation soon cotton on and do it right. Every Blessing Tony

Hi Glad that I got it right! (I dealt with the NPOR updates and new surveys for Wylde Green). Thanks to for the info re. the fate of the Wlker - I'll put that into my "pending" pile for NPOR and add the info in due course. Every Blessing Tony

Hi The Bradford chamade is bright rather than very loa-ud - the solo Trumpet Major is louder and more rounded - but it's still a nice stop. The position at the top of the organ case (chancel chamber) facing South does, I suspect, limit how effective it is in the Nave compared to its previous position at the West End (which I never heard). Another organ with chamades is St. Mary, Saffron Walden. They are deafenin in the South Aisle - and difficult to balance as the organist (on the screen) only hears the bounce from the West End (and that's a very long way away!) I've heard top-name recitalists come adrift here using the chamade in chords. Every Blessing Tony

Hi Could you be confusing this with the organ from the 7th Church of Christ Scientist? This went to Emmanuel, Wylde Green - see http://npor.emma.cam.ac.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch...ec_index=E00600 Every Blessing Tony

Hi Sadly, gathering chords are only too prevelant! I find it annoying in the extreme (it's the norm at one of the churches I preach at regularly). Interestingly, I've also played there when their regular musician hasn't been available, and the congregation cope with no problem with proper introductions and breaks - no gathering chords, just straight in to each verse in tempo. There might be a slight hiatus on the first verse of the first hymn, but that's all. I was once taken to task for not using them when I deputised for a friend - strange, because I never heard him use them either! I was taught one bar silence between verses, no gathering chords, no rallentandos except perhaps at the end of the last verse - and introducions at the speed you're going to sing the hymn at. (I don't always stick to the one bar break - sometimes it's just 2 long and 1/2 bar feels better - depends on the hymn) Every Blessing Tony

Hi Thanks. It would be good to get he current state correct, as well as adding the new stuff from the current work. Every Blessing Tony

Hi I should have read to the end of the thread before asking! Are you planning any changes in it's new home? Every Blessing Tony

Hi "Me too". I wouldn't mind seeing the actual organ as well! (And, assuming it's at least partly real pipes, it's eligable for inclusion on NPOR. Every Blessing Tony

Hi Sorry for the slip of the word processor! Although I lived in the area, I never got to Peasmarsh Anglican Church - I did preach at the Methodist church at times, and we had friends who lived in the village. There are some VERY weird stop names out there - I often see strange things on NPOR surveys! Every Blessing Tony

Hi IIRC, the legislation actually says to make "reasonable provision". I would suggest recording at the appropriate church committee the fact of he potential problem and the reason why moving the choir isn't a practical solution, plus perhaps a note that the issue with be revisited at some future date. Every Blessing Tony

Hi Interesting - there was nothing about that in the source material (I know - I entered the original survey!). I wondered at the time what the surveyor meant by "Solo" against the Royal Trumpet! Perhaps you could send NPOR an e-mail with the correct information, and we can then get it right. Every Blessing Tony

Hi The fact that the Vox Angelica has a rooved bass indicates that it's the pitch rank. Every Blessing Tony

Hi Don't read too much into the lack of recorded derivations on the NPOR surveys - especially 1950 - it's likely that the source of the survey didn't show them. As with all NPOR material, it's only as good as the source material - and even some organ-builder's stop lists vary from wha is actualy in the organ, let alone secondary sources! Every Blessing Tony

Hi Obviously, a lot depends on voicing. If the chorus is 16ft based, then there's no issue. But a Quint in an 8ft chorus is a little puzzling. Interestingly, last week I was able to play Colin Pykett's experimental computer-based system, and one of the available stop lists is Neue Kirche, Arnstadt, Thuringia (Wender, 1703) which has a QUint on the Hauptwerk. To my surprise, it was quite effective in small doses, adding a "growl" and a touch of 16ft resultants to the sound. See http://www.pykett.org.uk/re-creating_vanished_organs.htm for more info on the system. Every Blessing Tony

It could be for a "short octave" arrangement. I suspect that it would be a pig to navigate though with the odd spacings. Every Blessing Tony

Hi Please take note - tghe NPOR survey is NOT the current specification (survey date is 1998). It will be updated once information is to hand. I had hoped to visit last weekend whilst in Sussex, by I gather that the work is not yet complete. Every Blessing Tony

Hi Not a divided pedalboard - but didn't the German fimr of Walcker(sp?) build dual pedalboards in the mid-1800's? Every Blessing Tony

Hi You mention a large ethnic population - I would want to look in that direction, alongside the "traditional Anglican". (But be prepared for what we would regard a sloppy performance practices!) The church is supposed to be inclusive - but it needs work to make that happen. I've been to a few Asian Crhistian services here in Bradford - very interesting (even if I didn't understand much of what was said or sung - I don't speak Urdu!) There's a lot of potential out there, if we can only find it and encourage it. Every Blessing Tony

Hi I'm glad that very few of the tunes form Beaumont and the ilk have survived the test of time (I still have the original books somewhere on my shelves). I agree about Camberwell - it cuts the words up in stupid places, let alone anything else. I quite like "living Lord" - played in a light jazzy style on piano it works (for me at least). Every Blessing Tony

Hi Frank Some of the comments I've heard - both on this list and elsewhere - I wonder the same thing. Fortunately here our organist is relatively tolerant - and due to age, he only plays once a month, so I actually play the organ more than he does! Every Blessing Tony

Hi Interestingly, the early Compton electronics were very well built - the consoles using the same components as their pipe organs - and they last - given a bit of care and attention. There are still several around in reasonable to good playing order. The mechanical tone generator system helps here - as with tonewheel Hammonds - the generators have little to go wrong - and the remaining electronics are fairly straightforward and use mainly standard parts. Obviously, they don't stand comparison with any but the most basic of the current crop of digitals - but that's a different matter. It seems to me that, with a few exceptions in the custom field, most digitals are built to a price - just as extension pipe organs often were (and small straight organs come to that). If the comparison was between a minor-league builder pipe organ and a Compton extension and a digital, then maybe the order would be different? As regards value for money, I remain to be convinced by the digital argument - assuming that the church has an existing pipe organ that is reasonably adequate for the job. The average life of electronics is still only 15-20 years - and then what - a new organ? We have (an admittedly small) pipe organ that is over 150 years old - and the prices I've been quoted for restoration wouldn't buy much beyond the bottom of the market digital (and we're talking complete dismantleing - the reservoir needs new leather - not surprising after 150 years and at least 5 moves, and replacing the Stopped Diapason Treble which has been changed for a Keraulophon at some time in the past). Yes, it costs us more annually to maintain the pipe organ - and it will need cleaning again in perhaps 30-50 years - but do the sums really add up - let alone the vastly better sound of real pipes. Every Blessing Tony