Paul Carr
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Posts posted by Paul Carr
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A few weeks after encountering a "Swell Unison Off" stop on an organ which has no octave or sub octave couplers, I'm still scratching my head as to a use for it...
The organ was of the bread-cooking variety I hasten to add...
It did have a very useful switch on the side marked 'off'. (Unfortunately that did have its usual partner!)
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RC Church of Our Lady & St Kenelm, Halesowen
Palm Sunday morning:
Hosanna to the Son of David - English plainsong setting
Responsorial Psalm - Dutson
Mass setting - English plainsong
Anthem - Hosianna dem Sonne David - Telemann
(organ only used for accompanying the hymns during Lent)
Maundy Thursday:
English plainsong mass setting, + Murray Gloria with organ 'fanfare' [i don't do improvising, so it was actually the last page of Cocker's Tuba Tune!] between the intonation and the Gloria itself. No more organ at all until Saturday night now.
Responsorial Psalm - Hodgetts
Ubi caritas - plainsong..square notes'n'all
Motet - Ave verum - Byrd
Pange Lingua
Good Friday:
Responsorial Psalm - Hodgetts
Reproaches - Victoria
Christus Factus Est - Cannicciari
Easter Vigil (same music @ Easter morning)
lots of responsorial psalms
Murray Mass setting, with another 'fanfare' after the Gloria intonation, (probably end of Vierne I Final).
Stanford - Why Seek Ye
H.Smart - Postlude
Evening
Off to St Paul's Birmingham to play Blessed Be the G&F for Mr Carr (see above). Hopefully this year he won't have to phone Mrs Contrabordun on Easter Monday afternoon to substantiate my account of why I didn't get home until 1.30am...
Mmmmm, I suspect in a few years I'll be supplying an alibi for Bordini too...
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The new organ was featured on Radio 3's "In Tune" tonight. I caught about 50% of the Final from Widor VI - very fine it sounded too.
There's something on R3 tomorrow (Saturday) - I think it may be Music Matters at 12.15 but I was busy cooking and missed most of the announcement.
P
Yes, it's 'Music Matters' and it's on now!!
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Seconded.
So what's everyone singing/playing/hearing this Easter then?
St Paul's Birmingham.
Today, Good Friday:
2pm
Via Crucis - Liszt (with projected artwork/images)
O Mensch, bewein' dein Sünde gross BWV 622 - J.S. Bach
Easter Day:
10am
Anthem: Most Glorious Lord of Life - William H. Harris
Voluntary: Incantation pour un jour Saint - Jean Langlais
6.30pm:
Anthem: Blessed be the God and Father - Samuel Sebastian Wesley
Voluntary: Fugue (Alleluia Pascal) - Marcel Dupré
A peaceful Easter to you all.
P
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Nope!
I don't feel deprived.
MM
You don't know what you're missing!
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Thanks for those views. Appreciated.
Regarding BWV 568, I know the NBA has no problem with it so I suppose the attribution is secure (is it?), but I really cannot think of any work by Bach that sounds more convincingly like the work of J. L. Krebs. Is it just me? (Probably...)
Did anyone else hear BWV568 on Pipe Dreams last week - played on a Hammond C3?
P.
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One very eminent cathedral organist once told me, he gives them 5 minues, and then silence.
If I stopped playing 5 minutes into late time 'silence' isn't the word I use to describe the level of noise in church...
It's a rare treat when the guests are quiet and I can hear what I'm playing. I used to take them on with the tutti, but these days I sit and 'play', and then pull out some stops if the noise level dips!!! 
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I tried Dupre but to no avail! I would also have liked the Bach double violin concerto BWV 1043 but that didn't come up either. Curiously Messiaen's Apparation did come up, which I would not have imagined a CFM favourite!
Peter
I tried Dupré too!
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I've just received the following from Peter Chatfield, General Secretary of the IAO:
Now's your chance to show to the media that the organ really matters! Why not get your friends to vote too.
There's plenty of organ music on the list at http://www.classicfmhalloffame.co.uk/#votingForm and what better way to get ourselves and the organ heard.
But, be quick! Voting closes at 23:59 on Sunday 31st January.
He's right, there is quite a lot of organ music on there, though some surprising omissions (Liszt's "Ad Nos" is there, but not the BACH for instance). I'm not sure what the criteria are for inclusion: pieces that have been played on CFM this year perhaps?
Done: Guilmant, Vierne and J.S. Bach
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No. "Better" musicians make for "better" performances
If the action is responsive to the musician attached to it, and doesn't do random unmusical things, particularly with regard to release, then it probably really doesn't matter how it happens between key and pipe.
Of my top five favourite actions to play musically on; one is electric, (H&H) two are pneumatic (lewis and N&
and two are mechanical (Walker and Schuke) And I rehearse getting the notes in the right order on a toaster with a decent 'pluck', except on middle F# that is!
P
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Paul,
I've just tried to send you a PM, but your inbox is full...
{Sorry for off-topic message!}
P
It's empty now....
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Fredrik Sixten writes refreshingly good organ and choral music - check this out and follow the links for the Christmas Oratorio (and more if you like it) - you can hear some too!
A
I'm playing the Finale from his Sonata in a recital in February and also as a voluntary in January. It's a Rondo and very good fun. It's not too tricky and has one of those themes which you find yourself humming around the house... His style seems fresh to me, there's nothing else I know quite like it. Clearly 'modern' but still tuneful and accessible.
P.
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A very Merry Christmas and prosperous New Year to you all.
Paul.
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I'll confess to playing Andrew Carter's Toccata thereon after the evening service...super piece.
Me too, and better still it was preceded immediately by Andrew Carter's arrangement of the hymn itself, complete with penultimate verse ending on the subdominant, and amazing, tingle-factor last verse descant and harmonisation.
BTW Both are on 'Advent from St Paul's' on the Hyperion label. A great recording.
P.
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All depends if the queue's short enough. And don't forget there's creed and intercessions straight after the sermon, so you can make it 20 minutes quite safely.
Note to self: A well positioned organ is one where the organist can emerge straight to the outside world rather than having to walk down a transept.
A certain DoM in the Midlands area has been spotted at Sainsbury's during the Sermon-creed-intercessions part of the morning service. Not still in robes though, which is a shame as that would make the anecdote perfect!
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I was in the organ loft of Notre Dame a week or two ago and saw, rather worryingly, that there was a foot piston labelled 'SOS'.
It was clearly different from the sequencer advance piston, labelled 'SEQ'.
Any suggestions ?
Incidentally, if any members have played at Notre Dame (and I think a few have), could they kindly let me know if there is a sequencer advance thumb piston under the keyboards. I know there is one on the right hand stop jamb for an assistant, but I could not see one actually within the player's reach.
Many thanks.
m
The SOS toe piston is a reversible for the sostenuto - one of the rocker tabs beneath the music desk.
The pistons (which are the 18 generals) can be programmed so that any one of them is the advance for the stepper - so I had them all set as the advance, making pretty sure I couldn't miss or get the wrong one! Even then, the toe pistons still relate to the numbered generals for emergencies!
The most difficult thing I find about setting up organs with only generals, as is often the case on mainland Europe, is that all of the stops have to be pulled out manually - in this country one can usually use the divisionals and adjust from there. eg sw 8 = full swell then add or take as desired for the general...
P
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I am not sure, its a long time since I listened to them. I believe it was one of the last recordings Michael Woodward made, and went straight to CD, i think. Priory have re issued all of his previous work from vinyl, so not too sure what will happen to this little gem. And the organ sounds very good (well to my ears) and as usual the sleeve notes are excellent and include the registrations used.
Peter
I have it on cassette, they're not particularly fast and very nicely played. I was given the cassette recording in 1987 as I was learning number 5, it was an original I hasten to add, and I have the sleeve although the cassette is a copy made just as the original was starting to get mangled in my machine on a daily basis, due to wear and tear!!
For an absolutely blistering performance of Trio Sonata no. 2 get hold of Olivier LATRY aux Grandes Orgues GIROUD du Grand-Bornand (Haute-Savoie). It's simply stunning in every way and it is fast, but still extremely musical playing. Needs to be heard to be believed IMHO.
It's an all Bach disc "L'art de la transcription" with BWV 593, 594, 596, 645-650 and 539 in addition to the trio 585.
it's on the BNL productions label so the Trio also features on "Olivier Latry: 12 des plus belles pages de sa discographie" which is an excellent disc with tracks from various organs, all impeccably played!
P
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Why? Can I offer one or two suggestions.
Firstly, we have a number of organs in this country that were conceived with transcriptions in mind. Our big civic halls etc. with their orchestral stops and colours.
Secondly, I think that if you choose your repertoire carefully then yes, they might show off some wizardry (or more likely stops!), that might not get as much of an airing elsewhere.
I'll admit 'guilty' to the charges of playing transcriptions, however, I've never done a whole recital programme of them (despite recording a CD solely of transcriptions), but I will add that I think some people do go too far in their search for new transcriptions where I can't understand what they are adding to the repertoire. I noted similar criticisms in the current OR of selections from 'Carmina Burana' and the Gershwin 'Three Preludes'. I'm with the reviewer here in not understanding why those pieces in particular (apart from number 2 of the Gershwin) were chosen.
For me it has always trying to balance some familiar music in recitals where you know a large number of people know very little of the repertoire with attempts to educate them with what I will refrain from calling 'proper' repertoire, more 'original' repertoire. What we shouldn't be ashamed of is that for many years, transcriptions were an important part of the repertoire and any attempt to banish or erase them from our heritage will not be a welcome one.
Of the Briggs items in the advertised programme, I know that the Dukas works well, but I would be interested to hear from those who can attend how the Bach and Elgar come over. If anyone will convert you to transcriptions, David is one of the few true exponents and evangelists!
The recital was on 3rd October...
The Bach was stunning, orchestrally conceived, yet clear. As you say the Dukas works well...
The Elgar was simply breathtaking. It's not a work I know well in its orchestral form, so this was listening with fresh ears. In terms of wizardry, the colours, the build ups, the textures, etc... were something that one would have to search very far into the depths of the 'original' organ repertoire to match.
Contrabordun and I also commented that if the stepper piston has an expected life-span, this performance alone has put it well into middle age or beyond.
I was simply transfixed. Playig transcriptions of this magnitude is simply an art in itself.
David said it had taken over 10 hours to register.
Time well spent.
Incidentally, I think I've found where the best point to hear the Worcester organ is now...
P.
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I have just received a copy of the new catalogue from Priory.
The second paragraph contains an interesting statement: "...where you will see for the first and last time the organ, soon to be replaced by a new instrument."
I was aware that there had been discussion for some time concerning the rebuilding of the Willis/Mander instrument (and the possibility of providing another instrument in the nave). However, I was surprised to learn that the existing organ is to be replaced - I wonder if whoever wrote the copy actually meant that?
A cursory search of the internet has shed no further light on the matter, so I would be interested to learn from any board members what is happening - if, in fact, anything is actually known yet.
PM sent.
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Anyone free for the pub afterwards...?
Oh yes!
Probably as obvious as "Will David be using the Tutti at all"
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David Briggs, Worcester Cathedral
Saturday 3rd October, 6.30pm
Dedication of Organ 1st Anniversary Recital, £15 on the door
Programme:
JS Bach, trans. Briggs 2009: Orchestra Suite No 3 in D major
(i Overture. ii Air. iii Gavotte. iv Bouree. v Gigue)
Dukas, trans. Briggs 1996: The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Elgar, trans. Briggs 2009: Symphony No 1 in A flat, Opus 55
(i Andante, Nobilmente e semplice. ii Allegro molto. iii Adagio. iv Lento - Allegro.)
See you all there - large-screen projection (with pedal-cam) as usual!
So, who is going tonight?
Perhaps we should have kept our badges from earlier in the year...
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The Organist is a rare breed of performer who frequently must turn pages himself - and some (of us) have had gruesome experiences with a resident page-turner which makes for a less-than calm performance. Therefore, I try always to create a performance copy which allows me to play unaided. I took the hint from the late Ewald Kooiman who had his folder prepared for the performance. So sensible and so easy for each venue. Likewise, I really do not like the presence of a registrant - although I must admit somewhere like the Sint Bavo actually does require a couple of people who know the instrument and the horizontal array of stops. (I still think that two people are paid by the town council to do this at the public recitals but stand corrected about this observation to the human alternative to Solid State.)
Cut and pasting is quite an art and on A3 pieces of paper that form a book (that gets cut down to size because not every music desk will accommodate such a tall score). Most works can laid out like this. In other words we are doing what the publisher ought to have done in the first place for a Performance Score. Some main-stream Romantic works stretch the imagination terribly (Franck's III - final pages) for instance. And I only was able to manage the 6th Trio sonata (1st movt) by omitting the first section (and start playing from Bar 161) and at the final cadence jump to Bar 19 which I have starting the work! And on three pages - the whole movement which can lie flat infront of you with no turn necessary. With some ingenuity (which does not come naturally at all to me) it becomes a musical game and gives one great satisfaction upon completion. Necessary tools: Good 90/100 gram paper for using with a copier/scanner (preferably with enlargement/diminution of image); a pile of A3 or B4; 1 large dining table; 1 pair of Paper hanging scissors; totally see-through sellotape on a sold dispenser (as you often have to cut with one hand); two cats to play with the off-cuts on the floor.
I think common sense must prevail between publishers and performers in all this. If it doesn't then it is a sorry state of affairs.
Best wishes,
N
The alternative to scissors and dining table is to do the cutting and pasting electronically, after scanning. If only an A4 printer is available then producing the scores with an eye to enlarging them to A3 works well. It's no less time-consuming and the cat gets bored waiting for something to grab out of the printer though.
P.
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... presumably because recitalists often change the programe on the day...
I don't think that's something that happens with anyone often, and I never have.
Advertising recitals is an art in itself: who is the target audience? Will your target audience be interested/excited by the fact that there's a huge tuba/32' reed/other large sticking-out party horn/chorus of Dulcianas, etc, etc, or by the recitalist, or by the fact the console is on view by some means or other, or the fame of the building attached to the recitalist's name, or by the pieces being played.
Possibly all of the above for those from the 'organ world' probably the last two or three for the rest of the vaguely interested population...
Advertise that the programme will include Widor V, or some well-known transcription like the William Tell Overture and you immediately double your chances of success IMHO...
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...more or less guarantee banging your head on it whilst getting onto the bench.
...and again when you get off the bench if your memory is as bad as mine!!
and two are mechanical (Walker and Schuke) 
Recitals
in General discussion
Posted
I think mine's earlier 12.10pm?? I can't check easily as I'm still stranded in Chicago!