Malcolm Kemp

What I saw yesterday was a rather poor looking two manual stop-key console. The NPOR entry that I saw on my return home was of a small 2 manual Gray. Malcolm

If I can reply briefly to somne of the points made above: (1) The touch-screens I have will only operate one stop at a time. You have to touch each one separately; two or more together will only operate one. That is a disadvantage. (2) Whilst I can't speak for others, I do most of my practicing with just a clear 8' and 4' stop on each department (including the pedals) and I practice slowly. I don't spend hours on end sitting at home making loud noises. (3) My Haupwerk system is in the same small room as my ordinary computer. The heat generated by three screens and two computers in that room means you don't need too much heat from the radiator! (4) For anyone linked to my Facebook pages there is a photo of my console on there. Ideally I would like my screens higher up, as on Daniel Cook's console. (5) I have never had the luxury of a pipe organ with lots of pistons operating on modern systems. I now have the chance of practicing using such systems at an appropriate point in the learning process. Malcolm

Having just come out of Foyles' today, and having a lot of spare time before my next appointment, I wandered into St Patrick's Soho Square for the first time in many years. After this coming weekend the congregation is moving out so that 12 months of (clearly) obviously needed restoration work can be done on the fabric. In the west gallery, where you would normally find the organ in a building of this Italianate design, is evidence of a music group. At the front of the nave - blocking the view of the altar from the pews - is the console of a toaster. The pipe organ, to the north of the sanctuary was in the process of being ripped out and a lot of wooden pipes, wind trunks &c., were piled up in a mess in the porch. The instrument in general and the console in particular, looked rather poor and worn out, a fact confirmed by looking at the NPOR entry - a very small, nondescript, 2 manual. Even so, it seems a shame to see a pipe organ dumped. Does anyone know anything further about what might be happening to the present instrument and what is proposed in the way of an organ when the church re-opens in a year's time? It looks as if the church is not exactly flush with money. I knew someone years ago who worshiped there and I got the impression then that it was very much a going concern. Malcolm

I use Haupwerk with a custom built 4 manual console and two touch-sensitve screens for the stops, not to mention an adjustable bench. At present I use the Skinner Illinois organ which is a 3 manual but my fourth manual should come into use when, eventually, the whole of the Salisbury cathedral organ becomes available for download. I wonder whether I will need larger screens for the Salisbury specification but we must wait and see. Of course, I would like a small mechanical action pipe organ but, in a very moderate sized terraced house, I am restricted in my options. As someone else has already mentioned, I find the series in "Choir and Organ" on home pipe organs for practice most interesting. If anyone is going to be in the area of Brighton at any time they are welcome to send me a PM about coming to see it. As ever, we are grateful to Mr Mander for permitting mention of a subject which is strictly taboo. Malcolm

As to Chichester, a beautiful, pure, unforced, framed sound, well matching both the building and fine organ. I have not heard them since Birch and Thurlow though. Are they still the same? Richard To me they now sound like an above average parish church choir but I gather that quite a lot of people like the new, more open tone. Malcolm

Having been booked to play for a Deanery Synod Mass (Pontifical, no less) last Tuesday evening when all sensible people were at home eating pancakes, I pondered long and hard what might be a suitable final voluntary. I have to admit I forgot that Quentin told me a while ago that our mutual friend the new Rural Dean is rather partial to the War March of the Priests and, anyway, the Deanery Synod has laity as well as clergy (although some of the laity are pretty warlike). In the end I went for Bach BWV 680, prelude on "We all believe in one God" (and I'm not even sure how true that was!). What would you have played and why? Malcolm

There is an obituary of Allan Wicks, written by Philip Moore, in today's Church Times. Malcolm

As has been said before on this forum, Radio 3's Rob Cowan is a great champion of the cause of organ music on his morning programme. Today's edition of Church Times has a very interesting whole-page interview with him on the back page. If you don't otherwise have access I think it is possible to subscribe on-line to just one edition for a pocst of around £1. Malcolm

Whether or not one prefers the traditional English "pure" head-tone of boys or the more continental tone is a matter of personal preference and the arguments for both have been rehearsed ad nauseum both by those who do and those who do not know what they are talking about. Chichester is a small cathedral and the kind of tone that John Birch and Alan Thurlow produced was ideal for that particular building. Hearing the Psalms sung at Choral Evensong whilst sitting in the Quire as a member of the congregation was always a joy and inspiration. Perhaps much larger buildings such as Westminster, Liverpool (I've never been there so don't really know) and Winchester demand a fuller, more open sound. As well as enjoying Chichester in the past, I also enjoyed very occasionally listening to John's under George Guest and I happen to think the Winchester choir is currently one of the finest in the country. A choral sound that works for one building may not work in another. Also, repertoire has changed and that has a relevance to the sound that a choir needs to make. If a choir is any good these days they will sing the Masses of Palestrina, Vittoria, Mozart and Haydn instead of those by Darke, Ireland, Wood and Sumsion. On occasions when I do choose to listen on a Wednesday afternoon at 4 pm I am more often than not horrified by the standard of singing in general and Psalm singing in particular. Malcolm

John Birch certainly. At the height of his career he was an outstanding player (and probaby still is). His choir at Chichester achieved an incredible restrained, subtle blend and attention to detail and his boys sang with a lovely pure tone which now seems to have been abandoned there. I gather that since he moved back into the Close at Chichester, and whenever he is in residence, he attends Choral Evensong and gives great support and encouragement to Sarah Baldock, as does Alan Thurlow. Last autumn on his 80th birthday he was allowed to conduct the choir at Evensong. In the mid-70s it was worth the journey to Chichester and back on a Saturday to listen to the fine choir, watch JAB conducting and listen to Roger Greenacre thundering through the First Lesson. Malcolm

Ironic. Years ago he was turned down for a parish church job on the south coast and then went on to develop and run what was regarded as one of the finest cathedral choirs of its time in the country. He was the winner. Congratulations to him on reaching 100. Malcolm

I watched today as it was coming from Southwark and I have very happy memories of my lessons there with Peter Wright a few years ago. He is such a fine musician and a good, caring person. Unfortunately all we saw of him on the programme was his hands. What a pity that the conducting on these programmes now seems to be restricted to about 4 people. This was one of the better programmes I have seen in recent times. When I was having lessons there I always felt it was a happy place, staffed by good people and very pastorally caring and inclusive. Before lessons I used to sit in the Harvard chapel where there is a marvellous Pugin tabernacle from St Augustine's Ramsgate. Malcolm

I have known it to work. Nearly 40 years ago someone in Brighton had been organist of the same church for 52 years and his playing was getting even worse than it had always been with a result that Merbecke and well-known hymn tunes became unrecognisable and every bar went at a different tempo. The vicar spoke to the organist's wife who told him she couldn't intervene and that he (the Vicar) would have to do it himself. The following week the Vicar, with much fear and trepidation, called the organist into the sacristy after the Parish Mass and, as gently as possible, told him his playing was obviously deteriorating due to his very poor health and had he ever thought of giving up. The organist - never an easy man to deal with - thanked the Vicar and said he would think about it. The following week, with a few tears, the organist thanked the Vicar for being so honest and handed in his resignation. The Vicar's words had clearly been a welcome final realisation of what he already knew within himself. And this from a Vicar who didn't always enjoy a reputation for being tactful. His leaving was handled with great pastoral sensitivity - which was one important reason why I allowed myself to be appointed as the replacement - a memorial tablet was carved in a pillar when he died and RCO prizes initiated in his memory. I have seen - and continue to see with increasing regularity - so many good, long-standing friends deteriorate physically and mentally due to a combination of age and sickness and I find that very hard to accept. I have told several of my younger friends that should I ever get like that they must tell me. Whether they will, or whether I shall accept it if they do, I can only guess. Perhaps it's not what you say but the way that you say it. Sometimes here and on Facebook I wonder whether readers will take what I have written as I intended it to be taken and understood. Malcolm

I'm not sure whether you will get an answer on Saturday. I would wait until Monday. If he's not there has an answerphone or his wife, Annie, will take a message. Malcolm

Richard Barnes, owner of Cathedral Music (01243 379968) is the person to speak to about this. He is very knowledgeable on this subject and as lots of opinions about it. He also has connections with the music section of the Bibliotheque Natonale (which he visits regularly) and several Paris music shops and publishers. He also publishes the Vierne Mass considerably cheaper than UMP. He is marvellous at getting copies of obscure but wonderful 19th and 20th century French church music that people suppose to be unobtainable. I think, for example, that he currently has all the Widor choral music in his catalogue. You can arrange to visit his premises, browse over coffee and partake of an excellent lunch in a nearby pub afterwards. Tell him I recommended him. Malcolm

Having been D-of-M at the church a number of years ago I can confirm that this is indeed St Paul's West Street, Brighton although I have certainly never heard the organ sound anything like this before! It is an incomplete 4 manual Hunter. There are drawstops for the Solo - a weird collection - but there was never any room for any pipework. There is a stopped 32' on the pedals derived from another rank (I can't remember which) but the bottom few pipes, although in situ, have never been connected up. The Great Twelfth, Fifteenth, Mixture and Trumpet, together with the Pedal 16' Trombone were all added in the late 1960s, during the incumbency of Fr John Milburn, who was very musical. If memory serves me correctly there still are a couple of "prepared for" stops on the pedals and "prepared for" Sesquialtera and Clarion on the Great. It is a fine instrument with a particularly rich and lovely full Swell but the action is in urgent need of renewal and all the pipework is crammed into the base of the tower. In a resonant churhc it would sound absolutely magnificent. Generally regarded as a sister instrument to the large Hunter in St Andrew's Worthing. If you know Brighton, it is just behind the Brighton Centre and the tower vaguely resembles a moon rocket. Although they have a loyal regular congregation and the best choir in Brighton by a very long way they are not exactly wealthy and it is unlikely that any major work on the organ could be contemplated. Currently they are necessarily having the nave floor renewed. Without naming it I have referred to this church in posts on two other topics in the last few days. One was that on musical standards in church but I can't remember what the other topic was. The church is kept open by a faithful band of church watchers from mid-morning until early afternoon every day and it is well worth visiting. If you like extreme Anglo Catholic worship then solemn Mass is Sunday at 11 am with a low Mass at 11.30am every other day. It was the first of the Wagner churches in the Anglo Catholic tradition in Brighton. Malcolm

Thank you, Stephen, for reminding me of one of my more amusing services at my last church! Lay chairmen of deanery synods frantically fiddling with new lighting systems - and going from one extreme of luminosity to the other and back again - during the psalms at Choral Evensong is one thing - and quite funny at the time - but the BBC bathing, for example, the whole of St Mary's Primrose Hill in English Hymnal green is horrid. These BBC lighting schemes look so contrived and un-ecclesiastical. Malcolm

Colin: My singing teacher, Hilary Llysten Jones, helps with the music at the RC church opposite the library in Winchester. If you like I can let you have her contact details privately. The Brighton organists' association started reluctant organist classes many years ago led by Janette Cooper and John Gardiner. Later they got taken over by the RSCM and the rest, as they say, is history. I can't remember when the RSCM "took over" but I don't think it was as a result of Janette Cooper becoming warden at Addington; I think she was already doing reluctant courses there before she got that job. Malcolm

Forty years ago there were a number of Anglo Catholic priests in the Brighton area - and elsewhere - who worked on the principle that their church would do what Father said because Father knew best, Father was in charge, it was the right thing to do, it was what Father wanted and Father would have a childish tantrum and "one of Father's turns" if Father didn't get his own way. It had the advantage that you knew where you were and it stopped the more domineering and uninformed laity insisting on getting their own way as often happens in churches now. The downside was that Father was NOT always right and usually he had an army of sycophantic dotty old women and rather camp young men to see his every whim was carried out. One well known vicar actually brought his sycophants with him, lock, stock and barrell, from his previous parish in another part of the country. In his particular case he transformed a somewhat run down Brighton church into one with a national reputation of excellence and activity. If anyone tried this kind of behaviour today (in either the Anglican or the Roman Catholic church) I suspect that everyone would very quickly tell them where they could go and what they could do with their opinions. There are varying degrees of pros and cons to both sides. I would add that nearly all the people in the scenarios I have described above are long since departed. The sad thing about them is that, by and large, they were good, faithful, caring priests but most were absolutely terrified of having to deal with people and confrontation and therefore felt safe behind this shield of autonomy. Malcolm

Many thanks to the very kind Board member who, for various reasons, sent me a direct e-mail with a very helpful reply. I was unaware that he had recorded it. Surely that is what this Board is all about? Malcolm

I have a student who is preparing this piece for Grade 7. I have talked through with her the difference between the England of Bridge's Adagio in E (which she can play extremely well) and the England of time the Walton pece was composed, in order to give her a bit of help with style. Obviously the organ arrangement cannot replicate the whole of the orchestral score - notably the percussion - but I want this student to be able to portray the piece as near to the original as is reasonably possible. Listening to recordings and studying the full score are, of course, helpful. I am very aware that an examiner (usually a non-organist) will almsot certainly be familiar with it in its original form. Rather like Howells with his original compositions, Robert Gower gives hardly any registrational suggestions apart from indicating distribution between two manuals. I can see why he did this because we have a colourful piece, needing lots of contrasts &c., which are dependant on the size and specification of the organ and the registrational aids available. I'm trying to organise it so that she takes the exam on an instrument that will be well able to do full justice to the piece and on which she can have lots of practice beforehand. I should be grateful for any comments - particularly from Board members whose own students have played this piece for Grade 7 - about how much she might be expected to follow Gower's arrangement to the letter, how she might improve it and what registrational schemes work well. Thanks Malcolm

Gavin Brown taught for years at the RAM and the Junior Academy. He gave up St Peter's when his RAM work became heavier and he moved to Essex. When he retired from the RAM he became organist of Rayleigh parish church in Essex, from which I believe he retired about a year or so ago. (I think he was born in or around 1928.) His wife is (or was) a Salvationist and he had several daughters. One if his reasons for moving to Essex, I recall, was a better choice of schools for his daughters. He is still an honorary life vice president of the Brighton organists' association and one or two people - notably Janette Cooper - keep in contact with him. The last time I saw him was years ago when he examined me for LRAM organ teaching in St James's Sussex Gardens (I passed). I can remember when he used to broadcast recitals from St Peter's fairly regularly on national radio. These days the level of passing traffic - particularly noisy fire engines &c., - would render this impossible. Malcolm

In my defence, I am a comparatively new member of BIOS! Malcolm

I thought the organ in the parish church in the area of the Duke of Chandos's estate just south of Stanmore on the Jubilee line was one that Handel often played. Marvellous Baroque church. In one of his TV series Paul Dinski went there and played it. I've been in the church a couple of times and the people from the parish who "watch" are always very pleasant. Hideous chapel at the side with family monuments. Malcolm

I may have said this here before but within ten minutes walk of my house are two crematoria. One, owned by Destiny uses the Wesley system most of the time. The use of "live" organists is the exception rather than the rule. The other, owned and run by the city Council, asked FD's whether they would prefer "live" organists or the Wesley system and all except one asked for live organists. That crematorium keeps a regular team of about half a dozen organists supplied with ample work which, in all fairness, they distrubute as evenly as praticable. Admittedly we are talking electronic instruments but we do see that, by and large, people don't want recordings. People like the personal touch and we organists build up good working relationships with most of the regular FDs as well as with the superb staff at the crematorium. One worry I have about pipe organs is my - perhaps inaccurate - understanding from a very recent magazine is that whilst BIOS happily gives out certificates of importance to church organs these certificates have no legal or ecclesiastical status whatsoever. I hope I have misunderstood but I rather fear not. Any comments about this, please? Some churches are storing up problems for themselve, partly by not encouraging young people, in a practical way, to become organists but also by not building up organ funds to keep their instruments in working order. I know, for example, one magnificent Hunter organ where the action is in a very bad state and where they admit that if it failed there would be no money to do anything about it. Come to think of it, I know two magnificent Hunter organs in exactly that situation. Malcolm