Malcolm Kemp

Timothy Wakerell, sub-organist at London Cathedral, to be assistant organist at New College Oxford from September, per New College Choir website. Malcolm

Per Chichester cathedral website, as copied to both Twitter (by the Cathedral) and Facebook (by others), Charles Harrison, assistant at Lincoln cathedral to be organist and master of the choristers at Chichester from September 2014. Malcolm

Per Chichester cathedral website, Sarah Baldock is joining the music department of Cheltenham Ladies' College from the beginning of September. Her current post at Chichester cathedral is advertised in Church Times today. Malcolm

................ and me! Malcolm PS - When I was 13 years old a history master at school told me that all intellectuals are left handed and all left handed people are intellectuals. He was left handed himself.

Members will be sad to learn that Dr Alan Spedding, for many years organist/director of music at Beverley Minster, and a great influence for good in the music of that area, died yesterday evening. Malcolm

And a word from Edward Higginbottom: http://www.newcollegechoir.com/1/post/2014/03/passing-the-baton.html Malcolm

And at the other place, apparently earlier than was originally intended: http://www.music.ox.ac.uk/robert-quinney-appointed-associate-professor-and-director-of-new-college-choir/ Malcolm

I understand that New College say they intend to announce the appointment in the course of the next few weeks. It was all over Twitter at 6 am today, however. Malcolm

Those of us who are on Facebook no doubt will have read the fairly lengthy comments about this organ and church by the relevant DOA. I think they say it all. As he is also a member of this forum it is entirely up to him whether he wishes to repeat those comments here. Malcolm

I listened a few days ago via iPlayer from Wednesday's live broadcast. I too thought the Buxtehude was absolutely superb with wonderful style and musical projection. A pleasant change from the boring and unstylistic performance of the Bach motet by the choir. Ben Bloor is clearly a player we shall be hearing much more of in the coming years. Malcolm

On the other hand, if you have a decent piano technique the Gigout Toccata shouldn't cause you too many problems. M

I am amazed to think you are suggesting that any organist would ever go anywhere near a pub. I've always been under the impression that all organists abstain totally from all forms of alcohol. I thought it was only bell ringers who go into pubs? Please don't tell me I'm wrong? Malcolm

There is an extremely useful and comprehensive website devoted to the music of Guilmant, run by a chap who is extremely enthusiastic and helpful if you contact him. Quite a bit of unpublished music including some early unpublished short Mass settings although of course the well known big Mass in E flat is published by a commercial firm. Well worth looking at the Guilmant website. Malcolm

Latest from the BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-25472942 Malcolm

Mention will, I hope, be made of his beautiful handwriting/manuscript. His script in the Lincoln chant book of his era is wonderful. Interestingly, it is very similar to that of Francis Jackson and both, of course, were pupils of Bairstow. Marshall was a great lover of cats and on the one occasion I was introduced to him (in The Duke Wiliiam in Lincoln) he was mourning the death of one of them. Until very recently I had an old cassette tape recording (copied from a recording made by a friend of mine who was a lay clerk at the time) of PM improvising on Battle Hymn of the Republic and another well known hymn at the end of a Lincoln conference of American Deans. Sadly, I no longer have it. Although It was in a style of cathedral improvisation very much of its era and would be considered dated and rather tame now it was very exciting and beautifully crafted at the time. The same service included the first performance of PM's setting of the ASB (now Common Worship) Litany. My friend, Leonard Lamb, would be able to give all sorts of anecdotes and reminiscences if you were able to establish contact. Sadly he moved to Germany some years ago after marrying a German lady and everyone seems to have lost all contact with him. Roger Bryan may also be a useful source of information. Malcolm

The "other" Walford Davies tune is at No 642 in the very old edition of A&M Standard. It is actually the first tune I ever knew to O Little Town, having been brought up as a chorister at a rather "low" church in the 1950s. Malcolm

My good friend who is organist at the church to which I allude recently managed to reharmonise Benson to include the Petrushka chord. I was glad not to have been there that day. Malcolm

I also recall being shown how to get Horsley down a perfect fourth (I think I remember how to do it) but my recollection is that it was at a seminar on RCO tests in the early 70s at Kensington Gore with either Douglas Hopkins or John Birch. Having recently spent three and a half years in a congregation where the final verses of hymns are almost always re-written in any combination of key, harmony or tempo, not to mention adding descants, I have become rather allergic to such things. It has been a joy in recent weeks to go to Mr Wolsey's own establishment and to Portsmouth cathedral where good taste and restaint are both displayed and very welcome. I always tell young players not to do anything that will either irritate people or put the congregation off singing. Malcolm

I was interested in the Wakefield programme because I have met the Dean a few times and we have many mutual friends. He is an enormously popular man wherever he goes - one Brighton congregation applauds whenever he enters their church - and with the support of his wife, who is a musician, he has encouraged the music at Wakefield to improve from the standard he found when he arrived there. What impressed me particularly about the Wells programme - apart from Owain Park's very mature and eloquent reflections in the organ loft on music and worship - was a delightful lady lay reader who featured a lot in the programme. If only theological colleges taught their students to say sensible things in a sensible way like she does perhaps more people would go to church. I loved the way she explained that she rarely mentions God because the very concept of God can't be expressed in words. Wonderful lady. Owain Park has passed the FRCO in the past year; my understanding is that he was senior organ scholar at Wells but i'm open to correction on that. In fairness, each programme so far has tried to make a very different point, and each point, to me, was made rather well. I think there's one more programme to go. Malcolm

Almost ironic that this should be happening at the same time that St Anne's Cathedral in Belfast, whose own music department has had such a sad recent past, is relaunching and enlarging its music foundation and outreach to the community in such a big way under a supportive Dean. Malcolm

Thanks, Wolsey. He was described as "acting" in the Telegraph yesterday re. the Christening. He deserves a good permanent job like that. Malcolm

BCP Matins (or Mattins) is a combination of Matins and Lauds from the Breviary. The Benedictus fulfilled the same role at Lauds as the Magnificat at Vespers and the altar was censed during both. Until the early 1950s the Easter Vigil Rite was normally done on Saturday morning and finished with a shortened version of Vespers in which, during the Magnificat, the altar was censed. From the mid-1950s onwards when older version of the Rite were restored and the timing moved to very late evening, or even early morning, Lauds replaced Vespers and the altar was censed during the Benedictus. Now neither is done in either the Roman or Anglican official Holy Week liturgies.

Vox - I agree with you entirely (just this once!!!!). Free download choral music is generally very poorly edited and proof read, frequently going totally contrary to what the composer intended. Often the actual music itself is out of print because it's such rubbish music anyway. I say this, having had to play several Latin Mass settings in recent times that are available only from these sources; full of misprints, poorly laid out, difficult to read and not worth doing anyway. For example, Paulo Giorza'a Mass No 8 in Bflat. Malcolm

At risk of being called an anorak, obsessive, or even pedantic, the Jubilate is NOT, and never has been a canticle. It is a Psalm and nothing can be both a Canticle and a Psalm. Admittedly the Jubilate can be used as an alternative to the Benedictus in BCP Morning Prayer (the compilers of Common Worship had better liturgical understanding that the compiler of BCP and didn't give this option) but liturgically the Benedictus is the fixed, immovable centre of Mattins (during which the altar is censed when the office is sung solemnly) just as the Magnificat is the fixed centre of Evensong (during which the altar is censed) and should never be replaced by one of Cranmer's alternatives. Even as a very young choirboy - aged 9 or 10 - many thousands of years ago, I used to ponder that Mattins sung to Naylor in G Benedicite and Noble in B minor Jubilate, both fine works in themselves, were hardly suitable pieces for use during Advent and Lent. Perhaps I was just a strange child? (Don't answer that!) Malcolm

Where there is excellence in worship - dignity and order without being too stuffy, fine liturgy, preaching, interceding, music (both played and sung, choral and congregational) all properly co-ordinated by a strong team with good leadership then a church will flourish and it will attract young people. In those circumstances money will be found for necessary work on the organ and, indeed, for anything else. In those circumstances there will also be good, co-ordinated outreach, mission and social care. Places like that do exist and they do flourish. I've not been there, either to look around or attend a Sunday service, for about 30 yeas but I expect the church where pcnd5584 is organist probably falls into that category. In other situations you frankly might just as well sit at home on Sunday morning and read the Telegraph. In those places the future of organs is utterly dire. I know when to admit defeat! Malcolm