mrbouffant
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Posts posted by mrbouffant
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What was "a bit much" about this? I guess asking someone to play the Widor is rather novel, but other than that, nothing struck me as out of the ordinary. Then again, perhaps they had a one manual organ with no pedals, so that could be "a bit much" !!
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On 02/03/2023 at 14:12, innate said:
£1000 for the use of the Royal Festival Hall for a couple of hours doesn’t seem excessive, in my opinion.
Just to clarify I didnt say it was the RFH or £1000.
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How about doing it as part of a visiting choir? Free access, though not necessarily that much time to practice. Still, it always amazes me that these wonderful machines are handed over for the weekend to all and sundry. I'm always so grateful for the opportunity.
When I had a big birthday my missus kindly enquired if it was possible for me to have a session on a famous London concert organ. After providing proof of my credentials the principal of a visit was agreed upon by the venue but alas the suggested 4 figure donation was a little out of reach.
This contrasted with the kindness shewn me by Prof Ian Tracey back in Oct 97 when I ended up gratis with 90 minutes on the big beast, under the careful eye of the Organ Scholar but with strict instructions not to employ the newly commissioned Trompette Militaire. Imagine my glee as my ears bled as he kindly threw it on for the final bars of Guilmant 1. Unforgettable!!
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Having spent many hours and £££ in there as a callow youth, it pains me to see this.
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Sheffield Independent, Thursday 18th December 1930 adds a little more colour, but no conductor:
PLANS FOR CONCERT IN QUEEN’S HALL.
From Our Own Correspondent. London, Wednesday,
Porters, firemen, engine-drivers and all other ranks of railway employees will join the L.N.E.R. Musical Society’s Christmas carol concert at the Queen’s Hall on Saturday night. The performers consist of the full orchestra of 100 and the massed male voice choirs of 320 slhgers. They come from London, Cambridge, Doncaster, Ipswich, Lincoln, Norwich, Peterborough, Yarmouth, and York, and the districts surrounding these places. Miss Megan Thomas will be this year’s soloist. A selection of rarely-heard carols, and special one, “I Sing a Maiden,” written Miss Elsie Payne, of London, will be sung, as well as old favourites. Among the orchestral selections will be Hely Hutchinson’s Christmas Overture, air on the G string by Bach, and Elgar’s “Sursum Corda”. Mr, William Whitelaw is again president of the society.
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A good forum team effort I would say.
Strange that the conductor isn't mentioned in those two newspaper articles isn't it. If it was Mackenzie then I would have thought he would have warranted a mention. Was the Hely-Hutchinson actually the Carol Symphony I wonder?
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Peterborough Standard, Friday December 26th, 1930 has the following details:
London and North Eastern Railway Musical society gave their annual carol concert at the Queen's Hall, Langham Place, London. on Saturday. The society's full orchestra of 100 took part, as well as the massed male voice choir of 325 vocalists from Cambridge, Doncaster, Ipswich, Lincoln, London, Norwich. Peterborough, York, etc. Dr. Percy G. Saunders, Mus. Doc., F.R.C.O., gave a recital on the grand organ. Miss Megan Thomas was the soloist. and the choirboys of the Alexandra Orphanage and of Christ Church. Wanstead. also took part in the carol singing. The programme included several of the better known carols and interesting collection of some of the lesser known but none the less beautiful compositions which the never dying interest in the Nativity brought to life. The orchestral part of the programme , also proved enjoyable. It included: "Christmas Overture" (Victor Hely-Hutchinson), "Aria on the G String" (Bach), Overture, "The Magic Flute" (Mozart), "Fantasie Dialogue for Organ and Orchestra" (Boellmann), "Sursum Corda" (Elgar), "Dream Pantomime." from "Hansel and Gretel" (Humperdinck)
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Daily Herald, Saturday December 20th, 1930 has a small article:
MUSICAL RAILWAYMEN
Carols and other seasonal music will be sung and played to-day at the Queen's Hall by the London and North-Eastern Railway Musical Society. Combined choirs will number more than 300 voices, and the orchestra without one professional musician, will consist of 100 players.
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Good spot. So 1930 according to the picture archive?
According to https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/people/ap233/london-north-eastern-musical-society Mackenzie conducted this choir, so I'm sticking with my orginial guess.
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Are you sure? It doesn't look the same as this picture of the Queen's Hall organ. There are similarities, but...
/edit: It looks too similar I think. Perhaps the photo in question is much later than the 1890s RIBA picture and the balcony was remodelled somehow?
/edit 2: NPOR says the central console was installed in the 1923 rebuild, so that's a good datum point for the photo in question. That just keeps Stanford and Bridge in play!
/edit 3: Frederic Cowen a possibility for conductor??
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Looks like Alexander Mackenzie conducting
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In Southampton...
A good argument against solid state electronics vs. more traditional technologies?
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I'd be afraid to play it, lest somebody steals my shoes whilst halfway thru a Bach fugue.
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My favourite music shop (with a large emphasis on organ music) was Macdonald Music Services in Steyning, run by the much-missed and inimitable Charles Macdonald (former York Minster organ scholar under FJ).
It was a delight to visit, browse the shelves, try out anything of interest on the practice instrument in the basement and be treated to coffee and plenty of stories.
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5 hours ago, SlowOrg said:
I’d say it’s the RAH organ …
With copies of New English Hymnal?
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GIven the farce this week over how many may sing, socially-distanced, in an amateur choir, don't expect any news soon [1]
[1] After lockdown 1, you could reasonably have any number in your choir, dependent on local risk assessment. After lockdown 3 (from Easter Sunday) this was pretty much the same situation. However, the government decided to p155 everybody off by changing the rules without notice to be a fixed amount of 6 singers just the other day, to much disgust across the amateur singing land. In other words, just as the rules were relaxing as per the roadmap, they decided to tighten the rules just for amateur singers. Buffoonery at its finest.
Interestingly, there is no fixed limit for professional singers which on the face of it is inconsistent to say the least.
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Thanks for the replies folks. I have the Rollin Smith books but I'd just rather have an edition that incorporates all the corrections instead of having to work through myself making them...
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What's the latest thinking on this? I know there are various editions, some portrait, some landscape, some are reprints of old editions, some have engraving mistakes and some have been heavily edited by various big hitter organists of the "Franck tradition".
If one was to buy the definitive edition for these masterworks today, which one should it be?
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An alternative might be USB-charged strip lights. If you have a socket near the console these could be easily charged and swapped in and out as necessary if you kept a couple of spares nearby.
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On 11/12/2020 at 17:55, Vox Humana said:
Advert for the Exeter job
Not a lot of money in cathedral music making, is there? At least accommodation is provided (tax free) which I guess must be the equivalent of another 20K gross on the base, approximately.
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Choirs are allowed to sing in church with appropriate social distancing etc. so I'm guessing for some parishes it won't be too different to normal, other than the congregation not attempting to join in with the Willcocks' descants of course.
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2 hours ago, S_L said:
It was good to hear the Albert Hall organ leading the singing of 'Jerusalem' last night rather than the Elgar orchestration usually used.
I'm not so sure about this. The organ version was nicely played (was it GTB's arrangement we used to have in AMR?) but it was all very one dimensional compared to the colour and verve of the Elgar.
The Wallen 'realisation' only sprang to life for me in verse 2 when the Elgar elements were clearly evident in the overall texture.
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It's a strange thing. I was organist and choirmaster for 15 years at a church with a decent choir. After I left, I found it hard to "let go" and found that I was almost as busy freelancing for the next three years as I had been before (much to my wife's chagrin). Sunday mornings particularly were times of disquiet if I didn't have a gig. Somehow I felt incomplete. If a major festival fell and I didn't have a booking somewhere decent to play, I felt bereft. I had similar feelings on March 20th and for weeks afterwards. However now, I don't miss it at all. There's no craving anymore on a Sunday to go and play some asthmatic instrument somewhere for a choir of 2 octogenarians and a congregation of 8. Lockdown has been my rehab. The addiction is under control, and I feel a whole lot better for that.
Of course, that's not to say come the resumption of music in church services that I won't jump back in with both feet, but for now, I'm happy with my lot...
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Job Advert!!
in General discussion
Posted
Thanks for the pointers. Having found the advert I think it would be a lovely appointment for someone local.
The salary is fairly typical. We can all argue that church musicians are woefully underpaid, but in comparison to other roles with only one service a week, it seems generous!
I do remember an advert a few years back who asked for a player of "at least FRCO standard". I think the remuneration was somewhat less than this advert.