Barry Oakley
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Posts posted by Barry Oakley
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A recital to commemorate the life of the late Peter Goodman is to be given on Wednesday, 6th April at 12.30pm on the organ of Hull City Hall where Peter was City Organist for over 35 years. The recital is to be given by Ian Hare, a long-standing friend of the Goodman family.
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A VIRTUAL TOUR TO HUNGARY - The organ history, music and organists. (PART 1)
Step aboard the virtual tour-bus once again; this time to Hungary
Ask almost anyone about Hungarian organ-music, and they would probably be able to mention Feranc Liszt and little else, but as I am constantly discovering, there is a rich tradition of Hungarian organ-music, in addition to a substantial number of sparkling contemporary works; of which I was largely unaware.
So far as I am know, only Italy could claim to have a longer span of “organ culture” than Hungary.
Why?
Well, among the remains of the Roman city of Aquincum, (now Budapest), archaeologists discovered the remains of a Roman Hydraulus, which formed the basis for a replicated instrument.Both can be seen in the Fire Museum in Budapest; presumably because someone thought that it was some sort of fire-fighting device when it was dug up.
http://orgona.hu/orgonaink/tuzolto_orgona_e.html
That apart, the later, Christian culture of Hungary saw the early development of pipe-organs in the country, and presumably a school of performance and composition to go with them. It is recorded that there was an organ in the town of Pecs as early as the 14th century. Unfortunately, the 140 or so years of Turkish/Ottoman Muslim occupation, which started in the 1514, put paid to that particularly early and promising start; boh church and organ destroyed by the Turkish Pasha,Gázi Kaszim, during a particularly bloody massacre . By the mid-16th century, Hungary was divided into three parts, and the country was plundered and financially ruined.
With the sacking of the Ottoman Turks and the return of Christianity, organs are reported to have been built in the 16th and 17th centuries. These later instruments were inspired by the knowledge carried by the Dominican Fathers, from Vienna, Bologna and Innsbruck; no doubt of an Italianate character, but broadly speaking, church music and organs only flowered again properly during the 19th century.
For those who would like a concise history of Hungary, and the endless battles and political struggles, the following gives the main details:-
http://impulzus.sch.bme.hu/info/hunhist.html
The organ culture of Hungary stems from the co-exsitence of Catholic and Lutheran churches, as well as the reform style of Judaism, which permitted organs in the synagogues.
Naturally, bordering Germany, a great deal of German influence is evident in Hungary, both in terms of organs and music, but was and is the added richness of other musical cultures such as traditional and ancient Hungarian folk-music, gypsy-music and influences from Poland, Slovakia/Moravia (to the North), as well as Romania and Austria.
Like all great empires, the Austro-Hungarian which flourished enjoyed a diversity of cultural influences, from Vienna to Prague to Budapest and all stations in between.
A further important addition to the organ-culture of Hungary is to be found among the Jewish community, and especially in Budapest, where 80,000 Jews live, and where the huge synagogue contains a large pipe-organ built by Jemlich, featured in many concerts and recitals.
The following YouTube video, from the large synagogue in Budapest, demonstrates Xaver Varnus's ability to let his hair down and stir the souls of 8,000 people in the one building!
Then the audience let their hair down:-
It is easy to think that Hungarian organs might be closely related to German/Austrian or Czech instruments, but actually, there was an interesting diversity; largely down to the most successful of all Hungarian domiciled organ-builders. The son of a simple German serf family living in current day Croatia, Josef Angster was certainly unusual; leading almost a life of vagrancy over extended periods, and tramping around Europe on foot. In spite of his curious obsession with travel and the highways and byways of Europe, he somehow learned the craft of organ-building by working with some of the most famous organ-builders of the day. For five year he worked with the organ-builder Peter Titz in Vienna; in the process filling in the gaps in his education and learning the craft thoroughly. Then he was off on foot again; turning up in various major cities and working with organ-builders over a period of ten years. His travels took him as far afield as Prague, Dresden, Leipzig, Berlin, Cologne, Lucerne and finally Paris. It was in Paris (1863-6) that he came under the spell of Cavaille-Coll, and assisted him in the building of organs, including those at Notre Dame and the church of La Trinite, Paris.
Finally returning and settling in Hungary, Joszef Angster brought back a depth and breadth of knowledge concerning organ-building, which elicited great admiration, and he was awarded the honour of building, in 1869, the new organ for the synagogue of Pecs. This was obviously a success, and it enabled him to establish an organ-building factory in that town, which still exists to-day as the premises of the Aquincum organ-building company. Amother organ was built for the Cathedral of Kolasca in 1881, and an organ for the Basilica of Pecs in 1889, which was not installed until 1891, due to extensive building work.The Angster firm flourished, building many, many organs in Hungary. The somewhat French character of the early organs gave way to full-blown romanticism, and in 1930, the "magnum opus" of the firm was built at Szeged Dom, with 5 manuals and 134 stops.
Here is the Franco-Hungarian sound (in Serbia), as produced by Josef Angster:-
The following is the organ at Szeged Cathedral:-
http://il.youtube.com/watch?v=WlhmxEgGth8&...feature=related
The German-romantic style of organ-building also found its way to Hungary with the work of Rieger, but the movements, ownership and even nationality of the company changed a number of times due to two world wars and changes to national borders. Originally established by Franz Rieger, (Born, Zossen, (Germany) 1812), the company eventually moved to Jägerndorf (now Krnov in the N.E.Czech Republic, close to the border with Poland), where Franz Rieger died in 1896. After his death, the company was handed over to is two sons, Otto Rieger ( 1847 - 1903) and Gustav Rieger ( 1848 - 1905), and eventually re-named 'Gebrüder Rieger.' A branch of the company was opened in Budapest, Hungary, in 1890. In 1900, the firm employed approximately 200 people, and at the end of their lives, the two brothers had built 1072 organs; largely (but not exclusively) within the borders of Austria and Hungary: the firm enjoying a fine reputation. With the death of the two brothers, ownership of the firm passed to yet another Otto Rieger, (1880 - 1920), and under his ownership, a further 1000 organs left the Jägerndorf (Krnov) factory. Importantly, in the last ten years of his life, Otto Rieger moved away from romantic organ-building, pneumatic-action and cone-chests; adopting the classical style then being championed by Albert Schweitzer, including mechanical action and slider-chests.
http://il.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVv7zSZbDW8 (Rieger organ, Budapest)
v=zPVrLJcAZUI&...feature=related://http://il.youtube.com/watch?
v=zPV...feature=related://http://il.youtube.com/watch?
v=zPV...feature=related://http://il.youtube.com/watch?
v=zPV...feature=related://http://il.youtube.com/watch?
v=zPV...feature=related (Organ of Vienna oncerthall) (Not the best audio quality)
http://il.youtube.com/watch?v=I2t7dLqv9n8 (Rieger organ at Trnava, Slovakia)
With the death of Otto Rieger in only his 40th year, and with no natural successor, the company was operated by the former works-manager, Josef von Glatter-Götz. After the end of the First World War, the company found itself in the newly re-drawn Czechoslovakia, when Jägerndorf became Krnov All this came to an end in 1943, when the factory was turned over to the making of munitians-crates as part of the growing war-effort by the Reich, following the German occupation. With the geographical and political lines re-drawn once again at the end of the Second World War, the company founded by Franz Rieger more or less ceased to exist, when the communist authorities requisitioned "German" owned firms and nationilised them; the staff of Rieger sent packing to Germany, but leaving behind everything. The company which then incorporated the Rieger name was that of Rieger-Kloss of Krnov: the new management coming from the former Kloss organ firm. Of course, the rest is history, as both Rieger-Kloss and Rieger-Orgelbau,Austria, (as two quite seperate concerns), established their own reputations: Rieger-Kloss especially active within the communist sphere of influence, with new organs supplied to Hungary, Czechoslovakia (as was), China, Russia, and elsewhere.
Details of the Rieger-Kloss firm are contained in the following Wikipedia article:-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rieger-Kloss
The strictly classical style, by way of contrast, as developed by Glatter-Gotz, is splendidly represented by the modern Rieger (Austria) organ of Clifton Cathedral, Bristol. (I think we know the performer!)
http://il.youtube.com/watch?v=LW3q2SpFKxo
(TO BE CONTINUED)
Keep it up MM. I was up quite early this morning to check my e-mail and also found your posting on the Mander Forum. I was totally absorbed by your U-Tube clips that the 1-O'Clock News was well nigh due and I was still in my dressing gown. A truly super array of music, musicians and organs.
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I would love to get involved with this, but immediately, I come up against a whole raft of problems.
One simply could not approach John Compton, and the staff of the company he founded, in the usual way. The whole enterprise was so multi-layered and such a part of that "white-heat" generation of engineers, scientists and technologists, it would require an almost encyclopedic knowledge of all things concerned with materials, engineering, electronics, electro-magnetic devices, sine-wave synthesis, pipe-organs, extension methods, switching and logic mechanisms, diaphones, ....and then all the usual stuff about pipe organs generally.
Diverting slightly, I once sat down at a wedding reception near Bristol, and on the same table were three members of the same family, all of whom had been involved in designing and building "Concorde." I was in total awe of what they knew between them, and a fourth member of the family, who was obviously the stupid one, was a mere headmaster at a prestigious school!! It didn't take long for me to reaslise that I could barely converse with them except in the most general of terms, and yet, I have an early engineering background and can easily talk to engineers generally. (I've never known a good organ-builder to be a fool, and some are exceptionally multi-talented).
To put it another way, when I was at school, there was a pecking-order in society. The people schoolboys most looked up to were engineers, followed by doctors and then teachers. The finest engineers were held in awe, and I just suspect that John Compton was in that class of top-drawer technologists and innovators.
Another factor concerns the history of the company, because most of the details were lost in a fire, making it difficult to know exactly what went on. Not only that, the demise of Compton was probably accelerated by a loss of staff during World War II, and the fact that the factory did quite a lot of MOD work. The factory also made, so far as I know, every single component which went into an organ, with the exception of blowers. That makes Compton almost unique in the modern age.
I therefore hesitate, as I think many would, because by the very nature of the beast, I am only partially up to the challenge, and would find myself going blank at various points.
So really, what sounds like a simple undertaking, is far from it, and to do justice to John Compton and his team, it would probably require a concerted effort by a number of specialists working in collaboration with each other.
How can that be achieved and who are the remaining specialists from that era?
MM
You are not the only one, MM, who would love to get involved. I tried several years ago, enquiring first of Alistair Rushworth, thinking that R&D would have a great deal of documentation relating to Compton. He was of little help, putting me on to his man in Edinburgh who had been a Compton employee. I then had a lead to Frank Hancock who was John Compton's reed voicer in the company's more latter days. Unfortunately, when I telephoned I learned that Frank lay very ill in bed, but I spent quite some time talking to his wife. She and Frank had met one another when they were both employed by the firm. A most interesting and knowledgeable lady, not only did she talk about the company's core business of organ building, but went on to describe the work they did in designing and making electronic equipment for the war effort. If only I had been more attentive to some of the anecdotes of Jimmy Taylor who I met on a number of occasions when the company was rebuilding the Hull City Hall organ. Little did I realise that John Compton was to become a legend in the history of British organ building. But I was only a mere lad still a year short of leaving school.
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How interesting, Graham. I am also an organ-playing doctor and I'm sure there must be a few more musical medics.
I don't suppose you are the same Graham Dukes who used to work for a pharmaceutical company called - wait for it - Organon? If so, what a very appropriately named company to have been with!
Dr John Pemberton, curator of the Hull City Hall Compton organ is also a medical doctor.
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Quite. So, now we have an example of the breed in the flesh, as it were, are there any records which might be consulted to see who might have been a member - Snetzler, HC Lincoln, Hill, G&D, Greene?
If you write to the following and quoting the above names you may get an answer.
The Grand Secretary,
Freemasons' Hall,
Great Queen Street,
London.
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Hi
I wish electronic organ firms would be honest and not try to disguise the speaker cabinets behind real pipes!
If the church really can't fund sorting out the Schulyz, or have other valid reasons for not doing so, then at the very least it should be protected and preserved - or as a last resort, moved elsewhere.
Every Blessing
Tony
If you were to take a trip to Sheffield you would see that when Copeman Hart installed their original digital instrument in the cathedral it constructed sympathetic visible speaker cabinets for the organ near the choir stalls. However I don't know that I could use the word "sympathetic" for the large structure at the bottom of the nave that essentially houses speakers for the pedal voices. The exception to this is a small speaker within what was the positif case located on the north wall.
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This is an interesting topic which starts out with an in-between-the-lines implication that organ builders who may have been freemasons have been unduly favoured with contracts. I'm not aware if any of our present or past organ builders are/were freemasons. It's none of my business. The only organ building company I suspect that may have had Masonic connections is in America; that is the long-established Austin Organ Company. It's trade mark incorporates a set of compasses. And there is a website (I cannot remember the name but it concentrates on New York) which shows that the Austin company built quite a considerable number of organs for Masonic halls in that city. That is not to say that they were unduly favoured.
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I would just mention the comparatively short availability of many electronic components which suggests that the repairable life of a purpose-built electronic organ could be quite short. Even though systems based on a general purpose computer might be repairable or upgradable by replacing the computer by a new current model at some time in the future, there is still no guarantee that the software will remain available for ever, or that existing versions will remain compatible with whatever operating system a distantly future computer might run.
Paul
My posting is not in any way championing digital organs; anyone who knows the authentic voices of pipes soon rumbles that they are listening to electronically produced sounds from a loudspeaker. As Cynic has said, they have their place as practise devices. But there is much nonsense spoken about the longevity of circuit boards and replacement parts. I know of a two-manual digital organ that gets used virtually every day and was purchased around 25 years ago. It has never needed replacement components or circuit boards nor has its original sound quality deteriorated. On the few rare occasions it has needed the attention of a technician all that has been needed is a squirt of WD40 on rotary switches where there has been ingress of dust particles. Even after 25 and should the need arise, replacement circuit boards and semi-conductors remain available.
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I wondered where I had heard it and thank you for reminding me. I had forgotten 'Organo Pleno' and 'Full Swell', both absolute classics with Gordon Reynolds' wit and Bernard Hollowood's cartoons making them some of the funniest little books I have read for a long time. And so I am idebted to the late Prof. Reynolds for the story. As an aside, I hadn't realised, until I read his obituary, that he was born in Hull, my own home city!
............................... of course, all of this is a long way from Ronald Shillingford's original post.
Yes, I can remember the occasional appearance of Gordon Reynolds at the console of the Compton organ in Holy Trinity Parish Church, Hull. He was a pupil of the charismatic Norman Strafford, organist and master of the choristers at Holy Trinity, architect of the rebuilt Hull City Hall organ and Peter Goodman's predecessor as city organist.
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If we were still in the 1980s, I'd say joining the Masons would give you a chance.
I would never have thought, Paul, that you were a man to read the gutter tabloids. Of course, Poulson and his cronies were kicked out at the time by the United Grand Lodge of England. Incidentally, I see you are giving a recital later in the year at Durham Cathedral in aid of Masonic Charities.
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I just wondered if the Lewis in Chesterfield Parish Church (St Mary and All Saints) has any bearing on this thread?
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As well as the applause for a superb recital we were also invited to applaud the memory of George coupled with the organ, a nice gesture which took the sadness out of the occasion. For those who haven't been to St Werburgh's it's worth mentioning that the priest there, Father Paul, is knowledgable of music, ensures the organ is appreciated and has a nice line in dry humour which added to an enjoyable afternoon.
Yes, Jim, I readily agrre with your words. I confess to overlooking Father Paul who as well being musically knowledgable also has a lovely sense of humour. What an excellent choice the Bishop of Shrewsbury made when appointing Fr Paul to St Werburgh's.
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quote name='Henry Willis' date='Jan 8 2011, 06:12 PM' post='56132']
There is only one company named "Henry Willis & Sons Ltd" Mr. Oakley. Our Company Registration number is 70718, registered in 1901. I took over as Managing Director, installed in that position by HW4, on the 2nd Oct 1997 and the shareholding was subsequently acquired from all of the former shareholders on the 28th of November of that same year. There was no "change" of company, winding-up, cessestion of trading etc., only a change of Directors and then share holders - as is often the case in limited Companies. Henry Willis, Henry Willis & Sons and then Henry Willis & sons Ltd (to quote all three names) has traded continuously since 1845.
As to the quiet implication that we can't be the same as we don't still operate from Petersfield - sorry, have I missed something there? We moved our Head Office (and Registered Office therefore) to Liverpool in 2001, where we have had a Branch since 1854; we still have a southern Branch, though not in Petersfield. For information we have been with the same Bank for 143 years.
Mr Wyld, thank-you for your response. The mystery surrounding Henry Willis & Sons Limited, for mystery it has been since it apparently disappeared from the UK organ-building industry with the retirement some years ago of Henry Willis IV, has perplexed many. And the fact that the company suddenly appeared with a new head office/works in Liverpool and not Petersfield further added to the perplexity. Perhaps it was just due to poor public relations. But the organ-building industry is perhaps not exactly unknown for the buy-out of trading names.
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Roger Fisher’s recital yesterday at St Werburgh’s, Chester, and in commemoration of the life and work of the late George Sixsmith was a very well-attended occasion. Played on the organ that George and his company installed in 2004, it was a fitting tribute to a much loved man and organ builder. I’m sure that Roger’s words fully encapsulated the thoughts and feelings of everyone there. No doubt it was a great and reassuring comfort to Andrew and his family that so many attended to pay their respects to the memory of his father, George.
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I'm particularly interested in Vincent Willis’s Tubular Pneumatic patent of 1889 which I have been told, by trusted sources, was equal to any electro - pneumatic in terms of responsiveness and repetition although almost prohibitively expensive.
Does anyone know where I can get a copy of the patent or describe what set this apart from the rest of the pack.
Is this of any assistance?
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...thought this was the same as the old one?
An interesting thought. The former Willis company operated from Petersfield, Hampshire, and was run under the direction of Henry Willis IV.
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The Chester broadcasts from the past few years have been consistently very good indeed. I'm just listening to this past one again and I am particularly impressed by both the singing and the accompaniment.
I did not hear the latest broadcast from Chester, but Philip Rushforth's ability as both an organist and choir director have always impressed me. I frequently witnessed his role at Southwell Minster over 10 years ago when he was Paul Hale's deputy and also when Paul was recuperating for a lengthy period after hip replacement surgery. I think today is Philip's birthday. Happy birthday.
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I have just stumbled across this: http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=17791. It is ten years old, but is still worth reading. I am sure the number of (presumed) youngsters taking organ exams must have taken a dive since the peak of 1983, but the article does give some substance to the argument that there is a wealth of organ playing talent out there that is untapped by the church, or which has simply gone to rot.
There still seems to be a steady supply of teenage organists who are appointed organ scholars at our cathedrals. But do they all go on to greater things? I knew one talented young man who around 15 years ago was one such organ scholar at a cathedral; took his ARCO exams and was awarded just about all the prizes going and then went on to Cambridge as an organ scholar. He graduated, not in music, and that I think was the end of things. As far as I know he no longer goes near an organ.
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Hi
Where is the organ located? And do you have any idea of size/weight?
Glad to be of help.
Every Blessing
Tony
Although owned by an individual the organ is stored at Oulton Abbey, the Benedictine monastery near Stone. Staffordshire. Unfortnately I am unable to give you more details re size and weight. The stoplist is as follows:
Great
Open Diapason 8ft
Stopped Diapason 8ft
Dulciana 8ft
Principal 4ft
Stopped Flute 4ft
Twelfth 2.2/3ft
Fifteenth 2ft
Swell
Gedackt 8ft
Clarabella 8ft
Salicional 8ft
Gemshorn 4ft
Gedackt 2ft
Oboe 8ft
Trumpet 8ft
Tremulant
Sw to Gt
Pedal
Major Bass 16ft
Bourdon 16ft
Principal 8ft
Flute 4ft
Barry Oakley
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Hi
Yes, EOCS is a good place to start. I would suggest trying Ron Coates (Classic Organs at Boxhill) http://classicorgans.co.uk/
Another possibility is http://www.ormatronixorgans.co.uk/index.htm (I no nothing about this company, so please don't take this as a recommendation). They claim to cover the whole country. There's another firm near Louth - http://www.castletronics.co.uk/index.html
or Alan Morrison in Scotland.
Every Blessing
Tony
Your posting, Tony, has proved most useful. A friend has a two-manual and pedal valve-system Norwich (maybe by Miller) that is in need of repair although is available FOC as she wishes to dispose of it. I have initially contacted Ormatronix by e-mail to gauge their interest. If anyone on this forum is also interested, please make contact with me.
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This news just in...
George Sixsmith died on Saturday 16 October at the age of 80. He contracted pneumonia a few weeks before his death and never fully recovered. Many will remember this jovial but very sincere man and the excellent work he and his firm have done over many years. He will be greatly missed. There will be am organ recital in St. Werburgh’s Church, Chester, given by Roger Fisher, at 2.30pm. on Saturday 8 January 2011 to celebrate the life and work of this well known organ builder. Admission will be free with a Retiring Collection in aid of Cancer Research UK. Further detail next month.
I am so sorry to learn of George's death. He was a truly lovely man, always full of fun and one of the most helpful men you could ever wish to know. I will always remember his generosity to me several years when he allowed me and a colleague to use his pipe shop in order to make respectable some battered pipes from an organ we were renovating and rebuilding. I will get in touch with Andrew to express my sadness and condolences at his passing.
RIP
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Cynic will probably know this information better than me, but Holy Trinity Hull hasn't had any major work since 1938 and is still playable (just!). Although it may not count as the 1938 organ was a rebuild of a earlier F&A organ. 1938 was by Compton and says a lot for the advanced state of their electrical work at the time.
Not simply a rebuild, but quite a sizeable enlargement.
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I think there's not an altogether shortage of young organists. The son of two friends off mine, James Norrey (22), has just secured the assistant's post at Llandaff. The late Peter Goodman heard him when James was barely 17 and remarked, "That young man has flair in abundance." It never ceases to amaze me that talented young organists seem to be shunned by the BBC from appearing on its "Young Musicians" competition.
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Sorry to learn of your mother's death.My mother died yesterday morning - and I find myself having to play for the funeral at the above crematorium. It was something I didn't want to do but my son, who is conducting the funeral rang them and they couldn't recommend anyone and "we don't usually have an organist" - "just some music for in and out".I suspect it is an electronic, I suspect it will be a journey of discovery - but there's nothing worse than making a fool of yourself in front of all those relations who have been told by the occupant of the coffin what a wonderful musician you are!
I know what is going to happen - I'm going to just turn up and hope for the best but it's worth asking the questions:
Has anyone ever been there?
Does anyone know anything about the instrument?
Has anyone ever played it?
Thanks in anticipation.
SL
The Haltemprice crematorium was originally a chapel for the De la Pole psychiatric hospital and was later a hospital specialising in orthopeadic medicine. It probably has an electronic toaster of some sort, but maybe, just maybe the pipe organ is still there.
Organists and Steam
in General discussion
Posted
Me too, although I'm not an organist, even the smell of steam mixed with that of a Christmas pudding cooking on a range.