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Barry Oakley

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Posts posted by Barry Oakley

  1. I applaud this ethical approach by Mander Organs and am reminded of an opposite approach by the former company, of Rushworth & Dreaper (R&D). When R&D acquired the assets of the pipe organ division of the former John Compton Organ Company it chose to change the console label of the Hull City Hall organ built originally by Forster & Andrews (F&A) and rebuilt by Compton. The then new replacement label showed the R&D name in very large characters, wrongly overshadowing the names of F&A and Compton whose work represents the essential core of the organ as it stands today. I believe the matter has since been readdressed, putting the correct perspective on the organs pedigree.

     

  2. 10 minutes ago, Peter Allison said:

    I would love to go, but sadly London is too far. My dad and James Lancelot paid a visit there, a few months ago, and had a good time, also Simon Lindley, was the Grand Organist, and is now Paul Bowen, I think, both have played for  us at Durham Cathedral

    I think Christopher Stokes (Manchester Cathedral) is now the Grand Organist.

  3. 34 minutes ago, John Robinson said:

    I wonder whether the lack of interest in organ recitals in this country is related to the rise of 'happy clappy music'!

    I think you could be right, John. Music is no longer taught in many of our state schools to the depth that it was 50 or 60 years ago. Unfortunately we now live in the age of twang and bang. And then there is the God factor associated with the organ.

    Last year when Hull was the so-called 2017 UK City of Culture, the regional BBC TV news programme, Look North, hardly ever aired news of classical music, even though the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is strongly linked with the city. Throughout the year the main focus was on pop.

    There was also a two-day organ event in the City Hall with the renowned organ at its heart. I reminded Look North of this event on a couple of occasions only for them to send its inept anchor man to interview the compere, news reader Huw Edwards. Guess what, he chose to talk to Mr Edwards about news reading.

     

  4. Whenever I read topics such as this I think of the magnificent organ where I was a boy chorister nearly 70 years ago, now Hull Minster. It's presently unplayable although it's had a few running repairs in recent times. The Forster & Andrews/John Compton, 4-manual, 104-stop organ was rebuilt and enlarged in 1939 and his never undergone a major refurbishment since. It's now urgently needed and so is a sum of money in the region of £1 million. Hull is one of the country's major cities and last year was the so-called UK City of Culture. I cannot understand why the Minster's hierarchy has not launched a major appeal. The need to put the organ at the top of their priorities.

  5. 6 hours ago, MusingMuso said:

     

    I couldn't agree more. F & A were wonderfully made instruments, but not exactly thrilling tonally, even if they never sound at all bad. I've always regarded the idea of F & A  being "disciples of Schulze" as a bit of a joke. Charles Brindley was infinitely better at it!

    It is known, that both the Minster organ and the City Hall organ in Hull, were revoiced substantially when re-built by Compton, and W C Jones was certainly involved in some of the reeds, if not all of them.

    I forget who the voicer was at Compton's when they did Hull City Hall, but he did say to an organ enthusiast, that every pipe in the organ "passed through his hands".

    I know that when I used to play the beast in my Uni Organ Scholar days at Hull, the Swell organ at the City Hall was quite a pathetic affair as compared with the rest of the organ. That was remedied to a large extent by the fitting of additional swell shutters by R & D when they re-built it.

    Now, after a century or so, the organ sounds absolutely superb, but it took a while to get there.

     

     

    I feel sure that the revoicing of the Hull City Hall organ when rebuilt by Compton's, certainly the superb reeds, would have been done by Frank Hancock, the company's then chief reed voicer. As you also say about Forster & Andrews and the excellent quality of their work, their tone was rather gentle and modest. I know Compton's opened up the City Hall F&A pipework to make it the magnificent organ it is today and I reckon he did the same at Hull Minster (Holy Trinity) when he rebuilt it in the late 1930's.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  6. It has sometimes crossed my mind to wonder if there had ever been a meeting of John Compton and Hope-Jones and the sharing of technological thoughts. Whenever I've looked at the relay system on the Hull Minster organ (still working reasonably well after 80 years), early telephone technology is very evident.

  7. The Forster & Andrews/John Compton 1938-1939 rebuild and enlargement at Hull Minster is a wonderful example of Billy Jones voicing even though the organ is in desperate need of thorough restoration. C S Lang thought the Tubas magnificent when he visited during the 1950's and played his well-known composition.

  8. I think there is also a conservative element amongst the pipe organ builder fraternity who are not sales orientated. They rather adopt the attitude that if owners of a pipe organ have a publicised problem then they must seek out a suitable organ builder to rectify the problem. It does no harm to knock on a door and express a genuine interest. 

  9. On 1/9/2018 at 07:35, ajsphead said:

    I believe that Compton's were chosen by the BBC for the installation in broadcasting house because of the luminous light touch stop controls. They create no noise when operated. 

    I am struggling to understand the link between luminous stop heads and problems for partially sighted organists. Some help from partially sighted concert organists who have to familiarise themselves with a variety of instruments and would have a well established technique for doing so might be helpful. In short, it seems to me that if you can't see the stop heads then whether they are illuminated or not doesn't really matter. Therefore there must be another way that partially sighted organists manage the instrument.

    Me too. I don't think he is a member of this forum but David Liddle did not appear to have any difficulties when he played the organ  in Hull City Hall in the days when the Compton console had a full compliment of luminous stopheads, nearly 150 of them. I believe he also gave a recital on the organ of Derby Cathedral which still has its luminous Compton stopheads.

  10. 20 hours ago, Dafydd y Garreg Wen said:

    It wasn't in good condition when I played it a few years ago. The parish had explored the possibility of restoration, but the cost was prohibitive.

    Several of the bulbs in the stop controls had blown and not been replaced, and some stops simply weren't working (but they might - or might not - light up). This made playing for Mass with minimal rehearsal time rather "interesting".

    The distance between console (half way down south aisle) and  pipework (east end of north aisle), with the congregation in between, didn't help either. At times it was hard to tell whether a stop was not working, or was just inaudible.

    A shame that the instrument was not in a better state and that restoration seemed unlikely.

    It was during the tenure of the late Peter Goodman as Organist and Master of Choristers, that the console was moved to its present position as you describe. Prior to that, Compton had sited it immediately adjacent to the north case and with a line of sight that encompassed the quire and nave. It remains to be seen when the organ is fully restored if the console will stay in its present position, returned to its original position or placed on a moveable platform for recitals or other musical events.

  11. On 1/2/2018 at 06:00, S_L said:

    It is, or was, a magnificent beast. I haven't been in Hull Minster, Holy Trinity as was, for many years but I remember playing it in the days when the great Ronald Styles was organist. I know that the Minster has, recently, had huge amounts of work done and am pleased to see that they are, at least, considering a major restoration. It also must be one of the last Compton restorations that still has its 'press button, light up, console', which, if nothing else, must be worth preserving for that fact alone! (I can only think of one other!)

    Just down the road, at St. Mary's, Lowgate, the Binns, Fitton and Hayley organ, I'm told, is completely unplayable and is going to be, if it hasn't already happened, removed. Like Holy Trinity it has some Snetzler pipework in it.

    There are some fine organs around the Hull area and Barry is right, it would be nothing short of a tragedy if the Minster organ was allowed to go the same way as it's neighbour.

    I thought St Mary's, Lowgate, was a Brindley & Foster?

  12. The late Peter Goodman, former City Organist and Custodian of the organ in Hull City Hall, was a friend and someone I had known since 1951 when he arrived in the city to take up the post of Organist and Master of Choristers at Holy Trinity, now Hull Minster. Whilst he greatly admired the tonal qualities of John Compton’s work, he was not particularly a fan of the company’s illuminated stops, something I learned during a conversation with him.

    The demise of the John Compton Organ Company and its acquisition by Rushworth & Dreaper (R&D) led to R&D having care of the Hull City Hall organ. When later it became necessary for some major work to be undertaken on the organ and the console also renovated and placed in a fixed position, it gave Peter the opportunity to specify drawstops.

    Apart from one of the original Compton stop jambs complete with luminous stop heads, it’s something of a mystery as to what happened to the rest of them. I guess they were simply discarded like all of the original Compton company records.

  13. I’m banging the drum again (if that’s an apt metaphor) for the wonderful untouched Forster & Andrews/John Compton 4-manual, 104-speaking stop organ in Hull Minster. There’s now a question mark about whether it’s still playable following major building work to lay a new stone floor. Virtually untouched since Compton rebuilt and enlarged it in 1939, the ravages of time and the recent building work have left it cyphering, leaking wind and with other detrimental ailments.

    A committee has recently been established to help raise funds for a complete restoration with at least an estimated seven-figure sum being the goal.

    With the city of Hull now seeing out the last few days of its UK City of Culture status, it will be nothing short of a tragedy if the necessary sum is not raised.

     

  14. Must say that I'm more than a touch mystified as to why the new Ruffatti at Buckfast contains a stop listed as "Bagpipes." I can't see or imagine its use in a liturgical sense other than during the feasts of St Andrew or another Scottish saint.

  15. Ruffatti announced earlier this week that the final stages of voicing their new organ at Buckfast is now in hand. Looks as though everything will be completed well before schedule and probably be ready for Christmas.

  16. 8 hours ago, David Drinkell said:

    I was on holiday in the area in 1970 (aged 14) and I went into Bridlington Priory and found an old gentleman playing the organ.  He said he was in to play through the Mendelssohn Sonatas (which he did very well) and that it was a good organ but had too many mixtures ("I don't like mixtures!").  But he let me play (a fine job!) and also gave me a phone number for Mervyn Byers at Selby Abbey, so I had a session there too.  I also sat next to Francis Jackson while he accompanied Evensong ("Me in G") at York and played afterwards - a formative experience!  

    Such acts of kindness made a deep impression on me and I know other people in my generation will say the same.

    I can remember the Bridlington Priory organ in its 3-manual days from shortly after Compton had rebuilt it and it was being played by the late Norman Strafford, consultant for the Compton rebuild of the Hull City Hall organ that was happening around that time. It sounded really fine then.

  17. 9 hours ago, Lausanne said:

    According to the info included with Paul Derrett's 1989 recording the Solo Clarionet 16' is the original Anneessens free reed stop from the choir, or at least that was how Laycock and Bannister left it after their 1968 rebuild. I believe Nicholson's recent work has preserved all the Anneessens pipes.

    This stoplist shows the Anneessens preserved pipework.

    http://www.npor.org.uk/NPORView.html?RI=E01122

  18. 19 hours ago, Dafydd y Garreg Wen said:

    Thanks for this Dafydd, the £1.4 million is an eye-watering figure for a 50-stop organ. The restoration of aged pipe organs, a great many of them built thanks to generous benefactors, is of particular interest. Digressing, I have a particular interest and concern for the 80-year-old Forster & Andrews/John Compton rebuild organ in Hull Minster - four manuals and 104 speaking stops that has had no major restoration in all those years. It's now crying out for compassion and a generous purse.

  19. 14 hours ago, David Drinkell said:

    In the Stafford case, the Harrison was replaced in 1974 by a new Hill, Norman & Beard west-end organ (one of John Norman's clever instruments which save space by sharing basses) fronted by the old case (which had been bolted onto the Double Open Wood of the Harrison), but the Harrison was retained and used, although not restored.  Although a magnificent instrument - and in a style which is probably more appreciated today than in the 70s - it suffers from entombment and is not heard at its best in the nave, where the liturgical action happens.  I suppose that, after 43 years, the HNB organ must be due for an overhaul, too.....

    Quite agree about your entombment comments. There were some murmurings just a few years back (or so it would seem) that the Stafford H&H was the serious subject of restoration but I've not heard anything more.

  20. 17 hours ago, Paul Isom said:

    The only redundant Harrison organ I can think of is that in St Thomas, Bedford near Leigh in Lancashire.  It's  a 1922 H & H and a superb instrument and deserves a good home.  From memory it has  generous stoplist complete with 32 Open Wood.  I believe it was opened by Dupre.  I played it quite a few times when a good friend was organist there.  My money is on this one and if I'm right, it's a real stunner!

    Not far from my home is another fine H&H that has stood redundant for several years. Another whopper, built in 1909 with 50-plus stops and four manuals it's in St Mary's, Stafford, and is a victim of the ever-increasing problem, MONEY!

  21. 10 hours ago, John Robinson said:

    At both Passau Cathedral and Cologne Cathedral the buildings were full to bursting when we visited.  Indeed, in the latter venue people were bringing camping chairs to sit in the aisles, there being insufficient places in the pews (or perhaps the pews were considered too uncomfortable!) and, moreover, the programme was largely Messiaen!

    Such a shame that the organ appears not to have quite such an ardent following in this country.

    Much agreed, John. I wonder how many will turn up at Hull City Hall this coming Friday and Saturday where there's "OrganFest" compered by BBC news reader Huw Edwards. It features some first-class recitalists - John Scott Whiteley, Darius Battiwalla, Gordon Stewart, Kevin Bowyer etc., etc.  The occasion is part of Hull's UK City of Culture celebrations.

  22. There are so many good organists to choose from. From a Catholic perspective, James Norrey, presently on the staff at Rochester Cathedral, is a very talented young organist. I have wondered about David Patrick, an excellent recitalist and he made an outstanding recording on the former organ at Buckfast. But why look outside when there’s Buckfast’s Richard Lea? Thanks to Spotify I recently listened to his exciting recording on Liverpool Met’s fine Walker organ in Priory’s Great European Organs series. Carol Williams has told me she has much liking for Ruffatti’s output and she could play a wide spectrum of organ music although this might get some looking down their noses.

  23. Dave Harries wonders who might give the opening recital. Buckfast's own Richard Lea would be a good choice and Carol Williams tells me she much likes playing organs built by Ruffatti.

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