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pcnd5584

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  1. Evening Robert - many thanks indeed for your reply, and for the information. I was particularly interested in the G.O. Mixture V scheme. Whilst, as you say, numbers on a screen convey little of the aural effect, I note that an interval in the 16ft. harmonic series has been introduced as early as C37; I would be interested to hear this stop (and its effect as a cap to the chorus) in the building. I have only played the Minster organ once, a year or two after the PPO work in 1993, and I cannot recall much about it. (I do remember timing how long it took to walk the entire external length of the Minster - and being slightly surprised at how long it took.) I would very much like to come and hear the Minster organ in the building. Whilst it did sound impressive on one or two recordings, it is difficult to gain a truly accurate aural impression without actually being there. I think that I was very much thinking of the Walker here at Wimborne Minster. (The Cymbal 29-33-36 is staying where it is - it brings this instrument alive in the very dry acoustic ambience of the church in a way that no other stop does. Well, there is the Orchestral Trumpet, en chamade - but this is quite a different effect....) At Wimborne, the compound stops were some of the best I have ever encountered, and were designed as a cumulative effect - much in the same way as adding successive departments at Sint Bavokerk, Haarlem literally electrifies the building with sound. At the Minster, each stop is a model of cohesion; nothing screams or sounds 'like bottles being thrown into a recycling bin'. I suppose that I wondered if, in the vast acoustic of York Minster, whether the upper frequencies were really present in a way that brought the sound to life - but in quite a different manner to powerful reeds. The G.O. is: C1 19-22-26-29 C13 15-19-22-26 C25 12-15-19-22 C37 8-12-15-19 C49 8--8-12-15 This of course avoids introducing harmonics in the 16ft series near the top of the compass, which in the Minster would have required very careful handling. The Swell Mixture is: C1 22-26-29 G#21 19-22-26 G#33 15-19-22 G#45 12-15-19 D51 8-12-15 And the Positive Cymbal is: C1 29-33-36 G#9 26-29-33 E17 22-26-29 C25 19-22-26 G#33 15-19-22 E41 12-15-19 C49 8-12-15 G#57 1-8-12
  2. They do seem to be rather nervous of upper-work. Anything above a 29th appears to be anathema. It will be good to hear the re-designed instrument in York Minster in the flesh, as it were, at some point. However, in that vast space, and with that acoustic energy, I wonder if they will miss their Choir Cymbal (29-33-36)?
  3. It's great - apart from the hideous, repetitive music. And we don't even get to hear the instrument....
  4. Not always - the term is also used to refer to reeds with half-length bass resonators. (Nôtre-Dame de Paris formerly had a 'Bombarde Acoustique' in the Récit-Expressif; however the pipes were replaced with full-length resonators, in the 1990-92 rebuild.) As mentioned above, Orléans Cathedral does have a resultant 32ft. reed, with pipes which go down to G8, to be used in conjunction with the 16ft. Bombarde. On recordings, it doesn't sound very convincing to my ears. I would have preferred a normal 32ft. Bombarde, even if it had to stop at G8.
  5. Yes - I had the same thoughts. I wonder if it might also lack subtlety. No decent 16ft. flue on the Pedal Organ. (The previous instrument did at least possess an Open Wood. Mind you, it was at ground level, so there was more room to lay out the organ.) I wonder if they will regret disposing of this: https://www.npor.org.uk/NPORView.html?RI=N12480
  6. I have taken quite a lot of photographs of the dismantling of the Minster organ, and also several of the South Quire Aisle without any organ components remaining (except for the humidifier, which is directly connected to the water mains). They are too numerous to upload here, and the files are also too large. If anyone wishes to see them, please send me a PM, and I shall post them on my Facebook page, and send you a link.
  7. No. It will remain from C13 only. The top five or six notes are flue-pipes.
  8. Maybe. However, the previous instrument already possessed a fairly effective 32ft. stopped wood rank. They might just as well have retained it.
  9. No, SL - you are quite correct. It was, quite simply, execrable. The concert in which I played was video recorded, so I know that it was not my faulty memory. (It formerly occupied 'boxes' dispersed behind the choir-stalls. These boxes looked like nothing so much as a set of coal bunkers.) I was most interested to read your account of the service which you attended - it sounds fabulous. I should love to have heard this, particularly the organ improvisations, but also the excellent choir.
  10. ....Or they could have dispensed with one (or both) of the 32ft. reeds, and installed twelve pipes in the 32ft. octave, to extend the Bourdon downwards. Or, they could have retained the previous perfectly serviceable 32ft. Sub Bass, from the Downes?walker instrument.
  11. I have played this instrument (as left by H&H) several times, both for services and a lunch-time concert. I must admit that I rather liked it as it was. I also wonder whether the incumbent organists may come to regret the use of a high gloss finish on the new jamb-plates. The propensity for unwanted reflections from the console lights and background lighting may be both visually distracting and confusing when trying to read the stop-heads.
  12. In fairness, the mechanical action is rather heavy (when coupled) - presumably partly because it has to turn through 45°, after it leaves the console. In addition, the upstairs console now has a considerable number of registers 'missing', which are only playable from the mobile Nave console.
  13. Absolutely, Colin. There appears to be a paucity of manual reed stops, for one thing - and too many octave couplers. The scheme is rather odd in several respects. I appreciate the constraints on both volume and height, but what a pity that the site of the former instrument could not be utilised. This had more height and room available.
  14. I have discs of both Glenn Gould and Sir Andrăs Schiff playing Bach's Forty-Eight Preludes and Fugues on pianos. Whilst I find it difficult to listen to Gould these days (not least because his continuous grunting and groaning are irritating), Schiff's performances are wonderful. (I still have the Promenade Concert which Vox Humana mentioned saved on a HDD.) For my money, I'm very happy to hear them played on a modern piano. I have a very limited tolerance for the sound of a harpsichord. I find it too thin and metallic. It is (clearly) also rather limited in dynamic variation. I suspect also that I am more tolerant of a little rubato here and there. I don't like anything too wayward, but the relentless progress of a metronomic performance palls for me after a short time. True, I haven't heard Preston's Bach recordings, so I cannot say; however, I do like music to breathe.
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