pcnd5584

Read your letter in Choir and Organ! But surely, half the fun is trying to work out who everyone is!

Well, if we are going to stick to the size of scheme which I originally suggested (on the other thread) I would suggest: PEDAL ORGAN Open Diapason (M) 16 Sub Bass 16 Quint 10 2/3 (S.B.) Octave (M) Flute 8 Super Octave 4 Flute 4 Bombarde (M) 16 Bass Trumpet (Sw.) Clarion 8 (Ext.) Shawm 4 GO Quintatön 16 Open Diapason 8 Stopped Diapason 8 Wald Flute 8 Gamba 8 Principal 4 Nason Flute 4 Nazard 2 2/3 Fifteenth 2 Tierce 1 3/5 Furniture (19, 22, 26, 29) Corno di Bassetto 8 Orchestral Trumpet 8 Orchestral Clarion 4 Reeds on Swell SWELL ORGAN Open Diapason 8 Lieblich Gedeckt 8 Salicional 8 Vox Angelica (TC) 8 Geigen Principal 4 Harmonic Flute 4 Flageolet 2 Mixture (15, 19, 22) Bass Trumpet 16 Hautboy 8 Cornopean 8 COUPLERS GO-Pedal Swell-Pedal Swell 4p-Pedal Swell 16p-GO Swell-GO Swell 4p-GO Swell Tremulant Sub Octave Unison Off Octave Great & Pedal Pistons Coupled Generals on Swell Foot Pistons Eclectic to an extent - many successful schemes are. But also, quite English. However, I have specified a Bombarde on the Pedal. This would be the only real leaning towards France. I just do not like fat, bumbling Trombones or Ophicleides. Yes, I know they suit many organs up and down the country, but I still do not like the timbre - or the attack.... Anyone else got a similar-sized scheme?

Oh puh-leeeez.... How about an inflatable organ? - available wherever it is needed. Ideally it would slip into a medium-sized hold-all when not in use. (It can also be partnered with an inflatable statue of Mary - for use in traffic-jams.)

Absolutely not - Manders had previously divided the Pedal mixture into two stops of two ranks (presumably to isolate the lower-pitched ranks). H&H re-united the mixture, re-made the stop jambs and replaced the foot pedals (installed by Mander) with foot pistons. The Choir and Pedal stops also swapped positions on the jambs, I believe. As far as I am aware, no revoicing was carried out at this time. The comprehensive restoration in 1934 saw some tonal alterations - a Nazard and Tierce were added to the Choir Organ and the Solo Organ was augmented by a 'cello Céleste. Apparently Walter Alcock (Titulaire at the time) was visiting Willis's works and heard this rank being voiced for (I believe) Westminster Cathedral and practically begged Willis to let him purchase it for Salisbury. I am exremely glad he did, because it is the most wonderful sound. I was playing before a service there, a year or two ago (having forgotten about the Solo Céleste) and I changed claviers (to the Solo Organ) and very nearly wet myself.... There was this glorious, warm, etherial shimmer, which just permeated the whole building.... The only slight disappointment from the console is the 32p reed (which speaks on a pressure of 225mm). However, its reticence is largely due to the fact that it is placed in the North Transept, behing the 32p flue (metal). Strangely, this latter stop is perfectly audible from the console.

This was, apparently, the case at St. Mary. Redcliffe - although I understand that they have been since partly altered/re-instated. It does, however, depend on what type of organ one plays. I would not wish to lose any of the chorus mixtures on my own instrument for something that 'tinkle away quite delicately' - I would not find any use for such a mixture. In particular, my own instrument comes alive, as it were, when the Cymbal III is added and coupled to the other choruses. Hull City Hall? - God, no - it is a stunning sound! I have an old recording which I acquired of Peter Goodman playing it. The organ sounds fabulous - the John Cook Fanfare (with at least two different Solo reeds) is very exciting. You know - toes clench in shoes as Full Swell comes shining through the diapasons....

No - read my post more carefully!! I was referring to the bizarre (and un-labelled) foot-piston layout on the H&H console. Because the pistons were laid-out in such a strange way and beacuse they were also un-labelled, whether or not one obtained the stop-changes which were desired was somewhat arbitrary - that was the reference to the fruit-machine! To the best of my knowledge, Conrad Eden was a superb musician, who knew his instrument intimately and was able to make full use of it at virtually every service.

BLEAH!!! May you be forgiven....

I have also had to play Fight the Good Fight. God - do these people not think?! Ah well, it can only get worse. I suspect that one of my pupils is the world's only surviving brain donor, so, in about fifteen years' time I expect that I will have to play Cock of the North or something even worse at that wedding....

Yes - even more so! But I had already complained about that in a previous post! tsk! tsk!

I certainly agree with you regarding your point on sermons. However, this post seems to be a non sequitur - has it been displaced?

Hmm....I wondered where that pipework had gone. I still want to know why Canterbury discarded their 32p open wood rank - was it really beyond repair?

Well, it is good to read about the bizarre things colleagues have to put up with - I think that I have got off fairly lightly, so far. However, later to-day (it is now 00h25) I have to play for a funeral BUT - there will be a CD of a Meatloaf track in the middle of the service - for reflection... REFLECTION??!! In addition, as the cortège leaves the church, another Meatloaf track will be featured. I am assuming that neither track will be the well-known Meatloaf anthem Bat out of Hell... Incidentally, I still think that the most suitable hymn for a wedding is No. 3 in The English Hymnal.... wish someone would choose it ....

I still think that it is an excellent idea. How about the rest of my scheme? I was being serious. I would definitely lose the Dulciana - I have never found a use for one of these...

Now that is a wonderful instrument - I have played it a few times (including once for a Chinese wedding). I did try the Tuba. It is quite loud in the building! But, hey, if you have it... (Hope they have removed those two nasty electronic 32p pedal stops, though...)

Well, yes; but if it is not even necessary to be present in the same town in order to hear the stop, perhaps it is possible that we have crossed the line between musicality and sheer noise. (Goodness, I never thought that I would say/type anything that might suggest that an organ could be too noisy... )

I agree - funny how Worcester rears its head in the unlikeliest of topics - perhaps it is just possible that there are many out there who, like me, think that it is a fabulous instrument! Certainly I would concur with nfortin's statement that there is always an element of risk when constructing a new organ. There is a fairly new instrument in a moderate-sized town a few miles from Exeter. Having played it, I would have sent the reeds back to the voicing-shop before signing a certificate of acceptance!

As I have mentioned elsewhere - I would agree with you! Having played it on several occasions for services, I like the Ripon organ immensely. My point was that it could be argued from either position, depending on one's personal preference in reed-timbre. For the record, I can happily live with either! Actually, the Orchestrul Trumpet can also be heard from the bus station. I did once stand on top of the Swell box, beside the pipes - fortunately, they were not in use at the time...

Oh! I had assumed you were going to type 'favourite'. It was probably that, too! Apparently Herbert Byard who was, I believe, assistant to John Sanders at the time of the reconstruction actually liked the rebuilt Gloucester organ!

To be honest, in my own church, it is necessary not just to couple the Swell to the GO (for the hymns, at least) but also the third clavier. If I am playing the music of JSB, I still prefer to couple the Swell chorus to the GO. The building is quite dry acoustically and the sound is actually better thus. This is true from various places in the nave and aisles - not just the console. Yes, it is possible to be gauche in the use of octave couplers; however, for quiet effects of etherial beauty, I would not part with them. The Swell Sub Octave is also useful in the last sections of pieces such as Tu es Petra and the Choral from Vierne's 2me Symphonie. This is one of my favourite movements and I use the Sub Octave coupler to provide the necessary gravitas in the final page-and-a half. Without it, on my instrument, the sound is thin and top-heavy.

With this, I would heartily concur - except the last part. For my money, the naked, clog-dancing sheep and a bottle of Absolut Vodka* do it for me any day - the sheep are sooo cute.... *...ummm...sorry, is this advertising?

Well, I would like very much to play this instrument - I only know it from articles which I have read. However, apart from not being able at present to afford the air fare to NYC; according to a documentary on the TV last night, the entire eastern seaboard of the US is in possibly imminent danger of annihilation by a mega-tsunami. So, I think that I will pass, until someone has sorted-out a way of assessing the time-scale...

The Finzi: Reeds 8p and 4p on GO with Swell Trumpet 8p and Choir Cremona 8p (all coupled). The building then does the rest. It could equally be asked 'how do you play it at Ripon - on fat trombi?' Arguably, this could be just as un-musical. Sumsion? Well, Swell strings and possibly the flute 4p. The Swell foundations sound quite different downstairs. Well, it does need a solo reed (no, not a tuba, though!). It almost acquired one in 1999, but it was just impossible to find room for it. I suggested a horizontal reed at impost level, facing west. However, I was only partly serious. The case is beautiful and it would have ruined the proportions. Incidentally, it is perfectly possible to accompany a service in the quire and avoid chiffing flutes. I do not particulary like them, either!

...favourite?

Actually, I take my job very seriously, including the spiritual aspect of the services! That is precisely why I am tired of over-long, badly-prepared 'sermons'. Read my post of 1st August!

Well, personally, even without hearing it (I know that someone is going to tell me that this is inadvisable!) I would exchange the GO Dulciana for a Fifteenth and swap the GO Gedeckt with the Swell Stopped Diapason. I would also remove the Swell Twelfth and replce it with a Céleste - liturgically, I find a good undulant infinitely more useful - particulary if it is in the Swell Organ. Depending on the voicing, I may also wish to replace the Swell Oboe with a small-scaled Trumpet, if there is room on the slide. Insofar as cost is concerned, naturally it depends on who is going to undertake the work, the condition of the soundboards and the space available. However, you may be looking at approximately £1,500 for the GO Fifteenth (including re-veneering the rackboard), £500 for the GO and Swell 8p flutes swap, about £2,000 for the Swell Céleste and possibly £3,000 - £4,000 for the Trumpet. This assumes that the new ranks will utilise suitable second-hand ranks. Some builders will be cheaper than this and several will be rather more expensive. If there was room to insert a metal Violoncello 8p on the Pedal Organ, I think that you would find that this would greatly aid definition. The stop could aslo be extende upwards to provied a Viole 4p. This could cost in the region of £2,000 - £3,000. It is difficult to assess, since prices depend on so many things. As I have said, it is perhaps unwise to suggest alterations without first playing the organ - and hearing it in the context of a normal Sunday service; I have certainly never taken the first course of action when consulting on any job up to now! However, you did ask! Hope it helps.