pcnd5584

With regard to the AP organ, if its future in the main hall is in question, then surely it is better to have the instrument somewhere, rather than just scrapped, or sold abroad. How about ditching the Marcussen in the Bridgewater Hall and replacing it with the AP organ? Whilst I have not played the BH organ, one or two colleagues have and they are of the opinion that: 1) it is not loud enough and does not hold its own against a symphony orchestra, for example; and: 2) The sound is a tad repetitive and boring. At least Willis organs are exciting. Incidentally, I would not hold the charge of repetitive timbres and lack of variety against larger Willis instruments; for example, Salisbury or Hereford. Salisbury in particular is one of the most beautiful and noble instruments in any British cathedral.

Hmm, I am afraid that I am inclined to agree with the reviewer re- Truro. (Yes, I did read the review.) I have played the Truro organ on several occasions, both in service and recital work. It is an exciting organ, but there is definitely a lack of variety in the flutes and the strings. The Choir Organ is very quiet (being almost at the back of the chamber). The Solo Organ is greatly hampered by the fact that it is not enclosed. Personally (and I am not the only organist who thinks so) I think that the quiet solo reeds at Exeter are far superior in tone to those at Truro - and not merely because they are enclosed). The Truro organ is (arguably) too loud for the building. I have been present at several services, sitting in various parts of the nave (not just near the front) and the full GO and Pedal are almost overwhelming. Certainly there is little which is musical in the power and timbre of the Pedal Ophicleide - it is just an enormous, fat sound, which can only balance the full GO. Since the GO reeds are not available separately on the Pedal (or Choir), this is distinctly unhelpful. I do not understand why this was not considered in 1997. After all, it would hardly have comromised the voicing; just made more flexible that which was already there. Furthermore, I am not sure that moving the Tuba forwards was a good idea, it now sounds significantly louder. I do not think that Willis ever intended this rank to be a big noise. Now that it is high up behind the front pipes, it speaks straight into the building. Consequently, when organists who are unable to resist adding it to full organ are playing, the noise downstairs is rather unpleasant - partly because there is considerable 'body' or 'fatness' to the sound. I noticed, with interest, that the most recent time I played there, the Tuba was set not coupled to anything on the Full Organ piston. Insofar as the variety of the timbres is concerned, even the best Leiblich Gedeckts get a little cloying eventually - a beautiful Stopped Diapason would be a welcome addition.

Thank you for the information!

I have the Jane Watts recording. It is OK, but there are one or two unexplained silences between the Dupre Variations sur un Noel. Certainly too long for registration changes on an organ so well-equipped with registration aids. As far as I can remember, the organ sounds quite good.

I would like to hear those - I am willing to bet that they are stunning! I have only played the Abbey organ once, but I thought that it was a superb instrument. However, I did not get up as far as the fifth manual whilst exploring, due to lack of time, so I still have not heard the Bombarde section 'live'!

I would like to hear those - I am willing to bet that they are stunning! I have only played the Abbey organ once, but I thought that it was a superb instrument. However, I did not get up as far as the fifth manual whilst exploring, due to lack of time, so I still have not heard the Bombarde section 'live'!

Interesting. Am I correct in believing that there have been some subtle changes to the stop-list since 1972, though? (i.e., at St. Paul's). I have seen one or two versions on leaflets and CD booklets and there are one or two apparent changes, for example, to the G.O. and, in addition, to the Choir Organ. Presumably any further projected changes to the specification are still under negotiation?

I would certainly concur with those thoughts. Yes, of course the problem is by no means restricted to faster music! I still cannot believe that Worcester are going to throw out the H-J/H&H/Wood&Co., just because Adrian Lucas wishes to have a new toy. I am also sorry to hear that Manders no longer have that care of the organ of Bristol Cathedral. Who is looking after it, now?

Surely the orchestral analogy is a red herring? It would be extremely difficult to re-'register' an orchestral piece (but still have it played by an orchestra). It would have to be re-scored, new parts copied and different players would have to learn new sections. It is possible that salaries would be affected, in some cases adversely, since most British professional orchestral players are paid by the hour, I believe! All an organist has to do is re-set a few pistons! Yes, Cochereau did sometimes take liberties with the composers' intentions (the later recordings of the Vierne Symphonies are prime examples of this). However, he was also capable of faithful, thrilling and stunning performances. Try the first recording he made at N-D (Vierne Symphonie 2me., Dupre Symphonie-Passion, Liszt Ad nos...). The tempi and registration are pretty faithful and the quality of the playing is excellent. Also, his later recording of the third movement from Dupre's Evocation is stunning. The performance is electric. It is quite fast, but it is both accurate (as far as I can tell) and musical!

Tee hee

There are a few others, too. I believe that George Sixsmith & Co. installed a Tibia Liquida on an organ in the north of England. When pulled, a small door opens above the stop jamb, to reveal crystal glasses and whiskey miniatures. How about a Choir to Pub stop, too? Of course, it could be argued that some choirs only sound good if they have had a few drinks....

Is it an earlier recording, re-mastered for CD? I do not think that Simon Preston has recorded at the Abbey for a long time. If so, then no wonder the reeds sounded good (and homogenous) - the Bombarde section did not arrive until 1987. So the recording only shows the H&H usual type of chorus reeds. Ah well.... In reply to Jeremy Jones - it may not have been H&H who had a lapse in taste. Sometimes even really big firms are unable to talk clients out of something unsuitable! Mind you, if you think that is loud, you should try standing against the organ case in the tribune at N-D, Paris. The chamades are about four feet above head level. I never heard my ears distort before - I thought only stereo speakers did that!

No, I am not convinced! However, I do agree with nfortin. I found the 'variable delay' on the Swell to Great a little tiresome - not enough to spoil the experience, but an unnecessary distraction. In addition, I found that the Choir Organ action was what I believe is quaintly termed 'spongy'. I am also fairly certain that Mander's restoration of the action at Bristol was both painstaking and high quality. There remains the fact that, however hard one tries, the organ is uneasy with fast music - particularly with repeated notes. Whilst allowance must be made for the cavernous acoustic, which would seem to dictate slower tempi, I cannot help feeling that character is subservient to other needs. If there is a proven alternative (well tried in many other British cathedrals) I can see no harm in changing the action. I certainly would not charge another organist who did so with the crime of vandalism! Willis himself did not hesitate to condemn old pipework to the melting-pot, if he felt that he could produce ranks more appropriate to the acoustics and demands made upon the instrument in question. Wells Cathedral is a case in point. Willis apparently contrived to 'lose' the instructions relating to the preservation of the Samuel Green ranks in the cathedral organ, instead substituting several new ranks. After all, with such a wonderful sound, I cannot see the point in making an organist's job unnecessarily difficult.

I would not necessarily agree! From experience, there is quite a lot wrong with tubular pneumatic (both exhaust and pressure). The worst feature, to my mind, is the lousy repetition. It is not a case of suiting the player - it just does not function precisely enough to play at speed, particularly if the music involves quickly repeated notes. The charge of vandalism is surely misplaced. My own instrument has no appreciable delay whatsoever. It has a detached console and electro-pneumatic action and has been functioning well for several decades and has required minimal maintenance. The repetition is excellent. Incidentally, I am unclear as to whether you think the fact that Nicolas Kynaston advised on the Bristol restoration was inherently good, or bad!

As in Free-masonry? Hmm, interesting! I still like the Worcester organ, though! It is now almost certainly too late to prevent it being scrapped (apart from the 32' ranks). As you probably know, they are due to replace it with two four-manual organs hanging from the triforia. One East of the crossing and the other towards the West end. Sic transit gloria....

Indeed. In fact, I understand that most of the pipes for the 32' diaphone are still in Scott's huge South Transept case, because Harrisons were not able to remove them. So reconnecting them would be a comparatively straight-forward matter. New under-actions, re-winding and refurbishing the pipes. I wonder what Adrian Lucas would think of that....

Well, all I can say is that I am very glad that Antwerp Cathedral organ was saved from 'improvements'. The only thing I would change about it is the nasty strip-light hanging from the case, behind the console and perhaps make a nice wooden container for the untidy sound system by the side of the console. Everything else is wonderful. Oh, and perhaps a mini-bar for those long homilies....

Thank you, Pierre, for your information on the Antwerp and Ypres organs. I confess that I cannot remember the free reeds - I was improvising the music for the 12h Mass (at no notice!) and so I just did not have time to get used to the whole instrument. But what I did notice is that it is a superb example of the organ builder's art. I believe that Bridlington Priory organ is either in the middle of a rebuild, or has just been restored. It has, I believe, the largest-scaled 32' reed in the British Isles - 20 1/2" at CCCC. The only other thing I know about Bridlington, is that a former organist, Raymond Sunderland, died shortly after playing for the Messe de Minuit, sometime in the mid-1970s.

Quite possibly - I believe that they did fall out for a while. However, I must confess that I had not heard that particular quote before. No, it certainly was not a chamber organ. I do not think that H-J could ever have been accused of building an organ that was inadequate with respect to volume. I have in my possession a second-hand copy of an old Great Cathedral Organ series LP, from Worcester Cathedral, with Christopher Robinson playing the Sonata No. 3, by Medelssohn. There is at least one glorious section in which he employs the Pedal Diaphones at both 16' and 32' pitch. It is an incredible sound. In fact, I am slightly nonplussed to realise that I actually found it quite exciting - I expected to find them objectionable. They are VERY big, though! Regards!

I totally agree! I have just found an article in an old copy of The Organ magazine, regarding the H-J organ in the McEwan Hall, Edinburgh, at the time that it was rebuilt by the firm of Willis. The article was written by the late Herrick Bunney. In it he does say that the old H-J organ survived with only minor alterations until the rebuild (1952). However, he then goes on to say that there were many unpredictable ciphers in the last years of the H-J organ's life and that the console action was largely out of order. In addition, every time a piston was pressed, it emitted large blue sparks....hmm, doesn't sound either reliable or safe, to me Furthermore, he describes the Tuba Mirabilis as reminiscent of a caged and very angry bull Pity they (Worcester) did not keep the Hill organ! Oh well, perhaps when they throw out the H-J/H&H/Wood&Co., they will throw it in my direction. I would be very happy to play it regularly. Although I might need some extra resonance, too.

Yes, an interesting point, M. Lauwers. There is, as I mentioned before, that superb Pierre Schyven organ in Antwerp Cathedral - perhaps not quite as exciting as a C-C, but still wonderful! There is also that interesting organ in Sint-Salvatore, Bruges (Cathedral since 1834?). This case is excellent, oak almost black with age. It has some unusual stops. I would be interested to know what the Pommer 16p on the G.O. sounds like - it is listed with the reeds, but the only English examples I know are quiet flues, like Quintadenas. Sint-Niklaas, Diksmuide has the same thing. Is it a reed, or is it a flue? Then there is the Cathedral of Sint-Maarten, in Ieper, which appears to be a romantic-style instrument. Are the reeds more broad in tone? I would very much like to know! Any help will be gratefully received! Best wishes

Whilst I expect that there was some appreciation of the work of 'Father' Willis by Aristide Cavaille-Coll, I cannot immediately think of a French organ by C-C which displays any Willis characteristics, particularly not in the reeds! Certainly, C-C did not appear to be influenced by Willis in the area of console design! Incidentally, I recommend that you acquire a recording of the H&H at Ripon Cathedral - or better still, go and hear it live. It still has its Arthur Harrison Trombi on the G.O. (although previously, this organ had been rebuilt by T.C. Lewis) and an enclosed Tuba (available at 16- and 8-foot pitch on the Solo Organ. There is, in addition, a really BIG Tuba (8') unenclosed and an Orchestral Trumpet 8' also unenclosed, horizontal and on top of the Swell box, facing west. This stop is brighter than the Tuba and even louder. It can, in fact, be heard from the bus station (which is not next door to the cathedral...) I confess that, whilst accompanying (?!) a visiting choir, I did use the tutti at the end of the Vaughan-Williams setting of 'Let all the world'. Apparently, there were cracks and creaks from the graveyard outside, as some of the occupants mistook the sound for the Last Trump...

Incidentally, with respect to the preservation of the work of H-J and your comments re-William Hill, no doubt you are aware that H-J brutally (!) ripped out the 4-manual Hill organ at Worcester, replacing it with his own monstrosity. There are two reasons why I think I could make an exception with regard to the preservation of organs by H-J. The first is that his area of expertise lay in telephone engineering. The second is that they were not particularly practical (or necessarily well-built). He used rubber-cloth as a substitute for leather in his actions, so his instruments quickly became unplayable, as the rubber-cloth perished, usually within a decade. If one also takes into account the fact that he seems to have had little idea of tonal architecture, then the organs which are created by such haphazard means are unsatisfactory in every way. Add to this the wanton destruction of what was probably a superb Hill organ and personally I am glad that he fled to the US (where it took organ building decades to recover from his influence). I further suspect that H&H revoiced most of his work at Worcester. There are one or two ranks (e.g., G.O. diapasons) which sound slightly unusual, but there are no ugly ranks. Shame on Mr. Lucas for wanting to discard this excellent musical instrument!

Ok, thanks, nfortin. Yes, I think that I too would miss the reversible for the Pedal Trombone - now it's not possible to give a 'quick double-jab' during psalm 78, when smiting the enemies in the hinder parts... Ah, well.

I am shocked. '...some organists play too loud' - shurely shome mishtake?!