pcnd5584

Thank you, Martin - this is much appreciated. I have a few new(-ish) galleries to add, which I shall endeavour to do soon, including Lincoln Cathedral. On my facebook page, I also have some new pictures of Wimborne and the Minster - including several taken inside the instrument - and several which I took from the inner two galleries of the central tower. Penzance - indeed. The instrument came from Saint Mary the Virgin, Oxford - the 'University Church'. Having played it in its new home, even I must agree that it is too loud. At one stage, the organist was stockpiling further ranks of pipes, in order to add another section. I hope sincerely that it was planned to make this an Echo Organ. It really does not need any more power as it stands. I shall try to reply to your other point by PM when I finish work later.

In which case, I wonder why they bothered to duplicate them as nasty black rocking tablets. Then they could also have positioned the music desk lower. In any case, if the rocking tablets are rendered unobtrusive thus, surely the inescapable corollary is that individual tablets will be harder to locate quickly. For the record, I do not like HWIII consoles, for the same reason - although at least he made the rocking tablets of ivory. (And then ebonised just about every other surface on the console....)

Here is one of mine: I am going to stop watching episodes of Paranormal Witness. There was at least one night during the holiday where I had to stay up unitl about 03:30, when my level of tiredness had exceeded that of my, shall we say, 'uneasiness'.

You could try the Trois Pièces pour Orgue (Op. 7), by Augustin Barié (1883 - 1915). He qualifies - just. As is often the case with French organists, he was blind from birth and had large hands. The pieces are: Marche, Lamento and Toccata. I would say that they were well written and entirely worthwhile pieces. The Toccata is probably the more fiddly of the three, although the Marche also contains a few awkward moments. However, they are accessible and probably of the required standard. The pieces are published by Durand.

Indeed, Vox.

I am not sure to whom you refer, MM. However, if you mean me, for the record, I am not associated with Romsey Abbey. Again, your post above says.... .... nothing. If anything, it just goes round in circles.

Sorry, but this is hogwash. Are you posting simply for the sake of posting? The above does not, as far as I can see, say anything constructive.

I recall the score which he wrote for the film Murder on the Orient Express (1974). There was much which was so fresh and inventive - particularly the part where the train pulls out of the station at Constantinople. I have also had pupils learn a number of his pieces for piano; they were occasionally set for Associated Board examinations. Here again they were innovative and attractive.

It does not look particularly inviting, certainly. However, I think that the instrument on which I had lessons at Trinity can beat that: http://npor.emma.cam...ec_index=E01400 The voicing was undistinguished; I doubt that it would have come up to the standard of their best work from this, or an earlier period. Clearly there was no proper chorus of any stly anywhere on the instrument. The Viole d'Orchestre was thin and 'scratchy'. I did once try to concoct a mini-full Swell effect on the Choir Organ, with this stop, the orchestral reeds, the Flauto Traverso and the octave couplers. However, rather than being a restrained but intense full effect, it merely sounded unpleasant. By the time I was let loose on it, the action was both sluggish and over-sensitive (i.e., whilst the repetition was bad, one barely had to touch some keys in order to get the pipes to sound). From the look of the G.O. (four stops, including a full-length 16ft. Double Dulciana), I half wonder if Lieut.-Col. George Dixon had a hand in its design. Perhaps the best division was the Swell Organ. The foundation stops were reasonably pleasant. Here, the strings were somewhat more acceptable. However, the Horn tended to honk - there was no brigtness or good attack to its voice. In 1984, it was replaced by this instrument: http://npor.emma.cam...24#PhotoSection Following the re-location of the college to part of the old Royal Naval College, in Greenwich, this organ was moved to the Church of Saint John the Evangelist, Goose Green, East Dulwich, on long-term loan. However, no tonal alterations were made at this time. In its original home, whilst being a great improvement on its predecessor, the tone was too brittle and 'sharp' for the intimate surroundings of the Lecture Hall on the first floor. This was a surprisingly small room, with floor-to-ceiling wood panelling on at least one wall.

Thank you for this. Aside from being ugly, it looks to have a lot more stops than its predecessor - allowing for the fact that the jambs are substantially lower. There are approximately eighty-eight stops on the RH jamb. Add, say, thirty (nasty black) rocking-tablets for the couplers, etc and perhaps seventy-five or so stops for the LH jamb (it is not possible to estimate with any accuracy from the photograph above). This is in excess of one hundred and ninety registers. So what are all the extra ones for? For the record, here is a link to a photograph of my own church organ console: http://pub21.bravene...=1177FC1DB4.jpg Or here, for a smaller image: http://pub21.bravene.../37795/3/84445/ (This board tells me that it does not like this file extension - if it means .jpg, I cannot imagine why.) This console is almost fifty years old. It still looks elegant; it is comfortable (apart from the pedal board - there is either a mistake in the measurements, or it is positioned incorrectly) and it works pretty well. The only obvious defect, is that some of the Pedal notes are late to release. I wonder if this is due partly to the multiplicity of chests for the Pedal Organ - or perhaps that some of the magnets are, after all these years, retaining some of their charge on release.

Thank you for this, flûte harmonique. I was also surprised to read of the new computerised transmission; I had thought that they were going to return to a more conventional electro-pneumatic (or similar) action - without the complication or intervention of a computer. I still wonder if it was necessary to replace the console. It is only just twenty years old. Ours is nearly fifty (as is a substantial part of the action, including the ladder switches for the electro-mechanical couplers), and still looks almost as good as new. That is, aside from some unnecessary damage to the Positive treble key cheek; this was caused an organ builder who had not realised that the key frames were secured by screws from the underside of the key bench. I was annoyed about this, because the key cheeks are Walker's finest, carved from rosewood.

I knew about the LRAM - but not the ARCM. I wonder why this is the case, now?

Or you could look at the Trinity-Guildhall diplomas - or the ARCM, or something like that. Then there is the board's own LRSM - which I believe was intended to replace the LRAM.

That is certainly a big decision, Vox. I hope that you are happier without the stress of this - and that you enjoy playing your home organ. Best wishes for 2013.

How about the first movement (Allegro) from Vierne's Second Symphony? Or the second movement (Choral )? Both are superb pieces. Come to that, you could look at the other movements of the First Symphony - in addition to the really well-known Final, of course.

They almost certainly did not. Like its predecessor, it was probably winched up, over the balustrade of the tribune.

Please could you tell me where this instrument is situated currently?

Not in the case of the Pédale and Récit divisions. The other depatrments had the draw-stops arranged conventionally, in two staggered columns. The Pédale has three and a half columns and the Récit division three. (In the case of the Pédale Orgue, the fourth column did not extend to the bottom of the jamb.) I would certainly agree that this is not pretty.

These ranks disappeared around 1963. They were replaced by those of the former Bombarde division - which was re-named 'Solo', again around 1963. I am not sure that I would join with Latry in lamenting their passing. I doubt that a family of Bassons* would have cut much ice in this building. They were, in any case, unique in a Cavaillé-Coll instrument of this size. * I think that the 4ft. was labelled 'Soprano', although I have seen at least one stop-list in which it was given as 'Clairon', which I believe to be incorrect.

Except that it looks as if this photograph was taken from a standing position - and perhaps by someone who was quite tall. If one is seated on the bench, I am willing to bet that the view is not anything like as helpful. In any case, I do not see how it can be so: there are five claviers, then the row of couplers, then a strip of wood. I am fairly sure that it would not be possible to achieve the view above, from a seated position. Having seen the above view, I cannot imagine what they were thinking - this console is incredibly ugly. Look at the ridiculously wide stop jambs with the multiple rows of stops - and the wasted space above several of the outer rows. Clearly the stepped part is integral to the 'design' - the music desk (such as it is) is in place. The whole thing looks like part of a spaceship control panel from a budget 1960's film set. Compared to the previous somewhat more dignified console, this just looks absurd. Why, oh why, did Latry, Lefébvre and Leguay think that it was necessary to replace the previous console with this monstrosity? In any case, with the advent of flat-screen TVs, I can see no need to attempt to make this console so squat. If this is what they consider to be a good, elegant and ergonomic console design, I shudder to think what they may do to the instrument tonally, during its rebuilding next year. I still regard the re-casting of the G.O. and Positif compound stops as progressive mixtures* in 1992 as a mistake, on this instrument. The removal of both Récit chorus mixtures was also unnecessary. If one does not like them, do not draw them. If this were a car, it would be a Citroën 2CV. * Cavaillé-Coll only used such stops for around ten years or so; after this, he reverted to repeating - or breaking - mixtures.

Indeed - a very Happy New Year to all here.

I cannot see the point of this. The instrument is already well supplied with mutations - and it surely does not need any chimes. I am also skeptical about the idea that the previous console was not in a good condition - the same was said of the console which replaced that by Cavaillé-Coll. It certainly looked perfectly serviceable to me that last time I sat at it - when it had already been in use for in excess of ten years. However, thank you for the information, flûte harmonique.

Alternatively, you could save yourself some time.

It appears that further changes have been made - there is now a 'Resonnance' division - with chimes. What were they thinking? As far as I can see, this new console is plain ugly compared to the previous two consoles. The black rocking tablets for the couplers (and several other aspects, e.g. piston heads and divisional name plates) make it look like some cheap electronic instrument. Are they intending to have a music desk? In addition, what is that odd stepped part, at the top and back of the jamb panels? I wonder what was 'wrong' with the previous console?

Well, there was Susi Jeans' house organ, I suppose. With regard to HWIII, as you no doubt know, the Church of the Immaculate Conception, in Farm Street, Mayfair, was (I believe) the first instrument in this country in which HWIII introduced a Nazard and Tierce as separate mutations. This was, in any case, at the instigation of the organist at that time, Guy Weitz. I believe that I am also correct in stating that Willis normally made the Nazard of (largely) stopped Lieblich-type pipes. The Tierce was (often) conical. However, as you observe, the scale was almost invariably too small really to be effective.