bam
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Posts posted by bam
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16 hours ago, Rowland Wateridge said:
I was at a recital in Salisbury Cathedral in the mid-1990s given by a well-known player, happily still with us, and suffered the full effects of the Salisbury tuba(s) - plural possible as he may have used the 4’ clarion as well - and very shortly after had a perforated left eardrum with excruciating pain. Nevertheless I greatly admired the Salisbury Father Willis, and still do. HW III left his mark on his grandfather’s organs at St George’s Hall and St Paul’s Cathedral, and I have often wondered whether he did more at Salisbury than Sir Walter Alcock possibly realised.
H&H have noted that the recent restoration included removing felt from inside the resonators of the Great reeds.
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The VSCC has confirmed I can post a scan here, provided that the source is acknowledged (VSCC Bulletin, Summer 1991) and that it's noted that the material remains VSCC copyright and should not be otherwise used or distributed without permission. Unfortunately the file size at good resolution is just over 20 MB so way too big to attach. If you would like a copy please email me : bryan dot mo at btinternet dot com (dot = . and at = @ to put off the spam robots).
Back issues are likely to still be available at £3 + postage but the library is closed at present.
This is the cover, captioned "Prescott May 1950. Sam Clutton takes a firm grasp (Guy Griffiths)". The car is his 1908 GP Itala.
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I'll make enquiries.
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There were several articles on Clutton published in the Summer 1991 Bulletin of the Vintage Sports Car Club, including the address by Lord Palumbo at his memorial service in St Paul's, covering his extensive interests outside and inside the world of music. It's well worth reading for those who would like more information on his life.
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One of the many good things about LEDs is that they are directional. If you rotate the LED tube so that the emitters are facing the music, you may not need a shade.
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I run the website for my old car club. Three years ago our ISP arranged for a 'third party' (I don't know who and didn't ask, but believe they were based in India) to migrate the club forum from Snitz to the Simple Machines platform. The ISP supervised the process and it was done very successfully at a cost that just clipped four figures plus VAT. All the previous content survived with the exception of a few posts that were made during the transition. We looked at Invision but rejected it because of the subscription charge. The reason for the change was that Snitz did not have the facility to host photos but SM does, and it works well.
Simple Machines claims to have a 'converter' that will do the migration process from Invision but no doubt like all these things, it is not for beginners. I don't know any details about the process.
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Wolsey's post here shows the last instrument they built, in 2018:
There are more photos of it on their Facebook page which is still live.
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There's an annual organ concert/recital at Aylesbury Methodist Church, always by a big name (or names - last year it was the Scott Brothers) which regularly attracts an audience of 200+. I organised a composite recital titled "Four Local Organists" (including me) last year to raise funds for a top clean of our Porritt and we got a very appreciative audience of nearly 60 - pretty good for a country church. A comment afterwards from a non-church goer and non-organist was how nice it was not to hear "just hymns".
To return to the original subject of this thread, it's good to know the two BBC Comptons are maintained and in regular use, but it would be great to hear a broadcast of them in solo use.
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David Hales passed away last week. An old friend from Lawrence Sheriff School, Rugby, he was organ scholar at University College, Durham 1977 -78. After graduating he furthered his studies at the Guildhall before settling in Cairo and making a successful career at the Conservatoire and Opera Company.
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On 17/04/2020 at 08:10, Colin Pykett said:
Damian's mention of Sky reminds me that I remarked some while ago on another thread about the organ playing skills of one of its founders, Francis Monkman, who was classically trained. I hope Francis will not mind me saying that he has also carried out a lot of research into Thuringian organs and their builders and has recorded many CDs on them, some of which he kindly sent me as part of a private dialogue on the subject. It seems to me a great pity that they do not seem to be widely available, and I took the liberty of telling him so at the time! The combination of his scholarship and skills as an executant would I'm sure be appreciated widely by members of this forum and beyond.
One of Francis' CDs (in fact a double CD) is available from Crocodile Music:
https://www.crocodilemusic.com/cd/36/
His sleeve notes are fascinating, but especially about the mixtures on the Thuringian organs, which often include the tierce: a reedy sound without reeds.
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A few years ago I had a go on the Skrabl practice organ then in a house adjacent to Saffron Walden parish church and it was very nice to play - comfortable and with a beautiful touch. I believe it is now in the Royal Hospital School at Holbrook.
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I hope that instrument remains in good voice - it was rather good when I knew it in the 1970s.
The Bucks OA will be visiting Linslade and Leighton Buzzard parish churches in the afternoon.
There is a plan to have ''open console' at Stony Stratford parish church in the morning.
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If you type out an order form, take a photo of it and attach it to a forum post as a JPG, we could print it out and post it to you with a cheque. No middle men involved!
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Buxtehude: In Dulci Jubilo (BuxWV 197), Puer Natus in Bethlehem (BuxWV 217) and Nun Komm, der Heiden Heiland (BuxWV 211) are three of my favourites.
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I've recently found a copy of 'Three Pieces' second hand.
There's a performance of 'Festival' on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbsmbI2V6Dw
Does anyone recall an LP recording, probably from the late 1960s, on a British organ? I suspect it may have been Exeter Cathedral but my memory may be playing tricks.
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Newcastle City Hall apparently has a full length 32' Open Wood.
In his monograph on the H&H in All Saints, Maidenhead, Relf Clark comments on transport arrangements for the organs, all quite a logistical exercise.
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I was roped into playing for the Whitchurch and Hardwick carol service for the first time this year so played the 'Short Eight' g minor prelude - something fairly bomb proof that worked on the Hardwick one manual. With the luxury of two manuals, Buxtehude 'Puer Natus in Bethlehem' after Midnight Mass (thunder out the last verse of 'O Come', then rock the baby to sleep) and Buxtehude 'In Dulci Jubilo' on Christmas morning.
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I will always be grateful to David for pointing me (via a Forum post) to the Musescore software, which has been invaluable in letting me produce playable versions of 'guitar hymns' and more recently a couple of scores for the village choir.
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The 80% / 20% split comes from Ian Bell's articles in some old programmes (June 2004 and October 2006) where he wrote that H&H added 2000 additional pipes. I wonder if his book on he instrument, mentioned in the OR article, will see the light of day?
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Perhaps we shouldn't be too hard on Radio 3 describing it as a 'Father Willis' instrument if that is now the line the RAH is taking, however inaccurate it may be.
From what has been written, about 80% of the pipes and the case are Father Willis; the sound picture, the console and about 20% of the pipes are Harrison; and the mechanism, one stop and some tonal tweaks are Mander. The programme for the the 2018 organ concert was titled 'Grand Organ Celebration' and describing it as a 'Grand Organ' could hardly be more accurate.
I've dug out Ian Bell's article in the November 2004 'Organists' Review' and there's an interesting paragraph which mentions that HWIII was very keen to get the contract.
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I've posted this in another thread, but to reiterate, the RAH website makes no mention of the H&H rebuild on its organ page and refers to the "Henry Willis" organ with its 9999 pipes:
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Curiously the RAH website carries no mention of the H&H rebuild and also quotes 9999 pipes:
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I was recently able to have a quick blast at Derby Cathedral, the first time I've seen let alone played a 'luminous console', and it was very comfortable and well planned. But a number of the lamps had failed and replacements are apparently very difficult to source, so LEDs are surely a sensible update.
Richard Lloyd R.I.P.
in General discussion
Posted
I well remember his fine performances and those of the Durham Cathedral choir when I was an undergraduate. RIP.