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Friday, 22 September, 7.15 for 7.45pm at St John the Evangelist, Whitchurch, Buckinghamshire HP22 4JZ: Timothy Byram-Wigfield plays a programme to include Handel, Bach, Guilmant, Saint-Saens, Elgar, Walton and Vierne on the 1880 Porritt and will talk about his experiences at St George's Chapel, Windsor and elsewhere. Tickets £12 on the door or £10 in advance from Parrott's Farm Shop, Beechmoor Farm (HP22 4LG).

Buckingham Parish Church on Saturday 24 June at 7.30pm: Milton Keynes Chorale presents a Durufle Feast, including the Requiem, Quatre Motets, Organ Suite Op. 5 and Solo Items. Conductor: Victoria Ely, Organist Douglas Tang, Mezzo Soprano Hannah Poulson, Baritone Ben Tomlin. Tickets £15 Adults, £5 under 18s and students.

I played S, JS for the first time earlier this year - not one of my favourites but even the oldies (I.e., older than me!) in the congregation seem to like it, What did surprise me was the way it's laid out in the alleged 'Organ Edition' of the new A&M with a page turn between the verse and refrain. I reset it with Musescore and it fits very nicely on one side of A4.

The Swell Lieblich Bourdon (TC) on our Porritt is a very good stop. It adds just the right amount of depth to full organ, it's a lovely flute played an octave up and can also be used an octave up with the Vox Angelica either as a soft solo (very useful if the Oboe is out of tune!) or soft chorus. Perhaps it looks odd on paper but it works really well.

An article that could have been included in the BIOS Journal on the RFH organ was a look at the tender proposals. Reading between the lines in 'Baroque Tricks', they were from Harrison, Willis and Walker. Another interesting one would be a compare and contrast (musical and technical) between the RFH and Colston Hall instruments, from someone who knows both.

It's on the H&H website today under Projects and Plans -> Forthcoming. There are photos of the restored ex-Manchester console on the Selby website: http://www.selbyabbeyorganappeal.org.uk/restoration.html

This is an interesting example, which sounds a lot better in the church than at the console: http://www.npor.org.uk/NPORView.html?RI=N09233

I understand It's the organ formerly in Hucknall Parish Church and then Sedburgh School - apparently the church is highly delighted with the result.

Sure - I took it during one of the post-restoration events. PM me if you want the full res version and I'll email it to you.

Still in place at the RFH console....... I was told that when the pipes were cleaned in the recent restoration, a layer of brown varnish was removed - years of nicotine deposits (from smoking in the auditorium!).

There's a little bit in the last post on this page: http://mander-organs-forum.invisionzone.com/index.php?/topic/3973-electronic-substitute-in-a-cathedral/page-3

The RCO is running a survey for what organists want: https://www.rco.org.uk/news_displaystory.php?newsid=232

Not quite a recital, but I remember this being broadcast. It was long before the wide availability of video recorders........ http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/adfb3b84beed401b898dc87a2e67dee9 I had not seen the BBC Genome pages before - a very good resource.

Newcastle Cathedral is using a Phoenix: http://www.newcastlegateshead.com/whats-on/st-nicholas-cathedrals-lunchtime-recital-series-p761261 I can't see mention of this on the Forum, but apologies in advance if it has already been covered.

Great pictures! What a beautifully decorated console. You're almost there with the posting: you just need to leave the first at the start of the link as well as the at the end (for some reason my capitals in IMG are changing to lower case). I've taken the liberty of putting one here as a demo.....

For posting photos (here as in some other Forums) I use photobucket: 1. Open a free account at photobucket.com 2. Upload your photo - you may need to resize it first. 800 x 600 is a good size ("Document Small" in some descriptions). 3. Open the photo in your photobucket library and on the right are 4 links. Click on the bottom one (IMG) and it will flash Copied 4. Paste the link into your Forum post where you want the photo to appear 5. You don't have to do the next step but if you don't the link as well as the photo will appear. If you do this you only get the photo: edit the link to delete the part that is before and after the tags, so the link starts and ends with Hope this helps and looking forward to seeing the photos!

innate makes the good point that "a four-manual and pedal instrument (is) essentially 5 relatively small organs operated from one console", but how many large "mechanical action" organs are really like this? A lot seem to have sections on electric or EP action, pneumatic assistance for some basses, electric couplers et al. In the Nov/Dec Choir and Organ, there's piece on the new instrument at Maynooth with a high tech electro-optical coupler system. The reaction (for example, at Llandaff, Worcester and Bury St E) is that there's little point in having mechanical action for a large instrument, but the above discussion implies that the EP parts of these instruments should last 50 years or so but the electronics may last for half that, if the owners are lucky. Returning to the original topic of this thread, I don't think Sheffield Anglican Cathedral was mentioned (although it has been on this Forum before) but I guess they are now through 2/3 of the probable life of their electronic, which was apparently rebuilt in 2006 after taking over from our host's organ in 1998.

We are being hosted by Oli King, the DOM - I don't know any further details but will ask.

Are there any opinions on whether the RoHS regulations are likely to affect the reliability or longevity of electronic components? There was a lot of speculation that removing lead from solder would make it more brittle and lead to a shorter life, but has this been proven in practice or are we still waiting to find out? There are some interesting examples in Buckinghamshire: Aylesbury Methodist Church: 3 manual Bradford electronic organ, recently completely "rebuilt" recently which involved replacing the electronics but keeping the console and speakers. It can sound nice when played softly but anything loud sounds pretty synthetic. Chesham Parish Church: 3 manual hybrid, with the main Great and Swell choruses from pipes but electronic reeds, upperwork, Choir and most of the Pedal. I hate to say it but it can sound quite good. The drawback was that when it got to about 15 years old it started to cut out intermittently but completely and it took the builders over 3 months to track down the fault. Quainton Church: 2 manual extension organ: the electronics developed a "system fault" in October which means some notes on the Swell don't work. Although it's still under guarantee (it's about 8 years old) the builders have not yet been able to repair it. A fully mechanical action must be the best for a small instrument (the H&H at Hakadal in interesting in this respect) but any large one is a complex machine and surely regardless of what action is used, is bound to need more maintenance and more frequent overhauls.

The Buckinghamshire OA is visiting Saffron Walden next month so I'm looking forward to trying the instrument there. We are also going to Finchingfield where there's another 3 manual Miller.

The publicity over the opening of the Paris Philharmonie made me wonder about the pipework display - it's a large new instrument by Rieger..... http://www.rieger-orgelbau.com/en/details/project/ParisPhil/

The console at Whitchurch is projecting rather than "en fenetre". There is nowhere to easily hide a light, so there is an inoffensive brass one that takes a 221mm striplight. It was fitted with a clear 30W incandescent lamp which gave inadequate light and also a lot of glare from the filament. When it blew a couple of weeks ago, I tried a 60W opal replacement which was hopeless - no glare but even less light. A bit of research turned up an LED replacement on ebay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/290986206495?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&var=590163268509&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT The difference is remarkable - there's now plenty of light on the music even with the church lights off and no glare. Power consumption is 7W and if the advertised lamp life is correct, it will outlast me.

The Bucks OA visited Stratford earlier in the year and we were able to try out the new organ in a rather incomplete state. It then sounded very good and filled the chapel, even without the the great mixture and reed. Mr C had taken the Pedal Cremona back to the works for adjustment as apparently it was (almost) audible in Warwick! The console is very comfortable and easy to manage although I suspect the action needed final regulation as there was a bit of a "semi-detached" feeling. The case has been beautifully restored and as mentioned above is a gem. Well done to everyone involved.

A little-publicised survivor is the Swell Oboe in the new Nicholson at St John's, Boxmoor, near Hemel Hempstead, which is from the old Worcester Cathedral organ and is a very nice stop.

I think the Colston Hall was the last UK Cornet de Violes - amazing how the pendulum of fashion has swung back. James Lancelot gives a demo of the remarkable one at Durham on the new Priory DVD.