AJJ
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Posts posted by AJJ
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I have recently seen reference to an eighteenth century organ on the gallery of the private chapel at Stoneleigh Abbey the 'stately home' in Warwickshire. There is also a photo in a book I was able to consult briefly about houses with private chapels in the Midlands. The only reference to a builder I can find is Crang & Hancock - does anyone have information and stoplist please?
Thanks
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There was also the link with Kenneth Leighton in that both came from Wakefield and sang in the Cathedral choir there when young. I heard JS play Leighton on a number of occasions and there is a Hyperion CD of KL's choral music from the St Pauls choir under JS.
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Having heard two of these three since work has been done on them in recent years it would seem to me that neither has changed radically and indeed both still sound very much like Downes instruments. St. Albans sounds far less 'lean' from minimal revoicing and has gained stops that possibly would have been there originally had there not been budget constraints or had RD not had a seeming problem with 2' principal stops. The RFH is still as it was though to my ears at least sounding much better. In both these cases the consultants involved in more recent work have kept the basics of voicing and design etc. intact.....and his influence on the organs in the RFH, Gloucester and St Albans cathedrals has all but disolved.
I can not comment about Gloucester.
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Slightly off topic....I had organ lessons here for a year at the start of my degree. An interesting instrument and the source of many hours investigation for a young undergrad. It seemed to be able to do a great deal more than one might think from just looking at the stoplist and a concert by the then DoM Jeremy Blandford consisting solely of the JSB Trio Sonatas by all accounts sounded very convincing.St. Mary's, Southampton (1956), must have been one of his last big organs.
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Not sure about this one but I for one did not find the 1975 H&H that in place there before it a very pleasant instrument to listen to - there seems to have been a relatively quick succession of instruments there.
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Another couple of interesting solutions - one big and one small. Does anyone have experience of this 'either/or' method of stop control?
http://www.grenzing.com/organosshow.cfm?id=211&ip=211211
http://www.noackorgan.com/instruments/?opus=161
PS The Noack site currently explains the stop control selection in this latter instrument in its 'news' section.
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An interesting new two manual scheme (ableit larger than being discussed here) with a Cornopean. The partial enclosure of the Great seems to link back to Skinner etc. maybe?
http://www.cbfisk.com/sites/default/files/instruments/specifications/145_spec.pdf
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I'd go for a trumpet. With a good box, it would fulfil most of the functions required of a Swell reed. The Cormorne could go on the Great, where it could be a reasonable chorus reed as well as a solo.The problem, as I see it, with many recent schemes which lack anything more than an oboe in the Swell, is that you lose most of the potential for bringing a fair amount of Swell through a good bit of Great by opening the box - an effect which is worth having in many types of music.
Ideally of course an Oboe and a Trumpet/Cornopean on the Swell with Trumpet and Cromorne/Clarinet on the Great.
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I'd suggest a fairly bright and open toned Oboe - combined with other stops on the Swell it could be 'coloured' or not as desired for solo work and would give quite an effective full chorus with or without the Mixture..............and if not, and space or budget only allowed for one reed, what would be the most suitable reed I wonder?
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The H&H Edington Priory organ is also a well thought out 2 manual design - the Mander for St Mary's Merton looks to be likewise. 8' variety and decent choruses on manuals, reeds and flute combinations that work well as soloists or in chorus, a decent swell box and something more than just a lone pedal 16' can cope with a surprising ammount of repertoire and service music. And if it is all on a nice mechanical action one could almost be talking about the 'village' type instruments I play most sundays!
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The current incarnation of the soon to be replaced instrument seems to have a decidedly odd stoplist - going on that alone the Flentrop looks as if it will be a welcome change.
http://www.npor.org.uk/NPORView.html?RI=N13274
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It will be interesting to compare this instrument with the Flentrop in Chelsea - I have not heard this.
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You are correct David - the Swell section on the old organ at Llandaff was able to be coupled in two halves. The rather dinky Positif in the pulpitum (I seem to remember that the pipes are still there) was of little use in quiet liturgical situations so some stops could be coupled down onto the lowest manual as a sort of borrowed Choir organ.
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'Agree with much of the above - does anyone know where Clutton's little Mander house organ ended up?
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I remember an animated discussion many years ago between Clutton and a now much respected consultant/historian regarding organ design, stoplists etc. Clutton actually got quite heated while the other quite coolly stuck to his guns. With hindsight it is interesting to ponder on which of them has had a more lasting effect on things!
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Some of Ken Tickell's smaller instruments have a 12-17 Cornet as the only Swell mixture. I wonder if these are intended for chorus use?
Not sure about this but a 12-17 Sesquialtera as a lone Swell mixture can work nicely as a solo stop with flutes and also provide an exciting tang to full to reeds etc. The smaller Mander at St Giles Cripplegate in London proves this point admirably.
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This would also seem to be the case with the 'decent parish church' side of things too. The place where I was most involved had a second organist and therefore conductor for anthems and 'big stuff' but the rest was largely un conducted. Later, with a change of regime it always felt slightly unnecessary to me to have someone standing mid choir waving quite competent musicians through hymns and psalms that had been thoroughly rehearsed previously. A personal view only.
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As far as I know, he is still in-post, until the end of term. I believe that he is moving into property developing. (He has also run a wedding car hire firm for a number of years.)
George Richford was formerly Director of Music at Saint Mary's, Newark, Notts.
....and Dartford PC.
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My single manual organ has the following...
Open Diapason 8'
Stopt Diapason 8'
Principal 4'
Flute 4'
Piccolo 2'
Larigot 1 1/3'
Pedal Bourdon 16'
Everything except the Bourdon.is under expression.
Both of the 2 mini-choruses are quite effectively topped-off with the Piccolo but the Larigot doesn't add much other than a fairly unpleasant shreek. If used to play a solo with the just the Stopt Diapason it sounds quite pleasant but having just the one manual makes its use in this way limited. The Larigot, therefore, is close to pointless. The sound produced by using the Principal, Piccolo and Larigot played down an octave is much more attractive. I am therefore tempted to go inside and put the pipes down an octave producing a Twelth; I could live without the bottom octave. Ignoring the fact that I would probably need a faculty to alter the organ and my excuse for ignoring it would be that no-one except me would ever notice, is there anything I would need to be aware of? I have never mucked about with the innards of an organ but know not to wear a loose and heavy coat etc! Would a tuner be prepared to do the work "on the quiet" does anyone know?
Just a thought......what about a 1' ? Not as much moving around of pipes - you wouldn't get your 2-2/3 but maybe some glitter if it were quietened down a bit. Depends on the scale though.
As a matter of interest was it always a 1-1/3 or was this an alteration at some point?
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With regard to chorus-work, I think, yes.......
I tend to empathise with much of this - as far as one can make an opinion on the spec. of a yet to be built instrument that is. However, a company with the reputation that Fisk undoubtedly has seems to me unlikely to build to a design destined to result in musical failure or something so quirky as to be no more that a generator of liturgical atmospherics. It would be interesting to hear the rationale behind what is being proposed.
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Matthew Martin will be moving to Keble College, Oxford to be Its DoM.
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Bearing in mind the young non-organ-playing enthusiast who has initiated the petition, I am bound to treat his campaign with dispassionate caution.
Quite!
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Stoneleigh Abbey
in The Organ
Posted
Thanks!
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