wolsey

I'm puzzled that you feel that Croydon's Fairfield Concert Hall organ just doesn't "come together" due to the "acoustic design". Are you referring to the auditorium, as its acoustic is very highly regarded indeed by orchestral players.

I was inspired to learn it after hearing it being played by the late Allan Wicks on one of the Monday evening organ recitals which BBC Radio 3 broadcast for years; I still have the cassette tape of the programme tucked away somewhere. It's a powerful piece, and one I've enjoyed including in recitals where the instrument and type of audience seemed right.

The greater third is the interval of two whole tones or a major third, but does not necessarily mean that the key of the setting you were singing is F major.

At the risk of digressing too much from the original topic, nothing is clear cut. The Ouvertures of Bach's four orchestral Suites, for example, surely need to be approached with an understanding of French baroque playing styles, as will those various French dances which follow them. The C minor Fantasia (BWV 562) is sometimes given a French interpretation, but it's debatable whether or not it should extend to the use of inegalité. Incidentally, the E flat Prelude (BWV 552i) does work wonderfully in the French Ouverture style, but one needs to hear an orchestra convey the graceful and rhythmic character of the style - and yet maintaining a sense of line - before trying it on the organ.

Surprised to see no mention yet of the Lewis organ in St Mary's Church, Studley Royal which was restored by Harrison & Harrison in 1980. The church is owned by English Heritage and managed by the NT. I also remember seeing an organ in the dining room at Kingston Lacy but cannot remember if it was in working order.

I'd also endorse Broekmans. It was recommended by an RCO staff member, and they're a stone's throw from the Concertgebouw and part of what is now the Amsterdam Conservatorium. I've browsed/bought music (Sweelinck, etc) there on previous visits to the city.

Indeed, however, it appears that the Government intends to change the law regarding 'ripping' of CD tracks for personal use.

The Breitkopf (Schmidt) edition appears to be equally reliable. I moved to the Henle edition ten years ago.

My understanding is that Dover is fine for Bach (Bach-Gesellschaft reprint); Sweelinck; and Widor where it is a reprint of the first editions - but it doesn't included Widor's revisions (NB use the American edition). Scholarship has resulted in more authoritative editions of all the other composers you mention, if that is an issue for you. Tournemire appears to be out of copyright, and his works are available electronically from two different sources. Note though that Rupert Gough has published a new edition of the Five Improvisations which aims to be be a more faithful transcription of the now-available remastered audio recordings of Tournemire's playing.

À chacun son goût. Gibbons' Song 34 is a tune I like very much. I find it comes to life rhythmically when performed with a minim pulse (as notated in NEH) for the first line of the text, then a dotted minim pulse for the remaining lines. I am in agreement with basses who prefer to omit the slur towards the end of the second line.

I agree, and do not share the disappointment which some have expressed about the film. I do hope that the Magnificat will be recorded in due course, and while Parry's Piano Concerto is available for discovery on the Hyperion label, I can safely say that Boult's rather elusive last-ever recording - the 5th Symphony, no less - will be finding a place on my CD shelves in the next few days.

St George, Hanover Square, London is getting an instrument by Richards, Fowkes and Co.

As far as I'm concerned, it's Simon Preston's second (1985) recording from Westminster Abbey.

Did you mean RAM, not RCO?

In the not-too-distant future, you may care to invest in one or other of the new editions of Verne's organ music by Carus or Bärenreiter.

It would seem to be a more substantial undertaking than Andrew Thomson's useful 116-page biography (OUP 1987). And yes, he was very prolific in music outside the organloft (including operas) - on which point, Stanford's 2nd Piano Concerto in C minor seems worth investigating, on the strength of last Saturday's CD Review on BBC Radio 3. Its debt to Rachmaninov's C minor concerto is unmistakeable.

Like Jim, I have heard Nathan Laube live, however, I do not believe that his comparison is valid. I repeat again what I said when Nathan was discussed on here last September under the topic 'Playing from Memory', "I was immediately drawn by his ability to make and communicate music on the organ. I have no time for showmanship and lack of musical depth which is found in certain virtuosi today, and Mr Laube's playing sets him apart from these prestidigital performers."

Considering where you'll be based in West London, there's St Paul's Girls' School and the catholic Church commonly called the Servite Priory - both Grant, Degens & Bradbeer instruments of an earlier generation of organ-building; St Mary on Paddington Green (Petter Collins); and as Nigel Allcoat has said elsewhere, there's the splendid church of St John the Evangelist (RC), Islington (Walker), but it's not in your vicinity. There are others too, I'm sure.

DHM's post is misleading, as "the present incumbent" went last month, and there is an Acting Director of Music - to whom I thought DHM was referring. The Chapter felt unable to appoint a successor from those who applied; it can happen. I feel uneasy, however, about all this being discussed on a public forum while the process of appointment is being repeated.

The website lists Kenneth Jones as the Founder; Derek Byrne is the owner and Managing Director.

I agree with practically all that has been said by Paul Morley and Colin Harvey. I would advise though that the recording with orchestra should be of the Rutter edition itself; the Cambridge Singers made one under Rutter's direction almost thirty years ago. There may be others of the Rutter, but I do not know. Many other recordings though tend to be of the so-called Roger-Ducasse edition, at which one should askance if one reads Rutter's fascinating account of the genesis of the various versions and editions. If playing from the Rutter edition, I use a suitably proficient page turner who plays the second keyboard part of the Sanctus.

Try looking here for information. Your second question is, I imagine, supposed to be humorous.

Today marked the centenary of the birth of Jehan Alain.

This is recounted by Gordon Reynolds in his humorous book Organo Pleno (Novello 1970): Chapter 7 - 'In statu pupillari'.

I have the Brunold (l'Oiseau-Lyre) edition of 1949, but am led to understand that the new l'Oiseau-Lyre (edited by Gilbert & Moroney) is probably the most authoritative. There is some useful information here.