wolsey
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Posts posted by wolsey
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Dame GW also did something similar I seem to remember. In an Edinburgh Festval concert where the orchestra was in the Usher Hall (organ out of action then) and she was at St Mary's Cathedral. Didn't she have a police escort to get back for her standing ovation?
AJJ
Yes indeed. I remember that concert as well; it was televised.
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... However, if I was to be marooned and was given the choice between 5 organ recordings or nothing at all, I would choose:
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4) Poulenc Organ Concerto (Maurice Duruflé). Yes I know the ensemble is rocky in places (it would have helped if the orchestra had been in the same building as the organ), but it's still to my mind the definitive interpretation.
5) John Porter playing Campbell, Harris and others at St George's, Windsor. The programme is slight, but Porter explores this chameleonic organ to the full, his playing is dazzling and his interpretations of Campbell's pieces are definitive. Reissued by Priory in vol.1 of their LP Archive Series.
I agree about the Poulenc. Those who treasure the Duruflé/Prêtre recording should ensure that they have the 2003 remastered version in EMI's Great Recordings of the Century series; it's coupled with two other keyboard concertos. Compare it to an older LP-CD transfer, and you'll notice the difference in the sound.
John Porter is, to my mind, a much missed player. Having heard him live and in broadcasts, the elan in his playing was unmistakeable.
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A good choice - wasn't he also Assistant at Worcester at some point?
AJJ
Yes, immediately after graduating from King's, Cambridge.
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Found myself playing for evensong at Winchester one Sunday afternoon many years ago for a choirmaster whom I didn't know. The pipe organ was having major things done to it and we were provided with the ubiquitous (in those days) Allen. I was happily Murrilling away in E major and we arrived at the Gloria of the Nunc Dimittis. Honest, guv, I really did think that I had pre-set the biggest solo reed available on the choir for the fanfare bits at the start, but something had clearly gone wrong: all I and everyone else got was the choir 2 ft piccolo - charming no doubt, novel indeed, but I wasn't asked again.
DRH
...And it was on that same Allen organ at Winchester Cathedral during the Harrison resoration that I was accompanying Blair in B minor. I aimed my right toe at one of the *very* many pistons arrayed on the RH side ready for the final B major chord; I could have sworn blind that my foot was correctly positioned. Instead of a thrilling tutti complete with 32' reed, the choir's "Amen" was underpinned with the strings and 32' flue which another organist had used to adorn the end of Rutter's 'The Lord bless you and keep you' which had been sung by the choir at the morning service.
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I have read this thread with great interest. I am giving a recital there next month. Any wise words of advice from those who have played it?
Enjoy!
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Ralph Davier? There were recordings of him playing the RAH organ in the early 70s, and I heard him (according to the recital programme in front of me) at Westminster Cathedral on 28 August 1974.
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How silly!
Anyone knows that Daleks can't get up spiral stairs.
Have you not been watching lately? Daleks can now fly, so I wouldn't put it past them...
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For what its worth, Philip Ledger (b.1937) and Lucian Nethsingha (b.1936) - contemporaries of Simon Preston (b. 1938) - read music at King's....
Incidentally, many happy returns to Lucian Nethsingha who's 71 today.
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David Liddle and Ian Hare are both former King's organ scholars. Wasn't John Bertalot, too? Daniel Hyde, now director of music at Jesus, gave a brilliant recital (Bach, Mendelssohn and Wammes) at the Klosterkirche, Steinfeld as part of the IAO congress last week.
The list for John's would include:
John Scott
Adrian Lucas
David Hill
Stephen Cleobury
David Lumsden
Brian Runnett
Jonathan Bielby
Andrew Lumsden
Andrew Nethsinga
Philip Scriven
Iain Farrington
Robert Houssart
George Guest was the first organ student (1947). A list - complete to 1994 - appears in his book 'A Guest at Cambridge' (Paraclete Press 1994)
..... and Ian Hare are both former King's organ scholars. Wasn't John Bertalot, too?No. Lincoln College, Oxford, then Corpus Christi, Cambridge
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I was going to mention Richard Popplewell and [Professor] Hugh McLean, but happily the photo in the link does that for me. For what its worth, Philip Ledger (b.1937) and Lucian Nethsingha (b.1936) - contemporaries of Simon Preston (b. 1938) - read music at King's, but didn't hold the organ scholarship.
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Are/were not the RSCM rates allied to the ISM/RCO rates? I may be wrong, but I thought there was some link. I'm not sure whether ISM still set annual rates (I think they are now hourly based?) but IMO they used to be fairly geared to the amount of work and degree of expertise required. The information available publicly is not very precise: http://www.ism.org/publications/info/02_9.html
Under the terms of the Competition Act 1998 which came into force in 2000, neither the ISM - nor any other professional body in any discipline, e.g. architects - may now recommend fees; this applies to the RSCM as well.
It is permissible, however, to publish the results of a survey of fees (independently conducted) charged by members, and the ISM Information Sheet link which you mention is indeed a survey of fees charged by ISM members working as professional organists in places of worship between September 2004 and September 2005. As you'll see at the link, the survey was carried out by the Statistical Services Centre at Reading University; associations which hitherto recommended fees are not allowed to conduct these surveys.
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Untruth or not, people speak from their own experiences, and there are many who don't like the RCO very much and feel they have legitimate reasons for their beliefs or opinions. Demanding an explanation ain't gonna change their minds. 'VH' is right - you'll find the substantiation you seek in the RCO thread. It would be good to think that on this occasion you could let the comment pass, as this is actually one of the more interesting threads in a very long time.
People have beliefs and opinions, of course, and this is the place for them. This thread, however, covers a more serious subject than others here, touching on matters of both employment and canon law, and affecting a good many of us. It is also good that discussion on the topic has benfited from the contributions of lawyers such as Barry Williams who has corrected some inaccuracies which have muddied or confused the discussion. On this particular thread then, the snipe at the RCO was out of place and unhelpful.
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Please let's not start this again - it will all end in tears. everything on this score has already been said in the RCO thread.
Of course it has. But it doesn' t justify the posting on this thread of what is arguably an untruth, and I was inviting a substantiation of the comment.
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Organist appraisals could be a useful thing supervised by the RSCM or RCO particularly if at the local church level coupled with some sort of training scheme. Problem is the aRseCO is only interested in the major parish churches and the cathedrals ....
Pardon? What's the basis for this claim?
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I echo this advice. Whether you love the RCO of loathe them is neither here nor there: their exams are still the ones with cachet. At least the ARCO, FRCO and CHM are - not sure whether the newer qualifications are yet treated very seriously by the organ world at large.
Not sure why the 'newer qualifications' should be treated less seriously; I can't imagine the assessment criteria are less rigorously applied. As Adrian Lucas has said, Davidb, a respected teacher is essential, and why not download the details of the RCO's examination requirements and see for yourself what is assessed in the College's five diplomas/certificate, as well as the objectives of each examination. The descriptors for the mark bands of all the examinations are also available for you and everyone else to see. Remember, as well, that the CertRCO, ARCO and FRCO are now modular, and the sections of these examinations can be entered *separately*.
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I would agree with you that the Windsor organ is exciting - but Coventry is more so.
For what it's worth, both these organs were designed by Sidney Campbell.
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It's interesting that Westminster Cathedral recorded it twice: Once by Hill (With brass) and by O'Donnell.
I think the organ only is more effective actually.
I don't recall David Hill recording the Vierne with the Westminster Cathedral choir. Are you thinking of his Langlais Messe Solennelle recording?
Royal Festival Hall Organ
in General discussion
Posted
If I understand the SBC newsletter from Jan 2007 correctly, there are new, automated doors concealing the organ.
The following comes from Harrison & Harrison's website:
"In August 2005 the organ was dismantled and stored in a separate warehouse in Durham. The Hall has been completely reconstructed with improved acoustics; it reopened in June 2007. The organ is being reconfigured to suit the new architectural and acoustic requirements: its depth has been reduced by 1.1m but the basic principles of the layout have been respected. The Great and Swell Organs and the Pedal Principal 32ft (forming the left-hand portion of the organ) have been reinstated, together with the console, and will be followed by the central and right-hand sections at a later date."
The SBC's website link is self-explanatory:
http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/organinfo/
Full details of the how the larger concert platform would affect the organ chamber and the layout of the instrument were provided by the SBC Organ Curator, Willam McVicker, in the 2004-5 RFH Organ Recital Series programme.