Charles Wooler

Do you think he intentionally dressed up to look like Freddie Mercury?

Presumably the noose dangling above the crate in the third photo is for dealing with Pierre and his comrades on the spot if they try and purloin anything!!

Dear all, The following events are being put on by the NDSO over the coming weeks and months. On Saturday 26th January there will be a masterclass on the superb new (2000) Nicholson (http://npor.emma.cam.ac.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=R00286) in Gosforth Parish Chruch of St Nicholas, Newcastle upon Tyne. The tutor will be David Goode who as many will know is Organist and Head of Keyboard at Eton College, where he presides over a unique collection of historic instruments and teaches some of the UK's most talented young organists. He combines this with a concert career that takes him to all parts of the world. The church is easy to get to via the Metro (10 mins from Central Station). The cost is quite modest (Members £10 (Student Members £5), Non-Members £12 (Students £6)) and there are still spaces for performers and observers are naturally welcome. We will start at 12.30 and finish at 4 with a break in the middle. The day has been structured with the aim of giving all participants as close as possible to 30 minutes on the bench. Anyone interested in should PM me please. On Saturday 15th March, Kevin Bowyer will present a lecture demonstartion on the music of Paul Fischer, in tandem with the composer himself. This will be from 2pm-5pm on the Harrison and Harrison (1961) (http://npor.emma.cam.ac.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=N04095) in St Thomas' Church, Haymarket which is right in the city centre. Please support this event too. Finally, on Friday 4th April, Robert Quinney will give the society's annual celectrity recital on the organ of St George's Gateshead. This will be a superb evening: Robert as all know is a top notch player and the organ is an incredible gem. As a slight tangent, there is some doubt about which Willis built it. The church insist that it is a Father Willis, however othere "in the know" locally maintain that it was designed by Henry I and built by Henry II, making it doubly rare. Maybe David Wyld would be kind enough to look back through his files and settle the argument once and for all! Here is its spec, it was built in 1901: http://npor.emma.cam.ac.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch...ec_index=N04202 http://npor.emma.cam.ac.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch...ec_index=N04202 the recital is at 7.30 pm, with a (very fine) spread of drinks and canapes from 6.45pm. PM me for extra information for any of these events. If you do come, make yourself know to me. It's always good to meet "cyber friends" in the flesh for the first time! All the best, Charles

I have just had this forwarded to me by the local Organists Association. I thought that this may well of interest to many. The text is by Jamesd Parsons (I suspect) any typos will be by me! On Sunday 20 January 2008, Oundle for Organists will be featured on BBCTV Songs of Praise- this edition of the popular Sunday tea-time worship programme will focus upon the organ and will be presented by Huw Edwards, who is himself an organist. Features will include sound-bite contributions from teenage organists attending the Oundle for Organists Get Ahead! Inspiration Day held in London during November filming of their organ tuition classes at St Giles’, Cripplegate, interviews with James Parsons and Anne Marsden Thomas, uplifting hymn singing, accompanied by the organ, drawn from BBCTV archive.

Don't bother with e bay. I got mine for about two thirds of that price from HMV: http://www.hmv.co.uk/hmvweb/simpleSearch.d...mp;primaryID=-1 An absolute snip at £6.99 and delivered in under a week! Everyone is dead reight about the playing though. I have the Ben van Oosten set too which are excellent, but these really put even his recordings in the shade!

To paraphrase Edmund Blackadder, did the "phrase rhyme with "Clucking bell"" per chance?

This is performed with great brio and sense of fun by Kevin Bowyer on his First Organ Explosion disc! Great fun!

said the actress to the Bishop.............

In what way is it smart? Scientifically speaking, I mean. I know it's not within the remit of the board but as an A level Chemistry teacher I'm very interested!

It was on PM on Radio 4 this evening that Ecclesiastical Insurance (who insure 95% of Anglican Churches in the UK) are issuing this to every church that they insure. They are feeling the strain of all these claims.

What's happening at Pembroke? Is it the main organ that they're replacing? Will the Charles Quarles pipework be retained? I played it frequently a few years ago: a close friend of mine was organ scholar there (till about 2001). It seemed in pretty decent shape then. Why the change? Charles

I strongly suspect that the people (Paul Hale, Roger Fisher, Kevin Bowyer et al.) who were previously the back bone of OR knew their stuff so well, that proof reading was hardly necessary as they didn't make that kind of mistake in the first place. All you need to do is read the editorial this month where we are let into the revelation that the Editor Sarah Beedle has (until recently) never had an organ lesson. Now she has had one. I don't understand the logic behind this: would a journal such as Brain Surgery and Cranial Phlebotomy Monthly be edited by an Ear, Nose and Throat Specialist? OK so I'm being deliberately controversial on that most recent point, but why does it not seem to matter to the IAO that the largest magazine on organs in the UK and the flagship publication of the IAO is largely the responsibility of people that don't play? I used to look forward to each edition of OR prior to its relaunch: I'm not entirely sure I do now. Previously I found it used to be thoroughly written with interesting photos, detailed stop lists and reviews galore of organs that you didn't know existed (even the CD reviews often had long sections devoted to the instrument that they were played on and they're history). Now I find that this "broad brush" approach where issues are currently themed means that a superficiality has crept in, often because, it seems to me, the chosen theme is somewhat obscure and hence the editors are struggling to fill the requisite number of pages for that issue. Surely it would be far better to have fewer, better researched/written articles of this nature. Does any one else share my views. I was under the impression (and please correct me if I'm mistaken) that part of the relaunch was to make the magazine less elitist and more approachable. Which leads me to two final points, before I end my rant for the day. Surely a magazine dedicated to the organ is by definition elitest: by that I mean it is only ever going to appeal to current organists and lovers of organ music, it will never inspire people to go and seeking out organ music and listening to it avidly. Only the organ and its music itself can do that. Secondly, when I started reading OR I was about 13, unable to play much beyond Clarke's Trumpet Voluntary (badly, very badly) was pretty much tone deaf, unable to carry a tune in a bucket, had no sense of rhythmn and scant knowledge of any music theory. That fact is that OR as was rivetted me. I was not interested in every article- much of it went over my head, but because of the language which I didn't understand and because of mentions of people and instruments I didn't know about, I felt compelled to read more and to find out more. I suppose that is what I'm driving at: OR is no longer a challenging read. Why therefore should we accept a watered down version? Charles

May I be the first to congratulate PCND on the delightful new case on the Wimborne Organ: it hides those chamades which I know some will be thankful for. What an improvement: and a wise move may I say. I'm not anticipating a prompt response from PCND though: I suspect that Sherborne CID are currently interrogating him! Charles (PS OR Pg 47 if you haven't seen it yet!)

Given the declarations on other threads in this forum, a mention of a visit to the National Railway Museum (free (to my surprise and delight)) is also probably part of the "York Experience" to many of us!!

Go to http://www.amphion-recordings.com and follow the links to "Selections from the EMI Greact Cathedral Organs Series": the Elgar is on Volume 1. Having all the LPs (except 19: anyone prepared to part with one?) the stuff on all 4 discs is very good and I can recommend all four discs. Charles

Go to http://www.carlo.com/PDFFiles/CCLN_00019.pdf and read the very mawkish (imho) tribute to Stephen Bicknell by Carlo Curley. It seems that Paulino is a Curley/Bicknell hybrid character!

Durham Cathedral has 4 fabulous examples of Willis/Harrison Tuba ranks: the ones on the Bombarde are particularly heroic and ringing and I'm sure are what you describe. There is an Orchestral Tuba (enclosed) on the Solo which is quieter, but a bit rounder and the 32'/16' Ophicleide unit which defies belief! As another thought, at the same time your builders could also look around Harrisons' works and see what they do/say. PM me if you want me to put you in touch with James Lancelot (Cathedral Organist) and/or Mark Venning (MD of H & H). About 1 hour down the road is Ripon which also has two very fine Tubas (One Enclosed, One unenclosed), and having heard the Glasgow University Chapel Organ for the second time last Saturday I was again very impressed by the Tuba Minor and the Tuba Major on the Choir Organ there too. I apologise to John Mander for mentioning only Harrison jobs here: its simply that I don't think I've played a Mander Tuba yet (except St John's Cambridge which is so long ago I simply can't remember!). Hope this helps, Charles

Lucky you- it sounds a lot cheaper than shopping!

I'd heard that Simon N was only at the Roman Catholic cathedral as a Sabatical for a year was then returning to the Episcopal Cathedral. I now assume i'm wrong, but isn't it a bit of an odd move?

Or if you're really in to sin that particular Sunday - Remember not Lord our Offences, also by Purcell.

Thanks John, Will definitely try to be along! Might tempt my wife along with the offer of early(ish) Christmas shopping in Oxford Street! Charles

Yet again- you're a mine of useful information. Thanks Sean! Charles

Thank you Sean. It does- you're a star. I'm hoping to go to Paris again this year to see my sister who is on her year out from her PhD fromn Harvard there. The "wish list" of organ to try is obvious but I suspect that it would not prove possible to get a go on Notre Dame, St Sulpice, Sacre Coeur, La Trinite etc but wonder where it would be possible to play and experience Frech organs first hand. Something that I sadly have yet to experience. Who could I take tuition from do Latry or Roth give consultation lessons?!

I've never really understood the technology at Notre Dame nor the problems associated with it. Could someone please explain a) The IBM bit of Notre Dame Why its a problem c) Why (by the accounts that I have heard (they may be out of date of course) no one never seems to have made it work! I'd be facinated to know! Perhaps I'm being naive but surely a dodgy stepper can be replaced reasonably strightforwardly. Why has it never been replaced? Charles

And this http://npor.emma.cam.ac.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch...ec_index=N09193 which replaced this: http://npor.emma.cam.ac.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch...ec_index=D00491 when an arsonist set fire to the pedalboard on Ash Wednesday (no joke) 1984.