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This, from 2015, explains on page 11: http://stnicholascathedral.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Cathedral-Notes-March-May.pdf Ian

Oops! Sorry. Ian

On my reckoning, four former Organ Scholars at King's,Cambridge are involved in the Proms this year: Andrew Davis and David Butt as conductors, Robert Quinney as organ soloist, and Adrian Partington as chorus master of the BBC Welsh. Have I missed any? And what conclusions, if any, might be drawn? Ian

Am I right in thinking that Daniel Cook made a Hauptwerk set there and, if so, will they be using it while the organ is out of commission? Ian

I see that I bought my copy in the seventies. It was published by OUP. Ian

There's a famous old recording of the Easter Hymn in which the organ is played by Denis Brain FRCO. Ian

Sorry to intrude on Advent, but - like in Holy Week - church musicians need to be a bit ahead of the calendar. I wanted to share a little trick I figured out a few years ago for a Carol Service (or similar) postlude. HW Gray publish a volume of "Seven Trios on Christmas Hymns" by David Lasky. I find all of them useful, though some are based on the tunes used in the USA and the Caribbean rather than the ones we're used to in the UK. However, the third of them is a trio on the regular tune to "Hark The Herald angels sing". Ignore the composers suggested registration and play the left hand on the biggest available reed, with right hand and pedal to balance. At the end, go straight into David Willcocks' Postlude on the same tune, starting at bar 9. IMHO it works really well. Best wishes to all. Ian

Didn't one of his predecessor only last a few days because his vertigo couldn't cope with the organ loft? Ian

Am I alone in finding this topic both bewildering and utterly fascinating? Ian

Sorry to spoil a good story, but "My song is love unknown" didn't appear in the 1906 English Hymnal. The Companion to Hymns and Songs (the 1983 British Methodist Hymnal) says that the tune was composed at the request of Geoffrey Shaw for these words in the Publc School Hymn Book (1919). Ian

He gave a recital for the IAO Congress in Paris, and played brilliantly. At the end of the recital Ian Tracey said he didn't usually do this, then praised him to the skies. Good to see that the boy done good. Ian

Having heard Mr Binns play (he's the Organ Scholar at Southwark Cathedral), I can say with confidence that it would have to be very tricky indeed to cause him any problems! Ian

James O'Donnell is giving a recital there as part of the St Albans Festival. Monday 13 July, 1pm, music by Prelleur, Purcell, Blow, Pepusch and Charles Wesley. The organ is then being used the following day, morning and afternoon, for the first pair of the Interpretation Competition semi-finals. Ian

But since the piece is a transcription by someone or other of something or other by someone or other, does it matter very much? Ian

Please can I have one, too? Ian

I was at Evensong there yesterday. The chap sitting just behind me was wearing a badge that said "Tim Noon". Ian

Philip Many thanks for this. I'll see if anyone has anything more to contribute, then see what I can do about persuing the leads. Ian

The little organ I was writing about is in NPOR at D01993, but that doesn't tell me anything I didn't already know. Information which is produced at the Church says: "The remains of an organ which was once the property of Charles Wesley was presented to the chapel by Mrs LHE Foster of Bromley Common, Kent, in the 1950s. Spurden Rutt & Co. reported that it was a small Songman pipe organ ... The name plate on the organ states that it was made by Jonaman & Broderip ... " If that really is the name on the plate, someone has done a much better job of deciphering it than I'm able to do. The other information on the label is quite legible, though, and says that the organ was repaired by Joseph Walker of 100 High Holborn, in 1820. It would be good if it were possible to unearth evidence that links the organ decisively with Charles Wesley, but I'm mindful of the number of organs that Handel is alleged to have played. (Incidentally, I'm told by someone who knows that Wesley moved into the house in Marylebone after Handel, whose house had been only a few hundred yards away, had died.) If anyone can point me in a useful direction for further enquiry, I'd be very grateful. I wonder, Philip, if you've managed to recall where the "somewhere" with the information about the Wesley house organs is? Best wishes to all Ian

Many thanks to everyone for their help with both the things that I raised. I'll split my response between two posts, one for each topic. Since it was too late to order music for the wedding online, I went up to Chappells in the West End - does anyone else remember going into that building in Wardour Street when it was still Novello's showroom? Unfortunately, they didn't have the Oxford volume in stock, but I found an arrangment of Jesu, joy by Noel Rawsthorne in a couple of Mayhew volumes. The problem I'd had was that I couldn't figure out how to keep the obligato line going during the appearances of the chorale; Rawsthorne solves the problem by leaving out the obligato, which I presume means he thought it was impossible to do what I'd been trying to do. His arrangement works well, though, once you've dealt with the error(?) at bar 2 beat 3 and bar 3 beat 1, which should surely be the same as bars 18 and 19. Again, thanks for your help, folks. Ian

Colin Sadly, this one doesn't work without a sustaining pedal - or enormous hands! Ian

I've just been asked to play for a wedding on Saturday. I'm familiar with the organ so that bit's OK. It's one manual, no pedals, two stops, and is alleged to have been Charles Wesley's house organ. (Incidentally, does anyone know how I might get an educated opinion as to the possible truth of that without spending the sort of money the Church can't afford.) Anyway, Wagner, Mendelssohn and a couple other things that the couple want are in an Elkin album I've had for years - Wedding Album for Manuals, edited and arranged by CH Trevor. Needless to say with that pedigree, the arrangements are good ones and work well. However, the couple also want "Jesu, joy". I've discovered I can sort of bodge it from a piano arrangement, but does anyone know of the sort of quality arrangement that CH Trevor might have made if he'd got round to it. Or perhaps he tried, and found the task impossible. Best wishes Ian

Just a reminder, if one is needed, that Arthur Wills can be heard playing his own and French music at Ely on one of the Great Cathedral Organ series, now happily available on CD. Ian

Paul Yes, I have Volume 1 (the one with Laus Deo, etc.). I see that I used a couple of the pieces as voluntaries in 1980 and haven't played them since, so I'm more than happy to give the volume a good home. In these circumstances, people usually seem to say "Please PM me"; I don't know quite what that means, but I'll find out how to access them so that I can post it to you. Best wishes Ian

I've just heard a performance of BWV 564 in which the player continued pleno all the way to the end, and augmented the last chord with a bottom C on the pedals. I thought it worked rather well, and am wondering if there's any justification for it in the sources. I've found (http://www.analekta.com/en/album/?lagace-bernard-j-s-bach-toccata-adagio-and-fugue-in-c-major-bwv-564-and-other-early-works-vol-2.1263.html) a programme note by Bernard Lagace in which he says "We are accustomed to hearing a conclusion where the different voices gradually dwindle until the end where, with no longer any pedal, descending quavers are discretely punctuated by a final, short chord. I thought it interesting to use here a different version, as is found in one of the work's two sources, where the pedal holds the tonic low C until the last long chord, marked with a fermata", which is rather different to what I heard today. Can anyone out there provide an authoritative answer? Ian

Googling "Saint Patrick's Breastplate organ prelude" turned up a March by Alec Wyton (which seems to be available on Amazon), a prelude by Leo Sowerby, hymn preludes by Vernon Fish and Flor Peeters, and a chorale prelude by Geoffrey Shaw. And there might be more lurking out there on the web. Ian