passion_chorale
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Posts posted by passion_chorale
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Hi,
This is really a keyboard music question, and possibly open ended/impossible to answer! But here goes:
Do people have any thoughts on whether somebody beginning to look at the Well Tempered Clavier for the first time should look at the pieces in a specific order, or simply go for what looks manageable? Or are there certain important preludes and fugues which should be looked at first?
Also, are there any good resources online or in book form which discuss ornaments and fingering?
The website below has an online book which discusses each piece in depth, which I am finding useful.
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~siglind/text.htm
Many thanks, David.
*Update: Have now found some fingered versions at http://www.sheetmusicarchive.net
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Please tell us qbout the 'Chartered Engineers' system. (Is the term 'Chartered Engineer' patented in law, as is the term 'Architect'?)
The wikipedia link is fairly informative and contains some links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chartered_Engineer_%28UK%29
To summarise, the 'Chartered Engineer' title is protected by Civil Law, and "for registration, it is necessary for candidates to demonstrate that they are professionally competent through education, training and professional practice".
I wonder how this compares to the German 'Master Organ Builder' qualification?
David.
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Perhaps something more like the 'Chartered Engineer' system?
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Look closely at Lucasorg's (may I say) EXCELLENT pictures of the new organ for Worcester. You will see direct electric action intelligently applied. A small direct pallet magnet (KA) will be working in tandem with a heavy-duty pull down magnet (Heuss), opening the pallet. Theoretically, the small pallet magnet will work very quickly, relieving the pluck on the main pallet, operated by the larger pull-down magnet. Notice the shape of the pallet slot ? Narrow near the front opening, wide towards the back, where the pallet opening is less. The pull down magnets are thoughtfully mounted on something compliant, so that the frames do not resonate on the very substantial birch-ply magnet boards, and have a good working stroke of 8mm. These days, power consumption is not the thorny issue it once was. Switched Mode power supplies can deliver constant voltages and high currents effortlessly and are amazingly compact. Switching systems can drive magnets easily, without the risk of burning off key or relay contacts. I think you will find that the Heuss magnets only need about 0.5A at 12/14V.
I'm glad to see that Ken Tickell is prepared to stick his head above the parapet and use a much-criticised-in-theory method on a very high profile project. Perhaps some of those old theories will be blown out of the water at last ? With the design and thought that has gone into this application, I would expect to find it a reliable and robust action.
H
Could any organbuilders offer an explanation as to why this method should be much criticised in theory? The only argument I can think of is the extra complexity/parts count. In the world of engineering there are many examples of the technique, for example an electrical engineering analogy;
Quad 909 'current dumping' audio amplifiers use a big, meaty, but relatively inaccurate amplification stages to provide the main current drive to the loudspeaker. Imperfections are then identified in this signal, and the error is cancelled out using an amplifier capable of providing a much less powerful signal, but of much greater quality. Similiar approaches are used in the amplifiers in mobile phone basestations to conserve power whilst improving the quality of the signal.
David.
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Would you still have to throw 80% of them away because they weren't sticky?
J
although perhaps we could have an icon rather like the ms office 'clippit'.....a small portrait of JS bach or something....that would frown as you got notes wrong
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I'm just wondering ...
How does it remember where the sticky yellow bits of post-it notes (with the registration changes for the helper) are supposed to go?
J
This is assuming the the electronic paper substrate can be unrolled rather like papyrus. Then the cylinders could contain all the electronics mentioned for some of the ideas mentioned above. 'Post-It' notes would be images overlaid onto the music image, stored in the memory contained inside the scroll. How you would input them I don't know. Perhaps someone can come up with e-paper that can be written on!
I know the ideas may sound far fetched, but with a few years more tech. development they are all possible.
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This idea has some merit, but certainly not until there is a replacement for LCD. LCD's backlight is just too strong to make comfortable viewing for any length of time.
Fortunately there is an alternative:
http://www.plasticlogic.com/products.php
Rather than being backlit, e-paper relies on ambient light to illuminate it from the front. This is almost exactly the same as viewing black and white print.
The good news is they are commercialising the manufacturing process and perhaps we can expect quite soon, a portable scroll which can be unrolled on a music desk, containing images of all editions of all the organ music ever written. It would be pretty easy to do once the display works! Not beyong the realms of possibility would be fitting the e-paper with a microphone and some fancy digital signal processing/machine learning algorithms, so the 'magic scroll' could acclimatise itself to your playing technique and automatically display new pages of music as you play, without assistance. You could scribble notes and registration intructions on your editions, but have a different set of notes depending on which organ the music was being played on. Perhaps it could even have Sibelius embedded into it. Or the Sunday Times Homepage for those boring sermons....
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See this article:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml...nclerics213.xml
This suggests the use of 'smart water' on lead church roofs. Would it be suitable to paint/mist onto metal pipes as well?
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I think the trick is to outsell them at their own game, publishing more obscure titles.
THAT would convince them, I suspect.
MM
Directly relevant to that comment is an interesting (if repetitive) book called 'The Long Tail*'. The idea is simple; Retail space is expensive. Most conventional retailers can only profitably stock the few 'hit' items in their particular genre. This forms the high peak of a curve. There will be less popular items that tail off after this curve to infinity, but it would not be possible for shops to stock these items; they would sell too slowly.
A typical internet venture (such as itunes) can have a very complete back-catalogue at a vanishingly small real cost (In the case of itunes, simply datacentre costs). Every extra 10,000 tracks added to Itunes has a big impact on the bottom line. Believe it or not, somebody, somewhere wants the RnB version of 'God be in my Head'(!). Just one purchase justifies its addition to the database. So extend the 'long tail' out to infinity, and you start making lots of money. This is the reason why there is a lot of money to be made in online publishing. This is why we can look forward to more choice, not less. This is why publishers who refuse to adapt are doomed.
*search amazon books for 'the long tail'
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FYI:
There is a good, well balanced comment piece by Richard Morrison about this story in this month's BBC music magazine (November). BBC don't publish this online, but probably worth a flick next time you are near a news stand.
Regards, David.
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This has just been on BBC Radio Bristol:
Statement regarding recent events concerning St Stephen's Choir:
Author: David Lucas.
BEGINS:
The remaining choir are relieved that the sensitive issues relating to the change in format of Sunday Services at St Stephen's, Bristol are now being discussed openly.
A time of healing and reconciliation will be required. To aid this, the original ebay auction advertisement will be withdrawn at midnight today.
Canon Tim Higgins is a consummate theologian and has revitalised the weekday activities of the church impressively. We support his leadership.
ENDS.
Regards, DAVID LUCAS.
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What you need is a medium focus, high power strobed red laser. About 10 Hz.
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Thought it might be topical! With water lapping at Tewkesbury Abbey, and both the Grove and Milton Organs floor-standing...
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I came across one at Hull City Hall. I thought it was naff. I hate Acoustic Bass stops. It is nothing like the real thing. If your church is big enough to get one, have the real thing.
Indeed, but the HCH 'harmonics of 32' isn't meant to be anything like the real thing, in isolation. It should be blended into the rest of the pedal chorus.
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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/s...icle1499849.ece
A little bit like the Dallam mechanical organ that went to Turkey?
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Dear David,
Thanks for passing this tip/score on.
I've just printed myself a copy (as advised) and it's all good stuff and very well-produced.
P./C.
If you follow the url back, the same site has a large series of similiar stuff, a lot admittedly instrumental but useful to be able to access all the same.
How fascinating....this appears to the the score of Bruhn's "Mein Hertz ist bereit", for organ, violin, and bass voice.
http://www.lysator.liu.se/~tuben/scores/br...tz/mhertzsc.pdf
"This cantata is the only preserved music by Bruhns, who was known as a virtuoso on both the violin and organ,
which features a solo violin part. He was known to be able to play the bass line on the organ with his feet while
playing multiple stops on the violin."
Wow!
Any Organist/Violinists here?
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Hi there,
I'd like to begin looking at some bits of this collection of Arias (Hexachordum Apollinis), by Pachelbel.
The question is, can anyone recommend a good CD recording?
I thought I would share the link to the sheet music, for what it's worth. It seems to be 'non commercial copying welcome' so enjoy!
http://www.lysator.liu.se/~tuben/scores/phexap/
Regards, David.
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I almost agree with the point above. The future of the organ is now entwined in the negociations with the new operators and the charities commission, and there is little that we can do to influence them.
Everyone will recall that the original post was about emailing the charity commissioners to register a private interest. It was not about starting a heated argument. The deadline has now long passed. I'm not sure how seriously they take the representations, but it did offer an opportunity for individuals to do something positive if they wanted to, and to get a message to those people "in authority" who will be "making decisions" that there is still interest and hope from around the country. I believe that is called Democracy.
David Lucas.
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"and nothing new coming from any of it."...
"The logistics of the organ's restoration hinge on those in authority making decisions. Speculation is pointless, and frankly, boring...."
I almost agree with the point above. The future of the organ is now entwined in the negociations with the new operators and the charities commission, and there is little that we can do to influence them.
Everyone will recall that the original post was about emailing the charity commissioners to register a private interest. It was not about starting a heated argument. The deadline has now long passed. I'm not sure how seriously they take the representations, but it did offer an opportunity for individuals to do something positive, and to get a message to those people "in authority" who will be "making decisions" that there is still interest and hope from around the country. I believe that is called Democracy.
David Lucas.
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Today I received the following email on the BDOA mailing list.
Apologies to the originator for copying this here, but in view of the proximity to the "statutory deadline", the fact that this hasn't been posted here before, and with respect for the intentions of the originator, I thought this should go up.
Fully aware of the 'gnashing of teeth' the Ally Pally subject has caused in the past, I would just like to state that I am fully independent of the affair, have no vested interest, and that this is for information only.
Perhaps a few emails from this board to the charities commission would remind them of the historical importance of the organ.
Regards etc.
The Trustees of Alexandra Palace and Park Charitable Trust have signed a 125 year lease with a developer. Currently there appears to be no contractual protection of the interior of the palace, including the historic television studios, theatre, and Great Hall with its historic Henry Willis organ, or the historically important basements etc.
The developer, Mr. Kassam of Firoka group, has been quoted saying: "The studios are very dilapidated and not easily accessible. If the BBC don't want to throw money at it then why should they expect me to throw money at it".
His initial proposal shows the south east wing being developed into offices, fitness suite, night club and casino. Firoka has indicated that space may be available elsewhere within the Palace to recognise its TV history. These proposals highlight the complete lack of understanding of the significance of this historic space. The historic Willis organ in the Great Hall is also under threat.
As part of the process for disposal, under the Charity Act section 36/6, there is a statutory period for the Charity Commission to receive and consider representations. This period ends at noon on 5th January 2007.
You can send representations about this Order by post or by e.mail to:
Charity Commission Direct, PO Box 1227, Liverpool, L69 3UG.
<mailto:enquiries@charitycommission.gsi.gov.uk>
enquiries@charitycommission.gsi.gov.uk
Please quote reference number 522431.
>>
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There is a house organ somewhere in the US (maddeningly I can not find the details) with nothing above 4' (a Harmonic Flute), a couple of contrasting 8's on the two manuals (one a TC Principal) and a string - all enclosed on mechanical action. I seem to remember also an Oboe and a 16 pedal stop of some sort. It all looked a bit like a French 'Choir' organ. From this one can get basic solo/accompaniment resources. big/small effects and it can all shut down nicely with the swell box - consideration for neighbours etc.!
AJJ
From memory (not having the books to hand at the moment), this sounds very familiar to the chamber organ disposition suggested in Audsley Vol. 1. He also speaks favourably of the Cavaille-Coll `Orgue de Salon` design which is also listed somewhere in the book.
Also, on this topic, has anyone ever read `How to Build a Small Two Manual Chamber Organ` by H.F. Milne (http://www.amazon.com/Build-Small-Manual-Chamber-Organ/dp/0913746037)...comes complete with fold-out working drawings.
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Just for general interest:
Found this
http://www.st-jakobi-luebeck.de/pdf-collap...ufsteller-6.pdf
http://www.st-jakobi-luebeck.de/pdf-collap...ufsteller-7.pdf
Regards,
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It is suprising that the RCO aren't happy that a wider (more representative?) UK organ audience actually give a damn about their existence.
The RCO is important, it MUST be helped to get out of its current difficulties and continue, otherwise organ playing itself will lose more credibility, and continue to be sidelined even more in the minds of the public and the BBC, amongst others.
But the present signs are not good. What does it say about an organisation, if it doesn't even like being talked about!
(And as an edit to that....):
Quite separate from the topic of the thread, the mere existence of it is a public-relations inconvenience for the RCO. What would Ali Campbell do.....
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Any Decent Bookshops And Cd Shops In France?
in General discussion
Posted
Most big towns in France have a 'Harmonia Mundi boutique', always nice to get lost in. Also, the book chain 'Mollat' usually have a very deep selection of CDs (well compared to Borders anyway).
David.