Peter Allison

Did anyone venture into the liverpool organ world yesterday (monday) ? I have only heard the Anglican organ once and it certainly is a bit of a beast, but Daniel Bishop held it together wonderfully well, Timothy Noons afternoon recital was a treasure, something for everyone I think,, plus he let me record it too (from the choir stalls) St.Georges hall was the evening venue, and it was the first time I had heard it, (apart from the Dearney/woodward 1980's recording) it was certainly impressive, but does need a lot of money to rebuild it, it was leaking air a just a little bit. Regards Peter

21.45 hrs sat in the darkness of an empty Durham Cathedral (apart from the console light) testing a new recorder, James Lancelot played Master Tallis Testement, (and some other pieces ) the viceral and shimering effect of the 32ft double open wood at the end ,,, marvelous, brings a tear to the eye Regards Peter

I came across Olivers recordings whilst on a trip to Paris a while ago, and they are stunning, highly recomended Regards Peter

I recently recorded Graham barber at Armley ( he said I could) and after running through Sound forge 8 just to trim the ends etc, I burnt the disc and had it played back on a hi fi shops multi £1000 set up, result was astonishing, no bass boom, only the noises you get at a live recital. Quality at a small price. The added feature of the Zoom H2 is that it can record 4 seperate channels so can, with a bit of work, can be turned into a "surround" track, try here .how you do this , I am not too sure. I know one of our board members has quite a lot of experience in these matters and there is quite a lot written about it on the web. Obviously a quality mic, preamp and recorder will yield better results, but at a price, plus the H2 fits inside a jacket pocket. Regards Peter

If I could play, Percy Whitlocks Sonata in C at Durham, or the Roger Duccasse Pastoral at Blackburn regards Peter

gosh, and I thought I was the only person (philistine ?) in the country who cannot stand messian , apart from Apparation d l'eglise Eternelle which I have on a recording from Meinz Dom (the acoustic makes it sound ok) regards Peter

forgot to say, I had permission to record at Armley, and I always do ask Peter

I can recomend the Zoom H2, I have used it at Armley and one or two other establishments, and it is truly amazing for the price £ 125 in a sale at xmas, it is only let down by the amount of bass it produces due to the small mics, but a 4 channel and slightly tweaked recording of a train entering a underground station in spain was amazing. I will be using it at Durham Cathedral later this year when a friend does a recital there, and it will be intresting to compare it with a multi hundred ££££ setup I used a few years ago regards Peter

I was at a recital in Hessle parish church, Hull a while ago and saw/ heard David Liddle playing and practising, what a revelation, also heard him at the Madeline, paris, same thing

"Manchester has done terrible things to its organs over the years, whether it be the Town Hall or the Wurlitzer organs which once resided in the two big cinemas; only one of which is currently to be heard.........in Stockport." I was on my way back from Doncaster last night (tues) and caught the organist entertains on radio 2, it was ali about the wurlitzer that was placed in Free Trades hall etc .etc and featured some early recordings from its previous incarnation, forgot where (some cinema tho) Nigel ogden finished with a snippet of him playing at the opening of the organ at Stockport it was Fletchers festival toccata, not too bad either regards Peter p.s. was shown a load of original spool tapes of music recorded in York Minster during early fifties

I have seen the complete series at a friends, both in stereo amd mono. The only piece that amphion could not re issue was the Elgar Sonata at Gloucester because EMI in there wisom had already re issued it and knew what a historical recording it was,,,, or so I have been informed reliably regards Peter

I used th go to Paris quite a lot, and found cd heaven in the form of a company called FNAC, not sure where, it was on one of the grand boulevards, I am sure a "quick" search would find it regards Peter

if you look at this it gives Southwell and Lincolnin the north(ish) on the bank holiday too. regards Peter

I only managed two of the above recitals (St. Bart's and Ripon Cathedral) but as Cynic has pointed out already, what great performances they were. The only downside was, and nothing to do with the organ, was some young scroat at Armley snatching and running off with a third of the proceeds. The police were called. and turned up very quick (10 mins) and yours truly gave a statement and will wait to hear what happens. The upside was Graham Barber said I could record his programme, as long as he got his copy. I got stuck on the A1, (livestock loose on the road ) so could not make it to hear Dr. Jackson which was a great shame. regards Peter

I remember a few years ago my father was taking lesson from a David Higgins, organist of St. Oswalds, Durham ( 3 man & p peter collins 1988), and david use to trot this out quite often, and it was slowly played but so lovely, and a new, at the time Collins organ certainly helped regards Peter

I mentioned on here last week that when attending a "" celebrity"" recital in the main roman catholic church in Marbella, Spain, that the people chatted during quiet movements of the musicl, took photo's with flash of the video screen at the front of the church, during the recital, and walked in and out during the recital and not having the decencey to wait for a suitable break before opening the large sqeaky door. If it had been one or two organists playing that I know, they would have stopped playing, lent over the west end balcony and told them in no uncertain words. It was a shame that this organist must have spent a long time practicing, setting up everthing and having to put up with so many ignorant people ( and there was quite a few ) I am off to Holy Trinity, hull on sat, John Scott Whitley is playing and I would like to bet that everyone acts properly there. Regards Pete

Well its over. (now the rant) The organ sounded fine apart from some well out of tune "thingies", could have been the chamades or mixtures. Now I have never attended a recital abroad,, BUT[/u over the years have been to many over in the uk, both cathedrals, large parish churches, small churches etc, etc ( you have all been to them), what I got so mad at was; talking during the quieter movements, not in between pieces, quite a few people actually coming in and out of the recital, and leaving the doors to close(bang) on there own, an to cap it all off, a stupid ( i do not swear on this board) bloke with a camera walking up to the video screen ( it was being shown on 2 large screens)and taking 8 photo´s then 2 others saw what he was doing and did the bloody same , well I ask you. Are all organ recitals in Spain like that, or is it just the "all fur and no ******* " brigade in Marbella. Apart from ALL that , it was a good recital, and I got permission to record it, and it has come out ok. regards Peter

i believe there are a couple of pictures here I am looking forward for the concert even though its going to cost a small fortune to get back regards Peter

well thanks for all that, I do see what you mean by having a siesta and then going back to work, everything would have to start later. not sure if I could do that. the organ in question is the Iglesia Mayor de la Encarnación Sonnenorgel built by Blancafort . aparently its a 4 manual, west end instrument complete with "those" chamades. A french organiste by the name of Michel Pinte is playing; Works from Bach,Krebs,Rheinberger,Flor Peeters,Bélier,L.Vierne, A.Guilmant,Widor and improvisation. according to "organfocus". I managed to find the spec I Cadereta Exterior (C-c3, 56) Violón 8 Octava 4 Tapadillo 4 Nasardo 15 2 Nasardo 19 1 1/3 Tercerilla II Címbala IV Cromorno 8 Trémolo II Gran Organo (C-c3, 56) Flautado 16 Flautado 8 Flauta Chinenea 8 Octava 4 Flauta Cónica 4 Docena 2 2/3 Quincena 2 Decisetena 1 3/5 Prep Lleno V-VIII 2 Címbala III III Expresivo (Enclosed; C-c3, 56) Quintadena 16 Flautado de Madera 8 Corno de Gamo 8 Gamba 8 Prep Celeste 8 Octava 4 Prep Nasardo en 8ª 4 Nasardo 12 2 2/3 Flautín 2 Nasardo Decisetena 1 3/5 Ventidosena 1 Lleno IV 1 1/3 Dulzaina 16 Prep Fagot-Oboe 8 Prep Voz Humana 8 Trémolo IV Corona (C-c3, 56) Quintatón 8 Tapadillo 4 Quincena 2 Nasardo 15 2 Decinovena 1 1/3 Séptima 1 1/7 Nona 8/9 Corona III 2/3 Regalías 8 Prep Trémolo Pedal (C-g1, 32) Contrabajo 16 Subbajo 16 Bajo Abierto 8 Bajo Tapado 8 Quinta 5 1/3 Bajo Coral 4 Flautín 2 Compuesta IV 2 2/3 Contrafagot 32 Prep Bombarda 16 Trompeta 8 Clarín 4 Prep Regalías 2 Prep Couplers Cadereta to Gran Expresivo to Gran Corona to Expresivo Cadereta to Pedal Gran to Pedal Expresivo to Pedal Corona to Pedal there does seem a few "prepared for" slots Regards Peter

I am having a week on the spanish costa del sol, and was told about this does anyone know about it?. There is a recital on fri(29th) at the strange time of 21.00hrs, if i gan get back to roost, I shall go. How do you ask permission to record said recital.... in spanish regards Peter

And lastly, I thought that Rick Wakeman was better known for other genres of music (rock / pop?) but either way he obviously didn't mind an excuse to play the organ when this video was taken: in this clip he is playing "Soul Morality" on the Willis organ of Lincoln Cathedral and, TBH, I don't think it sounds too bad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCAvpxkIBIs Dave Has anyone hears the cd this clip comes from? Is it just my 47 year old ears, or does the audio seem to sound muddy, the recording not close enough or using too many microphones I am a BIG wakeman fan, and have been since my mother would not let me go to the recording of "journey to the centre of the earth" in the 70¨s at the festival Hall, (I was only 13) Right , off to Orange Square, Marbella, seems like there is a nice church up there too look at. I am on a weeks holiday in Benalmadena, costa del sol regards Peter

Having heard this work "live" at Leeds Parish, Southwell and Durham Cath, its also my choice too Regards peter

Having watched a few tv shows called "Grand Designs" some of the big barn conversions cry out for a genorous sized organ, not seen any yet, but who knows. regards Peter

A friend of mine uses a tascam DAP1 with just a pair of oldish Tandy PZM's. the results are really excellent, infact he has used them to record 2 cd's for a noted organist. (one of the albums got a glowing review in an organ journal) He edits on Sounforge, vesion 4 or 5. I used a Calrec Soundfield to record Simon Lindley in Durham Cathedral (for personal use only and with permissions) a while ago, and the PZM's gave just as good recording, although the soundfield was been experimented with at the time ( no excuses tho) Regards Peter

John, I got in touch with BBC wales ( a while back) and they had no plans to put the "king of instuments" back on. Gillian Weirs website feedback also produced the same results, also no plans for it to be released on dvd. Have you looked at the American Historical Societys web site?? it has some intresting dvd releases, and on PAL (so we can view it) regards Peter