Nick Bennett

Gosh, what an instrument! Did I detect Justason among the participants? Any advice on making a Grands Jeux on this sort of thing - or is it more a case of "I wouldn't start from here if I were you"?

Priere du Christ from l'Ascension, Messiaen

Slight tangent, but what about other countries - e.g. Germany, France, Netherlands, USA? What pedalboard layout would you expect to find on new instruments in these countries? Do they have national standards?

All the time? Haven't British builders been involved in major works at Worcester, St Albans, Peterborough, Blackburn, St Paul's, Bridlington, the RAH - to name but a few - in recent years? Or did I imagine that? The British organ builders displaying their wares at the International Organ Festival in July were boasting that their order books were full for several years in advance. There hardly seems to be a crisis. In fact, is it possible that people are going abroad because they want their organ delivering quickly? Which particular jolly good English Romantic organ did you have in mind as being available to rescue and suitable as a teaching instrument at the RAM?

Anybody got a copy of de Klerk's "Ten Organworks"? Or possibly just the Aria and Toccata (which I think are in this collection). My Dutch contacts tell me it is out of print.

I have the 1881 Breitkopf edition to hand here, edited by Clara Schumann, no less. There are no suggestions at all as to registration. In fugue I, the pedal doesn't enter until bar 12 - so no attempt to move the manual parts to the pedals. Lovely clear layout, too.

Do any Harrison's of this period have octave and/or sub-octave couplers on the Choir? AH was very keen not to "over couple" the Halifax organ, and none of the couplers the organist wanted got into the scheme.

This web site lists lots recitals in the Netherlands. Click on "search" to get beyond the current week.

I suppose that making the tuba available on the pedal is the sole raison d'etre of the Solo to Pedal coupler on a 1920's Harrison. I can't imagine any other of the solo stops at Halifax being much use on the pedal - I've tried them and they are too quiet in the bass.

Not if you are trying to bring in people who don't know any organ music yet!

In my view, the organ will find its identity by taking its repertoire seriously, being itself and not trying to be something else. Especially it should not try to be an orchestra - competing with the orchestra on the orchestra's own ground is just asking for defeat. Is it the world or just the UK that has scant interest in the organ? There is plenty of interest in the organ in Germany - the weekly recitals in Cologne Cathedral are full and standing. Of course it does! That's because pianists play proper classical music in their recitals. Isn't there a lesson for us here? The piano has an even greater pedigree in light entertainment, does it not? That cannot be the root cause of the organ's image problem. Where the organ is taken seriously, serious classical musicians turn up to hear it. I am thinking for example of St Albans a couple of weeks ago. Why do many serious classical musicians continue to regard the organ as a curiosity? Because we present it as such! As evidence of this I quote post #287: Isn't this treating the organ as a curiosity? By contrast, Ex Cathedra will be performing some proper repertoire - and possibly some quite recondite stuff, too, by the sound of it. They will not be "demonstrating the human voice"; nor did I notice the Britten-Pears Ensemble demonstrating a variety of stringed and woodwind instruments. Exactly the same could be said of pianists or violinists. Possibly the difference is that, whereas almost all piano recitals are given by professionals, a good proportion of organ recitals are given by amateurs. Don't get me wrong: I think it is wonderful that amateur organists have such opportunities to perform. I just worry about how we come over to the audience, especially where in the same recital series rank amateurs such as myself may give one recital, to be followed the next week by the likes of Paul Derrett or Tom Winpenny. An amateur may give an excellent recital, of course - or they may be barely adequate.

It isn't actually - it's making the copy that may (or may not) be illegal. However ... The reason you can't make photocopies willy-nilly is that the law of the land says you can't, and it has to be complied with. The reason an organist gets paid for a wedding he doesn't play for is that he (presumably) has a contract saying he will play for it and be paid, and that, too, has to be complied with. The situation is really no different from arriving at work and finding the boss's son doing your job for the day: they can't dock you a day's pay.

I am inclined to agree with Justadad that anyone with much organ-playing experience would be well aware of the pitfalls of turning up to play without first talking to the organist - not least the possibility of finding the organ locked and no-one knowing where to find a key. An acquaintance of mine played at Norwich cathedral for his son's wedding a couple of years ago. He had to go for an audition, and was required to play through his pieces for one of the resident organists. They had him play the Widor toccata on the flutes until a voice from the bottom of the stairs shouted "tell him to give it some welly"!

And is there any firm evidence that it does? The harm done includes: 1. It impoverishes the language by making two words which previously had two slightly different shades of meaning mean the same thing. 2. It serves to distinguish organists from "proper musicians", who don't seem to have this hang-up about the word "recital". 3. It makes the speaker or writer appear to be unable to use his own language properly, which diminishes his authority in the eyes of his listeners or readers.

Indeed. Did you see the web site where someone has listed concert programmes by various UK orchestras, including some of them through the war? Lots of German/Austrian music was being played throughout the hostilities, and German artists started appearing very soon thereafter.

Nevertheless, if your child said it, you would feel obliged to correct him or her, in the same way you would if they had said "tennis bat" or referred to eating a cup of tea. Obscure atonal music? I wish!! Mind you, there was plenty of that at St Albans last week, in among, and cracking pieces they were too. Very few dusty old organists though - except in the audience, where there were lots

One could argue lots of things - e.g. that they don't know the difference between a recital and a concert; or that they are deliberately using the wrong word in order to disguise the nature of the event and bring punters in under false pretences; or that their use of the word "concert" is a form of self-aggrandisement. The phrase "orchestra in a box" sounds like the slippery slope to playing arrangements of orchestral music instead of the organ's proper repertoire. Arrangements generally disappoint: one hears the original orchestration in ones mind's ear and wishes one's actual ear were hearing it, too. One might marvel at the skill of the performer and the transcriber - but I do feel that is something only other organists will appreciate. Sorry, I'm on my transcriptions hobby horse again - but I do feel passionately about it!

I fail to see how one person can give a concert, which the OED defines to be "a musical performance in which several performers take part". Pianists and singers don't shy away from the word "recital" - why should organists?

Really? Do you mean in general, or only in Howells's works?

Let's not turn this into another "I am not interested in the music of X and I don't see why anybody else is" discussion. Nobody likes every composer's music. And the Pope is a Catholic. Fancy that. The suggestion that Howells's music is fit only for teenagers I find rather insulting. I am afraid I have not had Mr M's good fortune in moving beyond juvenile tastes and developing a liking for a good tune - the sure sign of the fully developed musical taste, if ever there was one. Anyway, I am off to St Albans for the week. I am hoping I will be able to find somebody there who can tell one piece from another.

But not the works being played, apparently Mind you, it has to be said that promoters of recitals - unlike the promoters of operas, orchestral concerts, et. al. - seem to think the works being performed are of little consequence, as they rarely give much (if any) advance notice of them. Imagine turning up at Covent Garden not knowing whether one was going to hear Handel, Wagner, Mozart or Birtwistle!

Nope. It is toe-curlingly patronising. Evelyn Waugh simply didn't go far enough! I thought the demise of the London Necropolis and National Mausoleum Company was a great pity, if only because of the loss of such a splendid name. Had its own railway, too, at one time.

Darius Battiwalla is playing the organ with the BBC Phil at proms 9, 12, and 29.

Mr and Mrs Vre d'Orgue and their son, Lee. Mr and Mrs Gegrusset and their son, Si. The rather common Mr and Mrs Entispartibus and their son 'arry. From the Valleys, please welcome Mr and Mrs Alog Sur Les Grands Jeux and their son, Dai. And Mrs and Mrs See de Tierce en Taille and their son, Ray. Two chaps both called Harry, with their sons from up north - yes, it's Harry's son and Harry's son of Durham.

Hear, hear! It is pretty clear from the context that Tony was referring specifically to Christian faith. I suppose we must ourselves be charitable and allow that it may honestly not have occurred to some readers to construe his comment in that way. I hope this is the case. Let him who has never written (or uttered) a sentence that might be misconstrued cast the first stone.