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OmegaConsort

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Everything posted by OmegaConsort

  1. And what about John Rutter - he should surely be Sir John now given what he has given!
  2. Just seen 30+ photos on Facebook of the Wimborne rebuild.......mainly of the new casework going in, but also a couple featuring the new 32' sub bourdon.
  3. Not Guildford, but speaking of acclaimed R&D instruments, the 4 manual in St Andrews Plymouth looks very fine on paper - I have never heard it in the flesh, but have been in the building. Two sections, North and South in a very wide building with a handsome detatched console
  4. We start back this weekend having had November off. Rehearsals with the full choir take place in the nave. The services are sung by 10 trebles and 6 men on a rota basis - 1 week on, 2 weeks off. 9 Lessons this year is ticket only and we sing it twice (5pm and 7pm) with two smaller choirs. It takes a lot of organising but is worth it. We sing from up behind the high altar (which has been moved a little further west so we sing into an empty space standing in a wide horseshoe shape) rather than in the choir stalls.
  5. Hi Paul. I dont know whether you partake of Facebook, but some chap has been posting videos over the last few months of loads of Thiman's organ music (well played too). It has been quite fascinating. Whilst a lot of his output doesn't set the world alight, everything I have heard has been tuneful and well crafted. One or two of the pieces sound very fine indeed. Perhaps someone else has been watching these on Facebook and could provide a link?
  6. I too have joined. Many thanks for making it available under these sad circumstances.
  7. I've not been in since the restoration, but apparently the acoustic is so much better now!
  8. Carlisle has no 32" reed nor does Truro (mind you, the 16' reed is more than enough!).
  9. It was still there in 2016 when I took my choir to sing for week. At the West end up in the triforium to the right (South side). You can see the console and a large pile of speakers.
  10. Apparently one of the strikers at Manchester United earns £650,000 per week? He could pay for it outright if he donated his wages for just a month!
  11. We are very happy for people to come and play, or watch. We are after all, curators of these instruments, not owners!
  12. I also read somewhere that they were thinking of changing the name of the hall as it is connected with the slave trade?
  13. In my humble opinion David, it is quite hideous from the other side of the screen - but I do agree with you on all other observations!
  14. Yes...…...I noticed that David. When we were in the chapel, I had a go on it (the little that worked!) and there is a Willis name plate above the swell clavier, so there is a mystery! It was lovely to sing in there - the chapel is small, but it is three storeys high. The choir (plus Lord Salisbury and his family) took up all the pews, and the congregation (mainly choir parents) gazed down on us from the galleries!
  15. I took my choir to sing an evensong in Hatfield House Chapel a couple of years ago. The (Willis) organ in the chapel still works but is in very poor condition. The organ in the long hall was restored a few years ago; I think by Mander. We had string accompaniment in the chapel that evening and sang music by Gibbons, Byrd, Tallis and Purcell. A most enjoyable occasion!
  16. I used to play the organ in St Francis Church Salisbury back in the 80's when I was in the 6th form. The organist of the Church told me it originally came from Sheffield Cathedral. The instrument is divided on the west gallery with a detached stop tab console. It was not in a healthy condition then, and I remember the instrument being very loud and lacking subtilty throughout. There was a huge tromba on the choir which was extended down to 16' on the pedals - this stop was eye-wateringly strident!
  17. I think Downside Abbey and Derby Cathedral still both have "Press button, light up consoles"
  18. I read somewhere recently that the Grove organ in Tewkesbury Abbey was going to be restored. I cannot remember where I saw this, but I think the builders for the job are to be Nicholsons? Was this my imagination, or can anyone shed light? A quick glance at the websites for the Abbey and for Nicholson doesn't reveal anything, so perhaps I was just dreaming!
  19. I think the church has now got it (in storage somewhere) awaiting funds to restore. I'm certain you are bang on with your guess Paul - despite saying in my first post that I have no connection with the church, I do have friends who have close connections!
  20. Sounds likely doesn't it - and probably the right size for the building too. Depending on where they position it, it should sound stunning (hopefully not where the old organ was). Richard Harrison
  21. I notice from the Church website that a 2nd hand Harrison organ has been purchased for the Church from a redundant building "up North". This could be good news. It's a lovely church which once housed a 4-manual Willis (1960's) which was scrapped in or around 2008. Since then, a toaster has been in use. I don't know any more than this, and have no direct connections with the church, but thought people might like to know about it, given an appeal for money has been launched!
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