OmegaConsort

There is something in Church Times today relating to this, but nothing is given away in terms of hard facts.

Completely agree.........lovely to see Richard Seal looking so fit and well too!

Thanks everyone for your help. We are going to go for Common Praise and make our own suppliment for choruses etc. Before I started this thread, I was convinced NEH was the right hymn book! Now..what to do with the old books.....someone suggested ebay, but I suspect we might have to pay someone to have them!!!!! With best wishes Richard

I would avoid any books published by certain firms I will not mention here. We didnt some years ago which is why we are now replacing our "old" books for something more worthwhile without altered texts!!!

Hello All, I do hope this hasn't been covered already. Can anyone point me in the direction of some kind of comparison between New English Hymnal and Common Praise if such a thing exists? We have the go-ahead to change our hymn book and it would seem, after a very short time researching, that the best two books currently are these (by best, I mean covering generally traditional hymns, well laid out by season with good typesetting). It would be very useful to have some kind of list of hymns which feature in one but not the other, and hymns which feature in neither! If anyone can help, it would save a huge amount of time trying to do it myself! Best wishes Richard

sigh.....I wasn't being serious! Irony, sarcasm and the like doesn't work in print does it.

Which church was it then?????

Am I reading this correctly????????????? I always thought the final voluntary was part of the service!

It was very similar when Colin was assistant at Salisbury....loads of French repertoire after the services and amazing registrations. The Lincoln and Salisbury instruments are close in spec and voicing and listening earlier reminded me so much of his playing during his Salisbury days.

If you have time, stop off at the small market town of Wisbech (between Norwich and Ely). Average size town church, but an amazing Harrison & Harrison with a proper 32' Reed and an astonishing tuba! Something a little sweeter would be St Margaret's Priory in King's Lynn (just East of Wisbech). A very historical organ and very grand building. Richard

I almost feel ashamed to post this, but I have a volume of voluntaries for the harmonium by Caleb Simper - yes, he is real! It is something like volume 32 on its 4th reprint! From this, I occasionally play "melody in F" and "Postlude in E minor" The Edwardian sugar is almost unbearable but they are both effective for what they are, and I always find I have a smile on my face whilst playing them! Having put this in writing I now feel like I have owned up to a shameful crime!!!! Best wishes

Just watch it on BBC iPlayer.........

I was assistant at Oakham for a short time in the mid 80's and also got married there in 1991 so knew the Yates organ quite well. By my time it was in a very poor state of health though did fill the building quite well (notwithstanding the choir in the chancel with the organ at the West end!). The Glock mentioned above was most odd and pretty much useless. I think I used it once in a moment of madness during the hymn "rejoice the lord is king".....!! The Tickell, though much smaller is impressive and speaks well throughout the church and just as important, is close to the choirstalls.

Did anyone see this? The prog was quite good I thought and the Abbey looked lovely! The toaster-in-residence was spotted a few times, but of much more interest to me was what looked like a chamber organ lurking somewhere at the back in one of the transepts? It had blue-ish painted pipes - that was all I could tell. There is nothing on the Abbey website about this and I couldn't see anything on NPOR. Can anyone enlighten? Richard

Using the criteria of service accompaniment being the No.1 role, then Salisbury is my favourite, followed by Peterborough, then Truro, then Hereford. Lichfield would figure on this list if it wasn't so sharp! Given all of this is subjective and, as the topic title suggests, a bit of fun too, I don't think it matters whether one has not heard/played every cathedral organ in the country. What about least favourites (without saying nasty things about organ builders!!!)....? For me, Norwich (bland and difficult to manage), Gloucester (considering the accompaniment role as paramount), St Albans, Derby (too far from the choir) and, if we can include organs that no longer exist, Chelmsford and Worcester. Finally, Guildford does little for me! I have heard or played all the above at some point down the years! Richard

Here Here. It is your forum, you are the boss, and we all appreciate the time and expense you give freely for us.

Maybe tomorrow? It isnt a 24hr job! might even be on another beekeepers course! Sorry if I offended. I was talking about a previous comment relating to another thread where some chap came and abused us all for hours if not days; I found this far more annoying than one single line from a regular and knowledgable contributor. I quite understand if you his comment offensive and respect your view. Best wishes

I have to say I agree with Double Ophicleide on this one....comparisions with that loony who recently upset a lot of people here are a little unfair.....his was a continual barrage. This was a passing (if a tad grimace-inducing) comment. I guess the moderator will comment at some point?

Wow Contrabordun! How long did it take you to find that! I am impressed....I was talking to RAC earlier (another board member whose posts are infrequent, but good), and he suggested that the "wasp in a jam jar" expression appeared to be of my own making in the older post you have dug up.....It was never meant to read like that....someone else must take the credit (after thinking about this during the course of the afternoon, I am wondering whether it was Father Willis who likened the swell reeds of one of his competitors as "wasps in a jam jar")? Best wishes

I was pleased for old Brucie! Sorry to see John Rutter missed out again.

I once heard a swell cornopean being described as a "wasp in a jam jar"....sadly I cannot remember the organ in question!

I reckon that Carrick bloke has hacked into Hecklephones' account (note the incorrect usage of apostrophe).......I have also just noticed the lovely coincidence of the title of this thread........is he an organist?

Brilliant! I missed that one first time round. It couldn't be more appropriate could it... I second the idea that we persuade this "chap" to say something nasty about Nicholson then watch what happens! At first I was getting a little irritated by this, but so long as we don't take him seriously I think he will probably get bored with us (after all, we are stuffy old organists, tho I do own up to watching X-Factor and BGT!). Best wishes to all!

The microphones (to me) sound terribly close, and as anyone with any recording skills know, that can make an excellent choir sound quite the opposite.

I wonder whether, in part, it might relate to certain heavy-posters no longer being members of the board (sadly)?