MusingMuso

======================== And S S Wesley's brain was pickled with alcohol! Wasn't he the organist/composer who fell in the river at Worcester whilst the sermon was being preached? When a passing policeman asked if he could be of assistance, Wesley replied, "Unless you can play the organ (hic), I very much doubt it!" MM

===================== Is he still alive? MM

=========================== Oh dear! Steve's posting seems to have disappeared, but I get the jist of his post dated 30th December. I find the comments about organs in Holland truly frightening; like it wouldn't matter if an errant B-52 dropped a few bombs and eliminated them. I have seldom come across such a total lack of respect for a tradition which is at the heart of European organ history, and stand unique in the range and quality of the instruments to be heard. I'd stick my neck on the block and suggest that there isn't a single American instrument which comes even close to the tonal qualities of the Schnitger organs at Groningen or Zwolle, and they've been desperately trying to re-create them in America for decades! The American "tradition" (I have been there Steve!) is more to do with the history of the telephone-exchange than it has to do with organ-building, and quite why they favoured multiple organs scattered around buildings like so much musical confetti, escapes my musical logic and artistic sensibilities. That said, there ARE some wonderful organs in America (and some fine organ-builders at work), but they are not necessarily those with 200+ stops and 5-manuals. Anyway, in the final analysis, who wrote the best music, and for what type of instrument? It certainly hasn't been American composers, has it? And another point concerning Holland and the organ-tradition. Even if Steve doesn't like proper organs, then he may wish to consider the organ-cases, which can, and do, have old-master oils painted on them. They are very often absolutely priceless works of art in their own rights; not works by Andy Warhol! Anyway, I don't think anyone is too upset by Steve's post....I am certainly not, but please "smell the international coffee!" I'm still puzzling about the Vatican spec, and the "Eclat 16". I once owned an Eclat 16v, which went like stink on a gallon of five-star leaded. If it's as exciting as that, I'm all for it!! MM

===================== I don't want to sound pedantic....but........the quote came from Canon Sydney Smith of St.Paul's Cathedral. Beecham was far less kind to organists! Didn't he once look at Parry's grave, which had an inscription reading something like, "Here lies a fine organist and musician" Beecham turned and said, "How did they get them in the same grave?" MM

=================== You're in the wrong country Pierre! I've heard Frank Bridge at Haarlem, Willan at Den Haag, Cocker and Harris in Rotterdam, Stanley at Leeuwerden and Walond at Groningen, plus numerous other UK composers elsewhere in Holland. I think they like us! MM

"Well," I thought, "this is certainly a catholic instrument." On re-reading the specification between lunch and dinner, I realised that I had made a terrible mistake. There I was, skipping around the front room to music played by an Irish band, "Piccoloing ma Gigue" wonderfully. It seemed that the organ stop was some Harry Potteresque 'Picollo Magique'....a sort of organist's Nimbus 2000 presumably. I had no idea that there were quite so many organ-stops in existence, in so many diferent languages and potentially under one roof. Just one small gripe. With so many ranks of everything, why does the organ need compensating Mixtures? Are you expecting problems? MM

========================== I reply to my own quote because I have made a further discovery. The Olomouc instrument, as built by Engler, does indeed have both short octave pedals AND manuals....I found another pici of the old console. MM

======================== It's no use asking me, I'm not a politician!! The Kenneth Jones one.....right front looking from the rear. MM

----------------------------------------------- The organ of St.Moritz, Olomouc, has only been recorded a few times for some strange reason; considering the quality of the instrument tonally and its historic significance. However, after digging around in my extensive files for some time, I have come up with the following recordings and references:- Musica Bona catalogue:- Works for Organ Catalog No.: VA0020-2 Label: MusicVars, 1992 1 CD (DDD) Cesar Auguste Franck Trois Chorals pour Orgue (E major; B minor; A minor) Trois Pieces pour Grand Orgue (Fantasie; Cantabile; Piece heroique) Jirina Pokorna Organ -------------------------------------- FAMOUS ORGAN WORKS 2 Bach: Concerto in a 593 nach Vivaldi; TF in F 540. Liszt: PF über BACH. Vierne: Carillon de Westminster (3. Suite op. 54/6). Widor: Toccata (Sinfonie 5 op. 42-1/5) - Jirina Pokorna, Orgel, St. Moritz, Olmütz (Olomouc) Siroky Dvur, Music Vars, VA 01142131, CD =========================== http://www.musicvars.cz/Katalog/Vazna/VA0030.html ============================= Messiaen, Dupré, Alain - Organ Works Olivier Messiaen (1908): L'Ascension Marcel Dupré (1886-1971): Prelude and Fugue in G minor Jehan Alain (1911-1941): L'Oeuvre d'Orgue Recorded at St. Maurice's Church in Olomouc, from 13 to 16 May, 1985 SUPRAPHON 1111 3896 (P) 1986 --------------------------------------------------------- Titel: Widor - Boellmann Komponist: Ch. M. Widor; L. Boellmann Werk: Sin. 5 op. 42/1; S. G. op25 Interpret: Jan Vladimir Michalko Orgel: Orgel St. Moritz, Olmütz (St. Maurice, Olomouc)c Label: Opus Nummer: 9351 1764 Tonträger: CD ============================== I'm not sure if they are all still available, but that seems to be the list. Oddly enough, this organ hasn't featured on the Minnesota "Pipedreams" programme, so even that doesn't offer a chance to listen to it in the archives. I wonder if part of the reason, apart from the commi legacy, is the fact that the original Engler console has a short-octave pedal? I bet it has, but I can't tell from the photos I have. If so, it would be virtually impossible to play Bach from the tracker console, and that would surely mean using the detached electric 5-manual console? It also implies that the additions to the organ by Rieger-Kloss in the late 50's and 60's, must have included new pipework matched to the original, which filled in the missing notes of the pedal. That may even extend to the keyboards, but I don't know. Anyway, it sounds awfully good to my ears; whatever the precise details. I've also come across a paper concerned with the influence of Czech organs on Latvian ones, which may interest Pierre, who will know of the famous Walcker at Riga. Michael Engler may prove to be a highly significant omission in the normal organ history books, but I can't speak with any sort of authority about it at the moment. MM

(Quote) A romantic organ is not build after the Werkprinzip, but according to a completely different conception. Many trials have shown to mix the two is impossible. Same for the voicing: to my ears modern neo-voicing is anything but musical-a matter of taste-. Chiffs are something my ears feel as a mistake. Sorry! Best wishes, Pierre <{POST_SNAPBACK}> ================================== I've never quite understood how so many different types of organs can be lumped together under the heading of "romantic." Even less do I understand any basic concepts which somehow unite them, each to the other. The only requirements of a romantic organ are as follows:- a) It should be expressive by any means possible It should be capable of roaring like a lion c) It should shake the floor d) It should have pretty solo voices e) It should have many quiet, ethereal registers The French did it with Swell boxes and heavy-pressure reeds, the Germans did it with block-busting flues and the Rollshweller. The English did it with big Diapasons and Tubas, plus very effective swell boxes. The Dutch either stole from Cavaille-Coll or just made louder baroque organs which remained essentially "werkprinzip." The Americans did it with every possible means, from swell boxes and heavy pressures, to combination actions, general cresendo pedals and extremes of voicing. The fact is, there is no such thing as "a" romantic organ; merely organs which are romantic. In that same category, I would include St.Bavo, Haarlem, in spite of its' pedigree, date and layout....heroic, powerful, visually stunning and in every sense a majestic flight of musical fantasy. I would love to know which "experts" claim that classical voicing and romanticism cannot be blended perfectly well. Are they organ-builders, pipe-voicers or couch-potato theorists? The proof of the pudding is in the eating, and I will repeat something which I have mentioned before......St.Moritz, Olomouc in the Czech Republic: the perfect fusion of genuine, unaltered baroque 18th century voicing by Engler, and the large contribution of ranks added by Rieger-Kloss. It is an organ which seems as perfect for French Romantic music as it is for Bach.....go study it and marvel at its' musical qualities. It is a very famous instrument for that reason, and not because it is merely old or messed around with. MM MM

=========================== Well, here we start to build a suprious argument if we are not careful. Neo-baroque may equate to minimalism.....the least necessary to make a wonderful sound.....perhaps the 1960's Lotus Elan of the organ-world. The Harvard Flentrop falls into that category.....brilliant, responsive and superbly balanced, but definitely not a vehicle for anything but for that for which it was designed and built. What's wrong with that? If, as a performer or listener, one is unable to respond to that, then the problem is possibly not with the organ or the organ-builder. Following the lessons learned after the neo-baroque reformers did their work, there are many contemporary instruments which have benefitted as a result, and not all of them are neo-baroque by any means. Dobson organs in the US are usually fine instruments; largely based on the tonal characteristics of T C Lewis organs, yet they also incorporate the balance and cohesion of neo-baroque thinking. Once again, what's wrong with that? Is the superlative Mander at St.Ignasius-Loyola, NY, the net result of pre-neo-baroque thinking? Somehow, I very much doubt it: the organ has integrity. Is there anything wrong with that? Go back to G.Donald-Harrison and the American Classic. Are they "bad" organs which he built, simply because he tried to reverse the trend of extreme orchestral tastes? It isn't a question of whether an instrument is "romantic" or "neo-baroque" in character, but whether the ancient traditions of classical integrity are adhered to, and for which the bulk of great organ music was written. Of course, if one is hooked on Stokowski or Orchestrians, then there is no hope but Hope-Jones. Hey-ho....back to Worcester!! MM

======================= Most definitely lessons! One only has to listen to the recordings of E Power-Biggs and the Flentrop at the Busch-Reisenger to understand why. I have played that instrument, and it is wonderful in that acoustic. MM

I did considerably less than this....none at all, in fact. I didn't listen to King's, I haven't heard a single carol because I've been listening to Bach on the Beeb rather than Classic FM and I didn't go to church. However, in previous years...... I foolishly agreed to cover for a sick organist one year, at a catholic church, in addition to mine own. This entailed a Saturday/Sunday Christmas as we have had this time around. The church in question had different mass times, so the schedule was as follows:- Public School Carol Service the week before Xmas.....50 mile drive each way. Christmas Eve 8pm First Xmas Mass (Church A) 11.30pm Midnight Mass (Church B....finished at 2am) Christmas Day: 9am Mass (Church B....45 minutes, thinly attended) 10am Mass (Part of it Church A....left last few hymns to a pianist) 11am Mass (Church B...Got there on the wire....quick "In Dulci Jubilo" CP and into first hymn) Local Hospital Christmas Carol Service 2.30pm I got gold and lots of incense, but not a single mince-pie or shot of brandy to keep me warm. The hospitality was about as underwhelming as the crib, but the hospital mince pie was at least edible. I ended up eating Bacon & Eggs at home! Humbug Sir! Humbug! MM

Well, it's all over, and what a treat it was; impossible though it may have been to take it all in or listen to the entire thing. As a personal final thought, I wonder how many people noticed just what a major part the performers and conductors of England and the Netherlands played in the choice of music? I think that speaks volumes about the quality of music-making to be heard in each. Well done the Beeb! MM

I was bowled over by the great A minor organ Prelude and Fugue played by Simon Preston....absolutely flawless throughout and so VERY musical. I'm delighted that the great-ly misunderstood P.D.Q.Bach made a welcome appearence in the form of the "Grossest Fugue." I had no idea that P.D.Q.Bach knew Beethoven, and listened to his themes standing outside the house as Beethoven bashed away at the piano. Apparently, P.D.Q. would then rush away and write fugues on the subjects. What a miracle that this "interesting" werk was found inside a coffee percolator, acting as a filter, but how sad that an exact interpretation is profoundly difficult, due to the fact that some of the ingrained coffee grains are indistinguishable from the notes. This may explain some of the more fascinating harmonies in the work. Still, the P.D.Q. was a whole lot better than the grunts and groans of Glenn Gould, and at least we heard the big idea rather than the minute detail of the errant coffee granules! MM

A small correction, the audio clip is entitled Messian v Organist. MM

Just to get everyone into the festive spirit, here are a couple of URL's with free audio downloads available. The first is a multi-media site containing a large number of silly songs and quirky renditions, including the delights of Florence Foster-Jenkins, Peter Sellers etc etc. Of special note is the Seasonal section, which contains an hilarious battle between a digital organ and a choir, entitled Messian v Choir. The music speaks for itself. One should also enjoy "Socko the smallest snowball." Then an absolute delight, as the choir of St.Bart's, New York, sing a Latin version of "Rudoplh the red-nosed reindeer." Here they are:- http://www.aprilwinchell.com/multimedia/#top http://stbarts.whisperaudio.com/rudolph.htm Happy Christmas! MM