MusingMuso

====================== Well I've personally been looking-forward to the day when I can stop at home and play the church-organ; happy to read the morning paper, drink freshly brewed coffee and be warm as toast while others shiver. The computer age enables this, but thus far, no-one has come up with the goods. I guess I'll just have to stay at home and the people at church will have to do without an organist. Of course, by working such lines of communication effectively, one could be organist of a dozen churches at the same time. I would recommend my thesis on how to be a millionaire organist without leaving the house! MM

==================== Mixtures have always been something of a vexed subject, and this may be illustrated by the difference of approach of (say) "Father" Willis and an organ-builder like Lewis. "Father" Willis used narrow scales and blew them hard, whereas Lewis used the almost exact opposite approach....both to good effect, it has to be said. So perhaps the crux of the matter is not so much to do with "Topfer" scales, "straight line" choruses or progressive narrowing of higher pitches, but with the exact details of voicing. I may not understand Mixtures very well...(who does?).....but from the evidence, it would appear that the question of "timbre" is at least as important as actual scaling; thus supporting Pierre's comment about overly-rich harmonics. Pierre's point about the placing of a Mixture is a valid one, and the impact of the V rks Mixture at Armley is to do with the fact that it is sighted at the FRONT of the wind-chest rather than at the rear. The best mixtures seem to be those which use similar scales to that of the chorus-work of which they are part, but voiced quick and dull by lowering the languids, and thus speaking in a vaguely "flutey" way. This is certainly supported by the Frans Casper Schnitger Mixtures at Alkmaar, which are very rounded-sounding things indeed when played alone. As for Walcker mixtures, I cannot comment....we do not have too many of them in England, but there are numerous examples of Dulciana mixtures and String Cornet de Violes, which are probably our native equivalent. If there is one thing which beggars belief, it is the way in which new mixtures are often quite unrelated to the chorus-work of many romantic organs, when attempts have been to brighten-up the end result. Rather than taking the voicing-clue from the existing treatment of the 2ft chorus-rank, certain organ-builders just seem to have slotted in badly matched new pipework with absolutely awful results. In very dead-acoustics which do nothing much to take away the edge of brightly-voiced upperwork, Mixture-voicing becomes absolutely critical to the end result, and instead of sounding slightly inappropriate, may sound utterly offensive. Therein lyeth a testimony to the 1960's "classical revival". MM

Following on from the Hungarian organ-music thing, I'm sure that a few may be interested in some seriously good music which they can listen to, from the Czech Republic. Would anyone believe a multiple keybaord concerto, for Piano, Organ and Harpsichord? The music of Robert Mimra was unknown to me until I discovered the following:- http://www.freemusic.cz/mimra/kapela_mp3.html Be sure to listen to the two movements of the concerto, but especially to the melodic beauty of the Cantabile movement......someone is still writing good tunes! MM

==================== No apology necessary, I should have checked myself. I just knew that I wasn't in the UK in 1982, but I went to the opening recital at Leeds given by Flor Peeters. I was actually a bit surprised to learn that it was as late as 1972....I thought I was younger at the time. MM

==================== 1972 !! MM

=========================== Pierre is forever mentioning Green organs, but I wonder if he has ever heard one? I don't know what condition the organ at Heaton Hall, Manchester is in these days, but when I heard it last, about twenty years ago, it was a very sweet but tiny sound which had very limited musical uses; and this in a room which is really a large living room in what was a stately home. Early William Hill I have mentioned before, and one of the very best examples is that in the Methodist Church, Cambridge; originally housed in Eastbrook Chapel, Bradford, West Yorkshire (a city which once boasted two Anneesens organs!) In its present home, the Hill organ sounds delightful and just nicely fills the building. In its' original home at Eastbrook Hall Chapel, it was absolutely puny; the chapel seating over 2,000 people and absolutely vast in dimensions. It really needed full organ most of the time just to accompany "Silent night!" I think that this Hill organ was about the same period as the now destroyed instrument at Great George Street Congregational Church, Liverpool, which I played as a boy before it was torn out. I'm not sure if Eastbrook was a Hill/Gauntlett design, but if not, it certainly shared many of the same characteristics as the Liverpool instrument, and its' preservation was an inspired bit of organ conservation at Cambridge; largely, I believe, thanks to Dr Nicholas Thistlethwaite. A couple of other points concerning slow Principals (Diapasons). T C Lewis did not slavishly copy Schulze, but he certainly admired Schulze above all others. In fact, Lewis had an ear equal to that of Schulze, but he never went quite so far as Schulze did with his voicing. I recall, somwhere in my memory banks, that Lewis just took the edge off the quints in the Mixtures, by arching the top lip slightly. In fact, a Lewis organ sounds quite different to a Schulze, but the pedigree is noticable, as indeed it was with the early organs of Charles Brindley and those voiced by Karl Schulze when he worked as head-voicer at Brindley & Foster after being an Edmund Schulze employee. For perhaps the most authentic Lewis sound, it is necessary to go and play/hear the organs at Studley Royal and the superlative Congregational Church at Ashton under Lyne, near Manchester, with its' wonderful hammer-beam roof and fabulous acoustic. Of course, one organ stands out in my mind as being quite slow of speech; the Holzay organ of Rot-en-der-Rot, built just after the end of the baroque period proper. The 8ft Principals have a sombre, slow and very attractive quality, which is transformed as the 4ft Octave and upperwork are added. I suspect that slow and fast are relative things, but the true baroque period is marked by the dynamic balances of the individual divisions; something which went out through the window with romantic instruments. As for preferring a Walcker organ for Reger, I remain to be convinced. I think that an organ such as Haarlem is as near perfect for Reger as it is possible to get, not least becuase one can actually hear the counterpoint. I wonder if Reger would have agreed with me? Maybe not, but then, he drank far too much anyway and didn't play the organ too well!! MM

I am delighted to learn that the Maclean performance exists. Further proof, were it needed, of the observation by Frederic Bayco that "Mac began where the rest of us left off" and an object lesson to some of the more precious young men (and they are generally men) who display a very supercilious attitude to the likes of Maclean, and Foort for what I suppose one would term dubious scholarship/inauthenticity ================= An interesting point Brian. I wonder how many people realise that Quentin Maclean was the only theatre organist ever to give the pre-award recital at the Royal College of Organists? Pity they haven't invited Hector Olivera! MM

(Quote from Pierre Lauwers) Would you wish Mr Mander to know you are a clown? I think the people who would not care would never surf here, simply because they aren't interested with organs. ==================== This board should not stoop into "clownism." It's not long since we had a British Prime Minister who had a clown as a father. I've been pondering the possibility that Stephen Cleobury may be "Leathered Lips," but decided (after a half-pint of beer), that such is not possible for a variety of reasons. However, mistaken identity can take curious tiwsts and turns. When I was in America, I recall over-hearing a conversation between students. What I thought I heard was, "Yeah man! Marilyn Mason is a great musician." When I added my two cent's worth and agreed that Dr Marilyn Mason was a very good lady musician, I received several, simultaneous psychopathic stares, before one of them replied, "Marilyn Manson is a guy!" As for Nick Bennett's local reputation, I couldn't possibly comment, but it's probably much better than mine! MM