MusingMuso

============================ That wasn't applause at the end. That was the sound of 2,000 people clapping their hands over their ears. Why is the organ so hideously out of tune? MM

======================= I'm sure you may be right. I've never actually heard it in the building, but of course, it's the nearest thing we've got to a continental hall-church, with a very clean acoustic. I think any half decent organ would sound special in the chapel, and a good one quite superb. I think I share your view of Hill by and large, until I hear Chester, Sydney TH and Beverley. After 1910 or so, they got a bit shouty didn't they? I know that when I stood in at St Margaret's, Ilkley, as DOM for about a year, the earth could be made to move quite impressively when called upon. MM

=========================== Apparently, it's now "Speckled Hen," "Bishop's Finger" and "Taylor's Landlord." MM

========================= Virgil Fox did it too......but then he would, wouldn't he? MM

========================== Famously, Andre Previn said, after conducting Black Dyke Band, "I wish I had brass players like this in the LSO!" The amazing thing is, that in spite of pit and mill closures, these bands not only flourish, but have reached a quite staggering level of virtuosity which makes them famous around the world; Black Dyke being one of the most consistently brilliant, with professional quality leadership and conductors. They even have a composer in residence and have commissioned works from some of the best, as well as entice top arrangers like Gordon Langford. In our recent ramble about the Anglican church-music tradition and the origins of it, I think I mentioned the importance of the brass bands as well as the local choirs, and the brass band movement was entirely born of working-class roots, and still retains that to a considerable extent; being open to all who want to pursue it to whatever level of which they prove capable. Of course, with Black Dyke, there is a bit of a history of organ and brass, in that Roy Newsome FRCO was for a long time their principal conductor, and John Clough (the organ builder) their principal euphonium player. The fame of the latter is nothing short of legendary. I know that I've mentioned it previously, but hearing "Black Dyke" win the triple championship at the Albert Hall in, I think, 1974, when they played Edward Gregson's "Connotations for Brass," remains one of the musical high-points of my life. The performance was absolutely electrifying, and for a little while, no-one applauded. When they did.......... ....they went berserk. Organ and brass are a fine combination of sounds, and how I yearn for a re-release on CD of an old LP made by E Power Biggs, entitled "Heroic music for organ & brass" issued by Columbia. Sadly, it hasn't happened yet, but it is just a wonderful album, should anyone discover the master tapes. I'm sure I've said it before, but we could usefully exploit the world of brass in combination with the organ, and reach a far wider listening public. MM

========================= Horror of horrors, I made a mistake, and realised it an hour or two later. The chap who drifted and tramped his way around Europe was the Czech organ-builder Josef Angster, and not Karl Bucholz. However, (I'm going from semi-distant memory due to the theft of a computer containing my notes), Bucholz did, I think, pre-date Cavaille-Coll in the provision of enclosed reed choruses, which are still there in Romania more or less as he left them. Bear with me, and I'll re-check the facts about "Mr Greenwood".......(Bucholz) MM

====================== Ner' mind Sid Torch! Oop 'ere we expect t'brass players alone to play it, wi'hout all yon mamby pamby strings spoilin' it. Seriously....this is bloody amazing! http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=420341254873 MM

======================== I don't do French by and large, but even I recognise a German in disguise! I don't profess to know a lot about Gern, but the fact that he trained with Bucholz is interesting, because Bucholz had worked with Cavaille-Coll among others, during his journey years, when he seemed to have tramped all around Europe working for this organ-builder and that organ-builder, wherever the fancy took him. He eventually ended up in Romania. One could write a book about Bucholz, but I can't be bothered. However, it does mean that Gern would have been aware of two important traditions....that of Cavaille-Coll, and that of Ladegast and his fellow German organ-builders. (I sem to recall that Bucholz was a fairly typical Berlin (?) organ-builder). The bit about Gern being a foreman to A C-C is well known, and holds few surprises. The fact that the poor sod was unable to return to France due to his German origins and the Franco-Prussian war, might have spelled his demise; but no, he somehow stayed in London and became a respected organ-builder, as we know. I've never heard or played a Gern organ, so I cannot vouch for anything, and most of those which remain may well have been altered beyond tonal recognition. His main claim to fame was in the invention of what we would now recognise as the Pitman-chest, but in a cruder and slightly less well engineered way.....more Peugeot than BMW, shall we say? There is an extensive discussion of Gern's action in Audsley's "The art of organ-building," of which I think I have a copy. Of course, other organ builders had experimented with these sorts of actions; the Belgian firm of Annessens having patented, in company with "Schmols" (of Beglium & America), an early form of sliderless electric-action. Apart from this, I know very little about the man, other than the fact that he must have been quite multi-lingual. MM

============================ You're about 120 miles off track Barry, to be precise! The August Gern workshop was in Turnham Green, London, and John Compton acquired the premises when Gern vacated them; thus establishing himself in the London area, prior to the move to the very much larger premises in North Acton. MM

================================ If what you want is an organ particularly good for traditional Anglican accompaniment, I'm inclined to agree with you, but that's where my admiration ends; beyond the fact that it will be well made and superbly voiced in the style of the period. It's one of those organs which has evolved usefully, from an already good Wm Hill, to what it is to-day. My point of departure possibly derives from the fact that I've spent time in America, and I can't help but think that almost ALL the qualities required of accompaniment can be found in the "American Classic" organs of Aeolian-Skinner, but with the added advantage of superior chorus intergity and better inter-manual balance. http://www.trinitychurchboston.org/our-recordings.html Listen to Parry on the clip "With heart & voice" Have British organ-builders ever achieved the same on their native soil, I wonder? MM

============================ Well, it's got a nice case I suppose. MM

========================= How dare you call me an anorak? MM

========================= Exactly Nigel! Not only do I like the Scherzo in G Minor and the Giga mentioned previously, (of which I have a long out of print copy bought in 1965), but the warhorse "Etude Symphonique" is real crowd pleaser, and once you get the hang of the pedal part, not that difficult to play. My only reservation about tha latter, is never to play it on an old organ with Victorian iron, pedal-note pulls, because I broke one while performing a recital, and they were very difficult to get at. There are also some very agreeable variations, which oddly enough, I've only ever heard from the Bavokerk, played on an excellent CD by Jos van der Kooy. MM

========================== Top trade-union persons, (gender neutral of course), are paid anything up to £120,000 pa; much the same as the Prime Minister. I don't know what Jeremy Clarkson earns, (quite a bit I would think), but he earns his money, if only as an export. I suspect that although 20,000 disapproved of his comment, another 20,000,000 were laughing their socks off. Anyway, they all pale into insignificance when compared with football players and grand prix drivers, who earn simply staggering amounts on the basis of TV and advertising revenues. Thank heavens there are people who are not afraid to pinch ear-lobes and prick inflated balloons. MM

A few things haven't surfaced as yet, but here are a few suggestions:- The "Giga" by Marco Enrico Bossi, was, I believe, a transcription for organ by his son (?) of an orchestral piece. Be afraid....be very afraid....this is a wickedly difficult piece because it leaves no breathing-space for registration, and apart from that, the left hand needs to be absolutely as nimble as the right one. It is a superb little gem however, and no-one ever did it better than the late Virgil Fox http://pipedreams.publicradio.org/listings/2011/1125/ Bossi Giga (2nd item) Starts at 8m15secs Why do we IGNORE Bossi's music; much of which is fantastic? Listen to the above programme in its entirety, and you will appreciate why I ask this. For sheer fun, the following gem from Hungary takes some beating:- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHGWjLjqAmc Mozart Changes by Zsolt Gárdonyi I'm not sure whether the organ trasncription is available, but the sounds easy enough to do from a full score or piano edition:- Variations on "Happy Birthday" Peter Heidrich (transcription) If you're up to it, there's always this:- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1gbAJ2soII "Bach before the mast" George Malcolm I know that it has been played on the organ at Leeds Town Hall by, I think, David Houlder. Just for fun, let's remind ourselves of Gerge Malcolm's virtuosic genius:- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNUXSiOA2Mo No sound clip available, but Reginald Porter-Brown's very jolly "Tuba tune" is still available in print from the Musicroom.com I think these will keep you busy for a while. Let us know when you've learned them! MM

============================ What do you expect from the chattering classes? England has become the most depressing and souless country in Europe. MM

======================== I guess you don't appreciate Jeremy Clarkson then? MM

========================= Can't he divorce her, on the grounds of cruelty? MM

=========================== It's the town and gown thing, I suspect. MM

======================== I'm sure we will all sleep better in our beds knowing that the black, lady organist playing Hammond organ in the film "A desirable lady," (1944 B & W) was Selinka Pettiford. MM

My favourite spoof film features the organ:- "Dracul....Dead and loving it" MM

========================== Now herein lies a funny story from my past: the Netherlands 1979 to be precise. I had gone to a dubious disco in Amsterdam, and the next day I was to be taken to various famous organs by my kind host. Now how was I to know that the invitation to "have a smoke" was anything other than an friendly, innocent gesture on the part of the person taking out a "cigarette?" I felt sure that the white-beer was much stronger than I recalled it previously, as the room gently swayed. A further "cigarette" and the room was really getting into the groove of the music, and I was hanging onto tables, chairs, people.....anything I could find really. Quite how I got back to the hotel I am not sure, (unless it wasn't mine), but in any event, I was still wrecked the next morning, but somehow managed to stagger around the back of the Rjkesmuseum to meet mine host, whereupon we walked to the Amsterdam Central Station......he at 30mph (6ft 6in tall) amd me at a gallop; stumbling along as best I could. Feeling marginally better, we made it to Rotterdam Cathedral and climbed up to the organ gallery. After playing through a Bach P & F, (I think it was the B-minor), I waited for the reverberation to die away. "Vat was veery gut....slow and majestic," my host commented, "but do all Englander organists haf zer music upside ways?" I was vaguely aware of him turning the pages the wrong way, but it didn't matter; I still couldn't focus properly. MM

It would be even more astonishing if it WERE the late Ethil Smith.....she was a white lady! I have no idea who the black lady organist is, but I expect someone will tell me. MM

============================= Ah! You met our late Monsigneur, I see. Now for sheer showmanship, the following clip from the utterly awful film "A desirable lady," is quite something. Organists should do more of this sort of thing when it comes to pedal solos. I think the organist is the late Ethel Smith (of 'Tico Tico' fame) playing Hammond organ. MM

====================== Greater than "The sound of music?" You want to wake up next a horse's head? You can't dress up as a nun and go to a sing-along "Godfather" can you? MM