Paul Morley

Britten - War Requiem JSB - Mass in B minor Vaughan Williams - Symphony V (or possibly VI) Stravinsky - The Rite of Spring Messiaen - L'ascension Brahms - Piano Concerto no. 1 Beatles - Greatest Hits Miles Davis - Kind of Blue

Looks to me like a digitally enhanced pic. of Birmingham TH. How appropriate that servants of the Dark Lord should have an organ in their dining room

http://www.gramophone.net/Issue/Page/April...+Gluttons+house. Cecil who?

Because they don't provide organ enthusiasts (as opposed to organ playing musicians) with lots of sound effects and flashing lights?

When considering the attempts of some clergy and musicians to reach out to disaffected teenagers by bombarding them with 70s folk music pastiche, the good captain may well have observed, 'But the plan had one flaw....' I'm sure that you can fill in the rest.

Will explain in due course....poorly small children occupying me at the moment.

How about: Best - St Chad's RC, Birmingham Second best - York Third best - Derby (west end) ?

presumably, MM this was not a typo

I thought that Huw Edwards was very unobtrusive during the ceremony - as one would have hoped that a musician would have been.

I think that we should be careful using the longevity argument when discussing pipe v digital. As I type, I am listening to Bruckner IV recorded on a twenty year old CD, through an amplifier and speakers which date from 1984 (21st birthday present from my parents). The sound is PDG. Yesterday, I played for a funeral on an Allen dating from 1992. It sounds (at least to my ears) nether better nor worse than it did 19 years ago, and has had only two components replaced over this period. There are compelling musical (and in many cases, sound economic) arguments for establishments which require an organ having a real one rather than a substitute. I tend to think, however, that there is a risk of undermining these arguments by making criticisms of pipeless instruments that might be considered a bit dubious.

It should be remembered that the incumbent of this parish (an occasional contributor to this board) is a Music graduate and an accomplished organist. If this instrument is to replaced, then it is safe to assume that there are musical as well as economic reasons for doing so.

Definitely...though it's arguable his production of 'Dark side of the Moon' remains his finest hour.

In most cases, what you are actually left with is a sort of Brustwerk - although generally (owing to most positivisers insistence on removing swell boxes/shutters) without any means of adjusting the volume of mf/f registrations to balance singers/other instruments.

I've used Rutter edition on the last three occasions that I've accompanied the Faure (my copy is now liberally annotated with references to page numbers and rehearsal figures from the Novello edition). I have always engaged the services of a page turner with sufficient keyboard skills to add some of the music on the additional staves. Some may see this as cheating, but I would ague that it's a perfectly legitimate way of realising an orchestral reduction.

I'm sure that capable and knowledgeable organ builders and players are familiar with Stravinsky's description of the organ as 'the monster that never breathes'.

Howlflute - the villain in "The Turn of the Screw" as sung by the person for whom the role was created.

Deleted.

I would certainly never bet the farm on the custodians of an unwanted organ being willing to let it go to a good home. I can think of an occasion (though I’d better not name names), where a very reasonable offer by a serious bidder for a first rate (HOC Grade 1) but derelict (though restorable) instrument was refused by the church authorities on the grounds that they wished to sell it ‘as new’ in order to finance the re-ordering programme that its removal would make possible. I'm sure other board members will have had similar experiences.

What's the betting that when the organist explained this situation to the church authorities, (s)he received a response something along the lines of, ''But we can't afford to have the electricians back. Do you really need to use the swell pedal?"

I wonder how long it will be before we see serviceable pipe organs being scrapped on spurious health & safety grounds?

It was bad even for the music of Peter Maxwell Davies

QUOTE (Heckelphone @ Oct 30 2010, 09:59 PM) The [brasenose] organ was basically not working in the late 80s when I first knew it and by the mid 90s was an absolute liability...with that dreadful farting duck perma-Regal manual speaking unbidden whenever you put a hymn book on the music desk or sat on the bench. This, OTOH, is perfectly fair comment. I don't believe I ever heard anybody use it either in a service or a recital. I HAVE!! I gave a recital at BNC 1985 ish and used the Regalmanuel in the Maxwell Davies '3 Organ Voluntaries'. I've played neither this organ nor these pieces since, and have not missed either.

How about a statement of faith, such as JSB 'Wir glauben' - assuming that your new priest is reasonably theologically orthodox and does believe in God...

The fact that HWD was the dedicatee is not necessarily inconsistent with the Elegy being a parody of Solemn Melody. According to Jonathan Rennert's biography of GTB, and other sources, working relationship between the two was far from easy.

Oh, I do hope that it is...a synthesis of railway locomotive and pipe organ