parsfan

Yes, chanting in a parish church can be a dispiriting experience. Even more distressing when you come across it in a cathedral. At Winchester one of the canticles at matins is usually chanted. JSW at York Minster is, in my opinion, unsurpassed in the art of chant accompanient. Mind you, after 30 years I am sure that he knows the chants off by heart. York is one of the dwindling number of foundations that now follow the BCP Psalter and sing the allocation for each evening. Even St Paul's has given up the ghost.

Have to say it's quite heartening to see SJF willing to help in this way considering the other pressures on his time.

Does anyone know/play this piece? John Scott Whiteley usually plays it as a voluntary at York during Eastertide. Never managed to get up to hear it. I think it is a transcription of an improvisation and was wondering if it was one of PC's best. There only seems to be one recording on a US label. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004TAV...v=glance&n=5174

I agree. The Beverley case is wonderful. I think that Norman in the Guide to the Organs of GB commented that it looked so fragile that one dare not lean a ladder against it. I think York Minster's case is even more magnificent. Again, the 32s have to live elsewhere.

Thanks for that. Your ref to the RFH series must be right as the publication date is 1956. When I have heard the final before without knowing which piece it was, I initially thought that it was a far more contemporary piece, so it must have sounded very striking in the mid-fifties.

The current series of Sunday Afternoon recitals is nearing its summer break and Chris Eastwood ended his distinquished two year tenure as Organ Scholar. The highlight of his recital was Matthew Martin's composition 'Chimera' which, I think, will find a permanent place in the repertoire. The recital ended with Matthew joining Chris for Leighton's Dialogues on 'Martyrs'. I wonder what prompted Leighton to compose this piece as the tune is austere to say the least. The only recording that I can recall, of the piece, is by the Cleobury brothers. Hearing the piece made me think back to Sundays at church in Dunfermline. If there is one tune that is redolent of drab, austere, joyless Scottish worship, it is Martyrs. Robert Burns refers to it in his 1785 poem 'The Cotter's Saturday Night' The cheerfu' supper done, wi' serious face, They, round the ingle, form a circle wide; The sire turns o'er, with patriarchal grace, The big ha'bible, ance his father's pride: His bonnet rev'rently is laid aside, His lyart haffets wearing thin and bare; Those strains that once did sweet in Zion glide, He wales a portion with judicious care; And "Let us worship God!" he says with solemn air. They chant their artless notes in simple guise, They tune their hearts, by far the noblest aim; Perhaps Dundee's wild-warbling measures rise; Or plaintive Martyrs, worthy of the name; Or noble Elgin beets the heaven-ward flame; The sweetest far of Scotia's holy lays: Compar'd with these, Italian trills are tame; The tickl'd ears no heart-felt raptures raise; Nae unison hae they with our Creator's praise. Give me Italian trills any day.

At St Mary's Bourne St yesterday. William Whitehead played the final of Triptyque by Jean Langlais. Can anyone give me a bit of background about this piece and, in particular, the reference to the Westminster Chimes.

And yet another one for Musing Muso to get his head around !! http://www.fccla.org/Music/FCCOrganStopList-5.pdf

For those who found the West Point organ a bit too much, we now travel to the sun kissed West Coast for something infinitely more tasteful !! Again, not a six decker !! http://users.aristotle.net/~crazymidiman/my01004.html

And it grows incrementally through bequests from former students etc. Seems well enough equipped for Gigouts Grand Chouer Dialogue etc. One look at the spec and you yearn for the Taylor and Boody that John Scott waxed lyrical about in the latest edition of CAO. http://www.nycago.org/Organs/NYC/html/StThomas5AvGal.html

I thought that West Point must be a six decker; but apparently not. Only four. Some manuals must look after two or more Divisions? http://www.die-orgelseite.de/disp/USA_West...CadetChapel.htm

To add to my previous post, I heard the Guillou Liszt at a recital at Westminster Cathedral the other week. It was brilliantlly played. Courageous of Guillou to rework this. Mind you he looks as though he could be descended from Liszt !! His career overlapped with that of Cocherau for over 25 years. Very different inprovisers. Great that Guillou is still at the top of his game at 76. Two features of Guillou's improvisations that budding improvisers could do well to adopt. He often keeps it short and he brings his improvisations to an end promptly. Too frequently we hear six or more concluding chords as the improviser struggles to put his/her conception out of our misery.

Before I got to the end of the post, I was thinking 'Guillou is guilty of this'. I have attended some of his recitals at St Eustache and have not been impressed by his interpretations of Vierne Symphonies. On the other hand you could argue that his version of the Lizst BACH is an improvement on the original.

The marmite of the organ world then !! I accept that there are two valid views about PC. However, when you look at those organists in this country that devote time to keeping his memory alive through playing and transcribing his improvisations-David Briggs, Jeremy Fillsell, John Scott Whiteley-can they all be wrong? Certainly Filsell's excellent disc recorded at Liverpool Met left me wanting to hear more.

I do not think it is playable. Hard to think of a role for this organ. A curiosity.

And here is one with seven.... http://www.acchos.org/

This topic of obtaining bookings abroad is clearly problematic. The current St Sulpice series: http://www.stsulpice.com/Docs/concerts.html only has one recital by a British organist; Thomas Trotter. This may reflect that they only are interested in organists in the front rank who have established an international reputation with CDs etc. French organists seem to fare better. The co-titular of St Sulpice, Sophie-Veronique Cauchefer-Choplin, has done well in the number of UK recitals she has given and seems to trot the globe. At the Temple Church, tomorrow, Jerome Faucher plays and Pascal Reber is at All Souls next Monday. I think that the French do rather well because of one word: improvisation. They bring us something that our players can't provide when they play abroad. Despite the over-inflated reputation of some of our own improvisers, the French show is how it can and should be done. I sometimes think it is easier for overseas players to obtain recitals in London that for those located in the North of England to do so. When was the last tine John Scott Whiteley or Philip Moore gave a recital in London?

I think he is better known than your comment might suggest Jeremy. Here is a link to his website. As I said above his biographical blurb is not to my liking but the proof of the pudding...after his recital at Westminster Cathedral I would gladly pay a tenner to hear him at one of the major recital series http://www.darcytrinkwon.com/

Must be about time for it to have a rebuild in the next five years or so?

I enjoyed the Preston recital. Thought that the presentation was well done with the case effectively lit. Only trouble was that with the lights down you couldn't read the programme during the boring bits. The programme was well produced with a spec. I would have sacrificed the Gershwin and SKE for a full length serious work.I couldn't quite see the point of the Gershwin and it seemed to me that SP managed to obscure the melody of 'Swanee' by the accomp !! It would have been preferable to hear something French in the prg such as the SP by Dupre which is in the Preston repertoire. The attendance was respectable. John Scott provides the next recital on Oct 25th. I agree about the Palestrina at WC. Also a fine performance of Bairstow's 'Blessed City'. Shame about the rather solemn setting of 'Salve Regina' that now ends Vespers. Excellent recital by Martin Baker. The curiosity was Andrew Sampson's arrangement of the first movement of Mozart 40. I thought that without the orchestration it sounded a bit tedious as repeat followed repeat.

No surprise abt the quality of Trinkwon's recital. I do find the biography that he provides for programme notes rather tiresome and self indulgent. The basic factual details would suffice. Fees might have something to do with his lack of engagements but it might also have a lot to do with the way that the system operates. If Robert Quinney invites you to play a Sunday Afternoon recital at the Abbey, when you are drawing up your recital list who will you invite-Robert Quinney. Natrual that this reciprocity operates but it does work to exclude non cathedral organists.

Did anyone hear Matthew Martin's improvisation at the end of Solemn Vespers from Westminster Cathedral yesterday? I was in the cathedral and thought that it was impressive without being outstanding. It made me reflect that, whether in Paris or London, one rarely hears improvisation that takes the breath away. I agree with Lionel Rogg that the best improvisation happens within the liturgy and on that basis only Guillou, Cauchefer-Choplin and, on this side of the Channel, Martin Baker, impress me.

I think that we are going off topic chaps. Always a pleasure to hear Dupre or Durufle in a recital. Maybe its a fluke of programming but some works just seem to come round more often than others. At Westminster Cathedral, you might hear the Durufle Op5 Prelude four times in a year but you have more chance of seeing the Cardinal running down the aisle naked than hearing anything by Howells at a Sunday afternoon recital. Likewise, its now over 20 years since I heard Leighton's hymn tune preludes and that was at a recital, in the prescence of the composer, by John Langdon in Dunfermline Abbey. I have to say though that, as a non player, I am unstinting in my admiration for players who with minimum rehearsal time sound, in recital, as if they have been playing the instrument for years.

Can anyone update me about the organ at the West End? It seems to be out of action but the case looks quite modern.

The mention of Derby Cathedral is far too restrictive and should be broadened to 'Anything by Compton'. St Bride's Fleet St and St Luke's Chelsea are two scars on the face of the London organ scene !!