parsfan
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Posts posted by parsfan
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Well, the Bach, Dandrieu and Alain were compelling. The Dupre worked surprsingly well but less so the Franck. I do have a little quibble with the programme. I prefer recitals to be 60-75 min without interval and to include one significant work of length. Slightly disappointing that a full length recital should include no such work at the expense of two items (Schitzner and Pierne) that were below the salt.
A well produced programme and a glass of wine (£1) made for an enjoyable evening.
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I think that the organ in St Columba's Church in Pont Street, London, SW3 is a fairly grim instrument !!
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If you wanted to emphasise the contrast between the first four lines of each verse and the last four, the tune 'St Matthew' would do the job just fine.
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I find that, as a punter in the pews, that Hymns are generally played too fast. For an example of excellence in Hymn Playing visit York Minster and listen to JSW.
A habit that is irritating beyond belief which can be found at All Soul's Langham Place is a last line play over after every verse !!
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I was a reading a history of this Chelsea concert hall which used to be Christian Scientist Church. On conversion to a concert hall the organ was removed for installation in a church in the Midlands.
Anyone know anything about this? Spec?
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Glad to see Praise to the Holiest' set to 'Billing' in your list. A lovely tune that knocks around in your head for days after being sung at a service.
Someone mentioned psalm chants. I always think that the lovely Ivor Atkins chant that York sing to the second half of Psam 55 (10th Evening) can't be beaten.
What abt a thread re Church Music for whom only Homer nods.
When I attended St Gile's Cathedral in the 80s the service would begin by the choir singing an introit by Thalben Ball. These were originally composed for the BBC Daily Service and later published as two collections. Not great music but deserving to be championed by more than just Herrick Bunney.
Whatever happened to 'Hymn Anthems'? Bairstow composed a fair number. The choir at Dunfermline Abbey used to sing 'Ye Servants of God' by Henry Coleman which was an arrangement of 'Paderborn'.
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Good evening! I'm new to this forum and thought that a list of hymns I like, and which have not been previously mentioned on this thread, might be a suitable introduction.
Maybe not.
Anyhow:
Lord God, thou art our maker and our end Morestead
This is the image of the Queen (unbowdlerised) Iver
Holy Spirit, ever dwelling Salisbury
O Holy City, seen of John Sancta Civitas
You, Living Christ, our eyes behold Palace Green
O perfect love, all human thought tracending Highwood
Praise to the Holiest in the hight Billing
One great and final sabbath day Holcombe
Come, ye faithful, raise the strain St. Kevin
Brightest and best of the sons of the morning Wessex
Christians, sing the Incarnation Ecclesia (for preference)
The day of resurrection Ellacombe
Good is our God, who made this place Hambleden
O lead my blindness by the hand Ryburn
All for Jesus, All for Jesus All for Jesus
Thanks to God whose Word was spoken Kingley Vale
God of love and truth and beauty Carolyn
O Jesus, I have promised Wolvercote
Hail Redeemer, King divine King Divine
Lift up your hearts; we lift them Lord to thee Sursum Corda (Smith)
Not necessarily fashionable, popular, or indeed useable in public worship, but perhaps of some interest.
Best regards
Dalua
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Having read the latest issue of OR it is clear that it is still far off the pace since its relaunch. Previously the photo on the front cover used to be glorious and of superb quality. I can't understand why the photo of the Rouen case could not have been on the cover instead of in the centre. Even there it is not of particularly high quality. The review section has also lost it's focus. Mind you, not everything about the old format was attractive. Corna dolce was spectacularly unfunny and you could always rely on half the correspondents on the letters page being mad !!
The fall out from this is that, in my view, Choir and Organ is now the clear leader in the Organ Mags field. A high quality production, it contains interesting features and well written articles even though editorial decisions about the the content might be informed by a desire to increase sales on the other side of the Atlantic.
I found the latest issue of 'The Organ' extremely tedious. Its layout has improved over the years but each issue reveals evidence of sloppy proofreading.
In conclusion, I only fork out for Choir and Organ now.
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Is there any one out there that can clear up this mystery?
I understood that the restoration would begin around 23 April and that Sunday organ recitals would then cease.
However, it is clear from the St Paul's website that these recitals continue. Has the restoration been dealyed? Funding issues perhaps?
Perhaps John Pike Mander could bring us up to speed.
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I'm quite impressed by Vox Humana's selection. Henry Smart knew how to write a good hymn tune and 'Everton' is excellent though not quite as well known as the ubiquitous 'Regent Square' which gets an outing every other week at my own church; St Helen's Bishopsgate. I would have thought that most hymnals have matched 'Allelulis Alllelulia' to Arthur Sullivan's tune 'Lux Eoi'. Hyfrodol is a lovely tune but 'Allelulia. sing to Jesus' seems a very wordy hymn and all in all a bit of a marathon.
What about the worst hymns? I think any hymn tune with the word 'extended' after it is bad news. Sagina, Lydia and Lynham are the main culprits. My other bete noires are 'O love that wilt not let me go' and 'Thou didst leave thy throne and thy kingly crown'
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Even the best hymns can sound grim in the wrong hands. One of my gripes is how many organists fail to give a strong lead when playing Hymns.
Strong playing and a juicy last verse reharmonisation and life is complete.
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I must admit that Advent is not complete without 'Hark the glad sound !' to 'Bristol'
Isaac Watts 'Nature with open volume stands' may have prospered more if it had a decent tune and he hadn't already written 'When I survey'
Hymns that progress incrementally such as 'For all the saints' and 'Praise to the Holiest' will, I imagine, have a place in a lot of folks top 20.
Personally, I like Hymns that are sung to French hymn tunes such as 'Grenoble' and 'Solemnis Haec Festivitas'
Lover of classic hymnody will find little comfort in the recently published Church of Scotland's 'Church Hymnary 4th Edition'. As well as having the feel of a vanity project, it also omits many fine hymns and tunes to give space to the most banal nonsense.
Leafing through it recently, I found myself asking 'Has it really come to this?
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They are Willis pipes from the pedal stop of 1899.
I think the biggest unanswered question is why the moderator is not putting this thread out of it's misery. Andrew Lucas obviously has the patience of a saint !!
I think the advice to contributors, Mr Lucas apart is get a life or get a therapist !!
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At Christmas I was having a look at the nave console at Liverpool Cathedral. There is a stop entitled 'Doubles Off'.
It may be obvious, but as a non organist I would love to know what the effect of pulling this stop is !
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I see, from the Holy Trinity Hull page, that Gerard Brook's letter in OR has caught some people's eye. He makes some valid points. The recent recital, by Naji Hakim at Southwark cathedral attracted around 50-60 people. Those who stayed at home or in the pub missed nothing. A very ordinary improvisation, on three themes, disappointed. Three themes are too many especially when one of them is 'London Bridge is falling down'. Why, oh why, are organists given silly frivolous themes to improvise on. This recital actually persuaded me that Martin Baker was right when he said that the best improvisation occurs within the liturgy.
Back to Brooks. As someone who worships at ASLP I feel obliged to support the recitals. But the church's website contains no info, the series leaflet gives sketchy details about the programmes. However, the killer for me is the day- Monday- when my inclination is to place myself in fornt of the telly like a beached up whale with a glass of shiraz. The time does not help either. I would prefer a start time of 1930-less hanging around. I suspect that many people choose not to go to All Soul's recitals as they regard the Harrison as not being particulary distinquished and speaking into one of the driest acoustics in any London Church.
We do need recital organisers to get a grip and use the technology at their disposal. It's not good enough for the punter to discover the exact programme only when they arrive at the venue for the recital. In London the Temple Church, Westminster Abbey and Westminster cathedral all run excellent weekly recital series. If they want our support they should post forthcoming programmes on their websites.
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We should be grateful for Peter Allison for bringing Alan Spedding's recital to our attention as so many posts relate to instruments and so few to the people that actually play them. I was a student at Hull and can confirm the consensus view that Alan Spedding is a conservative player and is not inclined to such vulgarities as reharmonising the last verse of hymns. However, he is a man whose playing is informed by consumate taste and musicianship.
One other player who deserves praise is John Scott Whiteley who, in 2006, will have served as 30 as Assistant Organist at York. It is hard to think of another organist whose talents range so widely. There is a post on another page complaining about the narrow range of repertoire of concert organists. JSW seems to have an almost unlimited repertoire. He is known to a wider TV audience for his Bach playing; his scholarship on Jongen earned him a PhD; he transcribes Cocherau improvisations and his playing of the French masters such as Franck and Durufle is renowned.
However, it is in his daily work at York Minster where his talent is best served. His sensitive and inspired psalm accompaniment, his strong hymn playing and gift for extemporisation as well as his work in directing the girl's choir as well his as his recital work surely mark him out as one of the most significant chuch musicians of our time.
Westminster Cathedral
in General discussion
Posted
I wonder if any other discussion board inmates attend the weekly 1645 Sunday recitals. Not many by the size of the audience. We have had some stonking recitals since Easter. Darcy Trinkwon gave an authoritative and thrilling account of Vierne 2. Roger Fisher treated us to a powerful rendition of the Reubke.
While Robert Quinney is much missed from the home team, Thomas Wilson has proved himself to be an exciting talent.
Programming a 30 minute recital must concentrate the mind. Therefore, I was slightly disappointed by Stephen Disley's recital yesterday. He played the Reger Introduction and Pasacagglia and the Willan Intro, Pas and Fugue. I regard Disley as being in the fornt rank of todays players, but to hear both these dense works in one short recital was a bit much.