David Coram

I think we all have pride in what we do, which is good, and belief that we are doing the right thing to the best of our abilities, which is also good. Personally, if I was at St Mary the Virgin Ox, I would have taken the welcome and infrequent opportunity to broadcast the organ, which is possibly the finest musical instrument in Oxford(possibly -shire). I would have left the experimental stuff to another place with an inherently less perfect setup for a traditional service. There. That's my opinionatedness for you.

These three are wonderful. The first is by far my favourite. I do them a fair bit and will probably include them in most of this year's progs, and have also heard Dame G of W, and Claire Hobbs ex Clifton Cathedral (whatever happened to her?) do them. Kevin Bowyer has recorded them a couple of times at least.

Sherborne is one where fun can be had bouncing between nave organ and main. At Romsey they are slightly closer together, and it's possible (assuming there's nobody sat further than halfway back the building) to play a trio sonata, one hand on the Nave, rest on the main. Also useful in various bits of Karg Elert, Hurford Dialogues, echo sections of T and F in Dminor etc to flit from one to t'other - the choirboys love it. Portsmouth Cathedral is another one - the West Great on the back of the main organ sounds incredibly distant from the choir (which generally seems to seat the congregation too) and at least here you get to enjoy the full effect from the console, unlike Romsey, which is a bit more interesting - but at least the noise of the Barker Lever machine enables you to play in time with the clunks...

Now, you see, I thought that was an awesome service. The psalm settings were astoundingly good; the middle part to a very fine contemporary chant, the outer to a kind of block-chord plainchant which built and built and built. I think it's by such experimentation we find our way to future paths. If we don't nurture things like this then the "worship groups" so bemoaned in other threads will inevitably gain strength as a result.

Colin H is the one to talk to about this, having convinced the PCC of a fairly small rural church to commission a new 2m Harrison, being erected as I speak. In many cases, even using very conservative estimations of longevity a new pipe organ can make better financial sense than a toaster, quite apart from the considerations of recruiting future organists, hiring out of buildings for teaching/exams/practicing/concerts and all the many other questions. Often, it would seem to come down to whether the ego can cope without a battery of 32' reeds and fifty-rank mixtures and other toys that come easily with electronics. There are so many really fine redundant organs being broken up or put into storage, there's no sensible excuse. On the subject of pedalboards though - not just dimensions, but positioning is a common problem. On one of the crematorium instruments I play, it's set much too far back and a semitone too far to the left. Also, the pedals are made of wood-effect plastic, and make horrible creaking and clicking noises in playing. I'm no stranger to wacky Victorian consoles but this 1 year old Allen is the only instrument that leaves me with prolonged backache after only an hour or so of playing.

I like Yamaha acoustics. A really good U3 upright from the late 70's/early 80's takes some beating.

Dame G of W, St John the Evangelist, Duncan Terrace, Islington This Sat 7.45 Free admission Any other board members going?

You might do well to sprinkle some iron filings into the volume control and work 'em in good and well. If all goes according to plan there'll be a horrible crackling sound from the speakers and someone will rush to unplug it and declare it unfit for use.

Edited blank owing to posting in the wrong ***** topic d'oh

Kingsfold would do a fine job of it.

http://web16713.vs.netbenefit.co.uk/discus...howtopic=57&hl= http://www.stsulpice.com/Docs/video.html There's a search engine on this site - top RH between Help and Members. On that note thanks for your help the other evening. D

Would be very interested in seeing this - assuming I can master the one variation that totally eludes me (Clarinette in 3rds)... odd, as the last variation isn't actually that tricky, I don't find.

I think I mentioned somewhere else the story of the priest at an RC place in Bournemouth, who announced to the congregation: "The organ repairs are finished, I hope you like the sound of it. It cost £55,000, and I'd like the money before you all go today, please." He got it, apparently.

I happened to be in someone's car and caught the end of this. What a wonderful fruity voice for the prayers. Wasn't Hereford taken very slowly - and sure that pause in the middle could have been done away with.

Do you a swap then? I love the Durufle.

I find it often helpful with things like the RVW to go back to the full score. Had huge fun with this one at Romsey, not the most orchestral instrument out there. Working on Elgar Spirit of the Lord at the moment - definitely one to look at the full score and work back from there - and also get hold of Geoffrey Morgan's Guildford recording - it's like a symphony orchestra. Got a glimpse of the score tonight, with a bewildering array of instructions on how to play all four manuals at once and three pedal notes simultaneously. Don't think I'll manage that somehow...

Further update on the Allen midi unit at Salisbury Crem. Further investigations have proved it also to be able to create very realistic thunderclaps, seashores, helicopters, gunshots, birds tweeting and phones ringing, amongst much else. Didn't need the latter as the funeral director's phone went off mid-way through a service being taken by himself. Not the sort of chap to require a microphone, so was able to dip the volume and minimise embarrassment. Advice is not to read back issues of organists' review though - I stumbled across some of those funnies that Kevin Bowyer did a few years ago - isn't it amazing how things always seem ten times funnier when you can't laugh?

I always believed that if I challenged anyone to discuss Bernard Aubertin and Blackpool Tower in the same sentence, let alone adjacent posts in a very specific topic, I would surely draw a complete blank... now I know... maybe a rebuild of Blackpool Tower on French classical lines is on the cards? Or St-Antoine l'Abbaye with sleigh bells and swanee whistles?

Well, I bet AJT does on his, if only from the perspective of wind preservation and having the swell speak within a tone of the rest of it. But then again, he can't set pistons without causing some unexpected electrical malady generally involving billows of smoke and the creation of novel and arresting new couplers, such as Pedal to Swell 4 4/7 with bagpipe drone. I'm not particularly experienced at accompanying on the organ and just really getting used to things. A recent revelation has been that taking my swell reeds (8p and 4p only) and principal down to Great mixtures and metal double is considerably more sociable as a "full swell" in the choir stalls than using the swell alone (way above me in the triforium, and speaking on higher wind). I have to be more conservative also having quite a large-ish instrument with only a handful of generals (which are currently forgetting everything you teach them when you switch off the wind) but a very strong choir with varied repertoire and high demands. As a result I'm starting to be considerably more unorthodox (or at least out of my general crescendo comfort zone) in my approach to registration, to maximise the combinations I can get without a lot of tedious resetting. Makes the cockups harder to spot, too. From tuning and winding perspectives, there's obviously benefits, and though it'll probably upset Pierre L there's an inescapable argument about building suitable choruses for the job with whatever material comes to hand.

All good points. The time always does come to move on though, whether through promotion or ill health or whatever. At that point, the most important thing is for the departed to have the professionalism, good grace and courtesy to stay away and not haunt the place. For instance, the great Richard Seal at Salisbury wouldn't set foot in the cathedral for at least year after his very long tenure, possibly longer. I have heard other examples from friends where this is far from being the case, and therefore (however inadvertantly or unintended or possibly even unrealised) the new team have faced terrible difficulty in being accepted, as a result of the old familiar faces being so much in evidence. Without such a break, there's not only the obvious additional pressure on the incomer, there's also often a psychological barrier for members of choirs especially as well as congregations to accept the new authority. Such barriers can be hard to identify (as being seperate from normal resistance to change) and even more difficult to break down whilst retaining both control and musical integrity. It can also make the job much harder to fill next time round.

Ah, well being an organ geek I didn't bother looking at the church. How dull. Still, I quite liked it. How are you getting on with Liverpool?

I am pleased to report that the action of this instrument is an absolute delight. The beauty of playing without electric assistance is that the couplers are perfectly regulated and even throughout. The only uncomfortable bit really is the bass where there are two pallets. It's significantly better than the Portsmouth action and for comparison probably more comfortable than Christchurch Oxford and Westbury PC (though the latter is obviously 150 years older). Tonally I didn't find any surprises, though the tuning was a bit rancid tonight (only partially due to the weather I felt), and the pedal a bit disappointing - no 8p flute, no 8p or 4p reed, any of which to my mind would be more useful than the Quint 10.66p? It's a shame the Romsey trick with the nave wasn't followed - I felt that putting it about halfway back in a triforium would have done it the world of good. As you know at Romsey both organs come together beautifully and can be used in dialogue, rather than just as a hymn machine. You could always come and hear my August bank holiday recital on it and have a go afterwards... assuming you're not too far away, that is?

Oh, and Clifton Cathedral, too - wonderful function over form thing going on, nice echoes of the building, and gorgeous copper 16' front...

Personally, and I know lots of people will be horrified at this and strike me dead, but I could gaze at New College Oxford all day. It's not only redolent of its era, calling to mind a million Habitat coffee tables and lava lamps, it just hangs together so well; it's functional, simple and wonderful. If you had to explain werkprinzip to a five year old, I imagine you would draw something very similar. I guess the triangular case shape must do something useful for projection. I've never spent enough time looking at the sculpture/mouldings/whatever on the back of the case but they struck me as being a good thing. Execute me if you wish, but I just love it

Although a barker lever is essentially a wrecking device, I can't see much wrong with them. Ours at Romsey are prompt, extremely reliable and have no deficiencies in playing that I can see. The repetition is fine and the noise is the only downside. A good deal of romantic music was written for such an action and I personally don't think there's any huge disadvantage over any other action when it comes to other styles of music, principally because you still have the sensation of a tracker, whether or not you have the pallet control. I think it's time they had a revival.