andyorgan

I don't feel as bad about my purchase now, there are others who succombed!!

OK, I get the subtle point you're making. Of course the works you mention are the real thing and 'demonstrate' the organ very adequately. However, in preparation for a demonstration to a group of primary school children, I'm not sure they will get the message through to kids so young. The works listed on the site mentioned all tell some sort of story and involve a narrator (much like the Wills piece I mentioned earlier), and they MAY do it better. They might not, that's why I posted the request.

I have a pair of Sennheiser HD 650s and they are quite superb. However, they were a bit pricey, c£250 about 5 years ago. I bought from a specialist hi fi shop and took a few of my own CDs in and listened to them on a variety of prices of amplifiers. I can recommend this way of doing it, even if you don't spend that much. Yes, I could have saved a few pence on the internet, but the amount of time and help I was given in the shop meant I thought they deserved my custom. I listened to a variety of headphones, and then with a variety of styles of music (not all classical or organ) and these were the best (actually, second best, there was another pair at over £500, but I couldn't justify the extra). There is very little leakage, and they fit very comfortably.

Thanks for this Paul, its all very interesting and not a name I've come across before. I've been to his site and he lists quite a lot of organ solo music. What did you record and what's worth the rest of us having a look at? In particular, do you play that suite of 60 pieces based on frescoes from the church in Denmark? I haven't been able to find the Sullivan piece/volume on the Intrada website, though it being in Dutch didn't help!

I've been thumbing through a list of works published in the US of items that claim to demonstrate the organ. Does anyone have any experience of anyone of them, or indeed any that aren't listed here. The only one that comes to mind is the Arthur Wills one, which I have an excellent CD of.

The other thread about the Elgar piece got me thinking. Does anyone know of another transcription of the Imperial March, other than the Martin one in the Novello album?

Just found one of Roger Fisher playing the Elgar AND the Reubke on the same CD. Is this is first? It's here.

Is this in a place starting with T? If it is, there was considerable angst over this instrument and the pipe organ it 'replaced'. (The word 'prestigious' slightly put me off the scent!)

I do quite enjoy the Dover editions, though I can see some of the shortcomings. Much of this was covered a few months ago in this thread Widor Editions

...it didn't when the incumbent named above was there. (PS Thanks Barry for pointing out the Christchurch connection, its not one I had correctly put two and two together before!)

Yes, I have to agree with this. Having had the toaster to accompany choral concerts of various natures and sizes, it was pretty inadequate, especially in its quasi 'French' set up of horizontal stop layout. The west gallery appraoch would have been ideal, there's very little choir accompanying to do there these days, but I understand that there were problems with the Victorian Soc over some wall paintings that would have been covered. Where the organ used to be was about as good as it could have got, but by starting again, they could have turned the organ 45 degrees so that it points out to the congregation as well as accompanying the choir. Are they still planning a nasty hybrid there?

Where to start? -Ampleforth; def worth hearing -Bridlington; sorry I didn't hear this before the rebuild -Armley; have excellent Barber recording of christmas music (inlc Eben Good King Wenc var) -Leeds PC; there's a good recording on Naxos by Simon Lindley, though repertoire the usual organ showpieces. I'm not sure if h=it has been recorded since the new Trumpet was added -St Giles; first CD on the new organ which I still listen to by Simon Bertram, really excellent playing, and there's a new Messiaen set on Delphian which was released last month.

Beautiful, I did one there a couple of years ago. Pick the right repertoire and you're on to a winner. Incidentally, its the only place I've given a recital in where no one claps until the end of the last piece, is this common elsewhere?

Yes, an oft quoted comment. The facts are that the Tuba is the same volume as before, its just the rest of the organ that's louder. It used to obliterate the rest of the organ, not so much now. I'm told that there is a good chance that the Tuba wasn't originally in the Solo box when R&D did the 1920's work, and that perhaps it shouldn't be in there now. However, I do agree that in relation to the rest of the organ it sounds quieter and isn't as effective. Still a French Horn to die for though.

It was on the Ryemuse label. Priory reissued a sort of 'greatest hits' double CD from the Ryemuse series a few years ago. Is that the best piece on the whole LP? I know there were other considerations when doing the transfers, eg timings and the quality of the original. I bought the set as it had one of the very few surviving recordings of one of the other instruments in the set. Having just looked through again, there are qute a few organs on the set that one doesn't hear today in the form they were in then: Worcester, Tewkesbury, Malvern, Bath, Christchurch, Llandaff (soon to be), Portsmouth to name but a few. Anyone else have this set? Highlight for me in the playing is the Guest/Howells track. PS I note that since I last played the CD on the computer, someone has upated the Gracenote database to include the CD now. Anyone here?

You beat me to it! La Flute du Pan is an excelent sheet music (organ particularly) shop. I can't remembe what the semection of cds was like. I stocked up on a number of things the last time I was there.

I have that CD as well. He has accompanied a couple of discs of choirs, one includes a pretty stunning set of Dupre Christmas Variations. On the subject of Langlais Mass, I've heard various stories surrounding the top Cs at the end of the Sanctus and Benedictus. Apparently they weren't in the original, and Langlias only added them after he had heard a choir sing them. Anyone know of the vaildity of this? I know some cathedral DoMs that don't allow their choristers to sing it as it wasn't original, and a couple of places where they don't sing them in the Sanctus, but do on the reprise.

Absolutely no competition, generals every time. I've seen and heard too many things go wrong with sequencers, so even when I've got them, I always use generals. I have been to two 'high profile' recitals where something has gone wrong with these, and if it happens to the pros, its going to happen to the rest of us. I'm not anti technology, lets face it, the generals themselves rely on technology, but not for me!

I think you'll find that is the same address as Nicolson's if I remember rightly, who took on some of the PD staff.

Wrangthorn was the first place I played at that I got paid for (princely sum of £3, I thought I was rich!) Our choir used to sing there regularly and the very nice vicar had a bit of an unfortunate stutter, which meant the announcement of hymns was always very entertaining! The instrument had rather a nice CHoir if I remember, though the thing was always short of wind! If you were there practicing about 16 years ago, we must have only just missed, as I stopped playing there in about 1989.

I'm afraid I regularly play one in Scotland that is only TEN years old and it has some serious deficiencies that some may call failings. What do the church do? Do they keep throwing good money after bad in the hope that it improves eventually? The church are concerned that if they call in another builder that they might propose something very radical.

I did mostly what you described at a recital recently, except I went for a little more than you described, up to mixture on the Gt and up to 2' on the second manual. I also once went the whole hog and played it a la Resphigi's orchestration with lots of romantic colour and articulation throughout. This approach will clearly have its detractors, but on the large romantic instrument I played it on, there was no 'Bach' registrations that were readily or easily utilised. Remember Kevin Bowyer's very succesful 'Edwardian Bach' recording at St Mary, Redcliffe?

I'm not sure it is a 'public forum'. After all, we all have some anonymity (spell?) here which we wouldn't have in a 'letters to the editor'. Most of the nationals don't publish anon letters, unless there is a specific reason to do so.

Stumbled across this site which might have something of interest on it. It has other instrumental combinations with the organ. Visit My Website

Yes, also mixed feelings. I remember those old Decca LPs when he played proper stuff, and displayed quite a prodigious technique. Like us all, I expect he has off days (though at the extremely high numbers he charges, he ought not to, £3000 for a small church in the Borders with no chance of breaking even). That brings up another point I suppose, what is the going rate for a current player of international standing?