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nachthorn

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Everything posted by nachthorn

  1. On the strength of this reminder, I bought these discs, which include free P&P if bought from Amazon. The sound and playing are both excellent, and it's hard to beat the reissue price*. A pity that the booklet has a number of errors, factual and typographical - the Carillon-Sortie was published in 1911, not 1991 as the notes say, for instance. *A friend of mine who has recorded a number of times for the same label has mentioned that he sometimes sees some of the original recordings reappear on compilations or reissued as a whole, without warning or royalties. No doubt this was contractually specified at the time, and I'm not suggesting any underhand behaviour - nonetheless I hope that some of the royalties from this particular re-issue make their way back to the artist in question. The original post also reminded me to get round to rebinding my copy of Esquisses Byzantines which, while not found mint in a drawer, was found without covers or proper binding in the bottom of the music box in a charity shop for fifty pence, and is now very smart and usable. Sorry, Vox!
  2. We sang this at Christchurch a couple of weeks ago - the chap who 're-discovered' it in his notes lives in the parish. It's rather nice, but the last line needs more basso-profundo than I can reasonably produce on a warm evening.
  3. Indeed, and a very musical disc it is too. I've only listened to it twice so far, but there's no reason to stop now. Of course it helps that Olly - the editor - is an organist, and a thoroughly decent chap too.
  4. Fugue State Films. Others who disagree might like to suggest some other candidates. Whether the greatest or not, if it is half as good as their previous projects, it should be well worth seeing. David I think it's worth considering the way that Cavaille-Coll's instruments shaped and changed the way that music was written and performed. Would we have the works of Widor, Vierne, Tournemire, Dupré, Langlais, Messiaen etc. in their current form without the influence of C-C's organs, and those of his successors, on their work? Can the same be said for Willis, or for Harrison, and the composers that their work influenced? I'm not sure I know, but I could probably happily tidy away a few pints while discussing it. Thanks for drawing attention to this project - very worthwhile by the looks of it.
  5. Very similar, but I'm sure the one I saw had a genuine Cavaille-Coll console superimposed. In an effort to quickly search for this, I found that I mentioned this exact same thing on another topic here three years ago. Mental note: must get out more...
  6. Without wanting to seem too eager to dust off my own anorak, I'll happily admit to a childhood of plane-spotting, largely instigated by my school organ teacher. The most notable organist/aviation buff, I think, is David Briggs. He once showed me a superb picture of a Boeing 747 flight deck with a Cavaille-Coll console superimposed, which looked about right (although I forget the source of the picture now). I get the impression that the organ-steam connection is a little stronger than organ-aviation though.
  7. You could be entirely right - we'd had a few pints at the time of story-telling, hence my disclaimer. Shame, though.
  8. And what a superb specification - not a stop out of place or obviously missing IMHO. I hope that the realisation fulfils this potential.
  9. I'm pleased to see that the general consensus is to rely on divisionals (I clearly haven't been going too wrong!) and I agree with the rationale that says that the resident organist should know the beast better than any visitor. Pcnd's experience at Wells was very similar to mine, right down the verger's attentions. At risk of reminiscing, a couple of interesting moments. At Winchester some years ago, last evensong of the visit, everything had gone pretty well. Then came a verse anthem by Gibbons (Bless the Lord O my soul, I think), and I drew a modest 8' flute, coupled to the pedals to help in a couple of page-turns. I placed my fingers on the keys, the director raised an arm, and then entirely without warning, but with a very heavy THUMP, every stop on the console shot out: Tuba, 32' pedal reed, the lot. I had no choice but to hit general cancel, re-select the flute and start, but I played that anthem like there was a gun to my head. Afterwards, ready to put a shaky note in the tuning book, I found that they'd already reported the problem with sticky and sensitive contacts on the general 10 piston or whatever - a shame they hadn't thought to zero the selections on that piston, as I was within a heartbeat of bringing the house down... On the same visit, the Sunday morning eucharist coincided with some festival of morris dancing. It's hard to forget the sound of Victoria's Missa O quam punctuated by the ching ching ching of morris dancers' shoes walking up and down to do readings and so on. The last hymn was - predictably - Lord of the Dance. The sheer volume of sound coming from the packed nave was spine-tingling, even hidden at the console above the quire. Nothing that organ could do matched the enthusiasm of the singing - singularly un-Anglican! We once covered an ordination service at Gloucester while the choir was away on tour. The arrangements were in the hands of diocesan, rather than cathedral, staff, so naturally there was something which had to be played on the piano, followed shortly after by a hymn. Those who've played at Gloucester will know that the latch on the organ loft door is lifted by manipulating what looks like a bolt-head, one of many in the door. I finished the song on the piano and hared round to the organ loft door. If there had been anyone round there, they would have been treated to the sight of me scrabbling vainly at the door-fittings in blind panic as the PA system cheerfully announced the next hymn, but in the rather full nave, there was no obvious explanation for the lengthy and uncomfortable silence until eventually a head was seen moving across the loft at speed. Another church we sometimes visited did ultra-High churchmanship, the sort that makes St. Peter's Rome look 'prayer-book'. With the liturgy being something of a moving target, the clergy mostly visiting and therefore slightly unfamiliar, and with a huge rolling acoustic that rendered most things incomprehensible at the console, the resident organist used to hover around the console to provide guidance, moral support and a critical commentary on the standard of genuflection, but it was always something of a matter of the blind leading the blind. One memorable procession during a service of Benediction started unexpectedly early, and I quickly launched into the hymn. "No no no!" exclaimed my guide, "the other one!" I stopped, found the new number, and started again. The distant wallowy singing didn't seem to stop. "Hmm," he considered, listening intently, "no, you were right first time" and burst into a unexpected and piercing male soprano in an effort to guide the singing, but which was mere inches from my left ear and only succeeded in making me jump and play unusual notes. A friend of mine who used to play at Exeter from time to time while at university told me he used to delight in waiting in the loft until a visitor, preferably with a large hat, took too close an interest in the mouths of 32' violone pipes in the south transept. A quick count from the left to find which pipe was the subject of attention, and - woof - off came the hat, followed by a startled and bemused visitor scuttling away. (I haven't tried this myself and can't verify the accuracy of this story, mind.) The console at Birmingham is conveniently close to the stalls, so I have conducted from the console when short of an organist in the past, but the time that I also had to be the cantor for the responses was a step too far - I have many more singers now, fortunately, and can stick to one task at a time. I find myself mostly directing now, and hardly get the chance to play, visiting or otherwise. I don't generally miss the churches with unfriendly and unhelpful vergers and admin staff, but most of my experiences have been of kind and helpful people who are pleased to have us there to play and sing. Despite these sorts of events (which I can laugh about happily now) I've always found playing for visiting choirs in cathedrals and like to be a great privilege.
  10. I would always take as much as I can get - bravery doesn't come into it. This is one point on which visiting choir destinations vary greatly. Some allocate you several hours on the night before, some begrudge you 30 minutes just before the first stalls rehearsal (of which 11 minutes is spent finding the right kind of verger to let you into the loft, 5 minutes is spent listening to said verger explaining how to play the organ from the viewpoint of one who has never actually played one before, and 4 minutes is spent trying to find the blower and light switches). I once turned up to a cathedral to find the organ missing entirely. The main organ was out for a rebuild, and rather than rely on the necessary electronic substitute, we decided to make the most of their new chamber organ by doing Gibbons, Batten etc. in the quire. On arrival - no organ. Turned out they hadn't commissioned it yet. I could go on for some time about the perils of 'visiting' but you've probably done it all yourselves, I don't want to bore you, and it's very off-topic! Moral of the story, though (bringing it back on-topic) is that Vox is absolutely right - no matter how much rehearsal time you get, it's never enough. And expect the unexpected!
  11. OK, I'll dive straight in myself. I've done this in a number of cathedrals and churches over the last ten years, usually with about twenty minutes of slightly self-conscious preparation while visitors potter around. I have a cursory look at what's set on the divisionals on the general purpose channel (or a standard accompaniment channel if the resident organist's thoughtful enough to leave a hint sheet on the music desk for visitors) then plunge in. Very often the divisionals do the trick, usually with a little judicious hand-registering in certain combinations. Some instruments seem to need more study - Gloucester is one that took quite a while to understand, for instance - and some seem to guide you along gently. I aim to get to the stage where, when the choir pitch up, I can work on the communication between conductor/choir and organ without having to worry too much about console management. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. Longest time spent familiarising: about two hours one evening before a visiting weekend at Gloucester (necessary). Shortest time was setting up for Finzi's 'God is gone up' at Wells in about four minutes. (The rest of evensong took care of itself as we went along )
  12. Seconded - well, thirded - the 1967 HNB console in Birmingham University's Great Hall is very similar to that at Gloucester, as far as I remember, and very comfortable for my awkward frame. I didn't mind the square pistons but can see why others might.
  13. I played for several services on the Rodgers electronic in Worcester Cathedral while the Tickell was being built (and afterwards, when it was moved to the nave to replace the awful Bradford device). I saw a number of positive quotes about the thing, and I think it was supposed to be the best Rodgers made, but I thought it was cheap-feeling and very hard work to play - nothing was ever where I expected to find it or how I expected it to sound - but most of all I found it very dull, unfocussed and artificial sounding. I played for four services on the Allen substitute at St. Edmundsbury during the Harrison rebuild last year, and found that even worse, but with fewer bells and whistles to get in the way (although the stop control did freeze entirely at one stage, necessitating a reboot). I recognise the need for an organ substitute during rebuild work in cathedrals and other churches who do a lot of choral accompaniment, but in most churches a decent second-hand grand piano would surely be a far wiser and more musical investment than a chipboard and plastic console and a pile of speakers if a genuine organ is unavailable.
  14. At my church, the congregation hardly make any noise before the services. Unfortunately they apply the same rule to hymns. We do Middle Voluntaries for Matins and Evensong during choir holidays, but my spies in the congregation tell me that certain congregants use the 'intermission' to conduct detailed inventories of their handbags and discuss their findings with neighbours. But not very loudly.
  15. Count me in - I'm about 15 mins away.
  16. I think Heckelphone's exactly right, and possibly 'purist' is the wrong word. A good instrument that has ended up in a poor way, which receives careful informed restoration as Heckelphone describes, will end up as a good instrument again. The same instrument 'rebuilt' with extra stops, an electronic 32' reed and a whizzy-looking piston system simply doesn't improve musically - the money is wasted. I can't believe that conservation and repairs cost more than gadgets and vanity, unless the craftsman doing the repairs charges more because they are much better at what they do, and you generally get what you pay for in this case. An instrument I have known (on and off) for nearly twenty years, has over this period received attention from an organ technician who is known to be remarkably 'cost-effective'. Some of this attention has involved essential repairs - patching leaks etc. - but there have been numerous tonal changes and additions: for example, the only 4' Principal in a manual division was replaced by a 4' string, a 16' reed was added that sounds like pebbles shaken in a jar, electronic pedal stops and console gadgets were added etc. etc. etc. After all of this, it still sounds to be short of wind, none of the stops blend, full organ makes the toes curl, and yet this was once a good instrument by a first-rate builder. A blind 'purist' approach might have attempted to restore the instrument to an imagined original state (long since lost), but a proper craftsman would have concentrated on the winding, action and voicing to return this beast to some form of musicality. The latter approach is unlikely to have cost more than all the additions, yet the result would have been far better - and musical once more.
  17. Happy New Year to all on the board - I only post sporadically but read often when I have time, and am always grateful to Mander and all contributors for the facility. This is a link to a BBC news article entitled 'Giant Polish piano could be the largest in the world'. Said piano seems to have a row of bright tin pipes laid horizontally over the top of the strings (with no visible wind supply) and possibly a few wooden pipes too - not sure. There was one camera close-up shot of the pipes, but no explanation. Am I seeing things, and does anyone know anything more? (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12100797)
  18. I played this instrument in 1995 while at school in the town. At the time the building was heavily carpeted with resulting total lack of reverb, and the instrument struggled to produce musical results. Somewhere I have a recording of Kodaly's Laudes Organi done in this church at the time with the local choral society, which disappoints on so many levels...
  19. Thanks for the pointer towards the website, but the sound quality is pretty poor (48kbps only), and I'm insufferably fussy. I've been offered an mp3 recording by PM - many thanks to those who offered help.
  20. Now there's a challenge that can't be ignored - there are only about 500 such units... I wouldn't mind another practice organ!
  21. Through a combination of flu and incompetence, I've missed the chance to listen again to the Hereford evensong broadcast from Hereford on the 17th. Has anyone grabbed a recording off iPlayer? Very grateful for any help!
  22. Awesome The top of the page has a link to an interview with the culprit, who admits to messing around during a recording session.
  23. Exactly what sort of an organ-building firm considers lead (or, probably more exactly in this case, pipe metal) to be hazardous waste?
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