ajsphead

No, sorry. There are large proportions of the concept that I just don't get. Call me a luddite if you wish, although I have been known to create some unusual compound stops, but it's always been via the Compton method of try it and see what gives the best response, not a slavish adherence to convention, which despite initial appearances, is what this looks like to me. Yes, you'll be able to create lots of different effects, but why? I know there's an argument in repertoire for it, but it's a very narrow repertoire for such a large number of odd pitched ranks. There are lots of other bits I am struggling with too. Doesn't look as forward thinking as they're proposing, and I have a suspicion that it will sound just a like a lot of similarly specified continental recital room organs, but just with lots of weird stuff too. Might always be proved totally wrong though. AJS

Have people ever flocked to organ recitals ? I know the answer is yes, but as a proportion of the total number of recitals in a given timespan, it would have been a lesser rather than greater proportion. I suggest we look at why they flocked when they did. I doubt it had much to do with the use of a bleating vox humana. The circumstances, within the context of society at the time, both musical and general point one in a certain direction. Access and cultural norms are relevant here. Also look where possible at the type of people who attended, and where the concert was. Marketing is still marketing, although I suspect we have been exposed to so much marketing that we grow tired of it, so the best type is sometimes a contrary or inverted type. Some scenarios of well attended events might be WT Best playing XXX Town Hall organ on a Saturday afternoon with a programme of transcriptions, authored works and some lighter pieces by Bach, Mendelssohn or one of the oft forgotten contemporary composers. Later we might see a concert of orchestral transcriptions and popular pieces in the Odeon Leicester Square MM would be able to point to a suitable performer as a Matinee performance. More recently we might have Carlo Curley in XXX town hall or St Prominent's parish church giving a typical programme the vein of which I suspect most of us are familiar. I accept that not every well attended recital comes into these categories, and none of it would really suit me, but look at what is being played, where, and by whom, in the context of the society of its day, and you may begin to form a picture of what can work. Also we have to look at community and tradition amongst other things. Closeness of the former in whatever context is relevant, and the existence of the latter in a form which promotes interest will have a further bearing on attendance. Beyond this one can start to draw parallels with choral concerts, again often not that well attended once you remove the groupies and rellys. We have to determine what a realistic baseline line is before deciding whether we are succeeding or not. AJS

Possibly an old varnish or button polish. See if white spirit will lift it but go easy with the belt sander and you'll be fine. AJS

My duaghter has also developed her first freckle. If I called her that I think my life would be terminated in a slow and painful way. AJS

I have recently had my learned and received wisdom on the earliest examples of spotted metal pipework, obviously not as we physically see it today, challenged. I would appreciate some additional comment on region, date, stop and builder, or any one of the four to expand my consideration. I am looking specifically for examples that predate 1850 so I can track development. Examples from both the UK and elsewhere are equally as valid. Many thanks AJS

I do think Colin is being unnecessarily bleak here. There is an element of retrospective regret that such things have happened in the past but we have moved on, and the quality of most English organ building has moved on, so these instances, thank goodness, are very few and far between. There are instances of changes to some prominent good quality instruments that I would like to see reversed, and there are some which really struggle with the challenges they and their custodians are faced with, and could really do with modification to meet them. It's not an ideal world but entrenched attitudes help no one as an important argument is destroyed. This is the point at which we say whether nothing can be changed, ie preservation, or whether we can use some part of the continuum entitled restoration. I do think many commentators and advisors get these muddled, with negative consequences for others, but a clarity of conscience for them. The good organs, from whoever made them, are musical, and the bad ones, bluntly, are not, regardless of how old, 'unique' (which is often part of the problem), or indeed loved, they are. The last one is often a particularly bitter pill for custodians to swallow. When we comment, I think we each can have a different vision of the organs we are relating our comments to. A balanced approach considers the best of the best all the way to the worst of the worst. Only a misguided judge would treat them the same way. AJS

I was thinking more in terms of a cooking mark 2 1300, chavved up on a South London council estate with a corrosion miracle MOT. The more exotic ones and many of the mark 1's were the implied caveat. I'm so glad you responded like that as it illustrates my point on the similarities in the debate. AJS

Yes, if you are interested, can be bothered to, can afford it, and the underlying construction is sufficiently sound. These are big ifs for a lot of communities and organs. For those for whom any one of the above is a sufficient stumbling block, an electronic is a simple, quick one step solution to an often pressing problem. For horizontal trumpets see the family service. AJS

Just to throw a small spanner in the works, an approach like this is often the invitation that organ custodians need to install an electronic instrument. I could, although I will not, list countless places that have seriously considered, and/or done just that when faced with a limited instrument. This is where discernment, knowledge, experience not just of organs but of reading situations, and judgement tempered with reality and responsibility come to the fore.This is a case by case approach. I would like to see an end to the use of the term untouched or similar as it is entirely unsupportable, but rather rankles the historic organ brigade upon which they place a great deal of their argument. It may seem on a macroscopic level to be the case, but on a microscopic level it holds as much water as a sieve. You just cannot know everything that has been done to an organ by the builders since it was installed. It's very easy to argue on the side of respect and conservation, but it is also a bit of a risk averse attitude. You'll never be condemned, but, and this is where scrutiny moves to an entirely different level, and not everyone has the stomach for the argument, have you done the best thing for the people as well as the organ. An organ can stand as good, if not a better chance of survival and promotion if it has the support of people than it does just for being there. This is not just a debate about organs, and that is something I think DAC's are well aware of, but not all organ supporters are. Apparently untouched examples of pedigree instruments are now generally excluded from the arguments, so custodians have what they have and if not already the case, need to learn and be proud of and responsible for what they have. Many are, and the organ is encouraged and promoted. This debate is not solely to do with organs, but is repeated across many spheres of involvement in such things as historic buildings, classic cars, historic landscapes and so on. This issues pro and con are remarkably similar. Education to a sufficiently high level is part of the argument. However, there are degrees of argument and the process is complex when reaching a solution. Custodians don't have to do as they have been advised, and indeed, I have heard many times, particularly from competent organists, that they would rather have an electronic that facilitates them to play, as they see it, proper music in the right sort of way, than do battle with a pipe organ that seems only to hinder them and does little for the worship in the church, or the entertainment of the audience. No amount of expert advice explaining to them how special their pipe organ is will make much difference. The reply regularly comes back 'Yes, yes I know all that, but it's of no use to me or the church'. Lo and behold, an electronic is installed, and the pipe organ sits, redundant, in the corner gathering dust, as if in a cheap museum. This is as much reality as the restoration and preservation of other instruments which it is very easy to laud. I'll draw a parallel to illustrate my point. Should every 1920's Rolls Royce be restored and preserved? Probably, virtually exclusively yes. Should every untouched 1970's ford escort be treated similarly? I suggest not, and furthermore, I suggest that the classic car world would be a lot less rich if they were. AJS

We have so many balancing acts to perform with organs, that I really do now judge on a case by case basis. It is simply impossible to consider any type of instrument as a type and therefore draw a conclusion from that. A I/6 with short compass pedal 16 is, on the face of it, next to useless for repertoire, but I have encountered some exquisite examples. Therefore what to do with those that are? We immediately have a split of opinion. Save it as it is or change it to make it more useful, and all the shades of grey in between. If there is a movement for change, I find myself erring on the side of leaving what is there and adding in such a way as to use the style of the original, the concept of the original, but providing the answers to today's questions. It is easy to identify the instrument, and it can be played as was, but you stand a greater chance, whatever your ability, and whatever the needs of the establishment in which it resides are, of it making some meaningful contribution to proceedings. Pedigree gives direction and focus to the argument, pushing it one way or the other towards an extremity, and sometimes having something basically sound, but of little note is a blessing. To have a free rein as we assumed we had in times past, to change what needs to be changed, and produce a new solution, is a little met situation now. Sometimes however, it's more common, and what we lack from those giving advice is discernment and confidence, and no unspoken agenda. As for electronics, I can countenance them, and indeed have advised people to install one if they don't want to go down the 2nd hand pipe organ route. With regard to what they have, if it's a heap of junk, chuck it out. Don't feel like you're wedded to a load of rubbish, and don't waste your money. An electronic will be the answer to your questions. For the sake of the customer, pussy footing about just isn't good enough. Notwithstanding the contribution above, as for an Osmond/Daniels extension organ well, yes, um ...., the original Vowles was quite nice. AJS

Ahh but rules is rules. Don't you just love our liberated society. AJS

My own church serves the needs of younger people and families very well and seeks to do so in a way the mainstream understands. We must be succeeding as over half the congregation on a Sunday are aged under 40 - this amounts to about 500 people. We seek to meet them where they are, and communicate with them in a way that is accessible to them. However, we realise that the forms of worship suitable to this group do not hold any interest, or act as a passage to worship for many others. It is wise here not to relate preferred style and age together, as one simply cannot. So we have a more reflective service for those who prefer it, and an early morning BCP communion for those who prefer that. Hence, four services every Sunday. Regardless of the style, what drives us is principally worship of the Almighty, and secondly, but clearly associated with it good standards in whatever style you are working. The organ, a fairly robust 3 manual mainly JWW is used at every service in a very varied capacity from sole music provider to integration with drums guitars piano brass woodwind etc, depending on the context. We are there to worship God and lift others to do the same, so really the style is secondary to the purpose. The purpose drives the style, conception and approach. AJS

I think perhaps there is a socio-historical point which I had overlooked, related to the time point in history. Both what you say, and what I say are valid I think. The difference is one of about 150 years of development in society, thinking, definition of population, and related migration and so on. That is to say, external influences changing the way the organ builder approached a given 'known fact', or the way in which something 'should' be done. I don't suppose there was any difference in attitude to speak of, certainly none of any significance related to the topic under discussion, of which I am aware, in early 18th Century Britain. However this does not detract from my approach suggesting caution, even in circumstances where the obvious seems prominently so. As you know, so many things go undocumented in this field, and human recollection can be far from accurate. Indeed, people often only know what they are told, and we have very little way of testing the source. AJS

To add to the mix a little further, I would be a little cautious about concluding upon the sound of the thirds in mixtures, regardless of district, and perceived or understood use. I draw upon what appears to me to be a strong argument for any application, namely that builders integrate the tierce, in Mixture or Sesquialter sometimes in similar, and sometimes in different ways, even when they have come from similar traditions and in similar periods. Indeed the same builder, if skillful will not always go down the same route. A simple listen to a Tierce mixture in original form dated about 1860 or so from Bishop, Walker, Hill or Willis will illustrate my point. Were our German organ building brethren so limited and didactic that the same would not apply? Further to this, I would add the caveat that I have added before. 'This organ is untouched from when ..... (insert name of famous composer) knew it'. Is it?, Really? How do you know? Are you unequivocally confident in your statement? If so, I admire your confidence. With, for example, 300 years of history there, temper the statement with a recognition of reality and likelihood, not a fond and likeable idea. Even the pipes can hide a lie if the lie was told long enough ago. AJS

I prefer the minimum amount of clutter possible. Cheapness of computing systems and electrical components makes it easy and attractive to add lots of pistons, switches etc. For normal service accompaniment, divisionals, and the occasional general do the job just fine, along with hand registration. Some pieces though, are very hard to play without a good set of general pistons; smoother and with fewer compromises. I was taught on one instrument that only had reversibles to the couplers, and have played on many other instruments with a minimum of registration aids, and so have become adept at hand registration, and the subtlety that it can bring. I am perfectly happy with the old ISOB console layout in terms of position of Swell pedals, pistons etc. I play an organ now with 6 divisionals and 8 generals, and find that 1-4 over 5-8 in the bass key slips is fine. Courtesy of the previous organist I also have 1-4 over 5-8 in the treble. I hardly ever use them, although there have been times with both hands near the top of the keyboard that they have been essential. I have a preference for vertical kneeboards and toe levers. They are much nicer for maintenance, and I suppose I just like the look and feel of them. My preference for thumb pistons is the P&S St Chad type, and I admit to really disliking the silly little buttons provided by some continental builders, and the horrid little short draw drawstop solenoids, however reliable they may be. The nicest feel to me is a t/pn Harrison drawstop. One day, all solenoids will feel as good as this. AJS

I suppose it's possible if the console was appallingly built and had enough flex in the key bench to cause the switch to contact (before you laugh, yes, I have known this happen), or the electrics took a quick trip into the ether and Handel came back stoned. A Bach remedy (google this if you're not familiar with it) would definitely be required. AJS

Considering we're talking about Easter greetings, I have to admit I enjoyed the sounds of Easter Monday more. The season opener at our local racing circuit is often much more tuneful, and a lot less noisy. Highly tuned small capacity V8s revving to about 10000 rpm, flat 4 alfas, heavily tuned turbo'd 5's with atmospheric bypass valves mmmmm...... AJS

Not allowing for complete ineptitude, there's something almost deliberate about this. Think about the location and type of control for a transposer. Why would you be touching it ? AJS

What a very nice, well rounded modern English organ. Congratulations to Nicholsons for meeting their brief so well. I did enjoy Matt Smith's performance although I'm not sure he's in the same league as David Tennant. AJS

Toccata Fugue and Hymn on Ave Maris Stella, nice if linked up with some suitable Tournemire, Ricercare, Vars on an original theme and Suite Modale. Don't really play the chorale based works. AJS

What always fascinates me about instruments from this period is how the mainstream English, French and German instruments have so many similarities and sometimes I think we concentrate too much on the differences. Pierre, do you know what the tradition of L'eglise Saint Thomas is ? This sometimes helps to understand the instrument more. Not to take anything away from this organ, but I suspect most instruments, even those with a dubious birth or pedigree would sound good in that acoustic. AJS

I often wonder why we don't hear more about the Bradford Annessens. AJS

At one church where I played, when weddings were more popular, 3 or 4 back to back on a Saturday was not uncommon. A strict rule on lateness was imposed after one day when the vicar cancelled a wedding service because the bride was more than 30 minutes late. He explained to the congregation that they were welcome to stay to the next wedding if they felt suitably deprived of a service. The bride did eventually turn up about 10 minutes before the next one, but I believe they were not cordially introduced. On the subject of when to stop playing, on a Sunday morning I stop at 11.00 prompt. For weddings I give them 10 minutes over, usually growing in banality or cheek as time passes. Popular music is a wonderful resource for this. This one, given the nature of many of the people getting married, and the British weather, from The Carpenters is particularly sweet. Talking to myself and feeling old Sometimes I'd like to quit Nothing ever seems to fit Hangin around, nothing to do but frown Rainy days and Mondays always get me down What I've got they used to call the blues Nothing is really wrong Feeling like I don't belong Walking around like some kind of lonely clown Rainy days and Mondays always get me down Funny but it seems I always wind up here with you Its nice to know somebody loves me Funny but it seems that it's the only thing to do To run and find the one who loves me What I feel is come and gone before No need to talk it out We know what it's all about Hanging around, nothing to do but frown Rainy days and mondays always get me down AJS

£50 for funerals involving 20 bars and 6 verses, hence £1.80 per bar is not unusual around here. (£1.80 being a reasonable amount to spend in the bar) AJS

This makes me regret all the more not listening and taking the advice from my first post school tutor, a recitalist based on the US eastern seaboard, who was never a church musician. He clearly spotted the problems and pointed me in the direction of a book to help alongside his tutoring. As a spotty 18 year old I thought I knew better, but did not. Having found the book many years later and begun to read it, nail upon nail was hit firmly on the head. Whilst I find the concept of 'self help' books a little grotesque, it has been of benefit, but I regret never tackling the issues raised to give me the ability to perform solo to a paying audience; so frustrating when you know the skills are there, but the mindset is not. At least my Sunday morning congregation gives a ripple of applause, and whether you think it's appropriate or not, it does make you feel good. AJS