Contrabombarde

In fairnes to our hosts I doubt I'm the only one who reads that as a tongue-in-cheek compliment!

Interesting observation. I often wonder where all the great minds are today, on a par with say Goerge Ashdown Audsley. He was first and foremost an architect, artist, illustrator, writer, decorator and expert in Japanese art yet on top of that determined to become the world's foremost organ designer, setting about to write the treatise of all treaises, The Art of Organ Building. Whilst one can scoff at his tonal concepts, I can think of noone who devoted more energy to producing a record of organ construction as it stood at that time in history. The execution of the book, the attention to detail in the diagrams (who else could devote an entire chapter to the construction of the manometer, the U-shaped glass tube that measures wind pressure?) partially makes up for his bizarre tonal ideas and it is easy to overlook how much work must have gone into such a book, in an age where there were no computers to aid with images and design, and for all I know it could have been written by candlelight. Who are today's equivalent polytalents?

Having heard Wayne Marshall from the back of the Bridgewater Hall in competition with I forget which orchestra it was for the Jongen organ concerto I actually thought the score was organ 1 orchestra 0. It's the only time I've heard that organ and wasn't actually expecting to hear very much at all from all I had read, so was quite pleasantly surprised. Maybe it's not as bad as it's sometimes made out to be!

The church is but one generation away from extinction (but before you get too worried, it always has been). So a question I'd be asking is what is the average age of the congregation in churches that predominantly use the BCP compared to the average age of those attending Common Worship and other contemporary styles of worship. Now, I hope noone would assess the spiritual strength of a church purely by the number of people on a Sunday, but there is surely merit in raising the question as to the sustainability of the congregation. My experience has been that young people tend to be put off attending churches with a predominantly older congregation particularly if the latter are not welcoming of young people. If the individual church takes the view that because we've always done it this way, we always will, and doesn't notice a gradual drop off as saints leave for sunnier climes, eventually there will be noone left. I do love the BCP service and don't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater. But I attend church in spite of the liturgy, not because of it. And I think, bringing back the thread to organs, that there remains a role for the organ just as much in the services of Common Worship as in the services of BCP.

I got a message from the vendor saying that the pipes were indeed Standaart and came from the Commodore, Hammersmith. If anyone is interested, I note htat they failed to find a bidder. On another website there is a brief description of the organ: 3 manuals, 10 ranks, built by the Dutch firm Standaart and opened by Harry Davidson: http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/23034 An old "78" recording of Mr Davidson playing this very organ also exists: http://www.theatreorgans.com/southerncross...0-%20Desert.wma

Funnily enough I was musing through the Anglican Common Worship Eucharist book yesterday during the service thinking how much improved the Eucharistic prayers are compared to the frequently-derided ASB of thirty years ago! I sometimes think Crammer would be overjoyed to think that five hundred years on we still use his services across the land; equally I sometimes wonder if he would be turning in his grave at the thought that five hundred years later we still use his language across the land rather than the current vernacular, the equivalent of its day being that which he gave his life for.

I spotted this on Ebay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Standaart-Labial...=item2a13fba941 A metal flue that apparently sounds like a clarinet....and what a shape those pipes are! I know of a few organs where multiple flue pipes per note have been used to imitate the harmonics of a reed, but never encoutered anything like this one before. Anyone else come across it?

Don't automatically discount the possibility of a video projector and laptop - screens can be made to fold away very unobtrusively and in the right hands the setup can be very versatile. You can choose exactly which verses and versions you use every time and the investment needed might not be that much different to equipping the church with a new set of books.

Zoom in sufficiently and indeed you will see that it is.

Whilst I understand the principle behind incumbent organists being paid a fee regardless of whether a service is rendered or whether a visiting organist plays instead, this rule can lead on occasions to considerable injustice. At one funeral I attended, the regular church organist insisted on getting his due, yet wasn't really so much an organist, as a pianist infront of an organ and a reluctant one at that. The family brought in a family friend, an internationally known performer and professor of organ technique, yet he volunteered his services freely. As the subject of gift aid has been mentioned, can some wise person please elucidate what exactly is the can of worms surrounding providing a service that one is quite legitimately paid for and subsequently and quite freely donating a comparable sum back to the church that one was paid by (as opposed to say Oxfam or the nearest Cathedral), provided that one observes the usual pre-requesite that the amount of tax payable equals the amount reclaimed through Gift Aid? Contrabombarde

Duuuuhhhhh - that very probably is correct now I think about it. Why in the world? But I did say I thought it looked like a Hill organ (Eton chapel) didn't I!

There's a rather strange looking organ with excessively long, Etonesque violones in the dining room at Malfoy Manor in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - here's a photo: The sequence was actually shot at Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire. But is this instrument really present, or is its case a victim of excessive computer graphics?

Hmm, what an interesting question. No idea if they've ever been catelogued, but several properties spring immediately to mind, all of which have organs of great interest whether or not they actually still work. Ones that I've played or heard played so know they work (at least within the last ten years or so!) are asterixed. Calke Abbey - 1 manual 1825 Flight and Robson http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi...ec_index=N00414 Kedleston hall - 2 manual Snetzler 1765, restored by Dominic Gwynn http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi...ec_index=D02535 All Saints Kedleston - 2 manual Hill, 1899 (unplayable) in divided case http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi...ec_index=D02318 Tatton Hall 3 manual Willis III, 1935 [*] http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi...ec_index=N02354 St Michael's Mount - 3 manual, 14 stop, originally Byfield 1786 [*] http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi...ec_index=D05198 Attingham Hall - 1 manual Samuel Green, 1788 [*] http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi...ec_index=N01747 Erddig Park - 2 manual 1865 Bevinton http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi...ec_index=D03324 Oxburgh Hall 1760 1 manual Elliot or Snetzler 1760 http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi...ec_index=N06566 Osterley Park 1788 1 manual Henry Holland, 2001 Goetze and Gwynn http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi...ec_index=R00800 If you are looking for a good place for a day out, don't forget English Heritage too, or houses in private ownership. Examples: Eccleston Hall Gray and Davison barrel organ 1838 http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi...ec_index=D06471 Blenheim Palace 4 manual Father Willis, 1891 [*] http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi...ec_index=N09565 Blenheim Palace chapel (next room to the library!) 2 manual Postill, 1853 [*] http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi...ec_index=N09566 Adlington Hall Father Smith 1670 [*] http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi...ec_index=N04410 Heaton Park (owned by Manchester City Council, 2 manual Green 1790 [*] http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi...ec_index=N01584

Personally I tend to only wear a hood on Sundays and it covers by back, not my face. For something a little different, how about Dunblane or Clifton? Not exactly British Romantic choral accompaniment territory but I think both stunning examples of their genre and either would keep me happy for many hours.

Wasn't there a famous photo of a former organist at St Clotide or one of the other big Parisian churches puffing away? I tried to find it on Google images but without success.

Take it electronically (other than in-copyright relatively recent works, most of the organ repertoire is available free somewhere of other these days) and perform via ipad or similar?

Probably because it is genuine: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-07-13/lady...02/?site=sydney Though that's a reason if ever there was for hiding organists in organ lofts behind dense curtains!

Interesting. The c.1900 Nicholson and Lord organ was thrown out of the church a few years ago and I believe was being replaced by a digital. The 4 foot Principal doesn't sound particularly special but is made of nice spotted metal and I managed to rescue it and give it a new lease of life as the facade to my home practice organ. (I have built a Hauptwerk console and conceal the speakers behind the facade of pipes.)

In which case all the more reason to follow the current Holt on Ebay and see what it fetches.

Worth adding that out-of-copyright editions such as those used by Dover (though I can't say if they are the same edition that Dover use or not) are often available online too as free pdfs - it can be very convenient to be able to print off just the pages you need, in a size that suits you, and spread the pages across the music stand to avoid pageturns.

There are a few harmoniums (or would they be American organs? what's the difference other than one blows, the other sucks) with electric blowers and full pedalboards which I presume were made for organists in days of yore for home practice who would have bought electronic organs except they hadn't yet been invented. I've never seen one in a church though - are there any examples of such instruments in churches? I would imagine they wouldn't be loud enough to fill anything but a small chapel which might explain their rarity. Here's one currently on sale on Ebay if someone fancies a major DIY challenge: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/LARGE-REED-ORGAN-OAK...=item5644fa3e0e

I've shared the story before on these fora of the wedding I played for once where the bride was 45 minutes late (despite living next door to the church). Having already played through all the wedding music in my "Bumper book of wedding and funeral music" at least a couple of times each I had no option but to proceed to the back of the book. Hence why the bride came in to the strain of the funeral march.... I've warned subsequent brides about this cautionary and true tale but amazingly it's never once happened since. And yes, another vote of support to Quentin for his sage comments - and also I would say to SL whoever he or she is for such kindness, tolerance and generosity. I'm evidently not the first person to have wondered what sort of church I'm in when in times past I've been scolded by fellow communicants for not bowing at precisely the "right" moment or the vicar can be berated for "disrespect" for not wearing a dogcollar (which would in any case have been concealed under layers of clerical garb). It goes back to the heart of what this thread is about - attitudes (and, I submit, how they can often be more important than outward behaviour).

Dr David Pitches will be playing at Shrewsbury Abbey's "Wednesday at One" series tomorrow, 6th July, 1pm. Johann Ludwig Krebs (1713-1780) Prelude and Fugue in C major John Stanley (1712-1786) Voluntary no. 9 in G major from Ten Voluntaries for the Organ or Harpsichord, Op. VII Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) Sonata no. 2 in C - Grave - Adagio - Allegro maestoso - Fugue Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) O Welt, ich muß dich lassen (“O world, I must now leave thee”) from Eleven Chorale Preludes, opus 122 César Franck (1822-1890) Choral no. 3 in A minor Proceeds will go towards the organ restoration fund.

I think this old French children's song takes the biscuit for me. It's a big hit with my Congolese coworkers here in Africa but to spare blushes I suggest you enter it into Google Translate if you really want to know what it means and don't already speak fluent French: http://translate.google.com/#fr|en| De nos jours on recommence les efforts surnaturels, On se creuse le cerveau pour rebatir la tour de Babel, Pour aller jusqu’a la lune meme a Mars si tout va bien, On depense des fortunes, la ou on trouve les moyens! REFRAIN: Nous depasserons la lune, la planete Mars aussi, A travers la voie lactee en vitess, mon ami. Nous irons aupres de Jesus, notre bien-amie Sauveur, Qui nous montrera le ciel et ses splendeurs. Il ne faut pas de poussee par une fusee engin. Quand nous quitterons la terre, ce sera par l’Esprit-Saint. Astronautes, cosmonautes seronts dans l’etonnement, En voyant ce grand spectacle par la main du Tout-Puissant. (REFRAIN) Nous entendrons la trompette: Jesus-Christ apparaitra. Et la tour si magnifique de Babel s’ecroulera. On verra ce grand mystere prepare par l’Eternel, Lorsque sans fusee engin, sans spoutnik, nous irons au ciel. (REFRAIN) Jamais tu ne pourras dire: je n’avais pas les moyens. C’est uniquement par grace, le billet ne coute rien. Car en Jesus-Christ Lui-meme, Dieu paya pour nous le prix, Les maisons sont preparees pour nous tous au paradis. (REFRAIN) Mon ami, toi qui m’ecoutes, auras-tu ton passeport? Te suffira-t-elle la lune? Ou veux-tu la ville d’or? Si tu veux donner a Jesus tout ton coeur en cet instant, Tu pourras te joindre a nous pour t’en aller en triomphant. (REFRAIN)

Having heard in recital and played Malvern Priory I am surprised it hasn't appeared on this list yet as it is surely very fine, vintage Rushworth.