emsgdh
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Posts posted by emsgdh
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Friends:
Sorry to appear dim, daft or both. but where and how does one watch/hear the service we're discussing ?
KMW
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Dear MM:
Just the opposite really. The space is the PERFECT vehicle for the Novus Ordo. Can't imagine anything finer.
Just set up an ironing board and go to town.
The organ swells and all sing "Here I am, Lord." Video monitors keep all together.
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Very best wishes to David Stevens as he prepares to take up his new post at Belfast Cathedral. He has a daunting task head of him, but I'm sure it can be done!
I'm sorry to act or to appear dim on this subject. What is wrong at Belfast ? What has happened ? In the states, we're often the last to learn of particular problems or challenges.
Please inform.
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And I object to you saying that the technicians didn't care, when you are in no position to know. I will say no more on the subject.
So let it be written ! So let it be done !
Assuming that the techs actually DO care, based on the very inconsistent result, one can only conclude that either incompetence or the boogey man is to blame.
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I accept that the broadcast in question was a bit shaky operationally. What I objected to in Dr Wyld's response was that this was typical of the BBC screwing up musical balance. In general, I believe the technical and operational standard is pretty high.
As far as accepting is concerned, I accept that Dr. Wyld was spot on in his comments. I object to the insincere scrable to find a cloak to drape oneself in "Divine Worship." Oh, please.
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It's oh so easy to take a pop at professionals who work their socks off to bring you a wealth of high quality entertainment for the princely sum of £145 a year. Would you rather have had the signal hit the limiter as it made its way through a transmission network that is no longer part of the BBC? There is very little time to set these programmes up and quite likely no full rehearsal.
I think the guys and girls do a very good job and I wish they weren't criticised by those who do not take into account the circumstances on the day and expect recording studio quality done entirely "off the cuff".
I have listened with care and special interest to the broadcast. I think that sound of the choir is captured nicely. The Vierne was surely recorded with the same mic set-up. The constant fiddling with the knobs by the engineers is a bit sick making. Let's make it clear what's at work here: one of our greatest cathedral organs, one of our finest artist/organists playing music that he understands intimately, laid waste by recording techs that could care less.
The comments made by others here re: muddiness and lack of clarity, display a complete lack of understanding of the French organ tradition. Within limits (and there are ALWAYS exceptions) the registration "is what it is." It is an orchestration and one simply doesn’t make free with the composer's indications. Colin Walsh's playing is a model of clarity and of thrilling, romantic expression. IT IS THE RECORDING that mars the performance.
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You know exactly what I mean about the licence fee, so your comment is sheer cynicism, as are your snide remarks about the lack of skill in "BBC Repertoire".
If you have, like me, spent your career as a broadcast professional - and I was not aware of you working for the BBC - then your remarks are even more unreasonable than I first thought.
To suggest that the Vierne, the least important part of the entire broadcast, can be successfully balanced at the end of the transmission, with just a sound test and old notes from previous visits to the Cathedral, shows a lack of understanding on your part.
In terms of the performance, I think we can agree that it was pretty good.
The expression "pretty good" is not to be used with a prince such as Colin Walsh.
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I almost blew a fuse when I read this, because I know Carlo Curley quite well.......then I realised my mistake!
"He to whom you refer" is, without doubt, quite disturbing at so many levels, and whether there is real madness or not, (something for which I have a great deal of empathy), there is absolutely no doubt that the text-book has been re-written in terms of technique.
I'm quite confident that similar labels were attached to Franz Liszt, and he too must have been extremely disturbing to even very gifted performers.
Being a "man of the world" so-to-speak, I think I am aware of certain things, and yes, I detect a certain manic drive and perhaps a certain detached intensity, but if art is the nearest thing to life, then the music perhaps proves this.
There is no doubt in my mind that even at the purely technical level, there are things of which we need to take note, because the boundaries have been stretched for all time, simply because someone has shown that it is possible.
The improvisations I find fascinating and disturbing in equal measure, and the old saying that genius is next to madness, springs readily to mind.
MM
Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear !
What a stupid blunder on my part. I was NOT referring to Carlo. Although we are not exactly friends, we know and respect each other. Carlo is not exactly an organist after my heart, although we would probably agree about many more things than we would disagree about. Whatever reservations I've had about Carlo were put to rest forever on the day that I, quite but accident, found a you tube of him playing the Dupre g minor P&F at Chester. Simply marvelous, brilliant even. Hard to imagine it better. I know I can't play it that well !
No, the person to whom I referred is the much younger and slimmer CC. Carlo is a tower of mental health, a virtual Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm compared to the other one.
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I believe I found out about the New College webcasts on this forum. I've been listening regularly and I'm terribly impressed. I knew the Choir was up there with the best, but over the last few months I've been mightily struck by how good the organ sounds in accompaniment. I've never been one of those who regarded it as a freak, or a child of its time, and I've liked it on the few occasions I've heard it live, but I'm quite bowled over with both it and the way it's handled on these broadcasts.
Confess I had to hear this to believe it. But, sure as shootin' - the psalm and Stanford in C, excellent, the organ skillfully handled and effective. I'm shocked. Foundations modest, but lovely, with a nice cantabile quality, just adequate for the chapel. Of course, it's clear as a BELL.
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This jolly good fun picture shows Carlo Curley playing on 4 manuals at once!!
:(Of course, nothing real here, just a posed snap pretending to convey serious artistic intentions. A title of "Fantasia" would be fitting.
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Actually, on reflection, I think that the recording I mean is at Coventry - but has Walter Hillsman playing. This is, for me, the definitive recording of this work.
I'm not surprised that YOU like this. He plays nicely, eh ?
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Oh yes! The You Tube clip of Thomas Murray playing Schumann is just extrordinary, and you're right there at the console watching him.
Of course, another very good exponent of thumbing down is Jelani Eddington playing theatre organs, but for clever tricks, Cameron Carpenter not only thumbs down, he fingers up at the same time; using three manuals with one hand.
MM
Clever tricks do not a musician make. Techniques like Francis Jackson and Melville Cook, which are very nearly transcendental (Germani), or in our own time, David Briggs, have produced great, great music. CC enjoys a reputation on this side of the pond that has almost nothing to do with art and the pursuit of the beautiful and expressive. One flees before his very destructive madness. MM, trust me, it's a scary thing. Dr. Freud's couch would catch fire by just being in the near vicinity. The public will pay money to witness the unspeakable. But if they only knew !
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A very interesting observation, and I know that when I played the Reger "Hallelujah!" for my finals, it was the fulfilment of an ambition
I had nurtered for a long time. Furthermore, I wanted it to be like Germani....no compromises and no excuses.....but I'm not sure that I ever got close to that. However, I do know that I spent a long time listening and re-listening to what Germani did, and I think I may humbly be able to shed a little light on this.
I'm sure that much of the clarity derives from the most immaculate phrasing, in which there is considerable daylight. (Listen to the opening of the fugue from Selby....it dances onto centre stage like a ballerina). He picked his fingers up as well as he put them down, and without that, Reger's music can become very obscure and flat-line. More than this, Germani had that rare gift of symmetry, where each repetition of a theme or motif was played with great consistency of phrasing; again driving the music along and bringing great order to the often considerable development of those phrases. Even his feet seemed to have the gift of musical wings, dancing ever so lightly and with tremendous precision.
Another trick which Germani used, was to change the notes to advantage. In a quiet passage, there is a wonderful moment where he thumbs down to highlight, very subtley, the theme of the chorale, and then he changes back as the melody ascends to the treble line. It is a small but priceless detail, but not one which Reger cared to indicate.
My conclusion would be that Germani had a rare sense of musical architecture, combined with innate musicianship and a flawless technique. Any of these qualities is remarkable in itself, but as with Francis Jackson as well as Germani, when they combine, it elevates them to the very highest level of musical art.
Breathless is the perfect word.
MM
PS: I'm sure Nigel Allcoat can tell us more.
It's very impressive that you've learned and performed this very difficult work. Your observations gain enormous weight thereby. Your view, from the inside out, makes perfect sense. I love your description of the fugue subject coming out dancing - absolutely, absolutely - and that Germani keeps it so with every entry. Clever of you to pick out the thumbing down, a technique that is fortunately coming back into use. Over here, Farnam and his pupils used it extensively in the period 1920-50. Of course, any mention of it during the 60s and 70s was verboten. Thomas Murray is now perhaps its most eloquent exponent.
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Never heard of him!
Oh well, perhaps he was just prejudiced, but to be honest, I don't fully understand his comments if he admired Elgar so much. After all, Elgar's music is lyrical, often contrapuntal, frequently extended and highly chromatic, so I fail to see why JRM could not have been impressed by the music, let alone the performance.
As I've oft repeated, to have heard Germani live was one of the greatest privileges of my youth, and yes, the way he combined the heroic with such contrapuntal clarity, in what is often quite dense and dark music, made Germani a giant of interpretation and flawless technique.
There were/are others of course......Kynaston, Preston and Melville Cook, with Heinz Wunderlich the natural successor to the title of "Reger maestro."
MM
Dear MM -
As usual, what you have written is so very, very perceptive. Your contributions keep us all coming back for second and third helpings.
I believe that Kynaston received this ability from Germani. Didn't know that Melville Cook played Reger but it would be easy for his particular combination of musicianship and technique. As for Preston, again I agree. His Reger is EXCELLENT but in ways that I'm not clever or perceptive enough to describe. It IS different from Germani. Lastly, when we listen to Heinz Wunderlich, it's apparent that we're very close to the horse's mouth. His Reger has a unique combination of ease, naturalness and exaltation that I assume was his legacy from Straube. It has AUTHORITY.
But, there remains something elusive about Germani and Reger. How can anything is this world be so close to perfect ? It's really so good, so totally right at all times. I think the secret is his huge technique, always relaxed. Of course, he sorts out the musical difficulties and makes them less daunting and oppressive. Aside from the visceral thrill of all that big, very English organ sound, at the end of the day it's always the astounding clarity that leaves me breathless.
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All I can say, is that whenever I used to go into Bank's music shop in York, the conversation with the staff would always eventually turn to "Francis." It would then invariably move swiftly to the Willan recording, where we would run out of superlatives very quickly. Eventually, it was just an exchange of nods and gestures, with everyone agreeing on the word definitive.
Unfortunately, I would then be quickly drawn to the matter of a certain conversation I had with "Francis" as a fifteen-year-old youth, when I quietly teased him about the start of the Bossi Scherzo on the Great Cathedral series.
Listen to this carefully, and you will detect a slight change in accents, as he starts ON the beat, when it should be OFF the beat, but then turns it almost undetected into the right rhythm.
So having teased the poor man, he grimaced and gave one of his "Oooooh's," then said, "How very kind of you to mention it, I hadn't noticed."
There are moments in life when one regrets having a sense of humour, and I've been living this one down for over 40 years, even if the staff at Bank's found it hilarious.
MM
OK - KNOW I understand you. Everything is illuminated. It's a life long habit.
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Oh well, if you haven't got the pedal technique to play descants with your feet..................
MM
I prefer the Solo Tuba to Pedal for such occasions.
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This is why I mentioned Walmisley; one of the earlier composers in the canticles category. Wasn't he London based originally?
Pimlico springs to mind, but I haven't checked.
However, David Harrison, although making an excellent point about public school choirs and choir schools, actually misses the target.
The astounding thing, (and it IS astounding), is that the parish music movement began in the parishes, but may well have poached experienced adult singers from the nonconformists and the early choral societies. (I think I'm right in saying that the Halifax Choral Society started in the early part of the 19th century, and may have had a connection with Mendelssohn somewhat later).
The great threat to the C-of-E was the growth of nonconformist denominations; many of which (such as the Methodists and Congregationalists) developed a fine tradition of choral singing. We should never underestimate the Congregational church, in which they not only sang hymns and anthems, but pointed psalms also; people like Dr Gauntlett travelling around the country to teach the art of pointed psalm-singing and chants. (The "Songs of Praise" hymn book is a goldmine of fine hymns and chants).
When it comes to school-choirs, we can more or less forget it, because in the inner cities, there was virtually no education for children of any age, other than the bare minimum of Sunday School teaching.
The following comes from a Leeds City Council web-site, which very usefully covers the history of Leeds:-
Most poor children had little or no education. In the early 1800s Sunday Schools taught reading, writing and arithmetic. Lancastrian and National Schools were founded in Leeds. There were also factory schools like the one founded by John Marshall, and there were church Schools. But few children went to school at all, and those that did went for only a short time - for about 4½ years between the ages of 4 and 9. The Education Act of 1870 led to the foundation of Board Schools, which provided free elementary education, compulsory from 1876. Provision of free secondary education followed.
The importance of Leeds cannot be underestimated, and when Dr Hook became the incumbent at the parish church, his overriding priority was the education of children. A giant in the history of the city, it is hardly surprising that a large bronze statue is erected in the City Square to his memory. However, his example and the Leeds model, soon found backing from the many progressive liberals, (many of whom were connected with the growth of the Congregational churches), and they were succesful in bringing about compulsory schooling as a legal requirement, with the estabishment of Board Schools etc. It actually went further than this in certain places, such as Bournville and the village of Saltaire, just down the road from me. At the latter, Sir Titus Salt not only created a massive factory complex, (based on Alpaca wool and Mohair), but also built a model village, where there was a hospital, alms houses, a town hall, beautiful open spaces and parks, but more importantly, child welfare and education as well as a very fine library. (The Cadburys were quakers, if I recall correctly).
What were the great pastimes for the factory workers and their families, and who developed those pastimes?
The answer is music: especially choral music and brass band music, with glee clubs bands and choral societies springing up here there and everywhere. The people who organised all this and trained the members, were usually local organists, and so effective was the campaign, special trains were arranged so that choirs and bands could partake in the many festivals around the country, in the spirit of friendly rivalry which still exists to-day in the brass band movement.
It was from this, and partly due to the need to recruit new blood, that school music took off, and many spectacularly good choirs emerged as a result. (I sang in just this sort of school choir, where the standard was phenomenal).
Let's not forget that the middle classes are a product of the scientific and industrial age, and at that time, you were either a landowner, an industrialist (possibly both), one of the few highly educated professionals or a member of the working class, and the extraordinary explosion in brass and choral music came from the grass roots of the latter; completely confounding the indifference and arrogance of what the C-of-E had become in those early days of the industrial revolution, and which had led to the breakaway non-conformist denominations. It was the genius of clergymen like Dr Hook which exploited and championed this extraordinary groundswell movement, as at Leeds PC; setting the official seal of approval on art, education, self improvement and the need to develop an educated middle class, capable of meeting the needs of new technology, science and social cohesion.
When it comes to choral music, the glees were important, and when the Tractarian movement powered its way around the nation, putting art-music to religious use, it was but one small step to founding big church choirs. Many local organists turned to composing: some successfully and others less so, but at my local Anglican Church, I used to rifle through reams and reams of copper-leaf, hand-written manuscripts. These consisted of anthems and service settings composed by a former O & C; the son of a local 19th century industrialist by the name of Marriner. (I don't know if they're still there in the music cupboards).
Presumably, others did similar things, but I expect that the best music survived, while most of the local compositions fell out of reglar use as better material came onto the market.
How is my PhD coming along?
MM
I'd say your PhD is coming along VERY nicely. I find your writing on this topic some of your very best, your thoughts fresh and beautifully organised.
You are less compelling when defending Pedal Organ Mixtures 8rks (19.22.26.29.33.36.40.43).
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I'm sure you don't have to apologise. It can get quite complicated with Compton, as I'm sure you will appreciate. However, the organ at Trinity was certainly a large one to start with, and the extension ranks are relatively few. As you will know, the City Hall instrument has a pedal division of some 33 stops, (including 5 or 6 percussions which had Bairstow in an apoplectic state), but almost all the flues are entirely straight. (20 + ranks of them!)
The information about the two-note polyhone pipes is interesting.
With regard to empliyees going to other companies, I am grateful for the Casavant connection. Another former employee ended up in Australia.....Lawrence I think, was his name....I have the details somewhere. He continued to build fine examples of extension organs, which are highly regarded down under.
I'm still absolutely intrigued by the possible H,N & B connection, and even more intrigued by the Compton supply of Mixture ranks to one of the American greats, Walter Holtkamp.
It occured to me yesterday, that all this shredding away of the outer-wrapper, to reveal the contents, simply wouldn't have been possible before the computer age, but so quick and efficient is the internet, I constantly find things in the most unexpected of places.
Of course, putting meat back on the skeleton is going to be much more difficult....and creative. Without company records, and only anecdotal information, any semblance to chronology really has to be abandoned, which is how people tend to write about things past as a kind of structure and discipline. That's why it has to be a creative undertaking, but at least the patents shine a little light on the development and chronology.
I wonder, did Compton switch entirely to war-effort work during WWII?
Does anyone know?
The reason I ask comes from a statement I read, which includes the line "........after the war in 1947, Compton resumed building organs."
If they were only involved in war-work connected with electrical equipment (?) and RADAR, it makes the output of the firm even more impressive in London, because it would reduce actual organ production time to about 20-25 years.
MM
"Fools rush in where wise men fear to tread."
I know VERY little about the Holtkamp outfit and less about Compton, but there is a Compton polyphone in the Holtkamp organ at the Episcopal Cathedral, Cincinnati, Ohio. Walter Holtkamp, Sr. was fond of big pedal cornets of the 32' harmonic series. If any mixtures were sent over to Holtkamp I would wager that it was a pedal 32' harmonics thing. In the late 30s, G Donald Harrison installed a polyphone at the Curtis Institute, Philadelphia AND a four rank cornet of the 32' series. I believe that the polyphone came from Compton. I'm not sure if the pedal cornet was made in South Boston, but I believe it was. The same stop is in the Mormon Tabernacle organ. He always gave Compton the credit for the IDEA. I remember seeing THREE polyphones in a Presbyterian church in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I believe that they each were supposed to play four notes. They were not effective, at least in 1971. The single one in Curtis Hall had at least four good notes - G#, A, A# & B - and, on rainy days, the low G. The problem for me was the noise of the valve mechanism. It was obtrusive during soft passages. Finally, there was at least one Compton polyphone in the Aeolian-Skinner rebuild of the old Roosevelt Chicago Auditorium organ that went to Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. W. H. Barnes who gave the organ to the University, had the old job removed from the Auditorium/Hotel and it was stored in Evanston, Illinois during WWII (cellar of 1st Baptist Church). During the very difficult removal, low F# of the 32' Open Wood was dropped and broken. It and the six larger pipes were sold to a lumber coy. (unblemished timber). When the organ was installed in Bloomington it was with a polyphone (Compton) to play the now missing notes. Tradition holds that after Marcel Dupré played the Liszt "Ad nos" at the dedication, the Pedal trill toward the end of the Fugue so rattled the mechanism that it never sounded it notes properly again.
Casavant had their own system for obtaining more than one note from large-scale pedal open woods. I am personally familiar with two organs in Toronto where the 32' flue works superbly AND quietly.
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I completely agree with pcnd5584 here. I have had the pleasure of attending many lunchtime recitals in Coventry over the past year or two and have never come away disappointed; the organ seems to suit whatever style of music is played on it and is always thrilling. The sound of the Swell reeds coming through the Great foundation chorus as the box is opened makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and the Swell Oboe used as a solo stop is sublime. If you ever visit Coventry do make a trip to hear the organ as the recordings do not do it justice. Sit a few rows down in the nave and prepare to be transfixed! (It is also one of the friendliest cathedrals I have visited with the musical staff always delighted to chat about the organ of which they are justifiably proud).
I'm glad of this last and others who have spoken in praise of the Coventry instrument. I think that I mentioned that several players that I know and respect have great admiration and affection for this organ. So beware the Coventry number in the GCO series. Mics have a way of hearing what THEY want to hear. In the case of the voice, it can be even more perverse. Kathleen Ferrier said that the only one of her records that sounded anything like her voice was the Alto Rhapsody. The late John Steane remarked that the microphone "heard" things that his ears did NOT.
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This is a continuation of my very personal reactions to hearing these “records” some forty years after the period when I played them incessantly and to the distraction of my poor family. None of these comments are intended to wound or offend and I apologise in advance for any statements that the board might find controversial.
My last included a very brief overview of nos. 1-7. I failed to mention two bonus tracks of Simon Preston playing at the Abbey. This player, more than any other, was the inspiration of my youth. Some twelve years older than I, his playing totally captured my imagination. Just to begin, has anyone ever “owned” the Abbey organ as does he ? There is total and utter naturalness in everything, every stop change, every movement of the swells. There is clarity at all times, perfect unanimity in touch, incredible evenness and absolutely NOTHING is left to chance. There is also a distinctive brilliance and élan. All is animated and “sprung.” He is a modern player in every sense, just as Lionel Dakers playing is old time, courtly and obviously of a different era. I doubt that this playing of the Howells Set 2 No.1 Ps. Prelude will ever be equaled. One is reminded of Virgil Thomson’s comment about Landowska playing the harpsichord better than anyone else plays anything.
8) Llandaff: I wish that I could find something, anything to like or admire here.
9) Durham: I found myself less fond of this number at 61 than at 18. However, Conrad Eden is a master, make no mistake. The programme is interesting, and, with the Schoenberg, unique. The Milnar and Harris pieces are beautiful and are played elegantly . My enthusiasm for the Karg-Elert has dimmed over the years, but it is a fine romp. The organ is a bit of a war-horse and its full power inclined to suggest the brutal. Boxing gloves come to mind or a giant treading on small forest creatures. One appreciates the intimacy of the Choir Organ. Pity its Open has gone away.
10) Hereford: Hard to beat the combination of this splendid organ, wonderful programme and playing which is masterly in all contexts. This is an organist who could surely go to the piano and play major works with ease. One senses a player for whom nothing is impossible and everything, no matter how difficult, is managed with ease and with plenty of room to spare. This is not to imply detachment, for Dr. Cook is a very intense player and is fully “present” as an interpreter at every moment. The music is so successfully set forth and “put over” that one never thinks about the instrument not being suited to the repertoire. Enjoyment is the byword here. And real virtuosity.
11) Salisbury: One of the great organs of the world at the hands of a golden player of imagination and sweep. We may not use Tubas in Franck today, but this organist can do nothing that is not first and last musical. Never liked the Vox Humana ? Wait ’till you hear this one. The Saint-Saens is delicious, the flutes “kissing” the vaulting. The big Nielsen work is not to be missed; powerful and formal in its message. The final C Major resolution is a thing of glory. Who was it that once said that Fr. Willis imagined a sound worthy of an English Cathedral and then built it ?
12) Norwich: One should confess that few of us who read and/or contribute here will have a career as distinguished as Heathcote Statham. Perhaps one could say that this is the other end of the spectrum from the young Simon Preston. We are listening to a very senior player, but a fine one who can still get around a bit. The Karg-Elert Pastel is lovely with superb expression and an excellent Cor Anglais. The big organ sounds nice. It’s hard for us today to understand his approach to 17th century music. I don’t believe that the Dorian Fugue should have been approved for release. The Stanley pastiche comes off best with rather jaunty use of the fine Tuba.
13) Ely: For me, this has always been the most regrettable number of the set. The liner notes did not take into consideration that the Great and Pedal reeds had been revoiced. The enormous reputation that this organ enjoyed as the first cathedral organ of the A. Harrison/Col. Dixon team is not born out by the sounds on this disc. To give the organist credit, he rarely if ever deviates from the registration called for by this largely French programme. However, one must observe that there is not one moment of beauty, never the slightest gesture toward expressive, sensitive playing. There are many false notes, split notes and melodic lines during which the feeble legato is simply abandoned. Tempi are erratic to put it kindly and there is not a single evenly played bit of passage work to be heard. It is unrelieved honking and lurching from pillar to post. The Vierne Naiades goes in and out; good for a few measures and then . . . The organist’s own Introduction and Allegro is effective and played with conviction. Toward the end, the flue chorus alternates with the crushing of rocks and the sawing of stones.
14) Worcester: Who was the wag that characterised the Harrison/Dixon concept as Hope-Jones with needles ? Well, not to put too fine a point on it, here it is in the flesh. But Christopher Robinson knows how to make it work, Diaphones and all. He is a magician and a musician. Amongst the organists of the series who attempt music not compatible to their particular instrument, he is the closest to succeeding and with distinction. I dislike on principle any mucking about with the registration of the composer. Christopher Robinson gives us what amounts to a transcription of the Franck Piece Heroique. In my opinion, it is brilliant. I wouldn’t teach a student to do this, but it is a superb conception. When this man plays, the sun shines. All is well-planned and inevitable. About the organ: to read the stoplist is to groan with dread. One can hardly believe that he obtains such convincing results. The Peeters chorale preludes are not only beautifully played but the organ sounds superb. We shall have to ask ourselves if this is lovely old Hill soft work or, horrors, something from the H-J shop. You will not be able to keep from smiling as you listen to this very enjoyable disc.
15) Westminster Cathedral: It’s hard to pick a winner out of so many remarkable numbers (Salisbury, Hereford, et al) but this one has always enjoyed a unique distinction. The playing is so wonderful, every moment, every phrase, that one gropes for superlatives. Suffice it to say that even where the registration has been varied from the composer’s indications, this recording would be valuable as a lesson in itself, quite beyond the pleasure it gives the listener. The naturalness and expressivity in the Franck are special. At all times one senses the full range of emotions that the composer suggests. There is rapt stillness and there is heady thrill; in short, the gamut. And then there is the organ. Have you ever imagined a crescendo from fff to ffff ? This organ can do it. Listen to the end of the Franck a minor. It is staggering power, but with a difference. It is not at all like the Durham full organ. There is considerable clang-tone from these reeds, not to mention incredibly even voicing. NK gives us some exotic moments that are a tad off the beaten path: shimmering strings, rich clarinet, enchanting mutations and fine French Horn. These are “moments” only as before very long we are back to the composer’s indications. This recording is pure music making. We were not so fussy in those days about the Sw/Ped during the dash to the end of the Franck Chorale.
16) Canterbury: These are, in my opinion, performances more to be admired than to be enjoyed, per se. Everything is intense, every moment. The First Mendelssohn Sonata is clear and driven very hard. The second movement is charming. Overall, the interpretations represent very personal views. They are convincing in their way. There is no lack of prep here. He knows where he is going and who is going with him. The organ sounds good.
17) St. Paul’s: The producer informs us in the notes that Dr. D-B had declined earlier on and so this number is also played by Christopher Dearnley. I call him the golden player. There is a burnished shine to all his playing. We are given an unforgettable tour of the reeds. Like Exeter, Worcester, Canterbury, Lincoln & Chester, there is a complete Mendelssohn Sonata. And a thing of beauty it is: playing, registration, the lot. One commentator heartily dislikes these old-fashioned, cathedral treatments. I have a hard time imagining them otherwise, although the critic is surely right. There are opportunities to hear some of the now discarded bits: the Dome Tubas, the Lewis Diapason Chorus and not least, HWIII’s chirpy little Choir Koppelflöte. The performance of the Howell’s Ps. Prelude is memorable; the build up is epic here. The old job, not long away from its major rebuild, pants now and again.
18) Lincoln: A beautiful organ, beautifully played. Everything is “central” here. The organ that seemed old-hat to the progressives of the fin de siècle is so very right to these ears. There are no exaggerated sonorities or effects. Philip Marshall seems incapable of a mis-step, of committing an unmusical act. His legato is out of the ordinary in its totally vocal quality. The Brahms chorales are superb: beautiful singing lines everywhere. The music, the organ and the player seem to inspire each other in turn. “O Welt” receives a definitive interpretation. Aside from a rather pedestrian Mendelssohn Sonata (No.5) everything here is desert island material. This last of FHW’s cathedral organs is smooth and refined but still capable of providing fireworks.
19) Chester: Both organ and organist have long been admired, one might almost say loved by those who appreciate cathedral music and fine playing. The Allegretto movement of the Mendelssohn No.4 is lovely. The final movement played at just the right tempo, everything sounding splendid and glorious, long to reign over us. The organ is fresh from the hands of R&D, and until the sharp mixtures intrude, all seems to come off decently and in order. Whatever one’s prejudices, there is something so very English about these Hill reeds. I enjoy Roger Fisher’s Stanley Voluntary very much. He must have been keen to show off his newly-acquired mutations; beautiful touch and articulation here. One of my favourite Bach P & Fs - the seldom heard g minor 535 - with spectacularly naughty manual changes in the Prelude. The programme ends with the Reubke 94th Psalm.
Bonus: Selby Abbey/Fernando Germani - This is one of those recordings that have to be heard to be believed. Few discs of the period were more popular and/or admired. We have waited too long for this reissue ! My first organ teacher had a hard policy about Reger. He felt that the Germans should show their high regard for his works by not allowing them to be played outside the Fatherland. Clearly, he had never listened to this amazing performance on a superb late Hill. It is like the stars came together and music, performer and instrument produced a miracle. When you hear this, you will realise that I am not exaggerating.
Bonus: Norwich/Brian Runnett - Personally, I prefer old-time, Novello edition treatments of Bach (my first teacher called it “cathedral” Bach) to most attempts to play Franck on the typical English cathedral organ. Oddly, there have been more successes in the above series than the expected failures ! Most have been more or less transcribed in terms of the registration. Like everything Brian Runnett touched this is nothing less than excellent. That I don’t particularly care for it is immaterial. It is immaculate playing, very carefully planned and laid out. The very tricky Brahms Fugue is, in my opinion, much better, and a better match to his sensibilities. The Reger is better yet and the organ sounds best here. I rather regard this instrument as a cut below some of the others in the series, although clearly streets ahead of one or two of them.
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I am getting more anxious by the day and dead jealous of the rest of you...my set duly arrived, but my wife has hidden them for a Christmas present...still, it'll give me something to do over the holidays!
I have had a look at the gramophone archive and here are a couple more links:
canterbury Link.
Selby Selby.
Actually, the Franck Chorales are NOT amongst the bonus offerings. It's only (!) the big Reger from another LP.
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I can't remember the last time that MM contributed a piece without worth or humour or both. The above is a testament to same. He is correct, as always. BUT -
I'm sure MM would admit that Thuringian Pedal Organs as well as those of the great C-C (St. Sulpice !) are, at best, skeletal. They are superior to ours in their balance and clarity. The Dutch and North-German school give us well-developed Pedal Organs that can, for many of us, be a pleasant experience. The automatic manual / pedal balance is perhaps the greatest dividend that this pays. But however admirable these well-developed choruses appear on paper, they remain, for me, the last thing on my list of desirables.
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Define 'proper'...
I don't believe scholarship - modern or otherwise - is always beneficial.
Couldn't agree with you more. At last someone has said it !
One is NOT suggesting ignorance. Musicianship and common sense, the search for the beautiful and the expressive are of soooooooo much more value.
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It occurs to me that I've said nothing about the recorded sound.
This set was literally crying out for digital remastering and transfer. The LP really couldn't contain the info the mikes picked up. Again, some numbers were better than others. Durham must have been a bit of a trial for the engineers. Things are pushed to their limits at Salisbury as well and at various moments in almost all the numbers. But, by and large, listening to these familiar performances through the good offices of digital sound is a revelation. You will be astounded at the amount of detail captured, esp. if you listen through a high-quality set of head phones.
Magnificent instruments played gloriously.
:(
Midnight Mass from the Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint George in Southwark
in General discussion
Posted
Oh Vox Humana, thou art wise -
It's a mentality that we're dealing with today. The common denominator amongst my students is that they know EVERYTHING, and that there is NOTHING that I know that could possibly be of any value to them, except, of course, when they've got their knickers in a twist over a technical matter, whether it be manual fingering, tricky registrational bits (Roger-Ducasse), pedaling, choir/clergy issues and the like. They are desperate for immediate First-Aid and demand it but shrink from any idea of a larger schooling and approach. Don't even mention hard work at the piano. Horrors !
So much of our work involves experience and learning from it, taste or the lack of it, and genuine care for the final result and its impact on the "man in the pew."
Hope this doesn't sound like a bitter old man. So much of it is just common sense.
emsgdh