Fiffaro

The latest generation MiniDisc from Sony (Hi-MD: MZ-RH1 or with an included microphone - not suitable for organ recording - know as the MZ-M200) allows the audio to be stored uncompressed (WAV format), has a dedicated volume control for recording, and allows you to transfer ALL your MiniDisc recordings, even those previously not allowed, digitally via USB to your computer. It will even work with Macs now. If Sony had done this five years ago, the MiniDisc recorder would have taken off big time, but in what might be the last hurrah, they have managed to get the design close to okay. The battery life is amazing! All the current generation of less expensive flash based recorders (Zoom H2, Edirol R-09, Sony PDM-D50, Marantz PMD620 and 660 etc) apparently have, as one reviewer wrote, two out of three things right, but never three out of three. Some have either poor quality sound from their internal microphones and/or poor quality preamplifiers for external microphones, for example. With the Sony PDM-D50, which otherwise appeals to me, to have XLR balanced inputs with phantom power and good quality mic preamplifiers requires buying an add on unit from Sony about the same size as the recorder itself and around the same price. Ouch. Until a unit is produced that really does what I want, I'll stick to my Sony Hi-MD MiniDisc player fed from a pair of Rode NT-3s (with batteries in each mic) for portability and independence from mains power, the same microphones running on phantom power from my treasured Tascam DAT recorder for better quality when mains power is available, or for best quality mics via a mixer fed via USB into a notebook.

Capturing the actual data stream will provide better results than having the audio pass through an audio card and then recording and re-encoding this. Unfortunately, this can be quite complicated, but I manage to do so using VLC media player. The two most difficult tasks are finding the actual URL for the source of the streaming (often buried in the middle of a page of HTML code generated when you click on the 'listen now' button that you don't normally see) and actually getting this information into VLC. There are instructions for doing this available if you search for them, and the reward is a copy of the streamed audio with no loss of quality from what is on the server. With a great deal of work, it is even possible to set this up to start and stop at predetermined times, saving you from being at your computer when the audio is streamed. And, of course, there are audio streamed programmes that are legal to record. Good luck!

The product from Adobe is Adobe Audition, originally known as Cool Edit Pro before bought by Adobe. I use version 2.0 for most of my audio editing, including preparing tracks for CDs (it can be used to burn the tracks to CD, too), editing recordings of live performances, and capturing some audio streaming on the Web. It has become more expensive as more features have been added, and has far more to offer than I actually use. A demo version (used to be 30 days before timing out) can be downloaded from: http://www.adobe.com/go/tryaudition

Just stumbled on an earlier thread that also covers the topic of organists tuning reeds, which I found enjoyable and informative. http://web16713.vs.netbenefit.co.uk/discus...hp?showtopic=10 Sorry to post on the same topic - I should have searched the board first.

I have worked in a country where the culture is that the organist is responsible, even to the extent that it is expected that the organist will keep the reed ranks in tune. This has the wonderful benefit that the organ maintainers do more than just tune the reeds when they come for their scheduled visits. But then, Orgelkunde was a required subject for all organists. In my current country, where we do not have so many organists who have all had that level of training, most organ firms are horrified at the thought that we might ruin the instrument. But at some level, with so much of their financial turnover based on regular tuning visits, I suspect that they are worried that they will lose revenue. However, I would prefer that more time is given to other aspects that I'm not competent to attack, thus benefiting all concerned. In Australia, when a day might start at 18 C and by lunch time be over 40 C, I make sure that I have permission to touch up the reeds before a recital, or there is someone competent to do this who will be present, before I agree to give a recital, particularly in smaller churches or when the positioning of the organ makes it more vulnerable to temperature variation. But then, my 'other' instrument is harpsichord, and I'm used to setting a temperament and tuning the instrument before a performance. In my city's premier concert venue, a piano technician is always used both before a performance and during the interval, but try and persuade the venue management to call an organ tuner in before the organ is used... Are other board members who are organists comfortable doing this? How do the board members who normally maintain instruments feel if they know that the organists are properly trained?

There is a wonderfully helpful form on the AGO website, although I recall that I had to search hard to find it last time I needed it, that helps to adequately quantify the time required for a position. I found this enormously helpful when discussing my current appointment with the vicar, and in drawing up the contract. This was also instrumental in the remuneration being changed to a much more appropriate level than it had been. There are so many little things that consume time, for which remuneration is appropriate, that are far too easy to forget about when drawing up a contract.

Carol service - Once in royal David's city, with the head chorister singing the first verse solo and reading the first reading. Midnight Mass - O Come all ye Faithful, with, as some others have noted, the extra verse if after midnight. This year, the head chorister's voice has started noticeably changing, but he should make it okay. The joys of having trebles rather than a mixed choir. How do other directors conspire to keep the younger members of the choir awake for the midnight Mass? I provide them with chocolate and sugar based drinks (normally we only supply water and don't encourage chocolate consumption before a performance) to help them stay awake, and let the parents deal with them after the service! This year, our youngest is a very precocious seven-year-old, and I'll be interested to see how he does. He's the youngest I've had in the regular choir.

I'd be interested in following up these studies, Barry. Are you able to point me in their direction, please? Certainly, in my student days, sitting through the early stages of competitions or masterclasses, some of us would amuse ourselves by competing to predict who would pass to the next round, or who practiced on a mechanical action or otherwise organ, within a few bars of each participant's first piece. It was always astonishing how accurate one could be, but that was partially because the instruments being used were mechanical action and because we were used to listening for the differences in the playing. Even though 'my' organ is a reasonable three manual English style instrument, I have regular practice times each week on a couple of mechanical action instruments. My session, once a week, on a large Rieger is the highlight of the week for me, and I am extremely grateful to the incumbents who generously allow me time on their instruments. I certainly know when I've missed these practices.

Gottfried von Einem: Concerto for Organ and Orchestra Op. 62

I've stumbled across a reference to a concerto in C major for organ and strings by F. X. Frenzel. A quick search of the Internet revealed that, as I understand it, this is the work of a living composer, Friedemann Katt. The mp3 extract of a sonata for trumpet and organ by "Frenzel" strikes me as quite interesting. So, I'd be interested in finding out if anyone has heard, or knows of this concerto.

I find that warming the keys before playing helps stop fingers from getting cold quickly: I'm sure people who follow this board would not do anything silly enough to damage the instrument! One thing that I've tried is those packs of grain, for example barley, that are used for sore necks after they have been warmed in a microwave oven. All this is needed is to have the pack around body temperature - not hotter - and left on the keys for a few minutes before playing. The pack I use is just the right width to fit on a keyboard. I wish I'd done that when I gave a recital in a church where the holy water, inside the main body of the church, was frozen. I often wear fingerless gloves made of a thermal material when I perform. Gives the critics from the 'popular' press something interesting to mention in their reviews.

It's bad enough when clergy don't understand the amount of work that we do. What do you do when the organ player on the sub-committee setting the recommended rates for one of the main stream churches in my state in Australia has that attitude? I am paid close to a full-time salary, and the way the church musicians' grapevine works in Australia, I assume that most of my colleagues have some inkling of this. Their reactions is informative. This sub-committee member has asked me, twice, what I do with the rest of my time as it must only take me ten minutes to prepare the organ music for a Mass. I was asked by another colleague to allow myself to be nominated for a committee as I must have so much more free time, now. On the other hand, I've been asked for advice by the DoM of another church, with the recognition that he has been seriously undervaluing his services. I've also received comments from a few people who recognize that if we are to attract a new generation of people capable of filling DoM roles, that the work needs to be remunerated competitively. Members of the defense force bands and the symphony orchestras in this country are paid salaries that are well above average, for performing less than many of our church musicians.

The Organ Historical Society shop is offering an introductory price on this biography until mid December of US49.95 (£24.48) plus postage. http://ohscatalog.stores.yahoo.net/madumanandhi.html That's also where I bought my copy of the 2nd edition of Snyder's Buxtehude biography, similarly reduced for an introductory period. I find it worthwhile keeping an eye on this site.

I remember attending a final organ recital in the Wagnersaal of the Musikverein in Vienna. The organ (III/35), built by Rieger in 1982 took up the whole of one wall in what was really a large room rather than a real hall. My memory, of that event long ago, is that the room seated about 30 people. Looking on the web, I see that the organ was moved in 1991 to a new venue, the Anton-Heiller-Saal in what was the Ursulinerinnen Monastery, where the organ and church music department is now based. I can't find information on the size of this hall, but I assume it is also a largish room as all the larger spaces retain the names they had when I was a student there. Can anyone help here? An example of large not having to equate with overpowering for the space. If you are visiting Vienna, it is worth attending Mass on Sunday morning if the church music choir is singing. Beautiful church, gorgeous acoustics. (St. Ursula, in the first district, organ built by Hradetzky in 1968)

Thank you for your reply, mgp. I had a hunch based on seeing a motif that appears so prominently, but does not really become an integral part of the structure. I do quite enjoy playing it (2nd and 3rd movts, still to learn the first. So much wonderful music, so little time.) but struggle a little to make the coda 'telling' if the reeds fall away a little for the long, high notes. Is there a definitive list of corrections available? I think I've found most of the printing mistakes, but would love to be able to check against a complete list of errata.

In the section from bar 44 to 82 of Fleury's Cantilène from his Prélude, Cantilène et Final, Fleury specifies "Pédale solo: Fonds 8' et 4'". There are just two statements in the pedal part, each four notes of equal, full-bar value. My suspicion is that this is one of those cryptic references to the initials of the name of a mentor to whom the composer is paying homage, or even the name of the composer's dearly missed pet iguana, tragically and unwittingly poisoned by students secretly providing it with Australian wine to drink instead of the local drop. Is anyone able to shed some light on this for me? The notes are: g, a-flat, e, e-flat, then b, c', a-flat, g. (Yes, a transposition of the first statement.)

My music history and analysis lecturer for classical music (Nicholas Routley, son of Erik Routley. the author of many books on church music) claimed that the banality of this melody was intentional - it was designed to appeal to the masses.

Ah, Vienna, Austria. City of those wonderful, romantic gondolas, and a land bounding with kangaroos. You think I'm crazy? There really are kangaroos in Austria! I used to walk my son, when he was a toddler, down to the zoo in Schoenbrunn to engender Australian nationalism in him. He'd spent the whole time saying "Look, duck." and ignoring the kangaroos. Sigh. And it wasn't just tourists from one particular country who would ask where to find the gondolas. One poor, unfortunate tourist made the mistake of asking me. I gave him wonderfully detailed instructions, to the Sudbahnhof, from where he could catch the train from a particular platform (I've forgotten which). I seem to recall that I neglected to say that the train would take him across the border to Italy and the journey would last several hours.

Some general thoughts, mostly based on helping a student who also wanted to purchase such an instrument for home practice. Do the normal checks that you'd expect to do on a pipe organ. For example, check the depth of the switch on point on the keys and the pedals. One new, Alan organ we tried had markedly varying switch on depths that were annoying for me as a player. The salesperson did not think that these were adjustable. I've also heard salespeople indicate that each individual note can be adjusted, only to find out, when asked to, in one case, drop the volume of a particular note that was booming in the venue in which it was installed, that this was not really possible Only narrow bands of notes could be adjusted. Ask specific questions, and write down the answers given. The high level of customisation involved in the electronics potentially presents its own possible problems into the future. There is no use offering a 10 year warranty if replacement boards, or integrated circuits or whatever are simply no longer available, or if the software needed to program particular types of programmable integrated circuits no longer work with the latest operating system and so on. Ask around. If the instrument is not able to be fixed within the warranty period because of this, will they replace the instrument with a current model one? If you can cite an example of a church where the instrument is languishing because of this, it tends to stop the glib assurances from the salespeople. (To ask the salesperson what was being doing for the church my father-in-law attends where the instrument had been intermittently failing for some months because a power supply component could no longer be sourced gave me great pleasure. If they make wild claims, they should expect tough questions.) Think carefully about what you'd like in terms of how the action of the notes feels. Do you want to match the instrument that you normally play? Would you prefer something with a little more resistance that will keep the muscles working harder? Will you occasionally have to play your French toccatas on mechanical action organs with, say three manuals coupled. In Australia, some time ago, an opening recital for a mechanical action organ was broadcast nationally (Live, I think.). The organist played the Widor V toccata as an encore, with fingers that skipped more and more of the notes as the fatigue factor really set in. How well will the keys and pedals wear? Will pedals start clicking in the future, and can this be attended to? Half your luck if you have the time to make this a problem! And finally, and irreverently, if you spend huge amounts of money on amplifiers and external speakers to allow you to wallow in the splash of sound echoing through the virtual cathedral in your lounge room, can you also connect your DVD player up to it for your surround sound movie viewing, or, indeed, to maximize the benefit of SACD recordings of organ music?

The complete L'Orgue mystique is also listed in the United Music Publishers organ catalogue for 2007. Click on the link to the organ catalogue PDF at: http://www.ump.co.uk/catalog.htm The average price (circa 29 Euros) is somewhat higher than what you've found at Leduc, Nachthorn, so it will all depend on how much shipping you'll pay. Still, thank you for your email, as I was just about to order some from UMP and for me Leduc looks cheaper. Nick, indeed for those countries where copyright expires 50 years after the composer's death, 2009 will see the works move out of copyright. Trouble is, I am not able to locate a complete set in any of the Australian libraries. And, those sites (that I've found) that offer scanned PDFs of music that is out of copyright aren't particularly useful as the quality of the scan is not good enough to make for comfortable playing.

I, too, use ballroom dancing shoes. My first pair, bought almost 30 years ago, were hand made to my particular feet by Blocks in Sydney, Australia. They specialise in dancing footware. For a player with larger feet, the snug fit is appreciated. A couple of years ago, I bought a new pair of these that I now carry around with me, leaving my trusty, worn-in pair at the church where I'm the incumbent. I protect the shoes, while they are being transported, by placing shoe trees, made of cedar, in them. This also helps when it is warmer and the leather has absorbed moisture, as well as protecting the back of the shoe from being damaged if the case presses down on them. And, I like the smell of the cedar! My shoes have a number of deep scratches in them, typically from the metal around swell pedal, that is sometimes not properly finished underneath the swell pedal. Yes, sometimes I just nudge the swell box open a bit with my toe underneath the swell pedal. I'm grateful that the shoe was scratched, not my feet. Another reason for using shoes is to protect the feet from cold. I've had to play in a church where the holy water inside the church was frozen. Bare feet - no way. Bear feet would be warmer! As a student then young professional in Vienna, I gave up on my organ shoes and reverted to street shoes - definitely helped by the non-radiating, flat pedal boards. While there, I witnessed a performance of the Durufle Suite played in boots by a student of Planyavsky. No problem - remarkably accurate. Still, I insist that my students use leather shoes with thin leather soles and heels. The one student who bought Organmaster shoes ended up returning them, not liking, amongst other reasons, the rigidity because of the metal inserted in the sole. MusingMuso, those steel-capped boots might be useful for some when dealing with certain members of the congregation. Fortunately, I don't need them where I am.

To reduce the waiting time before I start the recessional, I normally ask She Who Must Be Obeyed to remove my hymnbook towards the end of the last verse of the final hymn. Yes, there came the time when after the hymnbook was removed I zoned out so much, that as my attention returned to the task at hand, I could not recall either the hymn I'd been playing of the key that it was in. Ouch. I arrived with no time to spare for a wedding once, and hence did not look through the copy of the wedding booklet that I picked up as I entered the church, assuming that I had everything I needed to know in my diary. My relief at arriving on time vanished instantly when the priest announced a hymn after the initial greetings and statement of purpose. No, the bride hadn't thought to talk to the organist about this inclusion when discussing her wedding music. Murphy's law prevailed - I had never seen the words before. The congregation had to wait while I went through the process of counting syllables to determine the meter, then look up the metrical index to find a hymn tune. Now, you'd think a seasoned professional would do this calmly, without batting an eyelid, wouldn't you. Then how come I miscounted the number of syllables?

All up, there are around 315 pages in volume 40, so it is indeed a substantial tome, and perhaps that is the reason for not using paper that is a little less opaque. Most pieces are fairly short, two to five pages in length, so gently spreading the binding when opening to a particular piece allows the music to sit flat and to turn well enough - and I haven't as yet gone through the volume spreading the pages open as one librarian once told me to do before seriously using a volume. As you note, the style of writing leaves little opportunity for page turns in many of the pieces. The approach taken to layout is in one sense inconsistent. The 12 Trios Op. 189, all two pages long, are set with the two pages for each trio facing each other. Hence no page turn needed. The same is true for the 12 Fughettas in a strict style Op. 123a. However, the first of the Op. 123b set is three pages long, and you guessed it, Fughettas 2 though 9 and 12, each two pages in length, require a page turn. I am not particularly worried by this, as I am so tired of damaging my original music that almost all of the music that I don't just sight read tends to be scanned, printed into small collections on thickish, durable paper, and bound with a coil binding. That allows me to write in fingering and analysis and performance indications in pen (multicoloured - how nerdish) rather than pencil, something my 'maturing' eyesight appreciates.

Following Vox Humana's question about editions of Rheinberger's organ music, and the absence of responses to my question about the Carus complete works of Rheinberger edition, I thought it might be worthwhile posting some thoughts on the Carus edition now I have received volume 40 of the complete works as well as sonata 8 taken from volume 38 of the complete works. I'm not a Rheinberger specialist, and the only other editions I own are sonata 3 (Schirmer ed. H. Lemare) and sonata 8 (Novello ed. H Grace). I've looked at the first pages of the Bardon editions for these and the trios Op. 49. Volume 40 of the Carus edition contains all the organ works with opus numbers except for the organ sonatas. The organ sonatas are published in volumes 38 (sonatas 1 - 10) and 39 (sonatas 11 - 20). There are 8 sets of works in volume 40: 10 Trios Op. 49 12 Fughetten Op. 123a 12 Fughetten Op. 123b 12 Charakterstuecke Op. 156 Monologe. 12 pieces Op. 162 Meditationen 12 pieces Op. 167 Miscellaneen 12 pieces Op. 174 12 Trios Op. 189 There is both an informative preface (German, English and French) and a critical commentary (German) which is suitably detailed. The volume is beautifully bound (in an attractive blue linen). The print is reasonably elegant and the layout not too spacious. The preface indicates that the typesetting is newly done for this edition. The paper, while appearing to be of good quality, allows a little too much of the printing on the other side to show for my taste, but despite this it is easily readable. Sonate 8, as a single sonata taken from the first of the two volumes of the sonatas is stapled and has a cardboard cover. I understand that volumes 38 and 39 are reproductions of first editions with corrections, and the quality of the print reflects this - it is quite easy to read, but the lines of the staves are uneven in thickness and in density. The beams of semibreves suffer and noteheads tend to bleed together when they are on adjoining lines or in adjoining spaces. I don't feel that the fonts used for the page numbers of the movement titles match the printing that is retained from the first edition. Having said that, I much prefer this edition to the Novello edition. Grace appears to have taken substantial liberties with phrase and articulation marks. For example, in bars 7 and 8, Grace slurs the semiquaver runs into the following chord, whereas the Carus edition slurs from the chord to the end of the semiquaver run, suggesting a break before each chord rather than after it. (I understand that Rheinberger could be inconsistent with his slurring, but the Carus edition's version looks more likely to me.) Grace also appears to have felt quite at ease changing or adding articulation markings. I don't think I need to comment on the addition of registration markings as we have all experienced this in other editions from this era. Definitely a child of its time, although, I've been known to take note of fingering suggestions from such editions. Grace silently changes the moderato section of the first movement from 3/2 to 3/4, with the pages look rather cluttered as a result. With the exception of the first two pages of the Intermezzo, the layout (i.e. the number of bars on each page) is identical. The first pages of the sonatas in the Bardon edition, by comparison, are more expansive in their layout, and to me are too spacious. In Sonata 8, last movement, bar 22, second beat, the alto voice is given in the Bardon edition as f-sharp, whereas both the other editions give an f-natural. Despite my criticisms, I will probably purchase volumes 38 and 39 so that I have access to others of the sonatas in what appears to be a good edition - only sonatas 4, 8 and 11 are available from Carus as single works. Sorry Barry Jordan, I couldn't compare these with the "Amadeus" edition; Vox Humana, likewise with the "Schott" edition. Florian, I've scheduled "Vision" for an upcoming Evensong. Thank you for your suggestion.

My niece asked me to play for her wedding last December. When I asked her about her selection of music, she gave me a totally free hand to select what I'd like to play. (Dangerous!) A week before the wedding, her minister got in on the act and suggested some repertoire that would be appropriate - in his view. Bridal march? The sinfonia from Bach's cantata BWV 156: "Ich steh mit einem Fuss im Grabe" - I'm standing with one foot in the grave. What did the bride know that none of the rest of us knew? Still, as the only one of five nieces and nephews to decide to marry in a church, hers was the only wedding I was able to play for. Bach recycled the sinfonia in the F Minor (I'm relying on my memory) harpsichord concerto anyhow, so as I sat down at the console, I mentally sat myself at my harpsichord, surrounded by my string playing colleagues, and ignored the title on the miniature score I was playing from.