madorganist

I recall a visit to this church by The Organ Club some 25 or so years ago. The organ was divided either side on quite a high west gallery, the console being set into the case work on the north side of the gallery. It was in a poor state, not all stops were working and if my memory serves correctly we were told that the all(some?) of the reeds had been removed. I can't remember whether they had simply collapsed, been nicked , or stored. The organ was demonstrated to us by Ralph Downes. The parish priest, at the time, was said to be aware of the historic nature of the organ and keen to see its retention and restoration

He was trained at Wimbledon Common

I do think the church in general does little to foster an interest in organs and organ playing. During my youth I was almost universally told, usually by some ancient, hirsute matriarch, that no one was allowed to try the organ – that it was out of the question etc etc. In my current church I happily invite any curious person that wants to have a go to climb up onto the bench and make a noise. We also have a local church school that visits us from time to time. After a brief demonstration I always invite volunteers to come and have a try. For some unknown reason 8 year old boys seem to relish the noise of the lowest notes of the Double Trumpet, often reducing them to uncontrollable laughter – can’t imagine why! Funnily enough one church that did invite me to have a play was St Steven’s in Kirby Steven. I politely declined the offer as I was in my wet weather gear, walking boots and was also wearing a generous covering of mud – ah the joys of geological field work!

I only managed to catch the second half of the broadcast, due entirely to a late running wedding. I thoroughly enjoyed the broadcast . If only I had a tuba or two to use next time I play some Bach - such fun

Number 7 gets my vote, and the Russians are worthy of an honorable mention

The memorial service is in the Cathedral on Saturday -2:30pm

Funeral to be held at Wye PC on the 22nd - dont know the time yet

A thoroughly decent bloke. He will be missed

Thank you Vox, I'm sure David Wells will do a good job. I would certainly enjoy having a play once the work is completed

I'll say!! A friend arranged for me to have ago on a few organs on Gozo a few years ago - they were all pretty grim. I also played the organ in the Anglican Cathedral in Valletta, I thought it sounded quite nice despite a lot of action issues

Found it........St Cross Winchester Also had a look NPOR - the organ looks very interesting http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=N11466 Anyone played it?

I also wondered where the church was. Given the carnage that the Triffids were inflicting upon the blind remnants of society, I was mildly amused to see that the church had a fully functioning organ and robed boys choir. Overall I thought it was a pretty poor show, although Eddie Izzard was rather good

My understanding of the situation is that the plans call for the existing organ to be enlarged back to 4 manuals and returned to a more "Willis" sound. Phase 2 is the construction of a new largish Nave organ.

The organ in Ashford Parish Church http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=N14699 has an interesting variation on this theme. There are 3 stops controlling the floating reeds and couplers for Reeds on Great and Reeds on Choir. Its been a long time since I played this organ, but if i remember correctly you can have the reeds on both manuals at the same time. However its not quite as useful as having the stops duplicated with a second underaction or switching

I’ve only had this experience once: at the end of our evening service a lady came over the console and asked if she could take down the specification. I was happy for her to do this, and followed up by asking her if she played. She replied that her brother wanted the details as he was playing for her wedding the following Saturday! No one had asked or even told me about the wedding. Needless to say I was not best pleased! On the occasions that I have played for friends weddings I always ask that they clear it with the other organist and clergy. As far as I know this has always been carried out

I managed to play the Vierne Carillon from the 24 Pieces. Must have got most of the notes right judging from the number of people gathering round the console to express thanks. I even received thanks by e-mail – now that’s a first

I’ve been interrupted on two occasions. The first was by a helpful member of the congregation who switched the organ off mid voluntary. I resisted the temptation to send him to casualty –just. The second occasion was mid way through L’Apparition de L’Église eternelle, when a congregation member had a heart attack – this time he went to casualty, though not as a result of my intervention. He recovered, I’m pleased to report

The bottom octave of the Double Trumpet was only ever prepared for. So, after a 25 year wait, it was finally installed

I remember John Blaskett giving a recital at Canterbury shortly after the rebuild. The Guilmant No 1 was earth shatteringly loud - marvelous fun. John gave a few recitals for me at Bank Street, sadly he never got to play the organ in its completed state.

Small world !

There are plans for work to be carried out at Canterbury. It's all part of the massive fund raising project that is currently underway. If I recall correctly, the plan calls for the main organ to be restored to 4 manuals and voiced in the Willis style. A new organ is to be constructed for use in the Nave. The new Nave organ will be larger than the current Nave division. I recall reading something to the effect that it was to be voiced "in the french style". I know its dangerous to make assumptions, but I take this to mean more along Cavaille-Coll linesrather than Cliquot. No time scales were mentioned

To my mind your church authorities are being overzealous. If you’re not working with children or vulnerable adults I can see no justification for having to undergo a CRB. If I was in your position I think I’d refuse to comply – all depends on how much your enjoy playing for the services At my own church each post was assessed and only those directly working with the highlighted groups was CRB’d. As no one in our choir is under 40 a CRB check for me was not required.

Yes, completely agree. The highlight of the evening for me

I did contact Dover Council regarding the fate of the Town Hall organ. The gist of the response was that they'd love to see it restored, but unless funding was made available from third parties it wont happen. I'll check to see if I still the actual response

Met the chap once at a recital at Holy Trinity in Folkestone. I'm sure he told me that he lived in Ashford - Albert Rd if i recall correctly. I've checked the phone book, but cant find a match - perhaps he's ex-directory or has moved. Sorry not much help