madorganist

World Praise – edited by David Peacock and Geoff Weaver Published by Harper Collins ISBN 0 551 04001 7 Contains 84 items from all over the world

I fully sympathise with your position. In the last 15 years my own choir has gone from singing a fairly traditional Anglican repertoire to a largely unison based diet. This is directly attributable to death – I kid you not! On the positive side, we have gained a few youngsters who sing very nicely, the problem is with the parents and the almost constant stream of shopping trips et al. We also have the dubious please of an “enthusiastic groaner” in the back row! From time to time I do feel like giving it all up, but I am buoyed up by the favourable comments from visitors to the church – we are now the only church in our circuit that has a choir and a “proper organist”. One book that has proved to be worth its weight in gold is “World Praise”. I freely admit that that the title brings up the nightmarish vision of Songs of Fellowship” and such like, but if you can get beyond that you may find it very valuable. The music is truly international and most of it is easily singable in unison, or with a bit of harmony for the more adventurous. It’s worth a look. If you want more information let me know, I can’t tell you much more about publishers etc, as I don’t have a copy at home

NOOOOOOOO, spare me from Blaenwern. When I played at a CofE church it made a nice change, but now that I reside in Methodist land its all they ever want to sing! I've played Love Divine to Fairest Isle a few times - confuses the heck out of them!

At my previous Church , Evensong was being taken by an elderly retired priest. Time and events had obviously passed him by, consequently we prayed for the King!

Had a reply from my MP Damian Green today. An early day motion has been put forward to discuss/debate this issue (EDM 1827). The wording of the motions and the names of the MP's that have signed it can be found here http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails....301&SESSION=875 And I quote from his letter: "I am delighted to see that as a result of Conservative pressure the DTI Minister, Alun Michael MP, has now promised that church organs will be excluded from the directive. I assure you that we will continue to push the Government to ensure that this exemption is granted. I sincerely hope the Government will take the opportunity to prevent the huge amount of damage this directive could cause to the Pipe Organ industry and the United Kingdom's cultural heritage." Sounds encouraging to me. Rob

Just a thought.......if we are to be deprived of our pipe organs, what's going to happen to all the stained glass windows? Or even leaded lights in the home?

I've just emailed my MP. It'll be interesteing to see what reply, if any, I receive.

The Widor is a serious fire risk! Do not under any circumstances listen to this "performance" whilst smoking a pipe.

Boellmann Priere a notre dame is my standard interlude fair, and if the punters are too noisy they get almost full organ in the loud bit. They've got the hint once or twice! And if they don’t like it..... tough. At least it will have made me feel better.

Sounds like I made the right decision in not renewing my subscription

Weddings usually seem to provide a higher than average disaster quotient. I’ve heard some very interesting variations on Widor 5. Personally I’ll admit my shortcomings –I can’t play it, I get cramp in my fingers after a couple of pages (if only I’d practised my scales and arpeggios more diligently). Rings and veils seem equally disaster prone. One hapless bride managing to loose her veil in the wind along with two other hastily concocted replacements – I must have played for 45 minutes before she finally graced us with her presence. And of course, the old faithful of the rings disappearing down the heating gratings! Disasters with personnel at wedding can also a source of great amusement. Incontinent pageboys and brides and bridesmaids having problems with there attire stick vividly in my mind. I recall one blushing bride (oh boy was she blushing), that popped out of her dress, much to the delight of the choirboys. One of whom was heard to exclaim “ Cor!!! Look at those t***”. Sadly the mirrors just couldn’t pick up the spectacle, but I was reliably informed by several gentlemen of the choir that the incident has brightened up their afternoon considerably.

Oh the fun of the double entendre - reminds me of the time when I was best man for a fellow organist, I thought it was funny at the time - then I saw the video!. Thinking of the double entendre - should it be a 32' or a 16'?

Registering is optional! I try never to give my email address away and still get plenty of spam.

A friend of mine directed me to have a look at this musical listening test devised by the University of Newcastle http://www.delosis.com/listening/measure.html I'm off to the doctors to have my ears syringed -I only scored 24!

Chichester? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Nope!

Hmm, me I think - she just said Hi and carried on smoking Nope! .... <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Oh for organ loft in which to hide! Sadly my console is in full view of the congregation, it’s located half way down the church on the liturgical south side. I have popped out for a breath of air once or twice. On one occasion discovering the preachers wife had slipped out for a smoke! My father has often told the story of the cathedral organist who liked to slip out for a pint, apparently this was such a regular occurrence that the pint would be waiting for him on the bar! This arrangement worked perfectly until the minister was taken ill – and a member of the choir was despatched to recover the organist. No names, no locations, other than to say the 1960’s and a south of England location.

The organ I play each Sunday is a much more modest beast than yours Steve. And probably much more typical of an “average” UK church. Come to think of it, even my two local cathedrals organs are not that big. For the specification, have a look at http://npor.emma.cam.ac.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch...ec_index=D03036 or at our church website http://www.centrepiece.org which also has a couple of pictures of the organ. Yes it has extensions and borrowing, but it works remarkably well considering it’s a hybrid of two now deceased organs. Whilst rummaging through the church archives I came across the proposed specification drawn up by a leading UK organ building firm. I can say without hesitation that I’m very glad Browne’s got the contract. In the hands, and feet, of an expert (even me on a very very good day) it copes well with most of the repertoire. Allan Wicks treated us to a memorable Bach D major and Ridout’s Three Resurrection Dances. Widor 6 and the Liszt BACH also come across very well. David Flood also treated us to a fantastic Carillon de Westminster . If anyone is passing through and wants a play, do let me know

Messian v Organist. Reminds me of the time when A fellow organist had a wee bit of an accident at the end of Widor 5!!

Is everyone else listening avidly? No! I'll get my coat.......

There is a recording by Nicholas Kynaston which features 2 pieces by Wiedermann. They do sound like fun . I think the organ was Chichester - but I cant find the CD to check right now. I also heard him play some Wiedermann in Westminster cathedral. Rob

I wholeheartedly agree with the theme of this thread, it would be nice to see Allan Wicks recordings reissued on CD. I always enjoyed his playing – Saturday Evensong was always a treat, he would disappear upstairs during the final hymn and then treat us to some fireworks. Dupre's Evocation being one such treat. The first time I heard him play wasn’t in the Cathedral but in Centrepiece Church in Ashford (I think it was 1979). Two items from the programme remain fresh in my memory, the Three Resurrection Dances by Alan Ridout and the Bach D major (the one which opens with the pedal scale). For a modest 2 manual organ it coped admirably with these works. Sitting there that night I never imagined that some 12 years later I would end up as organist at this church. Slightly off topic: this is my first post to this board, although I’ve been following the discussions for some time. I’d just like to say hello to everyone. Rob