contraviolone

Yes there is a youtube video showing the work being done to the Compton illuminating press buttons: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Q9vpEW0vsE The Hull Minster organ of course has the same Compton illuminations. I'm sure visiting organists must find these consoles both novel and perhaps a bit of fun?

It would certainly be a very large and impressive school chapel! Looking at the organ details on NPOR, the stop list does look impressive, being a very good example of the Compton expertise of borrowings and extensions. A modest 38 ranks becomes an instrument of 142 ranks! Interestingly NPOR does not indicate where the borrowings etc are derived. Of course quite a few borrowings/extensions are obvious by deduction, nonetheless I am very surprised the derivations are not annotated? https://www.npor.org.uk/NPORView.html?RI=N05561 Would be interested to hear from members who have played this instrument. There are several recordings on youtube and I must say the tuba alone is impressive!

I suppose we should be asking what will happen to the church itself? Will it become redundant or revert to a fully functioning church within the RC diocese?

I agree, an extension of the 16' Bombarde in the Cavaille Coll style would be the best way forward and I'm sure would be superb. I'm sure Nicholson's would have the expertise to do this. As it is, the proposed new specification looks very interesting and I'm sure the end result will be splendid.

The new specification for Manchester Town Hall is certainly trimmed down from its current form. Perhaps no surprise given the later additions and the plan to restore the organ to the original Cavaille-Coll specification. A little surprised though that the 32' reed on the pedal is not being retained. The hall is quite a large space and I would have thought a 32' reed would be both useful and desirable. I'm sure Nicholson's could have fabricated an extended octave for the Pedal 16' Bombarde.

The name of the merged company from 1st October 2020 will be Mander Organs.

I think the point John is that Mander Organs has been 'resurrected'. It will just be under different management.

This is really excellent news! I also hope the forum will continue as before. There is such a wealth of information on here it would be terrible to lose it all.

Thank you Martin. I completely agree with everything you say.

Not sure if such negativity is helpful. If members wish to continue the 'spirit' of this forum from a different platform then I think this is an excellent idea. The new forum also clearly states at the home page that the new site is a 'continuation' of the Manders forum. There really is far too much negativity doing the rounds at the moment. The new forum is an excellent idea and those who have set it up should be heartily congratulated.

Rowland, you don't need to be convinced about anything. You are absolutely correct.

Westminster Abbey is not 'owned' by the Church of England. It is ultimately owned by The Queen in right of the Crown. Just in the same way the Crown Jewels are not owned by the State. They are also owned by the Sovereign in right of the Crown. Windsor Castle is a bit more complicated. It is held in trust by the Occupied Royal Palaces Estate. Effectively the Sovereign once again owns Windsor Castle, but since it is held in Trust on behalf of the nation, the Sovereign does not have the final say in the financial disposition of the Palace Estates. This principle also applies to all assets which are ultimately owned by the Sovereign in right of the Crown.

Let's hope this ridiculous situation is rectified. I really did need to read the thread title twice as I've never heard such utter rubbish in my entire life.

Looking at the specification, the Grand Organ appeared to have a significant percentage of pipework by Clicquot. A tragic loss indeed. The specification for the Grand Organ may be viewed here: https://www.musiqueorguequebec.ca/orgues/france/nantescsp.html

The latest report on the BBC suggests that the Grand Organ has been destroyed in the fire. The French police are treating the fire as a criminal act.

I must admit, I have mixed feelings for the painted stone in Chartres Cathedral. My first visit to the cathedral was in 1980. I was completely underwhelmed when entering by the west door. It was incredibly dark, dank, and foreboding. Yes the stained glass was no doubt impressive but the cloudy day probably didn't help. If this is the desired effect of a medieval cathedral in less than good condition, you can keep it. I'm quite happy to use degrees of imagination to pretend to see what I should be seeing, but the condition of the cathedral back then was less than acceptable. I haven't viewed the painted stone in person, only in photos. I understand that the quality of some of the work is not as it should be. But at least you can actually see the building. Before, you could hardly see anything at all. You may as well have been in an underground vault with the lights switched off. It was that bad. A visit some years later confirmed my view. This wasn't helped by listening to an organ recital on the less than impressive Danion-Gonzalez organ. A very underwhelming instrument, I was very happy to get back to Paris, and haven't been back since. I will though visit again when allowed and view the painted stone for myself.

Apologies for steering the conversation back to the York Minster organ. I do agree with the highlighted comment above by John Robinson. As you say the Cornet is firmly rooted in the English organ tradition, together with, dare I say, the Sesquialtera! These colourful stops owe nothing to influences from European continental organs. I fully understand the ethos of the current rebuilding of the Minster organ, but I am a little perplexed as to why at least the Cornet has been dropped? Perhaps Robert Sharpe may be patient enough to respond to this. I know in advance that such issues as space to accommodate a V rank stop (even commencing from tenor C) will always be an issue, given the new specification for the organ. But I just feel, once all is complete, there may be some regret for the loss of at least the Cornet, with all the colour and versatility this stop can bring to the organ repertoire.

Must agree with everything you say. I would add that, not being good at heights, I found the precarious work so close to the tribune quite frightening. Standing in the nave and looking up the organ gallery is positioned at a great height, some would say too high for the organ to be at its most effective. But the way they were negotiating the pulley with all the heavy items - ugh!

Ten years is optimistic. The French do not appear to be particularly adept at dealing with emergencies/restorations like this. I know it's not a fair comparison but the way York Minster was restored in its response to the fire shows what can be done. The general impression is that the French are not interested and the President of France is incompetent. It would also be asking too much for the Positif de Dos be restored as part of the project. The case for this has recently been restored to an excellent condition and was stored in the upper galleries. Hopefully the fire hasn't damaged this. Realising Pierre Cochereau's dream of the restored Positif de Dos with his ambitious proposal of an eighteen stop division is probably fanciful. But from a visual perspective at least the restoration would be welcome. Who knows, there may be some musical value to it as well. All highly unlikely given current circumstances and the disinterest of the French people.

Just goes to show how dirty things can be when dismantling an organ! I doubt though whether 'the beast will roar again' in a few years. Progress on restoring the cathedral is painfully slow, and the current pandemic will not help. I would be pleasantly surprised if everything is back to full operation even in ten years time.

Great post providing the Bach recording from the RAH, many thanks for that!

I would certainly be interested in your views with regard to the revised specification of the York Minster organ.

This was covered recently in the national press, notably the Daily Telegraph. Despite the decree from the French Senate, the idea has been proposed to construct the roof and spire in the same form as before, but made of glass. This would no doubt be striking, but I'm not sure if this would be universally popular, or indeed fall within the remit of the legislation passed by the Senate?

That is amazing!

The team at York did a fantastic job on the stained glass. As mentioned by MM before, it really is remarkable the way the glass can be restored back to its former glory. This must take ingenuity and skill, not to mention patience, in order to do this! I gather that the rose windows in the North and South transepts have survived the fire? If so this is incredible news, although given the collapse of the central space of the cathedral I am surprised that the fire has not affected the lead and glass? Given that the quire furnishings are also largely unaffected, let's hope the Orgue de Choeur has survived as well.