[John Rutter]

During a recent radio broadcast John Rutter mentioned four Amens he has written. Does anyone know where these are published please?

 

Barry Williams

OUP seem to publish one of them here

[Listening Practice]

... It is the panache that ultimately matters to most of the audience.

Reminds me of an occasion a few years ago when I was playing trumpet in a performance of Brahm's Violin Concerto. I can only assume that the soloist got the job because he was the conductor's brother. The performance can best be summarised as lots of hair flying around the place, manic sawing of the violin, and minimal accuracy. It all looked very dramatic, but was more "vile-din" than violin. As to the audience reaction, you guessed it - standing ovation.

[Hinge Points On Pedals]

squinius,

 

It would be interesting to hear about your Hauptwerk project. E.g what sort of problems have you had? Are you using drawstops or tabs, or a touch screen for control? What about thumb and toe pistons etc? Have you managed to find suitable amplifiers and speakers?

 

I am considering a similar project, and it would be very interested in any advice. If you prefer, please send me an e-mail.

 

Regards.

Will send you a PM.

[Guitars And Organs]

I'm sorry to pull this thread back to the original topic, but has anyone else noticed that at weddings and funerals, where people have to actually pay for the musicians, they nearly always choose an organist to play it even when their choices are more suitable for a guitar, or even better dropped in the dustbin?

E.g. The couple last year who had obviously taken the film Love Actually a bit too much to heart and decided that they too wanted the bride to come in to The Beatles' All You Need is Love performed by organ and choir. I wasn't present but I gather it was predictably knuckle-chewing, though no doubt the couple were delighted which I guess is the most important thing.

[Why Is It Called A Tuba?]

The Tuba stop had me fooled initially since I had assumed that it would be a 16' stop. After all, a Tuba is bound to be lower than a Trumpet isn't it! So when I came to play the CS Lang Tuba Tune on an organ with only a Trumpet 8', I thought I'd do the decent thing and play the solo part an 8ve lower. It felt a bit odd with the hands cross over, but seemed to work.

 

My mis-understanding continued despite attending a registration workshop last year where we were discussing how to adapt the specific registration requirements to organs of limited means. I mentioned my approach to the Tuba problem and and was greeted with blank looks all round. It was only some time later that I realised the reason. Oh well, you can't win them all.

[Christmas Choristers]

Inversely, I became involved in church music (and subsequently in studying the organ) as a result of "signing up" to our church choir with the intention of singing just for the Christmas period and its related rehearsals. But I got the bug and forgot to leave!

 

Perhaps there's a trick to be learned in how to maintain momentum and interest once the Christmas period is over, such that any new members feel the urge to stay on.

[Guitars And Organs]

I see something of a dilemma in situations where there are significantly different levels of competence between the formally trained musicians in a church (e.g. organists, choir directors), and other enthusiastic but less competent musicians.

 

I sympathise with and relate to MAB's comments about "sitting at church and cringing, rather than being lifted closer to God." The problem is this business of "nurturing and giving encouragement" as described by Lee Blick. There is a balance to be had between providing opportunity for people to develop their talents, but not putting them in a positions of leadership (musical or otherwise) in which their currently level of ability has a detrimental effect to worship.

 

But aside form ability, for me a bigger bug-bear is lack of preparation. Informal and light styles of music should not justify informal and under-rehearsed performances. I suspect that worship band's can "get away with" a much less rehearsed and hence less presentable performance than an organist and choir. This really irritates, me and I wonder if this is due to the informal nature of worship band music, or the typically (?) less formal training of such musicians.

[Guitars And Organs]

If you haven't seen it already, you might be interested in an article from last weekend's Sunday Telegraph newspaper. You can get a feel for it just from it's opening sentence...

 

"Here is a question for churchgoers. Would you rather listen to (a) a trendy modern hymn or (

nails being scraped down a blackboard?"

You can read the article here. The sentiments expressed certainly resonated with me.

[Pedal Note Naming Convention - Gg, C, Aa Etc.]

... I've never seen written down how this convention works, though I'm sure it is extremely simple.

That was tempting fate wasn't it!

 

Reminds me of the adage, "To every simple question there is a simple answer (only it's usually incorrect)."

[Pedal Note Naming Convention - Gg, C, Aa Etc.]

Could somebody put me out of my misery. I often see use of a convention by which you can refer to specific notes at particularly octaves e.g. CC, cc, GG. I guess that it's probably in relation to middle C, but I've never seen written down how this convention works, though I'm sure it is extremely simple. I've generally seen it used in relation to pedal notes, though presumably it can apply to manuals as well.

 

Please could someone explain the code.

 

Thanks

[Hautwerk]

I'd like to add some comments about the Hauptwerk system which I have been using as a practice instrument for 3 years now. Indeed without it, I don't think I would have ever found my way into the world of pipe organs, been in a position to play as deputy organist at my church, and take regular lessons with AMT at St Giles Cripplegate.

 

I have progressively been building my own practice console which I've linked up to Hauptwerk, and it currently comprimises 3 manual stack with divisional and geenral thumb pistons, a full R&C pedalboard, toe pistons and a swell pedal. I use a touch screen on the left stop jamp to control the registrations.

 

The wonderful thing about Hauptwerk as a practice instrument (aside from it's very high levels of realism - includes wind pressure modelling etc.), is that you can obtain sample sets from a good selection of specific pipe organs from around the work. These range from barqoue organs such as by Arp Schnitger & Gottfried Silbermann, through to modern concert instruments by Skinner. The touch screen images of the consoles are photo-realistic, and coupled with excellent sample quality and peripheral mechanical sounds (e.g. blower noise, stop changes) give a real sense of playing the actual instruments. Clearly this is only a simulation of the real thing, but it's a darn good one!

 

Perhaps the following brief annecdote will give you an indication of its realism. The two manual organ at the church where I sing and play is very limited in that it has no reeds or mutations. So by all rights, I should have felt completely lost when I found myself having to play the chancel organ at Chelmsford Cathedral when our church choir was deputising for the cathedral choir at a service there a couple of summers ago. However sitting in front of the console did not feel remotely alien - I knew where everything was likely to be, and having used various Hauptwerk sample sets I had a pretty good idea of what to expect registration-wise. Nerve-wracking - yes; problemmatic - no. Of course, I recognise that to a full trained cathedral organist my playing would probably have been sub-organ scholar level. But the point I'm making is that as home practice instruments go, Hauptwerk provides a wonderful opportunity to get a feel of what it is like to play daily on instruments which unless you are particularly blessed (or talented), would only happen infrequently across your lifetime.

[Hinge Points On Pedals]

David

 

Thanks for your response and suggestions. Being from a decommissioned pipe organ, my original pedalboard is as you predicted very robust.

 

The "new" pedalboard and console were, I gather, built a number of years ago in Scotland by an amateur organist / joiner / electronic engineer. There is some nice solid oak in the console and good joinery, and from the quality of workmanship he was clearly a talented chap. I've stripped out the insides and am replacing it with my own 3 manual stack and control system so that I can use it as a home practice instrument with the Hauptwerk digital system (I failed to persuade my wife to let me install a house pipe organ).

 

As you suggested I've checked the mounting screws for tightness and they seem OK, so I think that the wobble on some pedals is probably a wear and tear issue on the felt and leather at the console end of the pedals. I'll have a look at renewing this and/or including the hard wood shims that you mentioned.

 

Any suggestions for where I could source the felt/leather from?

 

Many thanks.

 

 

 

P.S. I am really impressed with this forum. Whilst it is clearly frequented by highly experienced organists and organ builders, I appreciate the tolerance and support shown to those such as myself, who though far less experienced, are no less enthusiastic about pipe organs.

[Hinge Points On Pedals]

I've recently acquired a second hand console which I am adapting to use as a practice instrument at home. Unfortunately the pedal action on the "new" pedalboard is very flimsy compared to my previous pedalboard, the latter which is slightly too large to fit in the new console.

 

Looking at my old pedalboard, the rear of each pedal has a 10*5mm vertical slot drilled down through each pedal. The rear of the pedalboard itself has a series of short steel vertical rods sticking up from the base of the frame, onto which the vertial slot in each pedal is seated. Thus the pedal is not permitted to twist, though the slight change in angle from raised to depressed pedal position is accomodated by the rod being in a slot as opposed to simple drilled hole. This seems to work very effectively.

 

The "new" pedalboard uses altogether different approach. Extending along the base of each pedal is screwed a 20*60mm steel fixing plate; 1/2 on the pedal, 1/2 extending beyond the pedal. The 1/2 that extends beyond the pedal has then been screwed onto the rear frame of the pedalboard. Thus the hingeing effect is achieved by the fixing plate having to bend slightly each time the pedal is depressed. In practice this isn't 100% restricting movement to just the vertical plane, since the spring effect of the fixing plate is also allowing a small amount of lateral twist. I do also worry about metal fatigue, and whether one day a fixing plate will just snap in two. I'm really not convinced by this particular hingeing method.

 

I'm considering how to improve the hingeing on this "new" pedalboard, and would be interested to hear of any other approaches that are typically used.

 

Thanks.

[Another Choir Bites The Dust...]

MM - here's once more voice of appreciation for your heartfelt words.

[Text Book On Registration]

Hello All

 

I'm studying towards ARCO which I hope to sit next summer, and am trying to identify a good text book that will offer me guidance on choosing tasteful and "authentic" registrations for organ music from baroque through to 20th century, and for the different countries from where this music originated and was played.

 

So far I have found,

• Handbuch Orgelmusik : Komponisten - Werke - Interpretation pub. Baerenreiter - am awaiting a response to whether this is available in English.
  
• "Organ-Stops and Their Artistic Registration by GA Audsley - seems to provided an encyclopaedic description of individual stops and there usages, but perhaps very little in the way of how they should be used in practice.
  

In short, I'm looking for something that would help me look at a piece of music and give me some guidance on how to build an appropriate chorus e.g. should I include a 16', should I add a mixture or use just reeds etc.

 

Does anyone know if such a book exists, or do I simply need to gain the knowledge through listening to the repertoire, and ongoing lessons?

 

Thanks

[Arrangement Of Nimrod?]

Could someone recommend a decent transcription for organ of Nimrod.

 

Thanks

[Improvisation]

...I was told long ago that the key to being able to improvise efficiently is:

 

( a ) to have full control of harmony in every single key (not just the common chords either, but more advanced harmony as well)...

I had been pondering this point myself over the last couple of days (I am a very poor improviser). I can hear ideas in my head but don't yet have the harmonisation skills to translate them into music on the fly.

 

What's a good way of acquiring this "full control of harmony in every single key"? Aside from theoretical study, is it taking time out to practice harmonising familar hymns and others tunes in a variety of keys by ear? Any other suggestions?

[Trumpet En Chamade 8' - Guidance On Use]

I'd appreciate some advice on when it is appropriate to use this particular stop e.g.

• Is it primarily for solo fanfare work?
  
• Is it used as part of a chorus?
  
• What sort of melodic use might be made of it?
  

It would be interesting to hear people's suggestions, with perhaps reference to use in specific pieces of music.

 

Thanks