[Diapasons and Flutes]

I was led to believe that “Diapasons” in 18th Century English organ music meant Open and Stopped Diapasons together.

[Half-draw stops]

Perhaps it would make life easier (and less prone to mistakes) if such stops had a detent at the half-way point.

 

I would hope that there is some lightly-sprung “clunk” at the half-way point.

[Half-draw stops]

I think the Aubertin at St John’s College, Oxford (the big one), has a half draw on the Cornet to select the lowest note as C# instead of C.

 

My father used to use the half-draw celeste effect on the not-quite octopod 8-stop 1912 Norman and Beard I grew up with.

 

To CTT’s point, I am not an expert but I always assumed that a half-draw on a slider chest operates a slider with two sets of holes: one set for the full draw and one for the half-draw, so that any electric stop-action would have to accurately position the slider in the right half-draw position. I'm sure it's possible but has it been done reliably?

[Half-draw stops]

Half-draw stops appear quite often on the specifications of small- and medium-sized mechanical action instruments from Continental and North American builders these days. I’m not aware of many instruments from UK builders with them, Generally they draw a single component from a Compound stop eg a Fifteenth from a Mixture or a Twelfth or Nazard from a Sesquialtera or 2- or 3-rank Cornet. Sometimes they have a different function eg providing a choice of lowest note on a Cornet, or changing the composition of a Mixture for a 16' plenum.

 

My questions are:

 

Are these half-draw stops a good idea?

 

Are they only appropriate on smaller instruments?

 

Are they only practical on instruments with completely mechanical stop-action or are they compatible with electric combination systems?

 

 

[Clavichord for sale]

I bought a synthesiser in the late '80s specifically because it had individual aftertouch on each key which you could programme to control volume, pitch, timbre. We all wish we had it on our pianos and organs occasionally, no?

[St James, Muswell Hill]

I don’t know if this instrument http://www.npor.org.uk/NPORView.html?RI=G00093 has been discussed here before. A search didn’t produce any results.

 

This organ has been highly regarded by colleagues and friends (including the much-missed Theo Saunders). I’ve played it a few times recently and I must admit to being slightly underwhelmed. The console is comfortable but, rather like its similar-sized near neighbour at St Michael’s, Highgate, badly-situated for being able to judge volume and balance; given the only mechanical links are the swell pedals a position on the opposite side of the chancel would have been better, in my opinion.

 

But I’m wondering chiefly about the sound—I don’t find it inspiring to play. Is this a result of the re-ordering of the church and the carpet?

 

Interested to find what the team think …

 

 

[Organ design for a parish church]

Interesting and considered points all, Colin; thank you. I think use of the word “ditched” regarding the Choir case related to the historic main case being listed and the much later choir case not, so schemes using solely the old case or constructing a new choir case may be considered. The Jesus College, Oxford instrument would be an excellent exemplar. The organ in St Paul’s, Covent Garden could also offer some inspiration. [Edited to add: the last sentence was not in reference specifically to choir cases or lack of them but I can see it might read like that; I was talking more broadly about instruments, stop lists and sound.]

[Theo Saunders]

Very sad news. I owe Theo much from the encouragement he gave me when I was a youngster just starting on the organ. He was a graceful host and a conscientious and witty correspondent. I was so pleased I contacted him a couple of years ago and was able to see him, his house and cathedral in Armagh, after a gap of more than 30 years.

[Organ design for a parish church]

I did mention tuning in my OP so can’t complain. Let’s assume that the heating is stable, more so than in a cathedral such as Peterborough! In my experience the temperature of, say, a trumpet or flute just brought in from the garage (!) has much more effect on its pitch than the temperature of the room. The use of the organ in “blended” music is something I’m theoretically in favour of, Tony, as it should be something that can if done well confirm our similarities and celebrate our differences but maybe it’s something to be reserved for special occasions.

[Organ design for a parish church]

I haven’t heard Emmanuel College, but it’s a neat spec. Would you want to add anything to it? A Sw.Sub8ve/Gt coupler or a Sw 16' reed? A Clarion for some extra fire?

[Organ design for a parish church]

Friedrich, many thanks for a very thoughtful and perceptive response. The Stephen Bicknell article is extremely interesting and relevant to this discussion. My hunch is that fitting a new organ into an old case and building has probably been done more often and more successfully in Germany and other Northern European countries than here but of course the musical requirements will differ from most Anglican churches.

[Organ design for a parish church]

Apologies if this has been done before or if it isn’t the right forum. This post is prompted by the lack of activity here.

 

This is hypothetical. What choices would you make if you were the final arbiter (organ consultant, builder, advisor, organist/DOM) for a new organ to fit into an historic organ case on a West End gallery in a medium-large parish church with a generous acoustic in a medium/large city? Main case and chair case (the chair case may be ditched). Money no object. Uses include parish worship with traditional (Choral Evensong) and modern (blended) services, Civic services, recitals, and concerts.

 

Please do not speculate actual locations but suggestions of existing instruments as exemplars would be welcome.

 

Areas for discussion might include, but needn’t be limited to:

 

Tone (for want of a better word: style of voicing)

Number of manuals

Compass

Pitch (although A440 would be advisable, given the likely use of the organ with other instruments)

Temperament

Type of action (key and stop) and position of console

Number of enclosed divisions

Potential builders (I appreciate this might not be appropriate but I would certainly include our hosts in any such list)

Console “facilities”

Stoplist

 

As it happens, I have prepared my “ideal” spec for such a situation but will refrain from posting until you’ve all had a chance to dive in.

 

Off you go.

[Sheet Music on Tablets]

And I see that on yesterday’s post on the YouTube thread the organist is using what appears to be an iPad to play Franck.

[Sheet Music on Tablets]

This is something I am thinking about too, rogbi200. Up to now I haven’t felt the need for an iPad or similar-sized tablet, and on the occasions when I’ve been asked to sight read from one I have found the image a little too small for my middle-aged eyes. But an A4-sized iPadPro is a different proposition. A PDF or other digital-format hymnbook would be really useful, especially with an easy-to-use bookmark feature. As you say, the Apple Pencil should make annotation straightforward. I export from Sibelius into PDF all the time so viewing on the iPadPro should be easier than printing. The only major issue with organ music is switching from portrait to landscape—I know this should just be a question of physically turning the tablet through 90º but I’d like to try it out. In the new iOS there is the ability to split the screen so you could eg type into a word processor whilst viewing a source document, which could be useful. The 10 hour battery life should be ample for most purposes too.

[What's happening?]

Well, it’s nice to know there isn’t a massive technical problem with the board! And, thanks to the prompting from Colin I have subscribed to Organists’ Review via iTunes as I’d hate to miss anything interesting about house organs :-)

[Loudest Tubas]

Derby Cathedral springs to mind, as does Carlisle (OK I know it's technically in the crossing under the central tower, but the nave is shorter than most apses and is more of an antechapel from what I remember when I played there some years back). I can't think of any others in the UK other than those listed above though.

I don’t know why I didn’t think of Derby; I know it well. I don’t know Carlisle at all.

[Loudest Tubas]

That’s a very interesting proposal, MusingMuso! I can think of Christ Church, Oxford and Westminster Cathedral with West End gallery organs. At Christ Church the choir stalls are close to the organ and in that small, non-standard cathedral space it works. The choir are nowhere near the West End at Westminster Cathedral which reflect a continental Roman Catholic praxis. Are there any other West End organs and, more interestingly, choirs in the UK?

[UK 5-manuals?]

 

Some time ago, when I lived in the UK, I played post to a close friend who is a distinguished African Bishop. During the course of his visit to the UK we visited a number of Cathedrals …

I may be taking this too seriously but isn’t there some specific protocol about bishops seeking permission in advance from the dean before entering a cathedral? Or is that only when a bishop plans to enter their *own* cathedral?

[Durham Cathedral - situations vacant]

If I earned as much per hour as the excellent guy who services my car, I would be a good deal better off than I am now, especially if paid by the hours I put in rather those for which I am contracted. Not that I'm complaining.....

That is, I’m sure, true for you and many other church musicians, David. But the, I imagine self-employed sole-trader, motor mechanic will probably have some significant overheads included in his hourly rate.

[Most pointless stops?]

1 foots - now I happen to think they can be quite special when used judiciously. On a three manual instrument I don't know if they are better off on the Swell or Choir, […]

There’s a 1' on the Choir where I play that is one of the least used stops on the organ. It was originally a Larigot 1⅓' but was re-formed as a 1' at some point. It’s nice as a tinkle but would be more useful if it could easily be part of the ultimate “gap” registration of 16' + 1' which, as the only manual 16' flue is a heavy Double Diapason on the Great, can only be done by coupling through the Swell 8' flute with the Sub-octave and Unison Off.

[UK 5-manuals?]

I feel certain there will be other examples

I couldn’t say for certain but I believe the small 2-m Father Willis at Christ Church, Oxford was not only a lovely instrument but had a similar bureaucratic function.

[Most pointless stops?]

Manual: Open Diapason 8, Dulciana 8, Flute 4

Pedal: Bourdon

 

Twillingate Anglican Church, Newfoundland. Norman & Beard, so a classy piece of work, compared to the worthy but workaday Bevingtons, Cassons and Forster & Andrewses which were ordered from catalogues and are more usually found in small communities here (although most don't have pipe organs at all). However, the Open is too big for the Flute to have much of an effect apart from thickening it slightly, and the Dulciana is too quiet to support the Flute.

Completely agree. I grew up with an N&B organ dated 1912 with exactly this spec. There was a swell too: Lieblich Gedeckt, Gamba (that could be used for industrial cleaning), Salicet 4' (that matched the Gt Dulciana), Oboe. A Sw 8ve to Great had long been disabled due to its malfunctioning. But the Great was *exactly* as you describe, David. After I moved away it was revamped with a 4' Principal instead of the Flute. I don’t think I’ve encountered a Bevington from that “catalogue” era but one from the 1860s is one of my favourite instruments.

[Most pointless stops?]

I thought the armchair wisdom was that sub-octave couplers were supposed to compensate for a lack of low-frequency reverberation in the room. That would certainly account for their preponderance in the US and Downes putting one on the great in the RFH.

 

I think there’s a logic in *not* having them anywhere if the organ is built on well-scaled principal choruses, and that logic still holds true for the Great division (as the most ancient division, historically) even when octave couplers are everywhere else.

[Most pointless stops?]

I'm a fan of Great Gambas; I'd certainly rather have a Gamba than a Dulciana. Most useless stop: any second 2' in a division. On the Swell at St James, Muswell Hill there’s a Flautina 2' and a Harmonic Piccolo 2'. The difference is minimal to my hearing.

[Electronic substitute in a Cathedral ?]

A fully mechanical action must be the best for a small instrument (the H&H at Hakadal in interesting in this respect) but any large one is a complex machine and surely regardless of what action is used, is bound to need more maintenance and more frequent overhauls.

If an organ is entirely mechanical apart from an electric blower, I’d have thought that size would make little difference to its need for maintenance and overhauls if well and simply designed; a four-manual and pedal instrument being essentially 5 relatively small organs operated from one console. Whether most organists are willing to sacrifice combination actions and couplers for the sake of their instrument’s longevity is a question to which I don’t know the answer but I could guess.