innate

I'm reassured by all the on-line specs of French & German organs; 8 Fuss, 4 pieds etc. I don't think we need worry.

So, to get back to the OP, what about an early Tudor organ somewhere near the East End for solo use in the Eucharist? Put the Rieger in the North Transept for recitals and big congregational stuff and have a new G&D- or Father Willis-style 4-manual at the West End to accompany Evensong.

All good ideas. My instinct is for the 16' stopped flute over the string but I could be converted. My immediate regret is only having the Gambe on the G.O. to accompany the Cornet or the Voix-humaine. I originally had a Bourdon 8' on the G.O. (and a different flute on the Récit) and deleted it to get down to 30 ranks; probably better to lose the Clairon. Or the Ped. Quint.

Here's something warm and French to cheer myself up: Pedal Contrebasse 16' Soubasse 16' Quint 10 ⅔' Flûte 8' Flûte 4' Bombarde 16' Trompette 8' Grand Orgue Bourdon 16' Montre 8' Flûte harmonique 8' Gambe 8' Prestant 4' Flûte 4' Piccolo 2' Fourniture IV 15, 19, 22, 26 Trompette 8' Clairon 4' Récit Bourdon 8' Salicional 8' Voix céleste 8' Flûte conique 4' Octavin 2' Cornet III 12, 15, 17 Basson-Hautbois 8' Voix-humaine 8' tremblant Usual couplers Mechanical action and a Sub-octave to the Récit. Sorry I couldn't fit a Cromorne in.

I bow to your expert knowledge, Tony, but I remember shots of Harry Secombe and a choir on some clifftop singing something beautifully soft and controlled whilst their hair was blowing in all directions - with no microphone to be seen. Is there no impairment to the recorded sound when using "extreme" wind gags?

And no wind noise!

Having witnessed, from the control room, the recording of a tv programme in a BBC studio I can say that it is probable that the camera crew point their cameras where they are told by the director. And even if the director says, during filming, "Camera 4 - tight shot on the pretty redhead in the second row", it is purely for identification purposes.

but I don't recommend Vox revive his sapped spirits with a small welsh!

We did Alleluia, Sing To Jesus this morning to Hyfrydol. A great marriage of tune and words. The tune uses only 6 notes and never strays from the tonic yet is completely satisfying, even over four verses. I'm not quite sure where your half-hour comes from as a critique of the service in question, Vox.

How does vocal range restrict sustained interest, Vox? One of my favourite liturgical tunes is the old plainsong Our Father/Pater Noster which uses 5 notes, 1 of them twice and 1 only once. And plainsong Psalm and Canticle chants are generally of small vocal range. I heard Segovia play in Derby Cathedral 35 years ago. Every note was clear as a bell throughout the building. And contrarywise, I've heard harpsichords up close that sounded like your bundle of sticks!

Just off the top of my head, what about one of the Handel "German" arias? I think there are some with an obbligato flute and basso continuo which work very well on the organ alone. A Purcell song? I think there are 3 settings of "If Music Be The Food Of Love". Sweeter Than Roses is amazing. Sounds like a lovely wedding.

I had no idea that Kevin Mayhew was a composer himself until I came across a piece by him in The Source.

Don't be surprised if publication results in your acquiring another bookful of anecdotes, Churchmouse.

I won't answer specifically to the P&F but, more generally, mention that metronome marks normally function as a guide rather than an absolute; the wide range of natural reverberation times in buildings that contain organs making this particularly true for organ music. If, on the other hand, a particular metronome mark seems perverse then it is reasonable to find out if the mark is the composer's and if there is a particular reason for it, or whether it can be ignored with impunity. The spirit of the composer's markings is the most important thing.

I have a copy of Bethlehem Down in a Kevin Mayhew book of Christmas songs. The accompaniment is for organ with an arranging credit to Charles Macdonald. I remember playing from an OUP edition many years ago which gave the impression that the organ accompaniment was Warlock's own. Can anyone clarify? Thanks in advance.

I'd pay good money for a collected edition of the works of Martin How, particularly the chants and hymn arrangements. I have a few bits of How stuff from RSCM courses 35 years ago but he must have done loads.

I suspect that you've ruined your argument with that admission. If I remember my music theory history correctly T de Ps were, rather than "hardly ever necessary", obbligatory at one time and place in music history; if we have rebuilt that time and place in the first decade of the 21st century then sobeit. I'm hanging on to my single malts, thanks very much

I'd imagine that Advent Carols from John's falls into the same BBC listen-again category as Desert Island Discs, and (although I haven't checked this out) "DJ" programmes on R1 and R2.

I ended both Long Ago, Prophets Knew and I Heard The Voice Of Jesus Say with a T de P this morning.

I agree. I love Brahms's use of the alto clef in these late pieces; it's like his use of old forms such as these chorale preludes and the chaconne in the fourth symphony and the natural horn in the Trio. I tend to avoid using the swell pedal in Brahms for a similarly "old hat" reason.

I don't have a particularly beautiful singing voice, but I can make a quite pleasant sustained [ih] sound. Of course it would be hard on a high note. I think it is a cop out to say that good singers will refrain from intelligibility in order to protect their voice. Why is Dudley Moore imitating Peter Pears so funny? Because the vowel modifications are ridiculous. Try saying, as though to a small child "The biiiig, baaaad, wolf." Now sing it. It's quite possible not to sing "the beeeeg, bahhhhd, wolf". I wonder if the reason so many directors of musical theatre prefer to cast actors over trained singers for the leading roles in musicals because they are less likely to mangle the vowels. It might also be the reason musically uneducated clergy don't respond well to choirs. And I think this might be a particularly English thing - German choirs, for example, tend to sing the same vowels that they would speak.

When somebody accused Leonard Bernstein of stealing Beethoven or Stravinsky (there's a load of both in West Side Story) he's reported to have replied "If you're gonna steal, steal CLASS." Organ related aside: I played a couple of extracts from The Magic Flute on the organ for a funeral a couple of weeks ago and they worked really well.

That reminds me of the organ my old teacher, CD Atkinson of Ashbourne, installed in Derby School (by then a state grammar) in the 1970s. Jane Parker-Smith, or maybe Maureen McAllister, gave the opening recital. The instrument was a 3m that had been in a church in the North of England and the installation in the school was a project that involved many different departments of the school so a large number of pupils were involved and benefited from the experience. The modern school hall had virtually no reverberation so an electronic reverb system was fitted. I can't find this instrument on NPOR and don't have any details to provide the basis for an entry.

I remember noticing this instrument in Hornsey, North London in the first volume of The Classical Organ In Britain and marvelling that a state/CE school could have such an instrument. I now live just down the road and fear that the instrument is no longer present as the school has been replaced by a new City Academy. I'd love to know how and why it was installed and what happened to it.

I'm sure expert ears can tell, but my experience matches yours, and not just in organs. Electronic pianos are much more convincing at the high end, where, in fact, the best concert grand doesn't actually make a particularly musical sound. There's a section in Gurrelieder where the piccolo has a long quiet high note - professional piccolo players sometimes use an organ pipe for this moment.