innate

Sounds like the perfect time to organise a bloodless coup.

I would rephrase that: Bach was the most practical of composers. He frequently wrote exactly to the limit of the particular instruments at his disposal. The Eb and D versions of the Magnificat are hugely informative not only for the organological details (eg flutes substituted for recorders, oboes for the solo (?slide) trumpet) but also for Bach's attitude to so-called "key-colour"; we hear so much about D major being a festal, triumphant key but the Eb version came first and was specifically written for the great feast of Christmas.

<random thoughts alert> I don't think anyone has built an organ with a low B specifically for Bach's Pièce d'Orgue; certainly it didn't prompt a general development of the organ in that direction. And have we any evidence that Bach was composing for any time other than his own? Did Beethoven write any notes off the range of the flute or the trumpet or the viola? I'd imagine that most musicians of Beethoven's time expected the piano, still a relative newcomer, to continue its development. Now, the piano is fully-formed and will, I imagine, see no substantial development of either its range or tonal possibilities. Richard Strauss, the great orchestrator, wrote an impractical low F for the violins in one of his operas; no redesign of the violin has resulted... Michael

I've forgotten the name of the Northern choirmaster at Magdalen College, Oxford in the Golden Age who, when questioned as to how he trained his boys to produce such beautifully modulated diphthongs and trypthongs replied "There's nowt to singing; just open bloddy mouth and sing!".

Sorry if this is considered off-topic by anyone Having used some of the Responsorial Psalm settings at the back of the New English Hymnal I am keen to get a "full set" of responsorial settings of all the Psalms, at least all that feature in the Common Worship lectionary. Does such a collection exist? I looked at the Hymns Old & New - Liturgical book which has RPs for the three-year lectionary but I think this book is designed for the RC church and I suspect the Ps. numbers refer to the Vulgate numbering so I'm not sure that I'd be able to find the right Psalm. I'd like the texts to be as close to Common Worship as possible. Any comments gratefully received. Michael

If we've learned one thing from the experts in Baroque performance practice it's that durations on the page are only a starting point. Michael

I'm no expert on the Orgelbüchlein having learned only a handful of the preludes, but this thread has spurred me to look at them to see what instructions there are from JSB. I have the revised Bärenreiter edition dated 1999. Liebster Jesu, wir sind hier is presented in two versions. The earlier one (BWV 634) is marked "à 2 Clav. et Pedal." and the later one (BWV 633) "distinctius" with no similar words for 2 manuals but the right hand stave is marked f and the left p, which is of course a completely clear indication of 2 manuals. Christ lag in Todesbanden (BWV 625) has no indication for 2 manuals but, in my humble opinion works very well on two manuals, with none of the difficulties or ungainliness of BWV 643. In fact, a two-manual version avoids problems of note-sharing between the cf and the alto part in bars 5 and 8, although a big stretch or "thumbing" is useful in bar 10. Whilst I accept that JSB has been pretty clear in his intentions in OB given that the music only exists in MS form, the collection remains incomplete, and at least some of the rubrics post-date the writing of the music, can we be sure that what we have represents JSB's final thoughts? Particularly as some pieces exist in two versions. Certainly the absence of an engraved version such as we have for CÜIII implies that Bach considered it, in some way, a less important text.

Bedrich Smetena? Bart Simpson?

I think that the consultant was Peter Hurford; I seem to remember that the cost of the organ was 10M A$. I would be wary of making any sort of ergonomic judgement from photos; much better to sit at the console. Of course Hurford is a tall man and so the console dimensions might suit him well.

Peachtree Road, Atlanta and St Ignatius Loyola, NYC are both detailed on this Mander site at 72 and 68 stops repectively. Not as big as Sydney Opera House but certainly much larger than Chichester. I didn't realise Sydney TH hadn't had its action "improved"

My father was a chorister at St. Michael's c.1935-1940 and he has a story about some birds nesting in the tuba pipes. Anyone care to confirm or deny that the tuba was in regular use in the 1930s? Also, he remembers Sydney Nicholson taking over as organist and director of music when war was declared and Nicholson having a very poor sense of pitch when singing. Michael

I walked past the old premises in Kensington Gore today and it proudly states: The Royal College of Organists over the door. There's a fancy brass entryphone but nothing to say who lives there now. The buildings seem to be in a pretty good state of repair. Michael

Thanks to both of you. Michael

I've been given a setting of the Gloria In Excelsis by a member of the congregation with no composer's name, title, or publisher. I wondered if someone here could help identify it. It's a responsorial setting with the response being "Gloria, gloria in excelsis Deo" twice with a melody in 4/4: E. d C- | G. f E- | A G E F |E- D- ||E. d C- | G. f E- | A A G C' |B- C'- [X = crotchet, x = quaver, X. = dotted crotchet, X- = minim] The solo verses are the text from Common Worship, I think, written in 2/4 in a cross between speech rhythm and metrical. Many thanks for any help. Michael

I'd sightread through it a few times over the last 25 years with the same despair as you, Richard. Yesterday, as a result of reading this thread, I went through it again and took the trouble to read the lefthand chords carefully. Apart from noticing a couple of missing accidentals, I found that after 3 or 4 slow readings the chords began to feel more comfortable, less surprising! I think I'll be able to play it quite well in a couple of weeks if I keep at it!

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by reprises in Bach's Chorale Preludes but it is a generally accepted principal in Baroque music, both vocal and instrumental, that repeated sections provide an opportunity for additional embellishment. The slow movements of the organ Trio Sonatas are an obvious example of such opportunities.

OK, pcnd, we know you don't like tuba stops. On the other hand they appear to have been considered essential on all large English organs for a considerable part of the C20 and have certainly been specified in pieces by many of Britain's leading organ and church composers. Whether Pierre actually plays or not is irrelevant to his point here; ditch all tubas at your peril.

At first I was confused but reading the rest of your post and knowing some of your background (!) I was quickly able to work out what you meant! Renatus Harris's scheme for a crescendo device for St Paul's cathedral of perhaps 7 unison stops being brought into operation gradually by a pedal is an interesting relative of the Rollschweller, I suppose. The linked mp3 crescendo is a very good indicator of a slow, stop-by-stop use of the RS but I can also imagine its use over a short time in just the same way as we might use a general crescendo pedal, assuming that the RS can be operated in such a fashion, although these sudden effects can be perceived of, by some, as even less musical than pressing a few generals in quick succession.

I remember fondly my days singing for weddings in the late 1960s and early 1970s. 3 or 4 on a Saturday seemed not infrequent and there was certainly at least one 5-wedding day. Very useful money for the eight trebles. This was in a church on a 1950s council estate where the demographics were in our favour; most of the tenants had moved in as new parents so 20 years later most of the children were desperate to get married! I suspect there are fewer than 10 weddings a year in that church now.

Any organist with a regular church job would recognize the nightmare that is Poe's "Three Sundays in a Week". Michael

Are you perhaps thinking of the Brompton Oratory? Michael

innate = Michael Haslam Sang as a treble on RSCM Cathedral Courses in the early 1970s under Bertalot, Gerald Knight, Martin How. Read music at Christ Church, Oxford. Assistant organist at the Tower of London for a couple of years before concentrating on the piano and conducting for 20 years. Now "musician" at a North London church with musical responsibility for "family" services. Former member of Piano Circus and currently Assistant Musical Director of The Producers.

Drum Roll, the autobiography of James Blades, is informative, moving and very readable. And in a similar vein Harpo Speaks, the autobiography of Harpo Marx, whilst not quite so music-centric, is a fantastic insight into a remarkable life, family and culture.

I would just add that the greatest organist and organ composer, JS Bach, made and played transcriptions.