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Frank Fowler

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Everything posted by Frank Fowler

  1. There was a time when `toasters' were not very good to listen to and I was amongst the first to deride them when compared with a pipe organ, but now over the last couple of decades ditigal involvement has made all the difference and one can have quite a good representation at home and quite often in a church. No matter what your home instrument is when you get into a church you still have to rethink what you have done at home to suit the instrument and acoustics. At home, you can at least get the notes right in the warm. In all my life in organs, prejudice (often ill informed) has been rife and it is intrested to see that it still raises its head in this forum - but that is what makes it so interesting and entertaining. Happy Christmas, FF
  2. I'll settle for a dozen decent bottles of red wine at any time to help me recover from a surfeit of carols. FF
  3. I remember on one occasion when an orchestral bird whistle was used in "In a Monastry Garden" the elderly churchwarden nearly went bananas thinking a real bird had got into his church. FF
  4. It is amazing how quickly and completely the original thread can get lost!! FF
  5. I note these wonderful pieces to play the Bride in with interest. At our church it takes 62 seconds to walk from the entrance door to the chancel steps, and that is going slowly. I have a 3 pm wedding on Saturday and seeing we are coming up to Christmas shall include "Past Three a Clock" if she is late. FF
  6. The memory feebly stirs. I can remember being contacted years ago by a wood carver who asked if I knew of any old Garrard organs that were going to be scrapped as it seems he used `American Whitewood', a very close grained wood without any knots, which was ideal for carving. Does this ring any bells? FF
  7. I always thought it was a little fellow with a bushy white beard and a pointed red hat who lived in the Paris underground system. FF
  8. Having worked with Ralph Downes on several occasions, I often wondered how much he considered the full liturgical use of instruments he designed. FF
  9. An excellent obituary in today's Telegraph. Well deserved. FF
  10. Thanks Tony, I know of some of the others who built a few unit organs but do not have any Jardines on my lists, have you any locations or details please. Regards, FF
  11. Just to be pedantic. The organ I believe was not a 'Theatre Organ' which conjures up a Wurlitzer, Compton or Christie picture but an `Organ in a Cinema' raising thoughts of a church organ style instrument, of which in the early days there were several such installations. FF
  12. Could it be an acoustic delay between the departments? I remember having to prove the point to an organist with an attached console who insisted that action on a far soundboard was slower than that on the Great, just above his head. A microphone and headphones quickly proved the point. This situation was sometimes one of the reasons for detaching a console. FF
  13. Wer'e off the track again but....... Some time ago a friend of mine, then not too worried about `one for the road' and his wife were driving home late at night from a concert in Winchester when she calmly said, "Look darling, there's a Kangaroo waiting at that bus stop". He looked - there was - and he nearly crashed the car. It seemed one has escaped from the local Zoo and happened to be sitting by the bus stop. He has never had a drink before driving since. As our bus service is not always what it might be, I only hope the 'roo was still there when the bus turned up. FF
  14. I have never heard of this one - the tuner for many years was A.W. (Jack) Pritchard and he did not play cards. In my days with him it would have been a cup of tea in a local cafe. Again, in my days there if there was to be a major interruption the organist would have rung up and the tuning visit (one a month) would have been altered. FF
  15. Because of the participants still being alive, no names or location! A friend of mine was in the middle of giving a recital when the Vicar, who took no interest in the music side of the church and not a lot in any other side, had come into the vestry via the back door, and hearing the organ being played, wandered over to the console in the chancel, and said to the organist "B...., I need to talk to you about the last Hymn on Sunday morning". B.... simply said "Bugger off", the affronted cleric did just that and reported him to the Chairman of the PCC. The PCC were on B's side and the Chairman asked said Cleric if he had realised there was a recital being played - "What recital", was the reply. B.... was congratulated on his self control! FF
  16. Here! Here! A good console cost money - all the inexpensive ones that I have come across were pretty grotty, starting from the pedalboard up. FF
  17. Tony, for the record, Torquay St John had Latin named stops as they were (translated!) changed when I was an apprentice working on the organ circa 1948. I seem to remember All Saints Babbacombe also had Latin stop names but do not know if and when they were changed. Regards, FF
  18. It is also alleged that Ormond had a typewriter in the loft that he used during sermons. He was not a fast typist and to those not `in the know' feared death watch beeetle had got into the organ. I was also told that he was a member of the local lifeboat crew having to leave the organ stool in mid service if there was a call out. Can any one authenticate this? FF
  19. How about a future Archbishop of Canterbury? FF
  20. I once had to introduce an organ programme to a group of visiting American Architects who were about the stuffiest bunch of people I had ever met. In desperation my introduction went something like "We are starting with the famous Toccata and Fugue in D Minor which of course you all know Walt Disney comissioned Bach to write for his film "Fantasia". No one batted and eyelid and nothing was said afterwards - come back Bernard Manning! FF
  21. And this is a good point to mention that the magnificent Cavaille Coll organ at the Abbey can be heard this Sunday at 3:00 pm Farnborough Abbey in a concert of romantic French music - although there is no improvisation. Saint Sulpice in Hampshire..... Er.....! After Aristide's death in 1899, the firm was taken over by his pupil, Charles Mutin, who bought the goods and equipment of the Cavaille-Coll company. In France, it was not the accepted practice to take over the name of a company in such circumstances, but greatly against the wishes of the Cavaille-Coll family, Mutin did not worry and continued to produce his `Cavaille-Coll' organs. This does means that there are quite a number of alleged Cavaille-Coll organs around, including it is believed, the Farnborough Abbey Organ which was built in 1906, that are really Mutin organs. Let us hear the comments on this one please. FF
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