Nigel Allcoat

Ludus Tonalis by Hindemith

Readers might be interested to view a little https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=6626266638&set=t.36907574&type=3&theater of the students of the Summer Organ Conservatoire in St Sulpice. All having a go and everyone enjoying finding their way around the glorious musical machine. I post this after the remarks made about Dupré in an earlier post. Léon Charles plays much of the B Major from memory and having never sat at the organ before - neither had the others. Testament to young unbridled enthusiasm and musicianship. Even Dame Gillian was given her orders! Best wishes, Nigel

I posted some pieces on Youtube the other year for educational purposes for my students (and any others wanting to hear, as they were public). It was my music and yet they banned it after 24 hours. They obviously do a splenid job in maintaining good taste.

Bernard Gavoty recalls the way Jehan told him the piece should be played " When you play this piece, you must create the impression of an ardent conjuration. Prayer is not a lament, but an overpowering tornado flattening everything in its way. It's also an obession: you must fill men's ears with it - and God's ears too! If at the end you don't feel wrung out, it means you've neither understood it nor played it as I want it played. Keep to a tempo as fast as clarity will permit. Don't worry about rapid chords in the left hand near the end. At the right speed that passage is unplayable. But rubato isn't out of the question, and it's really better to 'botch' it a bit than play at a speed which would deform my Litanies." I hope this helps those who are grasping for answers/truth. N

I am sure I've been engaged under false pretenses as so many say how they enjoy listening to Radio 2 when asking for an autograph.

If my memory serves me right, she told me that this was bestowed upon her from New Zealand. N

I have one which unfortunately spells something explicitly rude in some Asian language - so rude in fact that nobody has the courage to tell me what it is. Driving though Leicester is a bundle of laughs. especially at pedestrian crossings.

It is always a difficult moment in a concert when an improvisation has been programmed. To some extent it is the performer's fault in putting this in the wrong place. I have frequently felt that when the improvisation is billed at the end of the concert the themes which are sometimes given in a flourished brown envelope are trite and looked upon as an encore moment. Nothing is worse for a theme to be recognized by the audience and not the performer when it suggests something quite the opposite. Nothing is more disconcerting to 'play it over' and hear laughter. However, the player as well as the promoter needs to take notice of what has been played before. Silly themes turn the perormer sometimes into a silly act which is demeaning and possibly degrading the actual discipline which has taken a life-time to hone and perfect to their best ability. One way to to put the brakes on such themes (often only seemed as 'fun' by the promoter) is for the performer to include such an item at the beginning of the concert or at the commencement of the 2nd half. I have given up saying that it will be on a given theme as it frequntly becomes insulting to advise people that the Teddy Bears' picnic (or picnique) or the like, is not quite the mood required after some monumental ouvre. Such thimgs are party pieces and should belong to the vin d'honneur afterwards. Themes need to winkle out the musicianship of the player; the ingenuity of their ability to provide development as well as marrying all their talents with displaying the instrument. A tall order after playing a taxing programme. Also the improviser in my estimation should know when to stop if such simple tunes are proffered. Should an extended improvisation be made, then in my opinion it could take up the whole of the 2nd half. But then it should be in a good Form that does justice to talent, instrument and music. Improvisers are not to be thought of a classy circus act - just a class act! As for brown envelopes being brandished - I prefer them to include crisp notes and not those on a piece of manuscript. All best wishes, N

I wrote an article for the Organists' Review in the last century concerning this. Obviously some never read it. Others have forgotten it. Some might have been born after it. But that's no excuse. N

Bossi's organ concerto is a real winner. How I wish Halls and Organists would be less Poulenc orientated - inspiring and fun as that it is. Perhaps it is the Radio 3 and Classic FM syndrome dictating taste (again). N

I too listened and certainly heard choir and organ through my Bose set-up. Following on from the Voluntary we had some chamber music - the flute sounding as if it was in my room and at least twice the volume of the Vierne. The loudest moments from Lincoln were the two lessons and The Introduction "Welcome to Lincoln". Then we (I) heard a choir in a transept. Odd.

I am not aware Oxford is particularly famed for this dish. N

How brave of you to get this far, John. It has taken 3 enormous gins to recover from 2/3 of the Prelude. N

Jeepers creepers! I feel he was at his best in Db and Andantino. N

I had to visit Marcussen's works at the time the organ had been sent to Manchester and whilst a number of their workforce were over there. There was much talk about the long overdue completion of the hall. The organ builders were working to to a tight schedule because of their order book. As far as I can remember, the hall was just a concrete bunker - but I obviously stand corrected as to the lack of furnishings. I remember a telephone call from Manchester to the works while I was there and they were desperate because of the situation. However they hoped that their construction would suit the finished building. People remembered that they had produced a new organ for the Cathedral in Copenhagen to replace the 'soft' modern Frobenius organ and their result in the voluminous acoustic was not so well received. Perhaps in Manchester they erred a little on the less strident projection to compensate. All I can say is that because of constraints beyond their control the organ had to be installed 'blind'. Perhaps if time and finance allowed they could go back and re-voice and readjust dynamics now the building is finished and seated - something that was not allowed them when they were contracted to place and install the organ, as far as I can deduce. I am sure that this was not the first installation that was burdened by external influences. I remember vividly the first French organ coming to these shores for about 120 years and when the builder arrived the building was without a floor and a huge JCB in the middle of the Choir. The Pulpitum was still not finished (the concrete foundations were still like quick-sand), and most things were disastrously incorrect for the erection of the organ. It is the builder's nightmare and the gloat of the critics. Nigel

Not knowing the place where the marriage will take place, it might be an idea to time how long her walk will take. Many brides request music that is too long and perhaps the bit they want doesn't feature during the time she takes to glide. I have a suspicion that you might as well start this as she is leaving her home. By the time she enteres you will have just about reached the Choral entrance to match her's! I have always preferred an arrangement of one of H J Roman's Sonata da Chiesa works (in D). Fantastic and wonderful for an entrance and fit for royality. Sensational as a Programme opener too. I shall create a link for it if you liike. Best wishes, N

And the other way round is the exceptional reed Viola da Gamba at Alkmaar on the H'werk which must take up a considerable amount of space because of its very wide cone-like pipes. I have always dreamt of having a present-day builder create one. It is so extraordinary with a very gentle buzzy sound which is so like its bowed original in that acoustic. N

Thank so much Philip for a lesson in how to circumnavigate the NPOR site! Much appreciated. I find it odd that the organ in Astley is not mentioned although I rather suspect it was built for the church but never catalogued. It is interesting to read where the majority of the organs were/are situated and also the connection with Holdich. This all enables me to be of more knowledgeable assistance to the church as their Diocesan Organ Adviser. Best wishes, Nigel

That is most interesting James. Many similarities between the stops. So grateful to you for delving and putting on here. Also of interest is that from the date of this organ now in Sydney and 1906 in Astley, the firm became Atterton & Sons. I am wondering if the organ I saw today might have been a house organ before it arrived in Astley. It is so compact with very little room for it to be blown by hand because of the proximity of a pew. At least a start has been made in unearthing some details. Excellent! N

That is most kind of you to respond Charles. Here is a link to St Mary's Astley that I visited today and where I found this charming little instrument in serious need of some TLC. More information would be gratefully received from any source. Many thanks, Nigel

Dear Readers, I have a lovely country church (ex-Collegiate Choir of a much larger Pre-Reformation edifice) with very grand historic associations in my Diocese of Coventry. The little organ (very well placed in a very large space) is by Atterton & Sons of Leighton Buzzard - so says the name plate and a date of 1906. Considering that the much of a family seems to be involved in organ building, I am at a loss to know anything about them. Is there light to be shed on their work or history/life? Also it would be good to know if there are any other instruments by them. After over 100 years of muck going inside this organ it still has one of the most beguiling Wald Flutes I have played in many-a -year. Things in anticipation of a flood of information from all the boffs. Nigel

Souvigny.

I always played my wrong notes with the utmost of conviction. I mean every accident! N

I can't remember the writer of it, but without the harmonies being changed (wonderful!) you should be able to use the recording for a little dictation on a rainy afternoon! N

Loudest perhaps means overbearing in the room into which it is speaking - therefore a properly conceived stop should be constructed to suit the building and of course (to my mind) the rest of the organ. It is a Solo stop more often than not and is in certain music quite an effect when used with the utmost taste and necessary panache. Some examples to my mind and ears are of little musical worth and produce an obscene amount of power with no apparent artistry. One example that must be used with the utmost respect is the H & H in Leicester Cathedral. If any readers want 'loud', pay a visit! If you can only get as far as Coventry (and the wind is more from an easterly direction), you might still be able to hear it. It is on the usual 15". Wisbech, Saints Peter & Paul (H&H) is a gigantic sound and worthy of a Govt Health Warning. Happy Honking! N