Nigel Allcoat

Alkmaar had a little glass house (before the restoration) and Haarlem thick curtains (which I still believe are there). Therefore, the cold church can remain yet the organist has a little hide-away that is nicely warmed. You don't hear the organ so well, but when working we are not practising sound but fingering, co-ordination etc. so being warm and practical is a small price to pay I would say. Best wishes, Nigel

Corrected with thanks but with abject apologies to the Irish. N

Although these are remarkable names in the organ world, I would suggest (for debate) that their reputation was bolstered no end by folk outside their own country. It still happens today. We must never forget that there were remarkable players on both sides of the Atlantic during their lives (and for the sake of modesty I include the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland). My teacher (continental) could never understand why so many foreign organists were so idolized. He enjoyed it immensely though, but said we had quite the equal on our own territory. Sir Thomas Beecham also remarked (rather tersely) concerning the same thing with conductors! Most of the UK organ players concentrated on vocal compositions and so the ecclesiastical heritage is idolized globally but not their playing or more generally. their compositions for the organ. Balançoires et ronds-points! Perhaps the Protestant versus Roman Catholic traditions have much to play in all this - but when the 'playing field' was even in Europe, the UK organists and composers were possibly leading the field. The Reformation has much to answer for in some ways. Likewise in the usage of the organ. Where are the West End 'sanctuaries' in the UK? For many-a year/decade/century the 'titulaire' is seen conducting the choir but still producing the most sublime recordings of organ playing - remember the Great Cathedral Series? Shocking in its gloriousness. A sentence that includes 'prophet' and 'own country' springs to mind. But I do not decry the wonders from France and elsewhere. They should rejoice in their talent and their education. I just sometimes tend to think that much of the world thinks the best playing (and organ building) emanates from sniffing the Seine. Best wishes, N PS I am sure Mr Walker's competence was enviable - he certainly had quite an equal in instrument, anyway, with those in the list. Perhaps he would not be so disparaged here if he had been M. Charles Promeneur and been published by Durrand (or the like). As one who was organising a series of concerts he certainly had excellent taste in knowing where the crême lay in Paris and was no doubt befriended by everyone in that list. Ergo, their equal. This says much for his posterity. Bravo Mr Walker for being such a wonderful entrepreneur in post-war Paris. Une gifle sur le dos pour vous. Vous n'êtes pas un nain dans la terre de géants.

There were one or two crucial things that I meant to say in my post the other day. One has already been said - the fact that you need good independent ears on the scene. Secondly, I say that the player should refrain from listening back at the takes for some considerable time. I say this because you most probably have a very distinct remembrance of the recording sessions which remains in the memory. To be able to forget the sessions and then come fresh to the recordings is of greater benefit in my experience. The last time I sat time for a recording was earlier in the year in March and I have not heard it through until the end of August. There were snippets of moments to revel in the sound - but certainly not in the performance. The largest work I heard from march was in September with a student and it was only then that I thought it time to give the go-ahead for production as I was not entirely happy at the time with my reading of the work. I was pleasantly surprised and was hearing something quite unlike my original memory of it. Your soul is being exposed for posterity and I find it a torment. others rather enjoy it. We are all different! Nigel with all best wishes.

Perhaps modern technology has produced the opportunity for technicians to mackle until their heart's content. The days of splicing tape was a total art form in itself. Digital programmes range from totally simple to utterly sophisticated - as you intimate when tuning is corrected. The problem with concerts is the music 'hits the spot on the night' and is often tremendously exciting, especially when carefully juxtaposed with other works in the programme. However, on repeated hearing the rhetoric in the cold light of day might be considered too much. One is playing for an audience that will remember the experience. On a CD one must also remember that it could be played time after time and over-indulgence (which I like tremendously!), can tire so easily upon repetition. Registration will also often change for a microphone which upsets the player somewhat, so takes might seem in order. Technicians often are listening for extraneous noises and not the musical content, so another take is necessary to placate them. Furthermore, it is trusting to luck if you just do it once as there could be a glitch in the digital capturing and thus could make difficulties when putting everything together. You need the safeguard. Audiences can be coughing (no matter how silently) and can spoil things impossibly, so the clinical late-night sessions are often what one only uses. Some players are totally put off with a microphone (like me), whilst others prefer one (Glenn Gould for instance). I rarely listen to performances on CD - it is the sound of various instruments that interest me, and even then there are differences between the room and the CD. I prefer a complete take, even if there are 'noises off'. In Saint-Antoine we once had the migrating birds in the Abbey Courtyard trees who (at all times of day and night) were excited by one particular final chord of a piece by Boyvin believe it or not. So we left it as it was an intrinsic part of the place. Another take of some Pachelbel in Bitche might seem to have a strange background sound from the organ's action - when in actual fact it was my mother knitting a jumper in a side chapel (which I was to use for all subsequent recordings!) In other words you can make a sterile recording and filter and splice to the n'th degree or you can be more human and let us hear tiny imperfections that create a human musical offering. On the other hand, is it still true that orchestral players because of unions can only provide a certain amount of recorded material each day? Then editing and joining takes is totally necessary. Best wishes, N

I thought that Selwyn College Chapel was doing pretty well by having 3 organs in about 25 years. N

Those with wind pressures above 3"? Some stops I know in the UK needed to have a Govt Health Warning for decades. Best wishes, N

Last year year I had the fortune to play in Athens and before returning home squeezed in a magical time seeing the sights. I wandered into a tiny Greek Orthodox church next to the the Cathedral and sat admiring the interior. I just happened to rather nonchalantly sit looking upwards and crossed one foot over the other at the ankle. I was the only person there other than a young man in his early 20's who was the custodian. Before I could take another breath I was frog-matched from the building having been told off in no uncertain terms saying that this was a church and not a café and that it was an insult to sit in such a manner. Best wishes, N

This made me chuckle and I fondly my experience there some years ago now. When John Scott invited me to Evensong to hear the first performance of a setting of my Canticles that the choir were doing, many friends also wanted to go. With a number of them I sat in the Nave whilst the choir rehearsed and was quite overcome by the experience of hearing a consummately brilliant choir sing something that was born from my mind in such surroundings - albeit just a rehearsal. When the time came to ascend to the Choir everyone with me rushed forward - even my mother - to gain a spot near the choir. I was still coming to terms with the experience! When I eventually reached the rope it was clicked in front of me by a verger and I was told that the Choir was now full and would I find a seat somewhere in the nave. However, somebody eventually came and rescued me from a most ridiculous predicament and took me up so that I could at least hear the Office and be humbled by an extraordinary musical machine under John's direction. A post here suddenly brings back quirky memories. Hope you don't mind me sharing them. These things do happen. best wishes, Nigel

I am dead against the addition of a bottom octave (or upper octave) (anywhere). It is tantamount to adding an octave coupler I would suggest. Ranks need to have proper scaling and be properly designed into the interior and to be seen and heard as a complete entity of the initial scheme. 'Plopping on' on an electric action might be considered the downfall of many an organ in the past and bowing to the whim of an organist against the original intentions of the builder. Can schoolboy dreams of such things actually manifest themselves as nightmares? Discuss. Best wishes, from Planet Dull. Nigel

I have said all along for decades. What warmth it brings to read this, this soggy September morn. N

I have this publication in my village church (where I am a parishioner) and the offerings are often purgatorial. The Antiphon in my mind, should end in an Imperfect Cadence. It needs to be resolved with the beginning of the next verse and then end with a feeling of expectancy that is resolved by the Epistle. However, the scanning and the harmony are banal at best and I squirm in the pew at some of the progressions and the 'starts'. Bring back the English Gradual. N

I too found much of the published chants and antiphons trite - although most admirable exercises for school harmony and melody dictations. They have their use. As I was brought up with the English Gradual (where music remains the same but words change every week), I wrote my own to go with the new Mass setting(s). With a little contrivance for some of the longer antiphons, it all works well, even though I say it myself. I cannot abide hearing a congregation trying to get to grips with a new musical snippet every Sunday when if they know the music they themselves can instinctively put the syllables in the correct place. Certainly after the cantor has sung it they will have had no problem. To me, it defeats the object of expecting a congregation to add their tentative contribution if they need 4 verses to learn something. Just a thought, N

And the case designed by David Graebe of Walkers? I know Walkers are 'in it' somehow. Parts? As father and son Wood were only round the corner - they were constantly called by Keith Jarvis to do this and that. It was always in the most extraordinary order every time I played because of their proximity. For interest MM, Piet played Bach (concluding with the B minor P & F) and Nicolas, the Reger Variations and Fugue on an Original Theme for Organ, F sharp minor, Op. 73 (1903) (both broadcast by Radio 3). It was a strange beginning (ISOC's first year) as it was Piet's first concert for some time as he had had a bad accident and most folk in Holland said he would not be arriving! But he did - and it was a tremendous success. That year the many students numbered among them the wonderful Amy Johansen, James Thomas (now at Bury St E and at G & Caius), Robert Morgan (now at Stanford and was at St John's Cambridge), David Goode (still at Eton) etc. It was a marvellous time and provided the start of a most happy 20 years in my life - even if my accountant thinks otherwise. N

I might have said this before somewhere on here. This organ was one of the country's hidden assets - perhaps still is, as I have not played it or heard it for many years. I actually got to know it quite intimately over a number of years in the 80's. Its standing in the world happened one evening when (could have been 1985 or 6) the IAO had its Summer Conference based at the University (then the Polytechnic). The Town Hall organ had just been completely restored and it was Nicolas Kynaston's Presidency. After dinner we all made our way to St Paul's Hall - an ordinary spired church on the edge of the main campus. As we ambled in wondering what on earth we were going to see, we found it a splendidly appointed concert hall and with an organ wonderfully placed in the shallow Apse of the Chancel. The case was simple and effective in such surroundings. And then we heard Keith Jarvis demonstrate. I am sure that not one person in the hall was untouched by this organ. The impact was a sensation and the tutti with its newly acquired 32ft reed, was awe-inspiring to say the least. Some of us (me included) grabbed the key and played long into the night and then before breakfast. Furthermore, it was in that very hall that some students approached me to organize some classes there for the following year (as the IAO was to be in Cambridge in a world-jamboree and the master-classes started by Dame Gillian and continued by Nicolas would not be arranged). And so the International Summer Organ Conservatoire was conceived under its roof. Piet Kee, Nicolas, Naji and Marie-Bernadette and Leslie Howard (for Pianoforte), Graham Cummings and Keith Jarvis (both on the staff at Huddersfield's excellent music department) all joined to provide teaching. I always remember people remarking "who are these Hakims?" I had met Naji first in Paris when Langlais invited me to the Tribune in Ste Clotilde after I had given a concert the previous evening in another church. Langlais' students surrounded the console and they took it in turns to play and then it as discussed as the service progressed. The telephone sometimes rang from the Sacristy and what seemed like a continuing war of words ensued. All remarkable. When we next met (and he was married) was when we both played in the Strasbourg Cathedral one evening another year (1982 I think). But the wondrous Wood (and Walker somehow, somewhere) (David and father Philip Wood from Huddersfield) which was really the creation with them with Keith Jarvis, was central in so many ways to our lives in those days. I know Piet still speaks so very fondly of his years teaching for me as well as the late-lamented Ewald Kooiman in Huddersfield before we moved to Oxford and then to France. And all that is another story (with which to bore!). And just before closing, I remember introducing some long way down into the earth at the Blue John Cavern, Piet Kee, newly flown in to Leeds-Bradford (and still Municipal Organist at the Bavo in Haarlem) and Pierre Cogen, Langlais' successor at Ste Clotilde. A memorable occasion in such a wonderful setting. Both were teaching in Huddersfield with ISOC. All the best, N

I always allow people to be friends when they request on Face Book unless there are spurious identities or they have no connection with anyone else - but I have never had anything from him, as I would have remembered his rather unusual name. He is obviously a silent friend. So his name is now almost new. N

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Playing not from a score has become 'standard' by convention although rarely do you find a Duo etc. on any stage with the pianist playing without a score. Rostropovitch though springs to mind as about the only exception either as 'cellist, pianist or conductor. There is a great difficulty for some memorized repertoire when playing on a mechanical instrument and where registration helpers are needed. They need the score if the player doesn't. I have been intrigued by the varying posts about a player from the USA - Nathan Laube. I must confess his name is quite new to me but as he has the endorsement from Geoffrey (Morgan), then I certainly will look out for his recitals. It is so wonderful to know that so many fine musicians still are finding their way to the organ loft. However, at all times I think the player's duty is to the music firstly and so I am somewhat mystified that such a performer has his thoughts more on how he reacts with an audience and not positioned as close as possible to the organ. Through the instrument we are communicating surely with the audience and so need the opportunity for exquisite bonding. But, even at Langham Place I am quite disturbed by the time-lag which fundamentally destroys for me the nuances of articulation and thus the overall interpretation that is in one's mind. But again of course, a personal preference from a past-it. All best wishes, Nigel

Playing from memory has, for me, certain benefits and yet an equal share of drawbacks. I believe that everyone is quite different and thus some players rather prefer not to be encumbered still with the score after careful meticulous study and preparation when performing, whilst others prefer to maintain a close link with it on the stage/console. For me - so long as I am convinced and swayed by the performance, they could do it on their head if that's how comfortable they felt to discharge their interpretation. Liszt has much to answer for in this memory and concert lark! He was a one-off genius in so many ways and others have followed his trend-setting maverick style. To many in an audience who go because they love music and are not themselves particularly adept at playing, if at all, to see a performer playing from memory is more of a miraculous moment than actually enjoying the results. That is perhaps why more and more screens appear at concerts when surely in a musical context, it is the performance that we want to hear. I find it quite off-putting to see an organist on the screen as it is a distraction, especially when placed in a rather spectacular piece of architecture. The music and the place is all I personally prefer both as player or listener. Again - personal preferences - and why (after seeing the size of screen set before the West case in Gloucester), I sloped off to sit alone in state in the magnificent awe-inspiring Choir. But others unaccustomed to actually seeing an organ being played, could marvel at the supreme command of the performer. As an organist I knew, so had no need to watch. There used to be a bit of a fad about organists not looking down at their feet when playing. If it means that there is a difference between playing a correct key or not - then look! The same goes with having music as far as I am concerned. I would be interested to hear from those who do perform from memory at different venues whether they rely more constantly on pistons and sequencers than on hand registration. I would certainly feel more at home playing a large work using the former as on an unfamiliar instrument I would certainly not want to constantly be thinking about which stops are where. All the best, N

I blush to the tint of a damson that my name is within the same sentence as William Byrd. Crikey.

Here is a link to the Tallis Scholars singing some Oxford music which is nearly 500 years old. & . At this time in England as I learned from one of my D.Phil students, a large percentage* of the population was actively engaged in such music-making. Country houses, castles, palaces, monasteries, collegiate foundations employed artisans who also sang in the choir in their private chapels with daily masses and other Offices. To dream of hearing this music floating from the chapel of Magdalen is almost too much to imagine for me. And to think it was all from part books too. What an education the boys must have had to have this (and much more) in their repertoire, makes our present life and standards utterly miserable I think.*18% sang was the calculation, I seem to remember. Best wishes, Nigel

It's my constant companion in the car at the moment. Ian and a friend from Worcester Cathedral(!) have captured most eloquently some vibrant sounds from 1800 England on this grand tour of music across a few centuries. There is nothing quite so musically serrated than an English Cornet in the Treble and Sesquilatera in the Bass. So much colour, you need sun glasses for the ears. And there is a glorious Stopt Diapason to thoroughly enjoy too. I must add that this is a new departure for some parts of the organ repertoire and not just dinky English works. Be grabbed by Mozart's F minor Fantasia on such an instrument. Boogie in the fast-lane with Gádonyi's Mozart Changes if that's your cup of tea. (I don't drink tea!) Well done Ian and may others rejoice too that we have such a recording celebrating the English organ from this period. N

You have completely made my day. Simply capital. N

And the one thing Nigel also meant to point out that this would be a most welcome addition to the job scene. How many Dioceses? N

I am more and more of the opinion that the C of E dioceses ought to have a Director of Music (or some other position). There are many people who would sincerely play but have little discrete help to support them in their endeavours. I also find that some clergy need discrete help in knowing how to use time and musical talents. I feel that to enable the best offerings to come forward many places just need that helping hand and a sympathetic understanding from the diocese. Some perhaps have help. I know that the Roman Catholic church have a number of such people and choirs and organ playing seems to greatly thrive under such careful direction. I also am beginning to realize (as a DOA) that some pipe organs would not replaced by digital substitutes if the helpful but not over-competent organist had some guidance in how to negotiate the idiosyncrasies of a 19th Century tracker in their church. I realize that this would cost the diocese but I would vehemently argue that the rewards would be priceless for such an outlay. There are positions for clergy in directing the many areas of the Church's Ministry in dioceses, but I am saddened to think that so few cannot see the value of the Ministry of Music in their thinking. It is often the one part of Sunday Liturgy that can be so easily seen and heard by everyone and can destroy or uplift at the drop of a chord. Such people could devise workshops or private help. They could give pointers about how to recruit singers and what repertoire that would suit them in the context of their church's services. The young organists can be encouraged through any number of ways and given small opportunities to play their offering. I have always felt that young people will be encouraged by the tiniest offers of kindness and realistic challenges. But it takes a little time to set such things up. The RSCM offered a national need as seen by Sir Sydney Nicholson. My mother was part of those early days in Oundle when he visited. I think that we need smaller and more concentrated activity that is more 'home-grown' so that the changing churches can be catered for. The early days of the RSCM were founded upon the B of C Prayer and so a national spirit to encourage choirs was totally understood when they joined for massed singing days. Now almost every church is different. Could you arrange such a Saturday and get everyone to sing Evensong? I very much doubt it as it would be for most a museum activity. These differences need understanding and knitting back together and the young people are pivotal to any larger plan for the future. Bishop Ken's words "Improve thy talent with due care" cannot be more true. Having organists' associations, The Organ Club, the IAO etc. are needed extras to complement the other work. I just feel that Diocesan enthusers are needed as soon as possible - certainly in the C of E. But again - I might be just an old fuddy-duddy living in a dream world. N