Philip

Thanks for all the contributions so far. I have now retrieved my copy from church which has enabled me to examine Vox's excellent suggestions in more detail with reference to the variation numbers (I would plan to play the Introduction first). I think Grace's registration suggestions do seem to tend towards using too much organ too often. This seems particularly true to me in the Scherzoso, where his suggestions for near enough full organ for large portions of the piece would probably make it sound overly heavy where it might need a bit more bounce perhaps. I have two further queries: a ) What kind of balance should one strive for between the theme in the pedal and the adornments above it? Should the theme be speaking out so as to be clearly audible above the manual parts, or should they just sit happily together? In particular, I think of Grace's suggestions to add a pedal reed for the louder bits in variations 9, 14-16 and presumably from 20 through to the end. Is it helpful to give the theme extra clarity at these points? b ) The final chord. is the version I have been listening to and Bianchi uses a tierce de picardie for the very final chord. Do you think this is unnecessary or even unwanted? Personally I rather like the effect, as it provides a contrast with a piece which has been pretty firmly in the minor key.

Here comes my latest thread asking for help! Not quite sure how I came across it, but I took one listen to this and thought it simply brilliant. Now I've got the music (I will also try and work on the Intermezzo and Scherzo in time) and am getting to grips with it - and its mostly very approachable, only getting tricky in a couple of variations towards the end. My question chiefly concerns registration. I've got the Novello edition which is littered with registration suggestions, which I've read are something of an unwanted addition! How then should I go about registering it? I've read on here that Rheinberger worked with an organ without a swell box so there was only one marked change in all the sonatas. I have a substantial two-manual instrument on which to play it. As always, many thanks in advance for the help.

I'm just making my way through this week's R3 broadcast on iPlayer, and was intrigued to hear the dismissal come immediately at the conclusion of the office. This is probably correct, because Evening Prayer itself finishes after the collects I believe (someone will correct me if I'm wrong I'm sure), but most places do reserve the dismissal for the very end of the service. Is the practice adopted by Magdalen common? As to the rest of the service, it largely depends if you like Stanford I guess! I do sometimes think that the R3 broadcasts include rather more repertoire from off the beaten track than they might and so it was nice to hear some familiar pieces sung well. All the Stanford evening services are lovely in their own way, and fully deserve to be heard. I do also like the anthem 'O for a closer walk with God' a lot and the organ Postlude is a good romp too.

I had forgotten the Harris. It wouldn't have been possible this year as I was flying solo and had to conduct myself, but it may be worth thinking about for future years. Thanks for the various ideas.

As I write we are almost an hour into the church's third most important day of the year, yet I always feel that Pentecost leaves me feeling that there isn't much suitably festive music for the occasion. Choir pieces first then - well our collection of books hasn't much to offer really - NCAB presents Attwood's Come, Holy Ghost, Sterndale Bennett's God is a spirit, Tallis's If ye love me and Tye's O Holy Spirit, Lord of grace, as I remember. We have attempted the first three in previous years, and God is a spirit is the choice this year as we needed something unaccompanied. However, none of them strike me as particularly festive, even if all four are nice enough - should we be doing somewhat more to mark this important occasion in the church's year? Then to organ music - in this case, unlike Easter, I'm aware there's an abundance of settings, preludes and variations around Veni something Spiritus, but is there anything which is seasonal but also celebratory and festive (and not too difficult for a mere mortal)? What am I missing out on? Not having access to anything seasonal, I stuck the Gigout Grand Chouer Dialogue down for the post-service voluntary, because it is loud and festive. I'm wondering if I can do better though, without stretching to something like the Durufle. Even with hymns, I struggle to think of more than three or four inspiring Pentecost hymns, somewhat in contrast to Easter. Lots of churches seem to use 'O thou who camest from above' as a recessional - one of my favourite three hymns of all time, but I'm not convinced it works at the end of a main morning service (it might at Evensong). As the one responsible for choosing the hymns, I always use 'Shine Jesus Shine' as the recessional for Pentecost, because a ) Its as good as Kendrick gets b ) It satisfies the vicar's request to include a mix of modern and traditional (or rather, 30 years old and older still) c ) Its a damn good romp and a fine way to finish a service This has turned into something of a lament to which I suspect there isn't an answer, but after the euphoria of Easter I always feel Pentecost gets a raw deal in so many ways, musically being one of them.

If we're on experiences of worship there, I was in the area back in January and took in Saturday and Sunday Evensong one weekend sung by the Cathedral Chamber Choir. If I recall, Stanford in A and Wood's Central Orb on Saturday, and Dyson in D and Like as the Hart on Sunday. Hows that for a brilliant selection of the finest of the English choral tradition? I think it was George Castle at the organ. Altogether, a wonderful experience, with both the singing and the accompaniment being excellent. My abiding memory will be of arriving on Saturday, tired after an enjoyable but busy day spent walking in the countryside and then at a football match, coming in and hearing them singing the psalms, and feeling as if I could have sat there listening for so so much longer. Thats what a good Evensong does for me, takes you to somewhere completely different, that oasis of calm at the end of your day.

http://imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/5/55...tance_piano.pdf That's a piano arrangement which you might be able to do something with. Its not an easy piece to transfer to the organ though. I'd love to play it but haven't been brave enough to start yet.

I know three tunes for 'Lead, kindly light' and this isn't one of them! It is rather nice though. Unfortunately the script to the service doesn't list the tune. And Coe Fen at the end there, followed by a voluntary by a contributor to this board!

Southwell Minster - Bank Holiday Monday 3rd May 3.30pm - Free Admission, Retiring Collection Paul Hale (Southwell) Schumann - Sketches in C and D flat Boyce - Trumpet Voluntary in D Rathbone - A Southwell Suite (World-Premiere of Variations on the hymn tune 'Southwell) S.S. Wesley - Larghetto in F# minor Willan - Introduction, Passacaglia and Fugue Full list for the summer series http://www.southwellminster.org/mediapool/...ecital_2010.pdf Also.... Sunday 9th May is the first in the summer series of Sunday afternoon recitals on the Binns Organ in the Albert Hall, Nottingham. This is an excellent series (on an excellent instrument) of which all but the last recital are free to get into (programme £1, retiring collection). Full list here http://www.binns.info/events.html 9th May - Jonathan Bunney 2.45pm (Pre-concert talk 2.15pm) J S Bach - Prelude and Fugue in G BWV 550 Petr Eben - Ist movement from Two Invocations for trombone and organ Klaas Bolt - Variations on “My God, whence shall I go” Charles Ives - Variations on “America” Louis Vierne - Symphonie 6

Thanks for the responses, and the volume in question looks ideal. I'll place an order at some point.

http://www.priory.org.uk/cgi-bin/ukstore/u...33;%20The%20Gra As rumoured, its St Pauls with Simon Johnson. To see whats on it, click on 'Full description'.

Being his anniversary year, I'd be interested to hear what of Wesley's organ music people play and what is worth learning. The only piece I really know is the 'Choral Song', but I'd like to do something else to commemorate his anniversary. Any suggestions?

http://www2.cpdl.org/wiki/images/e/e0/JB45...eblich_sind.pdf We did this about two years ago and I printed this off I think which is quite helpful. When I accompanied it I'm sure there were plenty of notes missing, but I'm not entirely sure it matters - orchestral reductions like this can be a nightmare (I have similar issues with 'The heavens are telling') and I'm sure much of the rest of the Requiem is even harder. Get the basics there and it should be OK. The accompaniment isn't massively prominent in this piece - mostly quiet and getting a bit louder here and there (and even those you probably wouldn't want to be hugely loud). Perhaps this isn't a purist's response but it is my own practical one. Great piece though, well worth the time spent on it. I particularly love the fugal bits at the end.

See http://www.halloffame.classicfm.co.uk/ for the results. Widor 5 comes in at number 50. Bach's D minor thingy at 46. Saint-Saens' 'Organ' symphony at 14. That's all I could see for organ. No Messiaen - how surprising! 'The Lark Ascending' was No. 1.

Well, I enjoyed much of it. Some things weren't to my taste and the last hymn was rather too quick, but nonetheless a decent programme I feel. It might at least help show joe public that Kings do more than just sing at Christmas. We also got lots of glimpses of the organ scholars at work.

...and one more: On Saturday night the Beeb had 'Easter from Kings' on, similar idea to the Christmas version. Again lots of nice singing and some varied music interspersed with hymns and readings (not all biblical). As it focused on the whole of Holy Week there wasn't masses of Easter stuff in it - only a bit at the end and the opening hymn. There's about a minute of the Final from Vierne 1 to cover the closing credits.

Speaking of Flor Peeters, his Missa Festiva was the setting for the BBC's live TV broadcast from Winchester yesterday morning. Also features Hadley's My beloved spake and at the start a modern-sounding piece with lots of Alleluias and organ interjections. Unfortunately they seem to have got their timings wrong as the last hymn got cut out midway through the first verse! Still, worth a watch, some good singing and nice organ improvisations.

Seconded. So what's everyone singing/playing/hearing this Easter then? Mine: Maundy Thursday evening Mass of St Thomas (Thorne) During foot washing - Ubi caritas Taize Anthem - O Saviour of the world (Goss) At the start of the watch - Stay with me Taize Good Friday liturgy Anthem - Were you there? (adaptation of arrangement by Bob Chilcott) Reproaches - simplified plainsong version from NEH plus another Taize - Jesus, remember me - to finish off the Veneration of the Cross Easter Day 6am Dawn Mass Plainsong Exsultet Mass of St Thomas Anthem - Joy is come (Carter) No voluntary - we finish with the 'Breakfast gospel' at the west door, so straight off to breakfast after disrobing! 10am Eucharist Mass of St Thomas (again! - its our festival mass setting) Anthem - Blessed be the God and Father (Wesley - switched to the morning for a change!) Voluntary - Toccata from 5th (Widor) 6.30pm Evensong Smith Responses Psalm 114 (Bairstow) Brewer in D Anthem - Not unto us O Lord (Walmisley - in Anthems for Choirs 1, done mainly for the jubilant 'Hallelujah' section) Voluntary - Carillon de Westminster (Vierne) And on Good Friday evening probably a trip to hear St John Passion. Its always the best weekend of the year, and worth all the effort we put into it.

I do rather like the Crucifixion. It wouldn't perhaps hit my desert island discs, but it is a sensitive and thoughtful meditation on the Passion (notwithstanding some of the points raised above). Musically it isn't on a par with many other things, but in that sense it probably appeals more to the masses and to your average parish congregation. Not having an evening service on Sunday, I sought out a performance of it to attend. I try not to be a musical 'snob' but I have to say I didn't think it was performed particularly well. The ensemble seemed poor, we had an overwhelming number of sopranos and altos and so the harmony wasn't as rich as it could have been, and the singing was sometimes a little flat ('God so loved the world' dropped at least a tone). Probably the highlight was the solo tenor who was absolutely terrific, particularly in the 'King ever glorious' recitative, and he gave it absolutely everything for the final words of that and I sensed real emotion there. The bass was good, although his diction was a little odd. I got the impression that this might have been an annual event when many extra singers were added from beyond the normal choir and that they just picked it up on the Sunday afternoon. This is fine, if the singers are competent and the outcome good, but with a work like this which doesn't make huge technical demands there is a real danger that it can be performed badly. Unfortunately, being a work I know well, I was left rueing some of the inadequacies mentioned because they were obvious to me and therefore spoiled it somewhat. However, done well, it can be a very moving experience, although I find the hymns a real struggle as they rise so high (two to F, one to F#, although I freely admit I am far from a great singer). Unfortunately, it is not possible to transpose them down as the keys follow in sequence with the music that is around them. I see mention of Maunder's 'Olivet to Calvary', which I heard my home church choir do several years ago, and is twinned with the Crucifixion on the Barry Rose recording which I have and I agree is excellent (even if not a complete recording). While I wouldn't deny that some of it is verging on Victorian twaddle which has had some rather unkind things written about it, I have to say that I come back again and again to the final chorus 'Droop sacred head' which I find an incredibly moving and powerful ending. If I'm feeling uninspired, it is one of those pieces which I do come back to for inspiration because its words and music do have genuine feeling and power. I would probably go to hear it again just for that.

Monday 5th April (Easter Monday) Thomas Trotter at Southwell Minster, 3.30pm Admission Free, Retiring Collection Hollins - Concert Overture in C minor Schumann - Three Studies in Canonic Form JS Bach - P&F in G (BWV 541) Anderson - Three Pieces Festing - Largo, Allegretto, Aria & Variations Thalben-Ball - Variations on a Theme of Paganini Wagner - Evening Star & Ride of the Valkyries

I quite liked the tune to the last hymn, but I'm not sure it quite fitted the words. 'O my Saviour lifted' is a pretty reflective, solemn hymn, and the tune seemed rather bright to me, almost in contrast to the words, and the repeat of the last verse with descant was a little odd. I wonder if you could set it to anything else. Who was it composed by - someone from Wakefield I assume? I can't say I enjoyed the canticles much and indeed skipped through them. The introit was rather good though.

What makes me attend recitals? The organ, the music and performer are all important of course (actually I'd suggest that the music takes precedence for me - I can't say I know that much about which organs and perfomers are among the best), but can I add in cost and distance travelled. I live in Nottingham. Therefore I would be quite happy to go into town to one of the Nottingham Albert Hall's excellent series of Sunday afternoon recitals which run through the summer without knowing the programme. It's a short drive, I can park almost outside for free on a Sunday and all bar the last recital are free to get into (informative programme with notes £1). If I don't like it, I haven't lost much, apart from a Sunday afternoon where I would probably be sat in front of the telly. The organ is excellent anyway so I know that is guaranteed. I would recommend the series - they start again in May. I was quite happy to go to Birmingham a few weeks ago to hear Ben Van Oosten at Symphony Hall, but would not have done so without the knowledge that I was going to hear two excellent major works from the French romantic repertoire. It was too far to travel just on the off chance of hearing something I might like. Whether you charge and how much makes a major difference I think, as well as the purpose of the recital. A local charity recital in the parish church is being held principally for the purposes of raising money (and probably charging a pretty small entry fee) and the concern of those attending is probably contributing to the appeal as much as what is being played. Releasing a programme probably wouldn't make much difference. However, when you are asking people to pay anything beyond a fiver in a commercial venue I think they have a right to know what they're going to hear. As regards talking, it depends again on the situation, as Peter describes. The Nottingham Albert Hall series have a pre-recital talk before each recital, starting half an hour before. Perhaps this is a good way of making the option to hear the recitalist talk about what they are performing without forcing it upon people.

We currently have a 2-manual Rodgers at church and it is excellent. Not cheap by any means (£30k+ all in), and it has external speakers (12 of them!) which may not be what the OP wanted (perhaps using internal speakers would reduce the cost - or you could get some decent headphones which is even cheaper). The sound quality is very good, the full organ sound is rich but there are also some excellent solo sounds (for example - a lovely Clarinet, a decent solo trumpet, and last week I spent a bit of time improvising on the strings - Unda Maris on Great coupled to Gamba and Celeste on Swell - absolutely gorgeous). Rodgers enable you to have more than one voice available for some stops which increases flexibility - you just select using the computer. I find it a joy to play, a very comfortable console (thank goodness we ordered drawstops - it costs more but it is worth it) and lots of registration aids which I make full use of. I can't really compare with other firms. What I will say is there is a lot of competition in the market, and since I studied Economics I should know that that means that the quality should keep getting better, whoever you go to. Digitals will never recreate true pipe organs, but technological advances means they will keep on getting better - the disadvantage of this is of course that things quickly become obsolete!

http://www.mander-organs.com/discussion/in...?showtopic=1318 This may be of some use to you, even if it is from a while ago...

http://www.organrecitals.com/1/recitals.php?reggrp=lon That gives you some idea - all lunchtime stuff though. Southwark looks like its weekly, St Lawrence Jewry certainly is (they have piano recitals every Monday too I think if that floats your boat).