Graham Powell

I've just picked up the Michael Murray (complete Franck) recording from St Sernin, Toulouse, on the Telarc label. CD-80234. What a terrific instrument! Recommended............... Graham

Well, small world indeed. No, I don't think you ruined the organ - it was obviously the only solution given the non-existent finances of the church; the only alternative which the church could afford was silence. At least you made it possible for me to play and hear the instrument! Sadly, when I played it, much of the tubing was brittle and perished, hence the missing notes. I think it went into terminal decline from the mid-80's onwards, and I don't know what became of it. I believe that all available resources were spent on the building, which was eventually shut due to the effects of subsidence. I agree with your point about the reeds. The swell reeds were fiery, especially the 16' Double Trumpet. The (wooden) pedal Trombone was a nice stop too, although more polite in speech. There is a new church on the site now, but I don't know what sort of organ they have. It would be nice to think that some of the old organ found its way into a new instrument there..... G

It was, Paul - did you know it? G

I remember playing for a service at a (now demolished) church in south east London in 1980. The 3m organ suffered from a large number of missing notes, mostly due to a previous organist replacing all the lead pneumatic tubing with aquarium tubing....... G

I think the Herod verse you refer to is actually from "Unto us is born a son" Alistair. Agreed, it is a good sound. "Good King Wenceslas" has some clever touches too - moving into A flat minor for "Sire the night is darker now" is one, as is the pungent harmony at the end of verse 4, highlighting the word "freeze" - very effective. G

Agreed. And for me, Cleobury's arrangement of the last verse of "Hark! the herald...." does it every time. G

You're probably right VH, but to me everything coming to a halt in bar 4 on the word "peace" feels wrong. Perhaps some movement in the harmony here would have been preferable? G

Willcocks did write one for "While shepherds watched" VH - see Carols for Choirs Book 2 P211. IMHO, it doesn't add anything to the hymn. Graham

I can't remember much of it, but amongst others, the AB Grade 8 syllabus of 1980 had the following listed - Bach: Prelude in C BWV547 (not the fugue), 1st movement of Trio Sonata No.1 in E flat BWV525, Chorale Prelude "Ach bleib bei uns, Herr Jesu Christ" BWV649, Flor Peeters "Uns ist geboren ein Kindelein" from 10 chorale preludes Op.39, Pierne "Cantilene" (From Trois Pieces), Gigout Toccata in B minor, Milhaud Prelude for organ. Graham

Yes and no - he was born in Balham, London in 1880 and emigrated to Canada when he was 33 years old. Graham

A quick trawl through NPOR reveals the following organs in the City of London were destroyed during WW2: Christ Church Greyfriars (1940) City Temple (1941) Dutch Church, Austin Friars (1940) Mercers' Hall Chapel (1941) St Alban Wood St (1940) St Andrew by the Wardrobe (1940) St Anne and St Agnes, Gresham St (1940) St Augustine with St Faith, Watling St ("During Blitz") St Bride Fleet St (1940) St Giles Cripplegate (1940) St Lawrence Jewry (1940) St Mary-le-Bow, Cheapside (1941) St Mary Aldermanbury (1940) St Mildred Bread St (1941) St Olave Hart St (1940) St Stephen Coleman St (1940) St Swithin Cannon St (1940) St Vedast Foster Lane (1941) Temple Church (1941) ......and probably many more, as some of the NPOR surveys are over 100 years old. I don't know about the importance of the instruments destroyed by enemy action, but some of the replacements are now famous in their own right - St Giles Cripplegate and the Temple Church, for instance. As far as Germany goes, how about the the Totentanzorgel in the Marienkirche, Lubeck? G

I can't remember, but I will check tomorrow. Graham

For any other board members who may have been looking for this piece, I have just bought a copy from Crescendo Music Publications http://www.crescendomusicpubs.com.au/ Excellent service - 7 days to get here from Oz. Graham

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A little Googling produced this result http://www.music-exchange.co.uk/products/1...39/details.html Good luck! Graham

Vox, I wrote to Ian Bell earlier this year regarding a publication date for his book "The voice of Jupiter". He stated that the book was still "alive", although no date was given, and no mention was made of Positif Press. Sorry, this probably isn't much help........... Graham

Graham

I think you were right first time Alistair - this is a slightly better shot http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/jayanne/bdoa/Co...0Organ%201.html And have a look at the third picture down on this page - http://www.ronnykrippner.com/5.html - you can see the curvature of the right hand jamb. Graham

I found this, which may be of interest............. http://www.organstops.org/t/Theorbe.html Graham

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Absolutely - and he makes such light work of them, it's easy to overlook the fact that they are both so very, very difficult! Graham

No, no - surely that should be Sarff Lunnunn?