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martinstanley

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Everything posted by martinstanley

  1. The comment made by handsoff is a statement of fact and I am sure meant no disrespect. The demise of the pipe organ in Pershore Abbey is I believe a sad tale.
  2. Hereford. I turned pages at this recording which due to Melville Cook's imminent departure to Winnipeg was recorded in one evening session!
  3. I think 'FA' in Coventry and Exeter reviews is likely to be Felix Aprahamian. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_Aprahamian
  4. Quite an array of talent in this series at St John's College Cambridge http://www.sjcchoir.co.uk/TrifoldReplacement003.pdf
  5. There is a series on Sunday evenings at St Paul's Cathedral from 27th February http://www.organrecitals.com/1/recitals0.php?venue=stpauls
  6. Repeat of broadcast can be found here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsi...000/9327470.stm I cannot identify the Bach piece.
  7. I emailed a compalint to the BBC asking what other programme they would cut short in mid-item and suggesting the end of the voluntary could have replaced the closing announcement. I got a response today:- "Thanks for your correspondence regarding ‘Choral Evensong’ broadcast on 11 August. We raised your concerns with Abigail Appleton, Head of Speech Programmes, BBC Radio 3 and she replies: “I'm very sorry that due to a misunderstanding in the London studio the Organ Voluntary was faded out too early. We usually broadcast the whole of the service regardless of whether it means coming to the next programme a little late. Please be assured it will be broadcast in full when 'Choral Evensong' is repeated this Sunday 15 August." Thanks again for taking the time to contact us. Kind Regards BBC Audience Services[/i]
  8. Archive broadcast of 1989 Choral Evensong today http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00t20vj
  9. Latest information http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/support-u...-organ-campaign
  10. Please note my sentence started "Whilst it is always good to see any instrument being restored" so I consider your response is unfair and still fails to tell me why this instrument might be "the nation's Great Concert Hall Organ" as opposed to others in my far from comprehensive list ( I did say "to name but a few"). I am keen to learn and wish them well.
  11. Another arrangement by Louis Robilliard in addition to Rogg and Reger
  12. Whilst it is always good to see any instrument being restored can some one explain why this one is so special becuase when I last heard it 30+ years ago I seem to remember it just seemed like the usual heavy Arthur Harrison instrument. As for it being "the nation's Great Concert Hall Organ" I think the cities of Birmingham (2), Bristol Liverpool, Leeds, Leicester, to name but a few, might challenge that statement!
  13. Found this (arr. Reger): I think I prefer the real thing as played by Horowitz:
  14. The version on the Kevin Bowyer CD appears to be an arrangement by Reger whereas the DGW performance is the Lionel Rogg version. In the CD notes David Gammie comments "in his preface to his more recent transcription (1988) Lionel Rogg justifiably suggests the end result sounds more like Reger than Liszt; in this new version he has tried to remain as faithful as possible to the original score, taking insparation from Liszt's own style of writing for the organ". I have not heard the Reger version so cannot comment further. I beleive the Léonce de Saint-Martin CD mentioned earlier is yet another arrangement.
  15. Gillian Weir plays it a lot and gave a thrilling account in St Paul's a couple of years ago. She has recorded it at the RAH on Priory 859.
  16. I have the same feelings about much of the organ music of Max Reger although I have to say Thomas Trotter's performace of Wachet Auf at Birmingham Town Hall last Monday was stunning.
  17. I agree with Paul Carr that the playing was stunning and breathtaking. For me the Bach came off better than the Elgar. I know Elagr Symphony 1 quite well and there were occasions when I found it difficult to follow what was going on but it could have been my ears and/or where I was sitting, and in saying that I would not wish to diminish the work involved in transcribing the symphony or the sheer virtuosity of the performer, or indeed the wide range of colour from the instrument. An event that was well worth £15.00 admission.
  18. French Masetsr of the Organ - Michael Murray - Yale University Press
  19. There is a free mp3 download of this played by David M Patrick @ Gloucester Cathedral here http://www.last.fm/music/Jon+Kristian+Fjel...Cathedral+Organ
  20. Returning to the topic (well sort of!) of Wayne Marshall at the RAH, I was in London that day at Tate Britain (Turner and the Masters – well worth going) but having grown tired in the past of WM’s breakneck speeds, although undoubted technique, went to hear Nicholas Kynaston at Westminster Cathedral for the last of the 2009 Grand Organ Festival recitals. I found the programme rather unsatisfactory. The Elgar Sonata showed off the instrument brilliantly but I thought some of the tempos a shade too fast. The second item was a NK transcription of Mendelssohn’s P & F in B minor for piano (why?). The third and final item was Reger's Introduction and Variations on an original theme, Op 73. I don’t know the work other than by reputation (described by Martin Baker in his introduction as a monumental composition) and assume it is of great technical difficulty, but also very difficult for the listener. Unlike the Reger Chorale Fantasies (Hallelujah! Gott zu loben, Wachet Auf etc) where one can identify the choral and there is usually a decent fugue to come away humming I found it difficult to identify the 'original theme' and found the final fugue unmemorable. I came away asking myself why anyone would put in the undoubted effort to learn this piece which I suggest is only suitable for a very specialist audience. Did anyone go and what did you think? Incidentally the Westminster Cathedral 2010 festival starts on 28 April with David Briggs and continues monthly until 20 October 2010.
  21. I enjoyed the Bach D major but also the entire evensong. Do you think it was intended to be at that speed or was the need to take off like a rocket after the dismissal at 16:50 was because it had to be completed before 17:00? It is certainly exciting.
  22. Agree this is a superb instrument in a lovely acoustic. We were in Palma at the end of May and heard someone practising for a recital that evening but I was unable to attend in the evening as we were moving out that day to the other side of the island. They had a five day organ festival in progress with Dame Gillian Weir playing the next day. It did not seem very well advertised and if I had known about it I would have conspired to change family holiday arrangements! I have the specification if anyone wants it (email me for a scan). The Orgue Major has three mixtures and seven reeds (at least I think they are reeds but my organ Spanish is almost non-existent) including a “Xirimia alta 4’ T”.
  23. Scherzetto from Whitlock Sonata in C min
  24. Returning to the subject, Roy Massey gave a splendid recital last night in Hereford Cathedral in a programme that made no concession to his just passing his 75th birthday in music by Hollins (Concert Overture in Cmin) , Bach (D maj P & F), Arrangements of 16c dances, Mozart (K608), Bertalot (Variations for pedals on Hanover), Jongen (Chant de Mai), and Liszt (BACH). Large screen projection meant that we had ot sit in the nave as there were no seats in the best position in the north transept. Organ sounded magnificent. There was also lovely Evensong beforehand - Sumsion in G and Hadley (My beloved spake). Well worth the very slow winding journey from here.
  25. He is giving a 75th birthday recital in Hereford Cathedral on Tuesday 9 May http://www.organrecitals.com/1/recitals.php?organist=roymas
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