DHM

A colleague alerted me to this, which may (or may not!) be of interest: http://www.societyofcrematoriumorganists.org.uk/ Regards, Douglas.

I don't have first-hand experience of this, but I do know that Hugh Banton uses a system in his hybrid organs whereby temperature changes are monitored by the system, and tuning of the digital ranks is adjusted accordingly to stay with the pipes.

May one ask what will happen to the Phoenix organ when the Klais is installed?

Not exactly YouTube, but similar.... http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6je44_fa...big-piano_music Enjoy!

Perhaps Ron Sherlock (UK Cathedral Music Links) might be persuaded?

Does anybody know of a list of Cathedral Assistants on the web? I could have sworn I found one a couple of weeks ago, but can't for the life of me remember where - or perhaps I just dreamt it? There is a list of Organists/DoMs on UK Cathedral Music Links, and a list of Organ Scholars on Wikipedia, but they're not what I'm after. Thanks in advance for any help. Douglas.

Forgive me, but I'm slightly confused: Are the bar numbers the same in all editions? In mine (Peters Edition, ed. Otto Barblan) the G minor section starts at bar 148, the F# pedal point to which I think you are referring starts at bar 246, and the whole piece contains 288 bars. Can somebody clarify, please? Thanks in advance. Fortunately, I am able to practice regularly on the Ducroquet Cavaille-Coll of Aix Cathedral, so it's fairly easy to use Franck's given registrations.

No, we have problems with it going E flat, G, *A flat* B flat.

BM announced initial release planned for Q4 of 2009.

Despite Contrabombarde's exciting suggestion having been posted on April 1st, the idea is actually not so far-fetched. Later this year it will be possible to practice on the Salisbury Cathedral Willis in one's own home. This is *not* an April Fool.

Or like freshly ground black pepper on halved strawberries? It sounds weird, but it works!

Try contacting the organ scholar at Rochester. She has just done it.

Doesn't ring any bells with me, but then I wasn't an orchestral player, so wouldn't have gotten involved anyway. I don't remember anybody mentioning it, but it was 40+ years ago!

This trend isn't confined to the Netherlands - I have heard recently of several redundant English organs finding new homes in Germany. Having read various threads on German boards similar to this, it seems the Germans are fast acquiring a taste not only for the English Romantic organ sound (the recently-issued Hauptwerk sample-set of a 1901 III/42 JJ Binns from Haverhill, Suffolk, has received rave reviews from several German organists), but increasingly also for English "cathedral" music: a parish in Düsseldorf and even Cologne Cathedral both now offer regular services billed as "Evensong". Douglas.

He can indeed help if required. The chant book used in Ashfield's and Barry Ferguson's time contains two triple chants, as Paul Walton correctly points out: the one originally written for Psalm 2 which is in (sort of) C# (mostly minor), and that for Ps 66 in D major. In the psalter produced during Roger Sayer's time only the latter chant appears - albeit four times: for Psalms 66, 96, 135 and 146. Awaiting PM if further help needed. Douglas [formerly Senior Lay Clerk, Rochester]

What happened to Will Whitehead?

Did my ears - or my memory - deceive me? I thought I heard a D instead of the E flat quaver in the 2nd bar of this. Douglas.

An extra fee for such a rehearsal would be the norm in the States (as frequent discussions on other lists have shown). Douglas.

I remember Paul Hale playing that piece on the large Copeman Hart hire organ at Rochester c.20 years ago (while the pipe organ was being rebuilt by our hosts). He just used the Harpsichord stop!

The new Assistant at Ripon will be Edmund Aldhouse, who was Assistant at Rochester until Summer 2006 and has been studying in Paris since then. He is a fine player and choir-trainer, and an outstanding improviser in a variety of styles to match the scheduled music of the day. Ripon have a treat in store. Douglas.

Didin't know about that one, though I once went out with a 6th-former from there. There was also a small (2-manual?) pipe organ in what was then known as the Girls' Technical School (Wombwell Hall) in Gravesend. NPOR doesn't mention this. The school is no more, and I haven't seen or heard of the organ since some of us from the Boys' Grammar School went to "bump up" the girls' school choir for their annual St Matthew Passion performances in the 1960s (and how many state schools do that nowadays?!). Dover Boys' Grammar School has one: http://npor.emma.cam.ac.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch...ec_index=E01435, and I also heard a rumour of one at Maidstone Boys' Grammar School, though I can't confirm this, and NPOR doesn't have it listed.

To answer the original question: at the Cathedral the fees for weddings and funerals are the same as for any other "extra" service, i.e. £125 each for the duty organist and choir director, doubled if recorded. At the crematorium where I play, it's £34, however much or how little one plays (usually a hymn or two, occasionally also a short prelude and/or postlude).

I stand corrected. Cynic is right, of course - it is St Paul's, Onslow Square, now under the auspices of HTB. Apologies for the confusion.

If anyone has a copy to hand (sorry, I don't at present) of the 1982 Hymnal of the Episcopal Church of the USA, there are several congregatgional settings of the Eucharist at the back end of the book, some modern, some less so (including IIRC Oldroyd's Mass of the Quiet Hour!).

The organ of Holy Trinity, Brompton is being offered on eBay with a starting price of £10.00. See here: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=180302545476 NPOR listing here: http://npor.emma.cam.ac.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch...ec_index=N14959