DHM

And not only Howells. What about Stanford, with all his Symphonies, Concertos, Irish Rhapsodies, etc? And Parry, Wood, Ireland and no doubt many more.

I have passed this question on to others who may have been more closely involved in the removal of various boxes from the cellars of 7MCR. But as regards RJA's music, I spent some time browsing in his library (not at 7MCR) after his 90th birthday tea-party. I'm almost 100% sure I saw an orchestral score and parts of The Fair Chivalry, but I haven't been able to confirm this more recently. Now that would be something! [if Paul Hale reads this, might he know more?]

Please forgive the slightly off-topic posting, but I would be most grateful if board members would be kind enough to pass on to any friends/colleagues with Rochester connections this information about our upcoming celebration of Rochester musicians on 25-26 July (Bobby Ashfield would have been 98 on the 28th). Music list here: http://www.gundulf.org.uk/html/summer_2009.html Programme notes here: http://www.gundulf.org.uk/html/rochester_musicians.html Thanks & best wishes, Douglas.

Ditto the Choir 8' Dolce on the 1901 Binns at The Old Independent Church, Haverhill (Suffolk). Virtually inaudible with the box shut.

I once saw a stop labelled "Tuba Memphis (Tenor C)". Can't remember where.

There was an extensive article on the Blenheim Palace organs in the February 2008 edition of Organists' Review by Stephen Duckett, whose e-mail signature describes him as "Under Butler to His Grace the Duke of Marlborough", though he seems to be an organist as well. Hope this might be helpful. Douglas.

Is this not a sign that pipeless instruments are getting more and more realistic? Another instrument which I recently acquired accurately recreates the time-lag caused by the pneumatic action (varying between the manuals, depending on pipe distance from the console) on the organ of which it is a copy.

I went to a service there a few weeks ago and the pipe organ appeared to be out of use. A large 2-manual M**** was in place, and obviously in regular use. To keep this "on-topic", my favourite full-length 32ft is the Exeter Violone.

Hear, hear! Would that it were still so in other places as well.

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?