DHM

Perfect! And it's in our repertoire. I only wish I had thought of that before the music list went to print. In the end we played safe and went for Stanley Marchant's "The souls of the righteous". Thanks, Peter and everyone else, for your helpful suggestions. Douglas

Thanks again, Barry. There is no contract, so no terms of engagement. I was simply invited (by one of the other organists) to join the rota. They have done so (twice - I called again for further clarification). Tried that - it kept referring to a contract (which I don't have).

That then raises the question: if we are employed, then by whom? We are paid for each service by the FD on the day. Our only dealings with the crem office are to call them 24 hours ahead to discover what services we are required for and what we are to play.

Nice idea, but they wouldn't hear of it - it would mean changing the way they do things! They're already far too stressed to consider anything useful like that. And my other colleagues on the rota might not want to go down that route just to make my life easier. It's a significant part of my income now, so it would be mad not to. Yes, but since the VATman owes me money in most quarters, that's not an option. Thanks for the suggestion anyway.

Tried that - went back to HMRC, having read a detailed VAT notice about what was and was not exempt, and asked for clarification of yesterday's advice. The answer was still the same. The FD doesn't charge VAT to the customer, but the gravedigger, coffin-maker, organist, etc would (if VAT-registered) have to charge VAT to the FD. Thanks to you and everyone else for your helpful suggestions. Yes, thanks, David. Could you please give me a name for the DoM whose e-mail address you gave me?

I have never had to register my "sideline" business (as it is under the threshold), but did so voluntarily 20+ years ago; so far that has always worked to my advantage. Since being made redundant from my part-time teaching job 18 months ago, I have more time on my hands, and the crematorium fees are very useful. To have to de-register now would probably not be financially advantageous.

That, according to the VATman, is my problem, not his (they're so sympathetic, these tax-collectors!).

A question for anyone with experience/expertise in this area: For the last few months I have been playing at the local crem. Fees for each service are paid on the day (cash or cheque) by the undertaker. Obviously I have been keeping careful accounts of these for my tax returns. The question has now arisen as to whether, because I am VAT-registered as a sole trader in connection with other business activities, I should charge VAT to the undertakers. My accountant wasn't sure, but thought I should. A phone call to HMRC produced the answer that I definitely MUST, because as a sole trader I must charge VAT on everything I do in a self-employed capacity - and not only that, but I must somehow claim back all the VAT I should have charged, and didn't (since the question has only just arisen) since last July. So I guess I am not going to be very popular! I can see problems arising because no VAT is payable on funerals, and therefore many FDs are not VAT-registered. Can anybody see a legal way round this? Thanks in advance for any useful advice. Douglas.

I need (urgently) to find a suitable anthem/motet for a Holocaust Memorial event. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance. Douglas.

Did you mean unaccompanied or unconducted? Correct. The Cathedral Organist was just that - he played the organ. If he was absent, Joe played. Many of the choir copies from Bobby Ashfield's time have a note (in ink, in Bobby's fair hand) with an up or down arrow and the word "Boy" - the middle boy on either side would signal the start or end of a piece (or section). The choir was only conducted in those days when the Supernumeraries were in (12 men rather than the usual 6, about once a month). And if something "modern" - like Leighton - was down, Bobby would play and Joe would conduct (in his own inimitable style, like making the sign of the Cross with karate chops!).

Many years ago, a cathedral choir visited Trier Cathedral. I don't know the height of the console, but if memory serves, it was probably higher than the new one in Cologne. The Assistant Organist didn't like heights and declined to play. The Organ Scholar (now DoM at another cathedral) took over and acquitted himself very well.

The old Bradford organ was sold - on eBay I think - some months ago.

If you really want your spine tingled, and the hairs on the back of your neck to stand to attention, try Hugh Keyte's amazing last verse arrangement of "While shepherds watched" on the CD "Christmas with Emma Kirkby and Westminster Abbey Choir". This nearly caused an accident the first time I heard it (in the car, en route to a service) as I was so gobsmacked by it. The programme note describes this as "something that composers of around 1600 annoyingly neglected to provide: a more expansive tenor-tune setting which could be assigned to massed forces". Probably not for congregational use, but what the h***?! On the subject of other descants by DVW et al, for the last couple of years we have used the last verse arrangements of Once in RDC (Robin Wells), O come AYF and Hark the HAS (William Llewellyn) in the Novello Book of Carols. Does anybody know these, use them, or have any comments on their quality (or otherwise)? And what about Bill Llewellyn's 5/4 Ding dong merrily in the same book? We think it's great fun, but others may disagree. For "Lo, he comes" I think the CC3 last verse takes a lot of beating, but I have rarely heard of anyone using it. For "Of the Father's heart begotten" we normally use Bobby Ashfield's processional setting as an introit, and will do so again next Sunday (on the first anniversary of his death) as we did last year within an hour or so of his passing. Best wishes to all for Christmas & the new Year. Douglas.

Doch, Pierre – das läßt sich ziemlich leicht ins Englische überstetzen.

As a teenager (many moons ago) I remember hearing an old Supraphon LP of "Modern Czech Organ Music" which included a Toccata by one Milos Solkola. Does anyone know where I might find a copy of this (either the sheet music, or a recording, or both)?

Our former Organ Scholar has just gone to one of the London colleges to study piano for 2 years before going to be OS at a certain Oxbridge college which broadcasts an annual carol service. During his 5 years as OS here (after retiring from the treble stalls) he not only gave stunning solo performances of organ "lollipops" (e.g. Widor + Vierne symphonies, Dupré P+Fs, Duruflé) and accompanied all the warhorses of the cathedral repertoire, he also played the Grieg Piano Concerto.

And in case anybody is wondering what is happening here: http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/showJob.asp?i...nd%20Layworkers ....the answer is that the Back Row of the choir is being re-structured next year. Of the six Lay Clerkships, four are currently vacant, and have been so for some time. The plan - in addition to the above - is to... 1. abolish the post of contracted Lay Clerk; 2. make the two present LCs redundant; and 3. fill the remaining three places daily on a per-session basis from a rota of deputies.

You're right, of course. And I think *part* of the reason for this is the unwillingness of many decent musicians to have anything to do with certain "non-traditional" styles of music. Time was when your local grammar school music master was also the parish church organist/choirmaster, with a steady stream of trebles from the school. As somebody (Tommy Steele? Joe Brown?) once sang, "Fings ain't wot they used ter be"!

To use a culinary analogy for a moment: If you insist on feeding the people cheap hamburgers, because it's what you think they really want and like, how will they ever grow to appreciate the vastly superior quality of a fine steak? If they were offered the latter more often, most of them (except the brain-dead philistines) would soon appreciate the difference. (Which is not to say there isn't a place for the best of both; there is.)

Hallo, Barry, Rochester Cathedral - less than an hour's drive from Dover - has a fine Tuba. Last rebuilt by Manders in 1989. German-speaking Lay Clerk on hand if necessary. Best wishes, Douglas.

However much one may agree with all the eminent names listed so far on the petition, that this proposal is, of course, ludicrous, and smacks of some mindless "Jobsworth" doing things by the book, it may not be quite as straightforward as one might wish. Postings on a similar topic "Schwedische Orgel retten!" at orgelforum.de would seem to imply that the old facade was a listed monument protected by the Swedish equivalent of English Heritage or similar, and had been removed and replaced without permission. If I have understood it correctly (and if I haven't, I am more than happy to be put right by somebody who knows better) it's a bit like tearing down an ugly (but listed) building, replacing it with something much finer, then complaining bitterly when a request for retrospective planning permission is refused.

Director of Music at St John the Unfinished: http://www.agohq.org/jobs/job_details.cgi?uid=5275&JobRegion=2 http://www.stjohndivine.org/Music.html

Not that it's used nowadays, except sometimes by one of the four choirs.

Does anyone know if the authorities would be open to the idea of having this organ sampled for Hauptwerk, as an historical archive document? Notwithstanding the wide selection of instruments already available, one outstanding omission so far is any example of a H&H or Willis cathedral-style organ. I have been asked by one of the best sample-set producers (a university professor in Reutlingen) to identify one or more suitable organs, and he would be very happy to supply references from other church authorities with whom he has dealt.

One lives in hope that this may prove to be true, but these are anxious times for many of us involved in the business.