DHM
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Posts posted by DHM
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So have we been listening to the real thing, or the Hauptwerk version? (DHM might say "both"!)
Sorry, I can't answer that one. You would need to ask "giwro".
However, if the 32ft reed appeared on the recording, that might rule out one possibility.
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The organ in that recording was the E.M. Skinner at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in Chicago, Illinois. It is about 57 ranks, but that's plenty. It's original Skinner except for an added Chamade (and maybe a 32' pedal reed, IIRC)
The 32ft Bombarde was borrowed by Brett Milan from a nearby Casavant.
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Barry mentioned the Fritts organ at PLU in Tacoma.
VH will, I am sure, remember another organ by the same builder in the same city, where (IMHO) authenticity for its own sake was taken to extremes with counter-productive results. It would be interesting to hear his views.
(While he's at it, he might also like to comment on other good, and less good, examples of American organ-building that we have encountered over the last few years.)
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"From glory to glory advancing" to the tune by Holst ("Sheen" - AMR 417). I've always thought this to be a very strong and uplifiting hymn
I agree - what a pity it seems to have completely died out nowadays.
A little anecdote which may (or may not) be of interest to anyone who does use it: I learnt it from Herbert Byard (one of my tutors at Bristol nearly four decades ago) who always played the last line of music slower - he said he learnt this "piu lento" from Holst himself.
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I would like to apologise to any list members who may have been offended by my recent posts about Hauptwerk - which some have seen as a "sales pitch" - and to our hosts if they feel I have over-stepped the mark and taken unfair advantage of their hospitality.
My postings over the last few days have been intended to provide factual information, to correct misapprehensions, and to invite one and all to see, hear and play it before making judgements.
For clarification: I have no financial, and currently no commercial, interest in Hauptwerk, other than as a very enthusiastic customer and user of the product (though I will confess that I hope to be able to sell it in the near future), and as the UK representative of a German organ builder who makes consoles to be used with it. HW was created by Martin Dyde and is marketed by Crumhorn Labs Ltd.
Douglas Henn-Macrae.
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("innate") By the way, I really can't see anything wrong with HW recreating the blower switches and wind noises. If you don't like HW's approach don't use their products.
If you don't like the "noises off" you have the option to disable them.
(Nick Bennett) If your aim is to reproduce the organ in its entirety you might as well go the whole hog and have ciphers, notes off, pipes out of tune, stops that won't draw fully, the thud of the combination mechanism, notes hanging on, notes sounding late, the sound of wind leaking, the clacking of pneumatic motors and all the other non-musical paraphernalia that goes with the organ.You do get the action noise - draw stops thudding, tracker action clacking, etc. If there are voicing inconsistencies (e.g. on some of the older organs) it is faithfully reproduced, not ironed out by the computer, since these are intended to be historical archive documentations.
(Nick Bennett) Personally, I'd be happy if these organ-imitating machines could reproduce diapason tone convincingly and have a satisfying plenum in a poor acoustic.They do. And then some.
(Nick Bennett) By all means let's have a Calcanten stop that rings a bell at the treadmill to tell the hapless operative to start generating power for the organ, without which the organ honestly won't play.That's exactly what it does on the Reinhardtsgrimma Silbermann. Only the treadmill and the hapless operative are imaginary.
Come and see us at Sandown Racecourse in May.
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The next thing will be digitally simulated blower noise as you start the thing up!
AJJ
You DO hear it, and it's not simulated - it's a CD-quality recording of the real thing (along with the key and stop action noise, and every pipe of every stop).
On the St Anne's, Moseley organ (which comes free with HW) the blower starts automatically when the organ is 100% loaded (you hear the clunk of the motor starting up, and then the rushing mighty wind).
With the big EM Skinner (Our Lady of Mt Carmel, Chicago) you actually have to turn the key on the console before you hear the same thing. This produced some interesting reactions from visitors to our stand at the CRE in Exeter a couple of weeks ago, when they drew stops, played a few notes and wondered why no sound was being produced. It works perfectly once you turn the blower on!
With all due respect to Mr Coram, this is not "just like the real thing crap". It's actually as close to the real thing as you can currently get without going to Moseley, Chicago, Thuringia, Aix-en-Provence, etc, and a helluva lot cheaper. (Incidentally, it's also considerably cheaper than most examples of what are known on this board as "toasters".) Those who came, saw and were amazed did not consider it a laughing-stock. I would invite all "Doubting Thomases" to try it for themselves, with an open mind, and prepare to have it boggled!
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St Martin's Chelsfield (Gary & Davison) has a drawknob marked BLOW. It is heavily sprung to the off position, so a sharp tug results in a loud thump as it returns, somewhere near the hand - blowing gear, thus startling the poor old organ blower into life !
H
A bit like playing the Hauptwerk version of the 1731 Silbermann at Reinhardtsgrimma (perhaps VH might confirm/comment?): there is a stop marked "Calcant", and the organ won't play a note (though you can see the keys moving on-screen if you try) until you have drawn it. It rings a bell to summon the organ-boy to pump!
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I see that Norwich are advertising for a DoM (Church Times today).
It seems that the Cathedral Organist is going to be just the cathedral organist.
Anyone have any more information as to what is happening and why?
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Hi
Good point - Allen took tha opposite view at last year's Northern CRE, and the stand was often empty. I wonder if their enquiry rate suffered.
Incidentally, from experience, don't be too discouraged if you don't get a vast amount of interest - exhibitors at CRE often say that they get enquiries a coule of years down the line.
If I was closer, I would offer to come & help on the stand.
Every Blessing
Tony
A kind thought, and much appreciated - thanks, Tony.
It would seem that, apart from the local Viscount dealer, we are the only organ company represented.
Few, if any, organ companies even go to the main CRE in Esher nowadays.
At least we are offering something new and unique.
It will be interesting to see what reaction we get (can't wait to see VH's face when he gets his hands - and feet - on the big Cavaille-Coll!).
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Please could you tell me the manufacturer of those headphones, I have been looking for a good pair to use with my organ for ages
They are the AKG K-240 as recommended until recently by Prof Helmut Maier of OrganArt Media (creator of some of the best Hauptwerk sample sets). I say "until recently" because they have been discontinued. I managed to find a pair at www.dolphinmusic.co.uk. Frequency response is down to 15Hz.
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Hi
At previous CRE shows, most of the organ companies have hired demonstration rooms - far from ideal acoustics, but at least you can turn up the volume a bit without driving exhibitors on neigbouring stands to distraction! (I used to man an exhibition stand at CRE for the organistation I worked for at the time - the year we had a company demonstrating the "Quasi Modo Digital Bell System" (that's a genuine product name!) on a stand opposite was far from pleasant - the thing was set to ring the quarters and chime the hour - and until a number of us complained to the organisers, was loud enough to be heard throught the hall, even when it was busy.)
I don't know if Douglas has done that - headphones are a fair alternative, given the situation and the impossibility of making more than a preliminary assessment at these exhibitions.
Every Blessing
Tony
I did think (but only very briefly) about a demo room - they did offer us one.
But with limited staff (the wife and me) and only two instruments it seemed more sensible to stay on the stand and be visible.
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@ VH: Shouldn't be too much of a problem, so long as it isn't fff all day!
I will also be bringing some pro studio-monitor headphones (the ones recommended by Prof Helmut Maier - response down to 15Hz!). I played the big D-C-C with these cans at Frankfurt, and it was stunning.
@ David Coram: Regrettably, probably not - Wednesday is build-up day and I doubt the public would be admitted (and we wouldn't be there until probably mid-late afternoon anyway).
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PS - If the postman does his job on time, there will be two more organs available to try out:
the 1686/1720 II/25 Bosch-Schnitger in Vollenhove (Holland), and the 1877 II/21 Cavaillé-Coll in Mainz (Germany).
PPS: Yet more mouth-watering goodies on their way for your delectation (postman permitting!):
1654 2-stop Positiv in Griebenow (unknown German builder);
1731 II/20 Silbermann - Reinhardtsgrimma
and the piece de resistance - the 1854/1880 III/47 Ducroquet-Cavaille-Coll in the Cathedral of Aix-en-Provence.
I should add that all of these include blower and action noise and the acoustic of the building.
If you are within reach of Exeter next week, come and see what HAUPTWERK is all about.
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Look here.
You could also look here: www.hoffrichter-organs.co.uk.
Tony - if you would like more info, or to arrange a demo in your area, please contact me off-list.
Douglas.
PS - If the postman does his job on time, there will be two more organs available to try out:
the 1686/1720 II/25 Bosch-Schnitger in Vollenhove (Holland), and the 1877 II/21 Cavaillé-Coll in Mainz (Germany).
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I trust I will not be offending our hosts by announcing that Hoffrichter Organs will be exhibiting at the South West Christian Resources Exhibition in Exeter next week.
You will find us - hopefully with a new portable 3-manual console specifically designed for use with Hauptwerk software - on Stand P60 at the Westpoint Centre in Clyst St Mary (on the A3052, one mile east of the M5, Junction 30).
Visitors will have the opportunity to "virtually" play the 1907 II/30 Brindley & Foster in St Anne's Moseley; the 1843/1986 II/23 Stiehr-Mockers in Romanswiller (Alsace); and the 1928 III/58 EM Skinner in Our Lady of Mt Carmel, Chicago.
Admission is free. Book online at www.creonline.co.uk.
Opening hours are 10:00am-5:00pm on Thurs/Fri 25th/26th, and 10:00am-4:30pm on Sat 27th.
Looking forward to seeing some of you there.
Douglas Henn-Macrae
Hoffrichter Organs UK
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I cannot now recall which two organs were mentioned.
They weren't - at least, not in this Forum.
However, the second instrument above sounds like Exeter.I cannot deny it.
However, I would be interested to know the identites of both instruments, please.I'll say no more, lest I offend our generous hosts.
My identity, and therefore that of the other instrument, can easily be deduced from my previous posts.
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MusingMuso described how the sound of different organs do, or don't, move him and others to tears.
I know what he means, though in my case the latter experience is much more common than the former. If only we could put our finger on what it is that provides that very rare magic "je ne sais quoi" that pushes us over the edge and brings a lump to the throat and a tear to the eye! Whatever it is, if someone could capture and bottle it, they would make their fortune.
VH may recall my comparing two cathedral organs, which we both know well, in automotive terms. One of them seems to me like a Ferrari or a Porsche: fine craftsmanship, superbly engineered, but very noisy and brash - no trace of subtlety. It only begins to sound thrilling from a distance of about half a mile, e.g. when we are singing around the High Altar at the end of the 5:00am Easter Vigil. The other gives me the impression of an elegant silver vintage Rolls-Royce, purring gently even when going flat out. Hit Swell piston 8 and you feel a catch in the throat as the large Open Wood and the 32ft Violone kick in. Add the Great reeds at the end of Coll Reg and you still won't drown the choir. Drool....
Does anyone else understand what I'm getting at, or am I way off the wall??
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Not answering your question exactly, but I turned pages for Sean Farrell from Newcastle Casthedral who played Arthur Willis' arrangement of Mars from the same album at Hull City Hall earlier this month. It was absolutely splendid! I've just got to get a copy myself.
For me it worked better than the only other organ version I've heard, which was done as a duet by the Andrews/Fishell team.
I haven't seen the score or played it, but I've heard it - our organ scholar played "Jupiter" last Easter or Christmas morning (memory becoming hazy - a "senior moment"!) and it was very effective - though it sounded difficult. Not that anything fazes him - he has been playing Dupre P&Fs, Durufle Toccata, etc for a year or two, and he's only just turned 17.
Incidentally, the Newcastle Farrell is Scott, not Sean (the former succeeded the latter at Ely, requiring no change to the phone book entry!). Sean was at Rochester until 2001, when he went to Trinity College at Greenwich.
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New English Hymnal hymn 49 tune 1 is called "Wessex" - a fine tune by Alwyn Surplice for "Brightest and Best".
Has anyone ever used Robert Ashfield's tune "Broadwalk" for "Brightest and best"?
It was set to that text in the Anglican Hymn Book.
I don't think it's been used at Epiphany here since Bobby retired.
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Then there was the time when the local branch of the Leprosy Association attended Evensong at Rochester.
It was the 14th Evening. See Psalm 73, verse 2a.....
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Post deleted by DHM.
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The funeral will be next Monday, 15 January, at 2:15pm in Rochester Cathedral.
A Memorial Service, with interment of ashes, will be announced at a later date.
Please pass the word to any non-list members who may have Rochester connections and would like to know about this, and also to anyone who may have contact with Bobby's surviving contemporaries, e.g. Drs Jackson, Vann, Wicks, etc.
Douglas Henn-Macrae
Senior Lay Clerk, Rochester Cathedral
Director of the Cathedral Special Choir
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RIP
I came across his 3part mens voices responses last year.... what a pity they aren't more widely known, a very nice set of limited difficulty.
Used to be standard Mens' Voices repertoire for Monday Evensongs. Less so nowadays, alas.
Do you have the Lord's Prayer setting that goes with them (a later addition, I think)?
Let me know if you would like one.
Sunday Evensong On Bbc Radio 3
in General discussion
Posted
I had the good fortune to hear their debut Evensong last term.
They were brilliant!