mgp

The Berveiller is listed here. I'm currently trying to find out how you buy single pieces.

Well yes, I would - the mark was often there to show the end of a line not to disrupt the metrical flow.

I think bars 16-19 of no 7 are O fillii et filiae - which is proper for Easter

I was told that a long time ago - it might have been from Conrad Eden in the late 60's. I'll have to dig for it and any substantiation. I'm away until 1st Feb so it will be a couple of weeks before I track it down. M

Which was originally titled 'Sarabande for Good Friday' to match the 'Sarabande for Easter'. There's also the 2nd & 4th movements of the Partita, Psalm prelude set 2 no 1 and the second and third Rhapsodies. And I alternate the Langlais setting of the Passion Chorale with the Crucifixion (3rd) movement of the Dupre Symphonie-Passion on Palm Sunday - its not that difficult once you've sorted out all the chromatics - and where to drop down the octave in the RH.

Try the Kyrie, Christe, Kyrie sets from the Clavierubung III - glorious tortured chromatics at the end of the Second Pedaliter Kyrie. I have used some of the elevation toccatas of Frescobaldi & Froberger; some of the gloomier parts of Vierne - eg Symp 1 movement 1; Elegy & Lied from 24 piece Op 31 etc. There's also a rather nice treatment of Heinlein (40 days & 40 nights) by Leighton.

A former DoM at my church has teamed up with a brilliant pianist to do just this. They did an all Mozart concert for us last year and will be doing Rachmaninov 2 on Feb 27th at 1.00 pm. More information here

The Op 18/2 sonata & Op 8 Partitas are nice pieces - but they require 2 manuals. If you like his style there are others who wrote in similar vein such as Micheelsen (Holstein Orgelbuchlein), Drischner, Raasted and Reda. Copies of their stuff turn up regularly on Roger Molyneaux's s/h lists.

I had the same reaction. On listening again this morning, it seems we like it, or usually hear it, faster than the composer suggests. I 'clocked' Derby at about crochet 184 - the score says 180 'Fresh and lively'. Of course it would be quite different with the accompanying crochet, quaver, quaver pattern on a side drum and we may just go faster to compensate........

Depends on the temperament - ranging from none in equal (if it really is equal) to a heck of a lot in pythagorean.

It is true. Quote from article by Alan Howarth (then of Harrison's) in Organ Building 2001 p3: "..Willis's original Choir would be reinstated...Providentially, all the Willis pipework displaced in the two previous rebuilds has been stored in some out buildings at the Deanery...". The 'two previous rebuilds" were in 1953 and 1980 so some of the pipework had been 'lying around' for well over 40 years.

The Llandaff recording of the Gray (PRCD 551) is serviceable - I don't know of any others. I'm aware of three recordings of the Wood; Blackburn (Priory PRCD 484 Mag only ) Ok ish; Peterborough (Priory PRCD 632) better and an old Saga Stanford/Wood LP by Magdalen/Rose now on CD from Oxrecs (no reference no that I can find) best.

Aha that'd be the one St Pauls are advertising at the end of the Xmas Day Evensong - Briggs that is. Any info on where/when it might be available for us lesser mortals?

Boosey's also publish a 4H version in (the confusingly similarly entitled) 20th Century Classics 2 (1 piano 4 hands) - arranged Brison (2h is arranged Norton). Otherwise the contents are quite different. Unfortunately our copy seems to have been 'borrowed' so I can't comment on its effectiveness directly; from memory it seemed quite good. There may be a sound sample on the boosey website. MGP

Practising can be as much about how you think as about what you do - I certainly need and value both

We do a fully choral Eucharist on the first Sunday evening of each month (we do a choral Mattins that morning), plus specials such as Ash Wednesday. Current repertoire includes: Byrd a 4 Darke in E Darke in F Haydn St Nicholas Howells Coll Reg Ireland in F Leighton in D Palestrina Missa Brevis Schubert in G VW in G minor Victoria O quam gloriosum That's about as many as the kids can keep alive (once or twice a year) We also have the Faure & Durufle requiems for All Souls.

2 Versetti and Momenti d'organo are both quite straightforward and approachable. I also like the Biblical dances - the Shulammite dance is particularly alluring. And given the anniversary in 09 don't forget the Hommage a Purcell.

According to Organ Building 2003, the restored Harmonics IV at All Saints Margaret St is as follows: C1 17 19 21 22 #f43 14 15 17 19 #d52 8 10 12 15 according to Mark Venning (p 16), this composition is that of the 1923 H&H in tha Caird Hall Dundee (and by implication not that of All Saints' Tooting Graveny)

I endorse all this AND the need to figure out how to reproduce the EFFECT with what you have to work with - particularly challenging for Classical French (though the RCO examination organs are pretty good for this). There is one single volume work that is worth a look and that is the Cambridge Companion to the Organ - good chapters on all the key schools, the organs and their repertoire - will also prove helpful for the history period questions (though nothing like detailed enough for FRCO). Try to borrow or acquire some recordings - there really is nothing quite like a Schnitger, a Silbermann, a Cavaille-Coll, an Ategnati, or a father Willis for bringing the related repertoire to life. Good luck! M

It went to St Paul's and sat in the South Transept from 1860-1873, then went to the Victoria Rooms Clifton and was broken up in 1900 (info from pp88 & 93 of A History of the Organs of St Pauls Plumley/Niland 2001).

I've not come across any suggestion that Fleury was into hidden messages (unlike Langlais and Grunenwald) - certainly none of the writings I've seen by his pupils refer to it nor is there any mention in the "Cahiers et memoires" volume dedicated to him (no 55 1996). Do you know something - or was this a guess? As the piece is dedicated to the organ of St Ouen it would be nice if the motif spelt "Ouen" or "Coll" - but I can't make it fit. More likely is that it is a distorted version of the unifying motif of the Prelude, Andante & Toccata - composed exactly 50 years earlier. (opening version G, B, F# E) - it appears as Bb, C, Ab, G at bar 146 of the Toccata. Incidentally the motif appears in all three movements from the first bar of the Prelude onwards (the 'head' of the main melody), then, as you say, in plain notes in the middle section of the Cantilene - also hinted at in the RH figuration at bar 46, and in block chords (a typical Fleury device) at bar 46 of the Final and thereafter in diminution (b 51), sequence (bb 58 and 99) and pp harmonisation at b123 to introduce the coda with the motif in the major (again in sequence from b 125). Hope you enjoy playing it!

That's no 24 - Sunday after Ascension - a really fiery finale Others I've decided to buy/learn include no 2 - a very lyrical set for Advent, 35 and 51 - the finale ends the whole cycle and Tournemire goes to town withh the Te Deum theme adding many decorations and filigrees reflected in the title 'Te Deum et Guirlandes Alleluiatiques'. There's lots of other T'mire worth a look eg Sei Fioretti, Triple Choral. And in similar style the Hymnes of Daniel-Lesur - try In Paradisum - Tournemire plus!

I think Carol Jarman wrote an article supporting this theory some years ago, but I can't find it now. I think it may have appeared in an RCO publication during the 90's, but the memory is dim........... Does anyone remember it? G Yes and one on the theology of the other ciacona in MT. The Passacaglia/Lunar cycle theory was fully explored in a 1970s paper by Kooiman looking at the structure of all of the ostinato pieces in the Andreas Bach Buch published in english translation by Brian Jordan. I'll look up and post the exact title/dates of all three when I get back home.

Vox, I think you've correctly reflected widely held views. To those that truly hold them I have two questions: 1 How much do you pay per hour for a mechanic or a plumber? 2 Many threads here indirectly bemoan that the world doesn't take us seriously. If we believe we aren't worth at least as much as a mechanic or plumber why should anyone else?? Our current 'home' teaching rate is £32/hr due to go up to £33 in January and we have a waiting list. Mind you dental hygenists/podiatrists etc are £50-60/hr..... Martin

Nigel, I have your books and would gladly send you copies/digital scans to reuse/sell as they have proved of immense value to lots of pupils. I agree the discs are very approachable; as you've hinted above, some students will find the written word easier to assimilate and for most the combination of both is more potent than either alone. To revert to the original question: 'give me one tip'. My answer is: Don't buy into the 'born into it or no hope' marketing hype (which served Dupre well). Treat Improvisation as a serious DISCIPLINE to be studied, practised, assessed and improved like any other. Like most posters, I don't claim to be a great improviser but I can deliver something that has structure, melodic, rhythmic and harmonic interest (ie seems like a piece of music) more or less at the drop of a hat. This took several years of work - some of which was 'unlearning' bad habits and requires constant 'maintenance'. Anyone can do it competently if they work at it (just like scales, arpeggios, pedal exercises etc etc). Good luck! Martin