Ian Ball
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Posts posted by Ian Ball
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I wouldn't say that it has little impact in the Nave but it does not obliterate everything else as do some solo reeds in other cathedrals. My impression is that it is exactly right for 1) leading a large congregation and 2) giving some fire and brilliance to the tutti in solo organ works. Worthwhile? Yes, certainly. It adds a new dimension to the already thrilling sound of the Gloucester organ.
I've just listened to the end of the Choral Evensong (final hymn onwards) and consider that the BBC engineers captured the sound of the organ well. On Monday, I noticed a pair of microphones suspended perhaps 30' to the west of the tiered choirs stalls, which were placed almost against the screen, and about 20' from the floor. I don't know if these were the BBC's mikes but they were placed in the right place to capture the sound of both the choir and organ and gave an accurate representation of the sound in the nave as I heard it on Monday from my position next to the aisle in about the 10th row from the front.
For anyone who didn't hear either broadcast I think that using the "listen again" facility on the BBC website will give a realistic impression; the new reed was used to solo the tune in the playover of the hymn and, as Omega Consort said, between the Nunc and its Gloria.
The nave mics were for the Three Choirs festival only, I suspect. The organ and choirs for the broadcast were mic'd from the Quire. Agree entirely re your comments about the new party horn. A magnificent sound but not overpowering. Particularly beautiful in the tenor register.
Best wishes
Ian
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When, in a german baroque organ, you draw the 16' Posaune,
no flue stop is to be heard any more, be them one or five.
So the obvious way is to shut them whenever the reeds are used.
Pierre
Not according to Mattheson or Adlung.
Ian
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This video turns into a performance of Bach's Piece d'Orgue, skillfully cut between 3 Gottfried Silbermann organs, played by M.C.Alain:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2f3NxiQPFHU
Interesting for 2 reasons:
1. The Dresden Hofkirche instrument relies on the pedal reed alone to balence against the Great Organ chorus, without a coupler. This is worth bearing in mind in relation to the discussion on independant pedal upperwork for Bach elsewhere on this forum. Usually the Silbermanns would not have a pedal coupler for an organ of 16.8.16 (those that do are usually later additions) - they would expect the (usually very forthright) pedal reed to carry the line by itself.
2. The similarity in sound between these 3 organs - they are almost identical, the difference being in the acoustic and the recording. This rather belies Peter William's assertion in his book The European Organ 1450-1850 that Gottfried Silbermann scaled and voiced differently for different buildings, citing the difference between the Georgenkirche and the Marienkirche as an example. A friend who had made the same pilgrimage said he was amazed how similar these 2 organs were - identical pipework, finished pretty much identically, in 2 very different buildings.
Well folks, you can now make the comparison between these organs for yourself now - prepare to be astonished!
Hehe. That's fun, switching between the three Silbermanns (Silbermänner?). To me it demonstrates clearly how potent was Silbermann's influence on twentieth-century organ builders, and still is today, to some extent. These [quint] mixtures ARE designed of polyphony - they are patently not French Plein Jeu sounds made solely for block chords. Given that we are surrounded by neo-classical and post-neo-whatever instruments, crowned with quint mixtures, we should surely feel free to use them in Bach and for extended periods of time, even tho JSB had his own reservations about Silbermann's voicing? We might add the Positive Sesquialtera to the 'organ pleno', but it's never going to add more than a dash of pepper and it will certainly never sound like a Trost!
(And how wonderful to see M-CA using heels and - shock horror - the outside of her feet, in the Magnificat prelude in video 4/6)
Ian
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Elegy - Geoffrey Leeds, closely followed by Elegy, David Bednall
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Continuing the transcription thread, here's fun (nice tempo too):
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Yes, these Vuvezelists do seem to take their music quite seriously. [snip]
Justin
Of course. A German joke is no laughing matter.
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Rare and wonderful video of Messiaen at La Trinité available again via YouTube. Split into six clips. Here's the start of his guided tour of the organ.
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Daniel Roth's recent recital at Wanamaker's is up:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2fHmZhTWtU...feature=related
See links to the right for the other works, including improv.
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I suspect however, that most visiting organists, in the context of limited time to prepare before playing, would be only too glad to have a level of memory set for where each piston brings out a little more than the one before. Nice and easy, you can't really go wrong.
Nah. That never works.
The Swell Oboe never comes on early enough. The Pedal 32’ flue won’t be set on anything. Neither will any Open Wood at any pitch. The Great sub unison won’t come on until after the Mixture and that will always be set to come on before the reeds. Great 16, 8, 4 Fonds won't be found anywhere. Neither will you find the immediately useful ‘extremes’ to hand (e.g. Celestes only; Full Great & Pedal). I could go on…Hold a bring'n'buy. Purchase a multi-channel system. Set your in-house stuff somewhere inaccessible and lock it. Then give carte blanche to the visiting organists with precious little time to spare (assuming you’re told they’re coming!). Then arrive early enough on Sunday morning to wind the stool back down, dispose of the bits of torn post-it notes and select channel 666.
Or you could do what the RCO used to do and refuse permission for any pistons to be changed…
Oh, and never, ever express bewilderment at colours carelessly left behind by visiting organists. You might just find their Celeste/Fagotto combo suits that tricky couple of bars of Wagner, Lemare or Bovet perfectly
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Larghetto and Variations in F# minor...
Introduction and Fugue in C sharp minor.....
"A curious feature of his career is his aversion to equal temperament, an aversion he kept for decades after this tuning method had been accepted on the Continent and even in most of England."....from his Wikipedia entry.
Wow, when did they start tuning English organs in equal temperament in the 19th century? SSW was writing at the height of the Victorian era so how were organs of his day tuned? I'd hate to hear how these pieces sound in meantone!
Contrabombarde
Equal temperament was known but abhorred for centuries. Cavaille-Coll's first magnum opus at St Denis was tuned in unequal temperament (and is today). But unequal doesn't mean exclusively meantone; well-tempered doesn't mean equal (tho try telling that to our local organists' association...)
This site is worth a browse (wearing a large anorak, obviously):
http://www.rollingball.com/TemperamentsFrames.htm
It gives examples of no fewer than seven 'Victorian Well' tempered systems.
Enjoy
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I guess, though, in some years you will hear precisely that in the majority
of Bach's recordings, since it becomes clearer everyday that Bach had just such mixtures!
Another interesting video: a presentation of a 1920 swedish post-romantic organ
of first magnitude:
Pierre
This is a rare and glorious beast. ALL organists must hear van Oortmerssen's Brahms disc on the smaller 1906 Setterquist organ of the Kristine Church, Falun, Sweden. Heart melting and uplifting.
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It seems to me that making contacts is the best way of locating second-hand ranks of pipes for sale or rescuing if unwanted. This can be a bit hit-and-miss though. Do members of the board have any insights/knowledge how to find ranks? I do know that there is a firm in Warwickshire that handles and sells a good deal but I'm really looking for things that will either cost very little or nothing! Money isn't plentiful at the moment.
Of course this could be the best opportunity to make some contacts and gather info. So here goes... I am really on the look-out for a good, quite big and fruity, Vox Humana, a good stopped wood 8' rank and, ideally/eventually, some 32s! We have some excellent stopped 32s down to bottom F but then that note is used for everythig lower. What would be wonderful is to do what Tewkesbury (Grove) did and obtain the 5 lowest notes from somewhere. Unfortunately I can't find any; perhaps they are not being thrown out as once they were?
Any help gratefully received.
F-W
(Visions of Private Walker from Dad's Army, drawing on a Woodbine, asking "Pssst. Wot'you after? Godda laverly silky Salicional here... 'ah'bout a nice Double Open? One careful owner. Out of fashion now of course but still good for a punt...")
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New Blancafort organ in Montserrat:
several other links on RHS
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Here's a little something to uplift you all and gladden your hearts.....
Richard Hills FRCO plays 'Tiger Rag' on the Wurlitzer organ in the Assembly Hall, Worthing, UK. The video was taken by David Reed and the audio by John Leeming. The occasion was the Worthing Theatres' 'Open House' day when members of the public wandered in and out of various parts of the building over a period of about four hours. ...
Just incredible! What technique!! And secure rhythm too (the thing that lets many theatre organists down). This will have me smiling all weekend, even through St John Passion on Sunday...
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QUOTE (flûte harmonique @ Dec 29 2009, 05:25 PM) *
An other video showing Pierre Cochereau playing the 3rd mvt of Evocation of Dupré in NDP.
Sorry for the bad quality due to the old VHS tape.
Evocation by Cochereau
The quality matters not, it's stunning
. He knew the organ and building well!!!.....R
Hear hear. Superlative. What technique! Quiet neatness + 'lift-it-off-the-page' showmanship.
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NPOR out-of-date re Bank St Chapel. It's a fairly complete two manual these days - nothing special - on EP action and in a small room with no acoustic. I recall hearing some good recitals on it as a teenager, but there are more worthy instruments in Bolton, currently rotting.
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I rarely find the time or the courage to watch Songs of Praise by when I did watch it recently - I certainly watched on Remembrance Sunday and possibly on one other occasion since then - I thought all the hymns were far too fast. I know that hymns and tempi of hymns is a contentious topic anywhere but I felt that there was a deliberate policy of going as fast as possible to get as many hymns as possible into the allotted time.
I can remember years ago that the whole programme was done from one church (it was once done from St Peter's Brighton with Eric Spencer playing and Christopher Moore conducting) and nearly all of it was hymn singing without all the interviews of local people that you get now. It depends what the BBC sees as the purpose of the programme but, speaking for myself, I find jumping from church to church, assorted carefully choreographed choirs arrayed in empty churches, theatrical lighting effects, interviews with people about how they found God and compering from Aled Jones all utterly off-putting.
But then I'm a grumpy old man anyway.
Malcolm
I couldn't agree more.
And I'm one of those too.
Ian
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For those of you who enjoy toast occasionally:
Friday 29 January, Sheffield Cathedral, 1.15 - 2.00 pm
Ian Ball (Worcester) on the 2006 Phoenix organ
Cochereau/Briggs: Marche des Rois Toccata (from the improvised Suite à la Française sur des themes populaires);
Hakim: Aalaiki’ssalaam (Variations on a Lebanese Theme);
Howells: Quasi lento, tranquillo (from Organ Sonata No 2); and
Duruflé: Prélude et fugue sur le nom d’Alain
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Langlais playing St Bavo.
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I'd be absolutely fascinated to know what you ThOUGHT we got paid in this trade?
DW
Significantly less than a plumber, plasterer or electrician, I would wager.
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Alright then, "What makes better musicians?" The answer is, of course, lots of things, but the feel of the keyboards one learns on must surely be one factor.
When electronic typewriters were introduced apparently they initially had keys that felt rather like modern synthesiser keyboards - no feel to them - and typists' error rates went up significantly. Tests showed that they made far fewer mistakes when the keys were given some tactile resistance. It stands to reason that a light, responsive tracker action would be similarly helpful to a student organist. I am quite sure it was the (by no means light) tracker actions I learnt on that developed my ability to articulate flexibly and finely. That is not to say that I could not have reached the same state learning on a good, electrified action. I might possibly have done so, but I feel sure it would have taken longer and to this day I always feel less in control when playing such organs. I suspect that the advent in more recent years of electrified actions with simulated tracker touch keyboards may be just as beneficial as real tracker actions, though I am not in a position to judge this.
One thing occurs to me. If I ever want to produce a glutinous legato I find this far easier with an electrified action than a tracker one, just as, if I want crisp articulation I find it easier on a good tracker action. Is this just me? Does one's preferred style of playing dictate one's preference?
Forgive me. I didn't wish to appear unduly pedantic. I am just a little tired of this debate, which is often discussed in over-simplistic terms and has polarised organists and bored audiences for many years. I find the action is only one of a wide range of factors which elicits a particular response from a player. Voicing, acoustic, even temperature and smell can all play a part (just as such factors might affect one's driving when sliding into a classic Jaguar with leather seats and limited power steering); such factors things are interconnected too, such as the interplay between sensation at the fingertips and what one hears through the acoustic, to state the obvious.
I grew up in the post-industrial North of England where old romantics vehemently decried 'tracker-backers', whilst the latter dug ever deeper into their entrenched position, extolling mechanical actions at all costs (not to mention the abandonment of wooden pedal stops, swell strings, high pressure reeds etc etc yawn). However, my ears and my experience as a player have taught me that one simply cannot be dogmatic about music and instruments (passionate, yes, but that's different!). I have given some of my 'best' performances on tubular pneumatic and electric actions; some of my worst on uber-sensitive tracker actions AND (before you all jump and say my technique is clearly at fault) vice versa. A good organ, approached by an open-minded and sensitive performer who is willing to learn from the instrument, will yield good performances.
As for your example of 'glutinous legato' versus 'crisp articulation', I think that is far more influenced by voicing than action. A chiffy neo-classical organ on direct electric action yields the latter very easily whereas a good mechanical action, controlling nicked pipework voiced to crescendo up through the compass, will give the player power to project well-connected, cantabile lines.
At least the pendulum has swung far enough back that it is now no longer a given that the newest concert hall instrument will have mechanical action (or even a second, mechanical console), or that the limitations of a building can now be overcome with the use of a remote action (such as here in Worcester). 25 years ago, such thoughts would have been considered heretical.
Best wishes
Ian
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No. "Better" musicians make for "better" performances
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Dupre playing the F major toccata at St Sulpice in 1961and
I just listened to this for the first time and, to be honest, I don't quite know what to make of it. It is just so different from what I am used to.
Interesting! Well, laying the bad mistakes aside, I rather like it once the triple invertible counterpoint starts. You can hear the lines sing and connect in a way often missing from many 'modern' performances using détaché touch, sewing machine tempi and quint mixtures. Either way, you simply can't keep Bach's cosmic and determined joy down in this piece!
Of course, with that organ in that acoustic, you need some reeds and a stately tempo to make each part clear (see Daniel Roth's liner notes to his St Sulpice Bach disc).
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Congratulations, Ben. One of the most beautiful new consoles I've seen in a long time.
The Swell Oboe never comes on early enough. The Pedal 32’ flue won’t be set on anything. Neither will any Open Wood at any pitch. The Great sub unison won’t come on until after the Mixture and that will always be set to come on before the reeds. Great 16, 8, 4 Fonds won't be found anywhere. Neither will you find the immediately useful ‘extremes’ to hand (e.g. Celestes only; Full Great & Pedal). I could go on…
. He knew the organ and building well!!!.....
New CD
in The Organ
Posted
Dear friends
Please forgive this piece of blatant self-publicity, but I have recently released a new CD of music on the 18th-century organ of Saint Mary de Lode, Gloucester. Restored by John Budgen in 2004, this is an important part of British organ building heritage and has been superbly captured in this recording by sound engineer (and cathedral organist!) Adrian Lucas.
Available HERE
Warmest wishes
Ian Ball