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Ian Ball

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    Youtube

    in General discussion

    Posted

    Hi

     

    I don't often visit Youtube - but a friend passed on this link - well worth a listen:-

    >

     

    It's a track froma forthcoming CD by the Scott brothers of Piano & harmonium duets. The harmonium is a Mustel Art Harmonium.

     

    Every Blessing

     

    Tony

    My favourite Fauré chanson. Beautiful.

    Organ Comcertos And Other Things

    in Nuts and bolts

    Posted

    How about Naji Hakim's three organ concerti? Absolutely top drawer stuff, from the ear tickling manuals-only intimacy of the First, through the powerful 'Seattle' Concerto, to the hysterical Charleston rhythms of the Third. Well worth a listen/play.

     

    First and Third (plus Magnificat and a fabulously romantic suite for horn & organ) here

     

    Seattle (and Violin Concerto with lusciously erotic slow mvt) here

     

    IFB

    Studies

    in The Organ

    Posted

    Hello, I'm just seeking advice about useful Organ music 'studies' for players in Grade 8 territory to help with technique. Any suggestions?

     

    Many thanks, David.

    Dupré Tombeau de Titelouze and then 24 Inventions are ideal. You must use his fingering and pedalling, however illogical seeming at first.

     

    IFB

    Worcester Cathedral

    in General discussion

    Posted

    In my days visiting the organ loft in Bristol (1960's) there was no "tutti" piston and coupling it to everything else would have been regarded as bad taste except in exceptional circumstances, and certainly not "The Bristol Sound".

     

    It's a good thing we all have differneet tastes. I enjoyed the Widor at Worcester until the last page.

    The solo reed at Bristol isn't a Tuba, it's a Tromba, and crowns the tutti perfectly and without undue din IMHO, and there is certainly enough pedal power to counterbalance it.

     

    The Tuba at Worcester can have rather more impact and brilliance, depending on where you are sitting in that bizarre and unhelpful acoustic, but is by no means a 'solo only' honker. In the right hands, it forms an excellent chorus reed (either with or without Mixtures) which can be reached via a seemless crescendo, thanks to the brilliance and power of the Great and Pedal reeds. Once the old 32s are reinstated in phase two, the balance with the pedals will be even better.

     

    IFB

    Happy Birthday Dear Felix....

    in General discussion

    Posted

    Brethren

     

    Surely we can't let today go by without a chorus of Happy Birthday To You to mark the 200th birthday of Felix Mendelssohn. I noticed his anniversary in today's Times, and thought that by now we should be popping the champagne corks and toasting dear Felix to the strains of The War March of the Priests (arr. WT Best).

     

    :unsure:

    Here here! Did anyone here the EBU broadcasts on R3 on Sunday? Wonderful to hear 'grand' Bach on the Thomaskirche Sauer (as well as the exquisite Woehl organ, of course), not to mention all the marvellous Mendelssohn. Well worth a listen on iPlayer if you missed it.

     

    IFB

    Liverpool Cathedral

    in Nuts and bolts

    Posted

    Thank you Ian - this is extremely interesting. Isn't it interesting how views differ - Vox Humana has expressed differing views regarding 32's. Interesting, too, how Oboes and 2's don't always "work". They do at Canterbury, as I have mentioned elsewhere, but I recall finding that at Gloucester they don't (you would know!)

    Indeed - a nasty sound, but Ralph Downes knew this and instructed players never to use the two together.

     

    This is such a fascinating subject that it is all too easy to go "off topic" but talking about "Edwardian" channels, did you ever know Clifford Harker's settings at Bristol? Woo hoo! They were changed when Malcolm Archer took over (before the solid state days)

    I didn't, but I've heard Martin Schellenberg playing the Bristol organ superbly, presumably with similar colours in Edwardian repertoire, since he was CH's assistant.

    Liverpool Cathedral

    in Nuts and bolts

    Posted

    As I said, it obviously depends upon the voicing and the building - I suppose the crux is "if the organ is well made". I am interested in your comment, Ian, about bringing doubles on early; how early?

     

    Well, it depends on repertoire, organ and acoustic, obviously, but I would often add the Great double flue after the 2' and before adding the Mixture. If it's a nasty 22.26.29 Mixture stuck on decent Edwardian foundations, then I would add the reed(s) and save the Mixture til last. I would certainly do all this in hymns and the majority of repertoire. When under a choir, it's all about creating the illusion of power and warmth, without overpowering. So, I still add Sw & Ch ( & So) doubles quite early, but lay off the thicker 8' stops; rarely any Gt stops at all, saving light Gt foundations til very late. For example, Full Sw & Ch (& So orchestral reeds), tempered by the swell pedals, with Gt stopped 8' and Principal 4', ought to be a rich but bright plenum. Likewise on the Pedal: avoiding heavy 16s but certainly adding 32 flue (or Quint) fairly early, for gravitas, certainly under any 16,8,4 colours, and/or Full Sw.

     

    (Incidentally, I would usually add the Sw oboe before the 2' - it's a foundation stop here in the UK too - it gives useful 'bite' for the singers and often the Sw 2' simply doesn't blend with the Ob.)

     

    Slightly off-topic, but I read somewhere that there is a piston channel at Durham Cathedral set "Edwardian style" - is that correct, anyone, and does anyone know the scheme? I suspect early doubles might feature there......?

    Likewise at Peterborough, where they also have a 'French symphonic' channel.

    Liverpool Cathedral

    in Nuts and bolts

    Posted

    My ears must work differently. For years people have said 'thick and muddy' when I just hear warm and rich. I always add manual doubles fairly early, and rarely use strings alone without either the sub octave or a nice quiet 16' flue to give them more presence and warmth. Even in Baroque music, I'd far rather hear a sumptuous 16,8,8,4,2 chorus than single pitches with scratchy neo-classical mixtures. If the organ is well made, you will have 'clarity'. Assuming clarity has to be the primary consideration, which is not always the case.

     

    :rolleyes: I'll get my coat...

    Lord Of The Years

    in General discussion

    Posted

    The fourth bar of the hymn tune Lord of the Years (by Michael Baughen), popular on SoP and Morning Worship, contains what I have always thought a quirky and somewhat unnecessary rhythmic element in that the first two notes are quaver - dotted crotchet. The tune itself is strong and the harmony (by David Illif in my hymnal) is imaginative without being off-puttingly adventurous. Does anybody else think this, and that the tune would works equally well were the two beats I referred to simply crotchet/crotchet?

     

    Peter

    Spooky. I was discussing that very point with a friend over a pint on Monday (I had to play it for a WI 90th anniversary service at the weekend). I agree, the Scotch snap is naff and spoils an otherwise strong tune.

    Baroque Organ Tone

    in The Organ

    Posted

    Quite so. In case anyone reading our criticisms thinks that this represents antagonism towards either historic instruments or reconstructions in historic style, let it be remembered that the greatest authority of all, J.S.Bach was completely specific in his requirements about wind supply. He specified plentiful supplies of wind that if properly blown the reservoirs could never run out and soundboard bars with sufficient capacity that no amount of playing even with all stops drawn should ever render the pitch unstable.

    Here here. I suppose Bach got fed up of being laughed at when he neared the end of Dupré's Symphonie-Passion... :o

    Baroque Organ Tone

    in The Organ

    Posted

    With such an organ this does not disturbs me; it is a "living" wind,

    as a slight vibrato which helps those tierces to pass in these chords.

    Baroque organs are strange beats, ever ready to surprise.

     

    Pierre

    "Slight" vibrato??! :o Even so, I would rather not hear German late romantic music on them when such are the results! To orchestral musicians, not to say non-musicians, it just sounds like a bad fairground organ.

    Richard Hickox

    in General discussion

    Posted

    This is the most shocking news. Although I didn't know Hickox, we worked together in the 2001 Gloucester Three Choirs Festival, where he conducted Delius's Mass of Life. The energy and intellectual power he brought to TCF was always impressive; the way he managed to make a cohesive, passionate whole out of the Delius and its massive forces was an inspiration.

    Youtube

    in General discussion

    Posted

    Wasn't the story with this recording that the equipment in those days could only record about 7 minutes at a time so GTB had to play it very fast to fit in within the confines of the technology of the time?

    Hmm, not so sure. GTB's clearly utterly convinced by that tempo, and throws the organ around with such confidence that it convinces the audience (well, me, anyway!). Wouldn't he have chosen a shorter, slower piece if the constraints of 78s had to be considered?

     

    Incidentally, how bright the Great 2 foots sound on all those recordings, even over the roaring full Swell.

    Youtube

    in General discussion

    Posted

    Well, the contrast with
    couldn't be greater, could it? ;)

    Oh but such majesty, and those perfectly placed rhythmic accents! Actually, with its 'cathedral' sobriquet in the UK I suspect GTB might have played the little E minor at a similar stately tempo.

    Duruflé Requiem

    in The Organ

    Posted

    Is the 3rd bar of the In Paradisum /i] a 5/4 bar (I think it's the third - I don't have the score on me, but it's certainly in the 1st line) Looking at it it must be, but Duruflé normally changes the time sig. Am I mistaken?

    No. It's all 4/4 until changing to 3/4 in bar eight. The third bar looks a bit complicated, because of the rests hovering over the stave, but it's just a sustained spread chord: C at the top for 2 beats; then adding the D; then the E sharp for the 4th beat.

     

    IFB

    More On Mulet

    in General discussion

    Posted

    While the eggheads among us have all busy recently discussing the Latin and Greek origins of the title of Mulet’s toccata, may I pick up on one solitary note from Gareth Perkins; fascinating as the various arguments are, I am equally, if not more intrigued by the way it is played, especially in respect of the tempo.

     

    Most players seem to want to take it at a breakneck speed and one can certainly admire various performers’ techniques when it is heard this way. There is, however, a recording, I think, by Naji Hakim, who was organist, was he not, at Sacre-Coeur, taken at a very sedate pace. The effect, for me, is positively mesmeric and the pedal part begins at last to make its full effect. I am inclined to think that M. Hakim played it slowly from conviction and not because he couldn’t play it any faster. Is this his own view of the piece or is there a performing tradition handed down at SC?

     

    Of course, a lot will depend upon the instrument and the building as it does with so much organ music, but nevertheless, I do think that “le plus vite possible” is not necessarily the best or only way for this splendid warhorse.

     

    Since we appear, now, to be multi lingual, “nas vedenje”.

     

    David Harrison

    I couldn't agree more. Hakim's performance at Sacré-Cœur is in my opinion the best recorded version out there. Of course, it helps to have that organ in that unique acoustic, with a grinding pp full swell which would stop a herd of stampeding elephants in its track :) He is one of the most thoughtful, intelligent performers around and consequently considers tempi very carefully. Perhaps 'rock' has something to do with it. It certainly sounds like an inexorable and difficult 'build' in his performance, and what joy there is at the end as a result!

    Willis Organ, St Monica's Trust, Bristol

    in The Organ

    Posted

    Many thanks for the additional information. Sadly it seems that the instrument is in nothing like as original a condition as it looks. It sounds remarkably fine considering Percy Daniel's have have their hands on it.

    Well it was somewhat emasculated by Mr Fry and Daniels. Walkers have put it back in fine fettle. It's a beautiful instrument to play. I'm sure Pierre would love the new Willis-style tierce Mixture!

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