Choir Man

There has already been some discussion on the state of affairs in Leeds: http://mander-organs-forum.invisionzone.com/index.php?/topic/4047-leeds-minster

Here is another gem from the BBC Radio archive. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0103wyx

I happened to come across this from the BBC World Service Archive. The Organ: How woodcraft, metalwork, art and design come together in a complex musical instrument. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p033jsrl

Mention of helium and Kings reminds me of their news on April 1 two years ago... <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ukDAfF0-8q8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

BBC 2's Great Interior Design Challenge came from Wells last night and the budding designers were given three rooms in the Vicars Close to 'do up'. One of the rooms belongs to the assistant organist - cue a shot of him at the console playing the opening of the Elgar Organ Sonata (about 22 min in). When they did the final reveal at the end I noticed a collection of small organ pipes on the mantelpiece.

One of the problems of course is that, although they have a number of choirs singing, they are not in fact a combined choir, but three separate choirs, each with their own brass section, each in a different part of the building! The young people in the white albs seem to be in the apse behind the altar. The choir in black cassocks & white surpluses in the south aisle and the adults in suits are next to the organ console. Now wonder they sounded very untogether at times!

Had a discussion about this with my local DOM. We agreed that tablets may be useful for carrying a large library of music (subject to the limitations already described), however for performance nothing is better than an original paper copy. - Paper is more easily readable in a multitude of different light conditions. - Nothing beats a pencil for making notes (as well as conducting and throwing at unruly choir members) - Paper doesn't run out of battery life. - Paper doesn't break when you drop it. The only limitation of paper we considered was the proximity of candles in carol services....

Harrison's are documenting the work in the gallery section of their website. Looks like they've already been busy for 6 months constructing all the new parts ahead of the dismantling which begins in the new year. www.harrisonorgans.com/gallery/cambridge-kings-college They are also documenting the re-pitching work at Peterborough Cathedral which involves lengthening all the pipes.

It may interest members to know that Radio 3 broadcast a concert from the German Church in Stockholm at the weekend. This is still available online at www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06rwgcz The Duben Organ is a recreation of a historic instrument complete with meantone tuning. More info at www.theorganmag.com/articles/tyska.html Happy Christmas to all.

I see from the Appointments thread that Leeds Cathedral have just appointed a new organist. It was interesting to read on the RCO page that the RC diocese of Leeds has "the largest church music programme in the UK, maintaining 58 choirs with 2500 children meeting weekly". Leeds Cathedrals website boasts that they have "five dedicated choirs". Can Leeds Minster not support a boys section because they are all singing with the Catholics? Or is this a result of differing outreach and recruitment programmes?

Here is the news of Dr Lindley's retirement from the Minster website. www.leedsminster.org/news/ There's nothing on the website about the choir so at the moment we only have the local newspaper as a source so I will take what they say with a large pinch of salt. However recent photos of the choir would suggest that numbers of boys was down to single figures which I can understand would make a maintaining a boys only choir available for every service very difficult. I also find it slightly surprising given the size of the city and the fact that the church also has a school that the choir wouldn't have more boys. The most recent music list (September) would suggest that there is already a girls choir. If the Yorkshire Evening Post are correct and a recruitment drive is to commence then hopefully this would solve their problems. At the risk of stirring up a hornet's nest. I would suggest that, in this day of women priests and bishops, boys choirs are now the last bastion of male-only dominance of church life and that their days may be numbered.

Always a pleasure to hear organ music on R3 and the opening Willcocks arrangement of Widor V was something I hadn't heard before. Unfortunately the experience was spoilt by poor sound engineering. I find it hard to believe that Stephen Cleobury and the assembled forces of Kings could be out of synch with the organ, but the BBC made them sound so. Such a pity that sound engineers feel they have to use multiple microphones and re-engineer the acoustic - they should try recording from a single point and let the radio audience hear what someone in the chapel would hear and get the benefit of the wonderful acoustic that the building has.

With advent and Christmas just around the corner, perhaps everyone is too busy preparing and practising to be posting?

There's an interesting history of the organs at howden at http://www.achurchnearyou.com/howden-minster/organs-of-howden-minster.html

Unfortunately, it would seem that nothing has survived. The firestation commander described the building as 'gutted'. Compare with the way it was:

There's a response to the petition on the church's website. http://stmaryabbotsappeal.com/a-response-to-the-organ-petition/ Apparently they are hoping to incorprate piepwork from the Hill in the new scheme. D

The first theme is the Handel Sarabande in D minor. Compare it with this this version recorded in Spain. https://youtu.be/PDzL8q6vxFo

Could it be the instrument that was formerly in St Andrew's Pershore? http://www.npor.org.uk/NPORView.html?RI=N03726

There's a photo of the console at http://southwellchurches.nottingham.ac.uk/kimberley/porganconsole.jpg

CEF (& other companies) have an increasing range of LED strip lighting. These are great if you have an "en fenetre" console as they have the advantage of being very low profile and so are easy to conceal, they are also light enough to be stuck to a surface with certainty they won't fall off thus negating the need for drilling and screwing into fine woodwork. Finally as the LEDs themselves are low voltage, they usually have a separate transformer which can be hidden away somewhere convenient with only a thin low voltage cable neeed to connect them up. Because the LED lights use a number of small light sources you get a very even distribution of light across the area you are lighting and the various size options would allow you you to get the whole width of the music desk illuminated. D.

The disposition can be found here along with links to some more photos and sound clips. The organ is one of three in the building (hence the three organists at the same time) and all are as lavishly decorated as the main one. Although he organ sounds fantastic, I can't but wonder what the 'Horribile' effect is?

Radio 3 announced the sudden death of David Trendell last night. He will be sadly missed by his family, the community at King's College London and the many other people he has worked with. This is his biography taken from the web page of Kings College London: "Trendell was educated as an organ scholar at Exeter College, Oxford, and, prior to his arrival at King's was Lecturer at St Hilda's, St Hugh's and Oriel Colleges. He is much in demand as a choral conductor and frequently directs choral workshops in the USA. David Trendell has been College Organist and Lecturer in Music at King's since 1992. In that time he has established the chapel choir as one of the finest mixed-voice university choirs in the country. They have made several recordings in recent years of sixteenth-century music, thus tying in with Trendell's research interests."

To Vox Humana's point at #14. I wonder what the piece would sound like on a French instrument? Elgar on a Cavaille-Col? Does anyone know of any recordings?

The introduction of the organ on the 21st by the builders also looks to be of interest. It would like to hear what they have to say about the project. It's a pity I don't understand a word of French... I'm pleased to see that all the concerts have free entry and I like the way that each artist has written a few paragraphs about why they have chosen the music for their programme (thanks to Google Translate). Many concert programmes will give autobiographies and notes about the music but rarely do we get an insight into why the music has been chosen. I would personally like to see more of this. NDP have a history of making perfomances freely available via YouTube, and NDP is a regular contributor to the KTO website. Let's hope that some, if not all of these concerts will become available via the www

There's a YouTube video about the restoration. Also links to various other videos of the instrument including Olivier Latry improvising at the re-dedication service. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXHzyAtQu8M