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Adnosad

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Everything posted by Adnosad

  1. Any chance of you possibly elaborating on your last sentence, please? Thank You.
  2. I am fully tolerant to listen to anything................apart from that wretched " Silent Night ". Makes me want to turn in my grave!
  3. Agree 100/00. But so long as we have this wonderful institution we will just have to clench ourselves and bite the bullet.
  4. Not much worth commenting on really; so far have only listened to the radio service from KCC. Usual high standard. Nice to hear new pieces, especially from JW. Good to take the broom to the accumulated cobwebs and dead leaves on these occasions. Organ sounds pretty good. Good work from H&H in sparking the Old Girl up a bit. Re` comments on the KJ version; yes, it is good to hear readings recited in this format ; possesses a certain quaint and anachronistic charm all of its own. However I must comment on the First Reading. The Little Darling not only enunciated his vowels ( or should it be " viols " ( think about it ) but he completely masticated and mangled them to the n`th degree , but only IMHO of course. Still have the anticipated pleasure of watching the TV version. That, I always think is worth its weight in the selection of thought provoking readings. Would be interested in knowing about the criteria employed in their selection. Finally I was amused by a piece I had not heard before which was played as the final piece in the Afternoon Concert on B3 prior to evensong from Lancing College, namely "Mrs. Beatons Christmas Pudding," directed by Stephen Cleobury. Quite delightful in its own way. Anyway, here`s raising a scotch , or three, to the next twelve months to all forum members. Different year..............same old..............
  5. Just love the pun on " played a key role "! :))
  6. In MHO only, I am unable to fully appreciate the tremendous fuss which seems to be ongoing with re` to the Gloucester organ. This noble instrument has been subjected to numerous tweakings/ reworkings/ re buildings over the decades/centuries - call it what you will it ended up being a bit of a right old melange in actuality. RD`s scheme seemed fine to me ( probably only me! ) and I would be cautious in calling HN&B`s work into question. True, they embraced that thing that went by the title of " The Organ Reform Movement " and I think many people were upset by the changes involved. To my worn out acoustic nerve the instrument sounded just fine and I feel sure that the updated model will too. My main concern would be a decision to fit it out with one of those sets of what I can only describe at best as " Ragmans Bugles " i.e. Trompette Militaires. Having just said that however I have to admit to being impressed with the use of such a stop on Liverpool Anglican with regard to last Saturdays recital. I T used it to great effect, in conjunction with all the artillery, in his rendering of " Fanfare For The Common Man ". Quite shattering, especially the discords on the final page. I don`t feel that anything is lost in not reinstating the 32`. Presume that some individuals may be still in a xenophobic apopleptic fury over the stop nomenclature that will probably be kept , but never mind. Hope I have not disturbed the dust covering some of the " old pipes " on this site. The views expressed are completely my own and do not necessarily reflect currently held opinions. Taxi!
  7. Interesting thread provoking some good positive comments. I would certainly claim to be a bit of a " sleeping member" with regards to any input, but as with my regards to life generally I am not alone in preferring to be " off stage / in the shadow " and leave those who are more more qualified, and ebullient even in making their contributions. I am glad to read from one member that there is a greater sense of " democracy " operating within the forum than was the case in former days. I was called out as being a troll very early on for daring to mention the " D " word , and " CC " ( not Cavaille- Coll !! ) fortunately those days and members are now just history I hope.
  8. I am quite sure that this document is very informative but will be a bit demanding on the ancient eyesight! My only comment to make on " The Organ In South Africa " would be with regard to the inglorious remains of the instrument in Jo`burgh City Hall. Perhaps it has been replaced , or just collapsed completely now; maybe someone can inform me/us further ?
  9. Anna Lapwood...............??
  10. I spot my omission now; the point I was attempting to make was with reference to the actual lack of lady organists who feature in interviews and performances recorded for the airwaves. I am sorry that I did not make this point 100/00 crystal clear in my posting. We are all well aware of the number of lady organists; and to your list I would add just a few, to include Weir,Parker-Smith, Williams ,Dienes,Ennis ,Bish ,Choplin, Watts, Pappadopolous...............et. al. Hope this correction steers the thread back on course.
  11. Absolutely brilliant! Your phonograph is something to behold! Despite their age and limitations to our contemporary ears these recordings were hailed as great technical achievments at the time. The organ was a very challenging instrument to record ( and still can be ! ) but the results still sound more than passable with the passage of time. I believe Thalben-Ball and Dupre got away with murder when they were recorded by EMI in the `20`s at the Alexandra Palace. Modern techno applied to cleaning up these museum pieces is remarkably effective, without removing the brilliant expertise of the original recording engineers. My " clean up " on noisy old vinyl involves just spraying the playing surface with mere H2O; works quite well. Sometime I must get down to the EMI museum where they have stacks of the original equipment on view, including their mobile studio. Finally, it is quite amazing how much stuff in various genres was actually recorded in 78 format, I have rather an interesting volume entitled "Gramophone Records of the First world War " which is a compilation of The HMV Catalogue from 1914 -18. Symphonies, as one can imagine are rare but plenty of solo pieces, including organ and recordings made " at The Front ".
  12. ............. not sure if this has come to members` notice but just thought it worth mentioning in passing; Angela Lapwood is being interviewed by Tom Service R3 today ( i.e. Sunday ) at 1700. Plus she is giving a solo performance on Tuesday night on the same R3 at 2215. Funny no one seems to have mentioned this since organ matters in general are as rare as hens` teeth with regards to live performances, especially from the AH. Have to add as well that it will be good to get the chance to hear a female performer of outstanding ability.
  13. This site is the last place to be political but IMHO only I perused the site with what can only be described as " OMG! can this be for REAL ? A Georgian mansion with details as to how the family fortune was more than likely originally accumulated conveniently omitted? The feeble excuse of " it`s all in the past " no longer applies ; the past has come back to haunt us , and it is not going away soon. But, yes..............it would be lovely with an organ............A Hammond perhaps?.......a Farfisa? Then we could all rattle our Crown Derby and choke on our strawberries as we bellow out some Good Old Empire building ditties.
  14. Well that puts the total number of fans of CC up to a total of three! One thinks of the quote regarding " mighty oaks growing out of acorns "
  15. Comments make for very interesting reading considering, by necessity, how subjective this topic is. In my list I would include :- Garth Benson GTB Simon Preston Fernando Germani Noel Rawsthorne Eric Chadwick Dennis Brain John Watkins Jeanne Demessieux Jane Parker-Smith Richard Elsasser Nicholas Kynaston Carlo Curley ,,,,,,,,,,,, to name but a few, not all of which I have bee fortunate enough to hear in the flesh, so to speak. Fortunately there is a healthy plethora of up and coming players/ future virtuosi to take on the mantle of these former greats. Think we can agree that the unquestionable maestro was Germani. Heard him play at Clitheroe Parish church in `69/` 70 and was one of the earliest recitals I attended. To my utter chagrin to this day I cannot recall a single item he played!!!!!!!!!!!!! There was no introduction, no programme. Germani just played, and left the building. My overall impression though was of it all being rather good! I am hoping that in my final gasping moments on this mortal coil his programme will be revealed in all its glory to me and I will then know that it wasn`t such a wasted life after all! Good to hear from at least one contributor here about attending a concert given by the other CC at the RFH. That is one cat I would like to see /hear.
  16. In tandem with the thread issued by H& H the timing of this is interesting. Yes, CJR has done magnificent work over the years in attempting to keep this instrument going . It all comes down to those nasty economics again. Warrington Council are very limited in what financial provisions they can make to " keep it going " they have to balance the books and their are other more important considerations at stake within the Warrington region. The Council have a double edged problem with the instrument; they obviously cannot afford the running costs and neither can they afford the costs involved with scrapping either. The ideal relocation for this instrument if it were possible at all, would be at Gorton just down the road- but the cost!!! I think we need to remove our rose tinted specs and dreamy romantic visions re` heritage generally. We bang on endlessly about " preserving our heritage". and " national treasures " whilst in reality we are spending loads of money on future nightmares for a generation to inherit, which in all honesty couldn`t really care less. Why should they care? It is all " old stuff " to them. The only way forward is, like it or not, digital. I am glad that the sound of this magnificent instrument is being preserved for the future in this format. One only has to look on the Johanus site and to see the fantastic recreation they have made of the instrument in the Oude Kirke, complete with replica consul. In Liverpool a magnificent state of the art auditorium has been opened on The University campus. I believe that plans are currently being mooted for the installation of an organ . Space will be limited so an equally state of the art instrument should be installed. I will depart before " The toaster " brigade start whinging.
  17. Agree, but the demographics and numbers attending will probably, I feel, be at current levels. One glimmer of hope was provided the other week at Chester when the nave was nearly filled to capacity - how? Answer:- Jonathan Scott. Normal attendance there is a faithful band of aficionados of between 50 - 80. To reiterate, the English have essentially fallen out of favour with this type of music . The bottom line is that organs are an expensive noise in relation to what in essence is a minority interest,save amongst the likes of semi-geriatric geeks, and I include myself here!
  18. Cash, and the diversion of it to other causes is certainly one reason but basically in this country the organ is not viewed in popular terms either by a significant coven of ecclesiastics, or the discerning concert attending public. The historical fact that pipe organs were originally installed in ecclesiastical surroundings and have , in essence, remained there ever since is one of the principal reasons for their decline in popularity. If they continue to stay located in these antediluvian establishments then, like the dinosaurs, they will surely cease to exist. As an example from personal experience We recently attended a Sunday service At Armley ( for the benefit of our readers who live south of Watford Gap, Armley is in Yorkshire, otherwise known as " The North " ) The attendance was 30 in total and upon my enquiring was told that this was the average attendance. Marvellous architecture and detail, marvellous instrument, good thoughtful liturgy - but an empty tomb basically.
  19. A well balanced article regarding the state with which the organ, as we know it in its present. form is regarded . IMHO only, the main road to survival for this noble form of music making is to get it out of its traditional setting. An amalgam of organs, organists, choirs, and clergy leads inevitably, in many instances, though not all, to the creation of a toxic mix in which the latter have the clout to sideline the role of the organ to that of a mere hymn accompanying machine. I have already quoted one such example of this in a previous thread pertaining to this matter so I shall not repeat myself. Thanks to the likes of Youtube we are now able to experience, in the comfort of our armchairs and keyboards, some wonderful instruments in concert halls throughout the globe. More to the point they are actually performing full blown works not just dusty old hymns. I am glad that Mr. Scott refers to the organ supporting fraternity as essentially being composed of " old blokes in anoraks ( usually shiny and smelly! ) with rustly carrier bags". That seems, to myself, to sum up perfectly the type of audience I experience attending recitals. How many recitals does one attend in which there are either a) more than 50 attending? b) the average age is less than 60+ ? Answer? Not many. I have left out attendance at ecclesiastical buildings since they are pretty abysmal anyway, unless you include the likes of The Abbey and similar. There is no shortage of young blood coming through the ranks ( no pun intended) to replace those who have fallen off the database but these gifted young people do not want to spend their time and talents in dusty,damp old ecclesiastical buildings churning out the same old gufff week in week out just in order to give them access to an instrument regardless of its marque or age. This new life filled generation of young performers have been born into an essentially digitally driven world and whilst they have a regard for the pipe organ they are more tuned into what the ancien regime love to regard as being " toasters ". A lot of these individuals need to shake themselves out of their torpor and get up to speed! Finally, costs, Yes. astronomic,and the begging bowls are continually being rattled. I have now girded myself with my body armour and will say ( still IMHO of course, not speaking for the world generally ) that in order to survive the organ as we have known it will have to change its time honoured format. Medieval craftsmanship is wonderful but totally anachronistic in the 21st cy. We have to move with the times. I realise that I have constructed my own pyre with this doggerel so I might as well have the privilege of igniting it myself; hybridization is one means of reducing costs, and due to the rapid advances that have been made in this sphere let`s be honest ,if a few stops are digitalised - can anyone really notice? The attitudes held by many so called supporters of the pipe organ appear to be locked into an ivory tower which embraces an attitude which would leave the likes of the Academie Francaise standing. ( accents deliberately omitted on grounds of pure laziness ) One such example of this attitude can be directed towards the almost misogonistic stance taken towards female players; and Mr, Scott does have the courage to aim a dart in this direction. Taxi!!
  20. Only through the personal experience of using my auditory nerve in the building over a half century or so; in which case I suppose I should get tested for a hearing aid ( or two ! ) I can agree with you with regards to the acoustic when performing he likes of Monteverdi/Byrd/Tallis etc. I have a most excellent Byrd/Tallis recording by LUMS and the performance is quite stunning. This however I put down to the expertise of the sound engineer; the same goes for the Duffy/Rawsthorne recording of the Soler Concertos. Once one is actually within the arena the experience , IMHO completely, sounds somewhat differentl. Good that we are in agreement as to Walker/ Harrisons excellent work. The Met` along with Ampleforth, are two very similar instruments save for the Antiphonal section at Ampleforth, Finally, whilst going on about matters antiphonal ,acoustic, and echoes I cannot refrain from mentioning the worlds Largest Echo Organ located at the other end of the street. 120+ stops in the Echo Division and, thanks to a legacy, they are adding more Echo stops to it! To add a footnote to this we will unfortunately now be unable to hear this grossly expensive restoration, which was funded in the main by individual public donations,not church funds, to the full advantage since the current cathedral policy seems to have scrapped the organ recital series and just reduced its function to being a mere machine to accompany hymns, in the main. I sincerely hope that the Metropolitan will have an Organ Recital series with visiting recitalists arranged for the near future.
  21. Difficult to judge from the sound quality but I presume that the work carried out by H&H is to their usual high standard. A very well designed instrument from Walkers but let down badly by the horrendous " acoustics" of The Wigwam. The chamades however will forever sound more like ragmans bugles; and the same goes for their counterpart at the other end of the street.
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