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David Rogers

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Everything posted by David Rogers

  1. For years we managed with Merbecke, the Addington Serice plus Dom Gregory Murray's setting of the Mass. After a long interregnum a new man arrived and brought with him Patrick Appleford's setting plus a request that we use it. I know what I think but I would be interested in the thoughts of fellow organists.
  2. Several years ago I accepted an organist post at a large village (it doesn’t matter where). Evensong was still sung and was manned by a team of four readers. The incumbent always attended but preferred to remain a member of the congregation which I found helpful. Over time the readers have either died or quit and like the green bottles only one is left. Maintaining a roster using visitors from another parish is not easy for the wardens. Congregations have declined steadily. Easter Sunday was the fewest we have ever known with numbers too embarrassing to cite. All signs are that evening services are continuing to die; that the people of the parish don’t want an evensong, nor does it have support from the relatively-new house-for-duty priest, who never comes. Many will say this is has been the pattern for decades. The loyal core want to continue, having struggled at great expense through a cold winter. Common Worship would be shouted down if I used the phrase. Those are the facts. At what stage does one say “enough”; and who should say it? Do any members have ideas or advice?
  3. A colleague once told this story. A new woman priest was appointed to his parish. She arrived in due course, introduced herself, and presented him with a set of numbers for her first service. He immediately recognized one of the hymns, passed the list back to her and said “I don’t play that”. End of story, really, and probably the end of their working relationship but one has to admire him for taking a stand. This raises the question of organists’ rights and whether or not they may withdraw their services? Fortunately, weak material from the 1970s-80s is less of an issue now. Enthusiasm for the ‘Shine’ thing obviously faded (It was voted the most disliked hymn in a BBC Radio 4 survey) though the Peace Channel and a few other horrors continue to do the rounds. Nevertheless, not all of us are fortunate:recently I had to play two Kendricks and a Beaumont in one service. I considered refusing but in the end suffered in silence. It took hours to ‘wash’ such musically offensive material from my memory.
  4. Greetings Musing Muso: I suppose one shouldn’t be surprised that your opening up of the subject of the Crystal Cathedral has resulted in a poor response so far. What an acoustic space. It’s comparable to the Albert Hall. After attending three services and two Pagents I claim a certain amount of first-hand experience. One of my visits required a 23 hour Greyhound bus journey south from Oregon. But the Ruffatti reeds almost made it worthwhile. The hey-day of course was in Frederick Swann’s fourteen year stint. Since then the music has gone down hill and included a suicide of one post-holder. But what a thrill to walk over the surrounding lawns at 8.30 on a Sunday morning and hear orchestra and choir rehearsing for the 9.30 service that is subsequently transmitted to 47 countries. Founder Pastor Robert Schuller as you imply was a special. The lowest manual has a stop named after his wife: an 8ft Arvella Sadly it is not a cathedral at all; it’s only a megachurch! Verdi6@talktalk.net
  5. You say: It would be interesting to know what Hymn Books are in use at the Churches of members of this board. Tempo Primo. Part answer to your query is "Far too many churches bought Hymns Old and New and are stuck with them" Replacement is not cheap, but without question Common Praise should be your aim. Get melody versions so that every member of the congregation has one even though they think they do not read music. This whole subject has already been dealt with but to sum it up may I quote from one of the respondents who gave a priceless answer. He wrote: We are stuck with Hymns Old and New (Anglican Edition). I have no hesitation in stating that it is an utterly dreadful book - with no redeeming features. Many texts have been butchered. In addition, the book is laid out in alphabetical order - not according to the liturgical calendar - despite also having an alphabetical index at the back. This is, quite simply, utterly dumb - and extremely annoying. It was chosen for our use in order that the committee who organise the regular Family Services could use it as a resource. In practice, they rarely touch it. There are, in this collection, one hundred and eighty-three 'songs' which, as far as I am concerned, should never have seen the light of day; this equates roughly to a third of the total. In my view, all copies of this book should be burned. My organ copy of HoN has already lost its cover*; in addition, the pages are sometimes hard to turn.) Another respondent wrote: "Perhaps that's because you've thrown it at the choir so often". A final thought: Each church member could buy an iPad then they could download 2,900 hymns from the Cyberhymnal. David Rogers
  6. Holy Horrors Sometime in 2004, BBC Radio 4 conducted a survey from a thousand people of their regular 8.10 am Sunday Worship audience. The aim was to identify which three hymns were most disliked. An interesting test is for a reader to jot down his or her pet hates before continuing. After doing so, I myself was slightly surprised at the result of the survey. ‘All things bright…..’ and ‘Lord of the Dance’ were at the top of the list. Royal Oak is a fine English folk song that deserves a good set of words and musically it surely cannot be faulted. W.H. Monk’s more familiar tune is not easy to sing well. There are many leaps and the chromatics call for careful tuning so it rarely gets the performance it deserves. The hymn’s text is shallow to the point of being untrue. All things are not beautiful and life is tough for many. True, the last verse preaches thankfulness but otherwise the theological content is nil. Could it be that congregations and respondents to the survey object to singing what is in effect a lie and for that reason they dislike the hymn? Sydney Carter’s well-known adaptation calls for a controlled, accented dance rhythm; it rarely gets it especially when it is included as one of the six ubiquitous wedding hymns that nowadays do the rounds. The message in Carter’s text, it seems, not to appeal to many. The inclusion of the ‘Shine’ thing in the list offers hope for public taste. Clearly this ditty showed itself for what it is: semi-literate, pseudo-pop coupled to and weak theology. Not surprisingly it hardly survived a decade. Sadly, though, thousands went crazy over it in the 1970s. I haven’t been asked to play it for years, so haven’t made use of the comment occasionally employed by one colleague who simply says: “I don’t play that”. Maybe we should say this more often. It’s worth noting that all three cited tunes use the verse-refrain format. Seven years on where do we stand? What are the current hates? Mutual agreement is unlikely but most would surely join me in condemning ‘The Peace Channel’ as among the worst pieces of versification since C. Frances Alexander mangled St Patrick’s Breastplate. Initially in the 1960s ‘Be Still’ was innocuous, but extreme repetition has certainly invoked contempt for me. Is this not the crux of the whole issue: that over-familiarity breeds not just indifference but real dislike unless the material has integrity? Those who select from our fine hymn-tune heritage have been responsible for unimaginative, over-repetition. The result is regrettable. David Rogers
  7. You wrote: Also, almost the entire works (not just organ)of J S Bach are available in Capella format at ....... How often does a casual remark turn out to be more important than the original topic. Thank you for the link http://www.tobis-notenarchiv.de I didn't know of it but realise now what a remarkable facility they offer. To have access to all the scores of so many, if not all, the Bach oevres is something undreamed of even ten years ago. I'm having trouble opening up Cappella after downloading 5.1 (because of unknown files association), however. Any advice you cared to throw my way would be appreciated: David Rogers verdi6@talktalk.net
  8. What software does everyone else use for writing music? I know there are a number of different packages out there, but what are your experiences? Of course Sibelius is very fine but it's possible for something to be too sophisticated (and it's costly). It doesn't surprise me that no one recommended to you Noteworthy Composer because that program seems little known but is well-established in America. I use it all the time. Their 'help' service is very fine. Any problem: just copy your file and mail it and a reply giving the answer will reach you within a few hours, day or night, it seems. You seek the facility to save as a PDF file. Noteworthy doesn't offer that but conversion within seconds via CutePDF.com is your answer. If you want to see samples and print out of my work using Noteworthy Composer, go to my site: http://sebastianbach.webs.com Page 9. I should mention that Noteworthy is completely free, though it seems there is an advanced version available for a small charge. Try it from : www.noteworthysoftware.com David Rogers verdi6@talktalk.net
  9. Sorry you encountered difficulties. That file was indeed damaged so I have re-installed it. Here is a link to Virgil Fox's interpretation of it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m66PBlJX4uA...feature=related There are several other performances by Fox of that piece available. Any further problems do let me know. DR
  10. You are quite right. The ties and beaming in the many “scotch snaps” of the Largo were untidy and I have corrected them. These copies were done with Noteworthy Composer, an American program which offers a fine help service via e-mail. But there is a price to be paid when a machine takes over such matters as beaming: a quill pen still has its merits! On the detail of accidentals that you raise, I submit we are in a grey area. Once applied, an accidental is surely valid for the remainder of the bar unless cancelled. A repeat of that accidental such as you request is nothing more than a sensible courtesy for forgetful players but not a requirement. Incidentally, what a superb Largo this is. I believe it works well on the organ. The copy of Bach’s own transcription of his E major violin concerto as the D major harpsichord concerto that I worked from (Dover Publications) had not been taken out by a previous library subscriber for fourteen years until I borrowed it. David Rogers
  11. You are right, of course, and I'm very grateful. DR
  12. Is it in bad taste to use the Forum to distribute details of one's website? I think it is, so the Web Master will probably remove this posting. On the other hand they say it takes up to two years for Google to 'notice' a new site however sensible and informative it is. The old adage about if you want something done, do it yourself, is very true. The thought of a professional designer putting together a website for me would be awful, so I sampled the various free do-it-yourself companies. www.webs.com proved very good and though it took several months, I built one. My subject is of course Bach, and almost nothing else. I titled it An All-Bach website. There are 91 graphics, some free downloads, a couple of complete trio sonata recordings and probably a thousand words. It was a satisfying experience honing the draft text and tracing errors. Several sites such as www.jsbach.org , www.classicalarchives.com or www.baroquemusic.org and few more are rich with material and ideas, but in my view the organ is poorly served. Finally, the address of my site. It is http://sebastianbach.webs.com . Good luck as you build yours. I shall be pleased to sample them. David Rogers
  13. Perhaps you've obtained Bärenreiter's edition of the Middelschulte works by now (at £29 per volume). A particularly interesting item in Volume 1V is Middelshulte’s arrangement of the Bach Chaconne which they claim was the first publication of the work. Hitherto, the earliest was thought to be by W.T.Best, sometime before 1897. His version can still be obtained from http://www.musicroom.com/ for £12.95 . Walter Henry Goss-Custard made a transcription during his period as organist of Liverpool Cathedral (1915-55) which Ian Tracey plays on his Priory DVD but the transcription has not been published and remains in manuscript in the cathedral archives. John Cook, sometime copyist for Vaughan Williams and Britten, before becoming organist of St Paul's Cathedral, London, Ontario, issued his transcription in 1955. It also is is still available from http://www.musicroom.com/ for £15.95 . Ian Fantom made an arrangement in 2009 which sells for £9.95 . Sample pages may be viewed on his website http://http://www.ianfanton.me.uk/ My version is also available for £5.81. See http://organtranscriptions.webs.com David Rogers
  14. I gave up reading the Radio 3 message board years ago, then recently I enrolled in John Mander's Forum. It makes marginally better reading but we tend to be a bigotted lot (and the standard of our syntax doesn't always bear the searchlight of eternity, don't it). However, I was curious about the title Howells' misprint, wondering how on earth anyone could be certain that such music was not one continuos misprint, so I read on. Then came your splendid piece that ended: PS: ".....the music is heading for a chord of A flat" The Titanic was heading for America! Thank you for that breath of fresh air. I came upon this after-dinner tale that Howells was said to have told and which might interest you: Ivor Gurney and Herbert Howells were great friends. In the early 1920s composition lessons at the Royal College of Music were limited to half-an-hour a week. Students were allowed to share lessons thus gaining extra tuition time. Howells was invited to sit-in on one of Ivor's lessons. "What have you brought this week?", said Stanford. Gurney handed him the manuscript of a song. He made no comment, sat down at his table and studied the two doubles pages. The silence was nearly embrassing. Fifteen minutes passed. Nobody spoke. Finally Stanford took out his pen, made a tiny alteration put the pen back and returned the manuscript to the student Ivor Gurney. "That'll be half-a-crown", said Stanford.
  15. I was fortunate in not hearing Sandon last Sunday morning and for certain I would have been more offended than you were at the inevitable inadequacies of a guitar strummer intruding into such music. At least the propducer got that date right but that is all, it seems. Many of us were requested to play 'Lead kindly Light' on the 19th, and rightly so. Sandon is unpretentious but safe, so most will have used it, as I did. How sad that many organists will have considered Dykes Lux Benigna and Harris's Alberta but will have rejected them on the grounds that they were 'not known'; thus dumbing down continues. You touch upon a huge subject. The only phrase that comes to mind was a clip in a treasured letter I once received from Bernard Levin who reminded me : "the more warriors the better". Good wishes David Rogers
  16. Does anyone have suggestions for a suitable voluntary for the end of 9 lessons, which will not require hours of preparation. As a guideline, I'm of aspiring ARCO standard. Many thanks in advance! ___________________ Give them Burgon's 'Brideshead Revisited' they'll love it.
  17. Paul Carr, I am relectant to bore Forum members with my comments on the Addington Service but if you'd care to let me have an e-mail address I would write to you. Good wishes David Rogers verdi6@talktalk.net
  18. Concerning Virgil Fox, I have contemplated posting the following on this thread, and have now decided to put my head above the parapet, and am quite expecting to be shot down for having "bad taste". For a really moving performance, see http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=JSbNgX1_-SA. I think that most people will have the same initial negative reaction as I had. However, upon subsequent listenings, I've really grown to appreciate this, especially considering the circumstances of its performance. I think it displays a really fine sense of musicianship, and a really skillful organist, and I've gone back to listen to it several times. Don't apologise. In 1959 I was playing at a Presbyterian church in Vancouver, B.C. A newly-arrived minister said "We'll get Fox here". I had my doubts and said "we couldn't afford him and he wouldn't play on this awful instrument" I was wrong on one count and right on the other. He only charged $200 but did say he'd never had to work so hard on a worn-out console. Needless to say he slotted in the Middelschulte Perpetuum Mobile based on the 'Wedge' Fugue subject, culminating in three-part chords for two feet alone. A YouTube recording, made in Japan at the time when his cancer was advancing is still available. (Do a search for it). The restlessness of the audience during his speech is worth noting. (They had no conception of the artistry involved which they would see and hear in a few minutes time; but he won them over). I note that Saturday August 14th a a Bach Prom Day and that Fox's arrangement of 'Come Sweet Death' is being played. Try it. Good wishes David Rogers, Somerset
  19. Greetings William Northmore I did not come upon your posting about Porritt organs until just now (30/07/10). Nor did I realise that Porritt had built so many instruments in his time. I grew up living two doors away from a Methodist Chapel in Martock, Somerset, that had a relatively fine three manual 'Porritt of Leicester'. I have a black and white photograph of this instrument taken in 1956. It is as a JPEG file and is easily mailed to you if you want a copy. Send me your address. The chapel became redundant in 1980 and was sold for building development. The organ was sold for £400 and awaits re-assembly. I could pass you the address of the new owner. Good wishes David Rogers verdi6@talktalk.net
  20. Mr Barber, Thank you for your reply and for the information in it. Ironically it arrived within minutes of a friend having sent a scanned copy of the Cook which he had just acquired. My immediate reaction was 'how sparce has been the giving out of silver spoons'. Cook was obviously talented. This might interest you: It seems there is still such a thing as a free lunch. The number of filmed recordings of the Chaconne on YouTube is quite stunning, ranging from big names of the past such as : Enesco, Busoni, Michelangeli, and Heifetz to a younger generation of exceptional talent from the Orient. There are at least 150 solo violin performances available and over 200 using the Busoni piano transcription, plus some videos of Brahms’ version for the left-hand alone. In addition there are recordings on a flute, a Japanese shamisen, four cellos, marimba quartet, solo trumpet, pan pipes, a carillon and many for guitar. How many personal recorded music collections or public music libraries can equal that? Yet the absence of videos of organ transcriptions continues to be surprising. I have only come upon one; it is by a Marcus Struempe playing a version by A. Landemann (possibly available in Germany). You mention Middleschulte. Try and note the restless audience which Fox soon wins over. David Rogers verdi6@talktalk.net
  21. Doubtless you have obtained a copy of the Ridout Toccata by now, but if you haven't do try www.musicroom.com They seem to offer much Novello material on a print-on-demand basis within three days. David Rogers verdi6@talktalk.net
  22. By tomorrow, June 26th the Liverpool Organ Extravaganza will be over. How fortunate were those able to revel in such acoustics and musical talent. Did you know that you can have half-an-hour on the Willis organ, plus a tour of the loft, and be given a copy of the Ian Tracey’s DVD at the end? I should add that there is a clause: one must make a £500 donation to the restoration fund. Organists who already own the Priory DVD made on the Liverpool organ will have admired Ian Tracey’s playing of the Bach Chaconne and might themselves have a sought a copy of Walter Henry Goss-Custard’s arrangement. Although his brother Reginald published around forty items, the Liverpool Cathedral organist (1915 - 55) only printed a couple of chants and some settings of the canticles (I don’t think custard in a flat is among them!). W.T.Best (1826 – 97) made an arrangement of the Chaconne (which Menuhin calls “the greatest structure for solo violin that exists” (Unfinished Journey p.38). Then in 1955 John Cook, sometime copyist for R.Vaughan Williams and Britten before emigrating to Canada and taking the post of The Church of the Advent, Boston, produced an edition for organ. Both arrangements are currently listed on the Musicroom website (www.musicroom.com) and are available as part of the print-on-demand service offered by Novello for £13 and £16 respectively. Other than these two there appears to be no published organ transcription of the marvellous Chaconne, which is surprising. Some while ago I tackled the work myself. It took a thousand hours but was a most rewarding project. Although Sibelius 6 is our industry standard, for music writing, I use the American program Noteworthy Composer which prints cleanly. I have my fourteen-page finished version as a PDF file (easily read with Adobe Reader). If any members/serious players/Chaconne admirers are interested I would be pleased to hear from them. As a start I could forward to them a couple of sample pages without difficulty if they sent me an address. David Rogers verdi6@talktalk.net
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