Martin Kemp
-
Posts
40 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Posts posted by Martin Kemp
-
-
I notice that Willis Organs are having their open day on Saturday 27th September. Some interesting pictures on their site of the recent Carshalton Job too ...
-
Whilst the Eucharistic Prayer was being spoken, the main organ provided an improvised luminous and mysterious backdrop that blended with the incense and refracted light from the stained glass - it was quite unforgettable !
I count myself as fortunate in being permitted to do this - one of our more tasteful features in liturgical music, potentially, anyway! I believe the practice is now not permitted in the RC church - so, sadly, the Cochereau-type Elevations are a thing of the past.
-
The Lincoln Willis console is up in the triforium. Not the greatest pic, I'm afraid:
-
All Hallows' Gospel Oak (1915) has both Octave and Violoncello on the pedal; extensions to Open Wood and Violone, respectively. Nothing above 8' here.
It was my understanding that Arthur Hill was the son of Thomas and therefore grandson of William. He took over directorship of the firm in 1893 and continued, following the merger (where the staff of the two firms worked quite separately for some years), until his death in 1923 when the firm was bought by John Christie.
-
Good to see rubrics such as "The Organist will play ... ".
-
Arguably, Ralph Downes made a similar (but far greater) error when designing the organ of the RFH. However, the problem was rather more complex, there. For a start, he specified the reeds to be voiced in the style of Cliquot.† If he had to have French reeds, those by Cavaillé-Coll would have been more suitable - at least for the Pedal Organ, G.O., Swell and Solo organs. In any case, he appeared not to realise that the reeds of which he was so fond were, in their natural environment, in a resonant stone-vaulted cathedral. Surely a little exercise of imagination would have at least given him pause to wonder of their effect and usefulness in such a 'dead' acoustic as that originally possessed by the RFH?*
Furthermore, classical French reeds require a classical French chorus. Attempting to marry such reeds with North German-Dutch style flue-work was a little like giving a child a considerable sum of money, then putting him in a sweet shop and saying 'buy whatever you want, boy.' The end result was never going to be satisfactory.
More to the point, such classical French (manual) reeds were originally designed to sit with the Grand Jeu - with bourdons, prestant, cornets etc. - not mixtures. The manual 'chorus work' was used separately as the Plein Jeu (with ped 8 & 4 reeds for the CF).
-
Indeed. I believe that it was I who posted that story. To the best of my knowledge, it was true. The verse concerned was 'My lot hath fallen upon a fair ground.' Afterwards, Michael said (apparently) 'Eehh *, ah, please don't do that again.'
Sorry, I hadn't realised you'd got there first. I heard it years ago from an unrelated source ... so it must be true!
-
I cannot comment about the hinder parts, but I remember the late Canon Colin Beswick, sometime Precentor of Norwich Cathedral, challenging Adrian Lucas (the then Assistant) to find a suitable backdrop for the last part of verse 12 in Psalm 39 "... like as it were a moth fretting a garment". I have yet to find out if the challenge was satisfactorily met, and by what means...
I remember hearing of the same organist using the cimbelstern in his interpretation of the fair ground.
-
I agree with much that has been said above, especially Malcolm's contribution. You could also try playing along with your favourite interpreter(s). Having previously tried this, in preparation for the same exam, the sound one hears rarely tallies with the actual "feel". What is really important IMHO is projecting the sense of the musical argument to the listener, however much stylistic interpretation is added. Ornaments should do what is said on the tin - embellish the argument rather than draw undue attention to themselves.
Hope this helps.
M
-
Church of All Hallows, Gospel Oak
Savernake Road, London NW3 2JP
Winter Organ Festival
Thursday, 17 January, 7.00 pm.
Colin Walsh
Seasonal Music
Epiphanie Litaize
Noel & Rosace (Esquisses Byzantines) Mulet
In Dulci Jubilo BWV 608, Das alte Jahr vergangen ist BWV 614 and In dir ist Freude BWV 616 JS Bach
Choral No 1 in E Franck
Pastorale, Intermezzo & Exultemus Whitlock
Adeste Fidelis (written for Colin Walsh) Langlais
Dieu parmi nous Messiaen
Programmes £10; Concessions £5.00
Refreshments served
In aid of the Organ Restoration Appeal
Details at:
allhallowsorgan.org.uk/recitals.php -
Slightly OT but lovely impro on a theme of Harold Darke from M Lefebvre this evening!
-
You are right: in so far as NDP organ is classified "monument historique", it has to respond to historical criteria defined by experts depending on the ministry of culture. Its evolvement is thus clearly framed As you know Lefebvre was (and perhaps still is) member of the historical organ experts commission when Cochereau died. This is the reason why he was appointed co-titular:
Surely it too had something to do with his amazing ability as an interpreter and improviser!
-
Church of All Hallows, Gospel Oak
Savernake Road, London NW3 2JP
Winter Organ Festival
Thursday, 13 December, 7.00 pm.
Huw Williams
Celebratory Music for Advent and Christmas
Prelude and Fugue in C Major BWV 547 J.S. Bach
Variations on Nun komm der Heiden Heiland Heiller
March on ‘Lift up your heads’ Guilmant
Andante Sostenuto from Symphonie Gothique Op. 70 Widor
Three short pieces on ‘Quem pastores laudavere’ Paulmichl, Willan, Walcha
Toccata on ‘God rest ye merry, gentlemen’ Rutter
La Nativité Langlais
At Christmastide Stanford
Cradle Song Hollins
Prelude and Fugue in B major Op. 7 No. 1 Dupré
Programmes £10; Concessions £5.00
Refreshments served
In aid of the Organ Restoration Appeal
More at:
allhallowsorgan.org.uk/recitals.php -
All Hallows', Gospel Oak
Savernake Rd, London NW3
June 2nd, 5.10pm
Recital for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee followed by Service of Thanksgiving
Two fanfares - Bliss
Rhapsody No. 1 in D-flat - Howells
Fantasia & Toccata in D-minor - Stanford
Adagio in E - Bridge
Military March No. 4 in G-major - Elgar/Sinclair
Martin Kemp (All Hallows')
Admission Free
-
We've just had our school organ, a Mander, tuned to Young II (by another board member who may reply with what he thinks!). I've known the instrument for a number of years and can honestly say that it's sounding the best it has in that period. Circles of 5ths come alive with each key having its own colour. We've found it fine for choral accompaniment so far (Stanford in C, I was Glad etc).
Best
mpk
-
Having, at last, found the sign-in field, I have to say that, on listening again, I cannot recognise the comments above. The sheer sense of line in the singing in addition to the sense and proportion of every word from the choir is a lesson in choral unity. It is also wonderful to observe that less can be far more in conducting a well drilled choir.
-
I too thought the excellent Vierne poorly miced as was the organ in CW's excellently orchestrated accompaniments to the psalms, Brahms and hymns.
I am sure that had the Brahms been accompanied by orchestra, rather than organ, far greater care would have been taken to ensure that the accompaniment was given proper clarity in the overall mix.
I have heard the Lincoln organ many times and could never describe it as sounding "muddy"!
mpk
-
There are some wonderful typos in the reviews, presumably as a result of OCR. Thanks for the link.
M
-
Thanks to mpk for his interesting hints. Dear MM and friends, perhaps to start with the already mentioned Evening Hymn by Balfour Gardiner
- a recording from King's offers a view of the organist making the decrescendo to the middle section. What exactly is happening there?
And: My OUP source of the piece does not show any registrations. Many recordings offer a tuba entry before the "Amen" - is this oral tradition or has HBG indicated this anywhere?
This is my basic reading of what happens without having the King's specification to hand:
Gt and Ped Combs on so Pedal reduced with Great
Full swell coupled to Great 16, 8, 4 (2)
swell big reeds 16, 8, 4 off
great reduced in three stages to 8, (8)
swell reduced to 8 (4) oboe
swell (to oboe)
solo violes
Bear in mind that much is down to the balance of organ and building. A generous acoustic and fairly gentle voicing will allow seemingly seamless registration changes whereas much more precision is required in a dry building. The King's organ can be used fairly generously against the choir but if the same were done at my church they would be obliterated.
Also, the King's interpretation on the clip is a modern day one with a generous array of pistons at the disposal of the organist which would not have been available at the time this piece was written (1908).
I think the tuba solo is a kind of oral tradition. I imagine that such solos were not written in as relatively few organs have a tuba.
best wishes
M
-
I recall a radio 3 documentary when the interviewer noted the coffee machine in the organ loft of a cathedral North of London. He then asked Olivier Latry if he had such a device at ND. The reply was, I come here to work - my coffee machine is at home.
I must confess that I am accompanied by a flask of espresso coffee on Sunday mornings - an advantage of a decent loft in the clouds.
M
-
Dear Colleagues,
this thread developed much better than I dared to hope....
dear Nigel, I fully agree and understand what you mean. Well, I hope to own some taste und useful ears etc., and now, many days after starting this topic, I want to tell that it had to do with a performance of some Stanford organ pieces and certainly two of the wonderful Biblical Songs together with my wife (soprano she is, but I found it comparable to the originally intended tenor voice). And indeed, there are some indications of registration which need explanation or research on the organ(s) which CVS used in the period when writing this piece.
And I very frequently go through my growing number of recordings and Youtube clips wondering about the "how to" behind the music. The vocal labour is relatively easy to get through, but the accompaniment is a hidden thing. Short views of the organist, e.g. in the King's Carols Services, allow watching his use of manuals, of the pistons and the moving of drawknobs. If one would take time to compare those shoots with stills of the consoles, one could reconstruct the registrations.
Of course the primary way to learn all this would be to become a page turner and organ scholar, but this is geographically out of question for me. We went to five cathedrals and four evensongs in february, and for coming october our next trip of similar extent is scheduled, as I know, that printed information well not convince as a primary teaching method.
Most of you are aware that there are some churches/choir on the continent which dedicate themselves (occasionally at least) to hosting/performing Choral Evensong.
As we here in Rostock hope to be able to add our church to the list (though everything will be translated to make it a service, not a concert), as circumstances developed well for that the last four years, any learning on performance practice is very desirable for me. Behind first-hand real life experience, the youtube videos are much of help. So I will be very thankful for MM's commented clips...
Practically, some things (like MM's "clutch method" and other aspects of using the swell division) are known here, too, and have even been discussed in print. But for the music relying on divisional pistons, there is a barrier between our organs here and the English, though it can be overcome be the already praised hand-registration. Tonally, many instruments are quite different, of course. Mine here should fit not too bad to the coming challenge, because of his eclectic design of 1938. And if this organ really is fine at something, it is accompanying.
Thanks for the contributions so far!
My few pence worth:
As, I think, has been covered, the English style of playing very much depends on which period/style of music and organ are to be played. The piston thing, in my view, is a red herring as pistons are only as good as what is set on them (often, sadly, vertical choruses)! They can lead to extremely inartistic registration and the horrors that one used to hear eg. swell 8,4,2(mixture) coupled to great 8' flute - ugh! Those days, thankfully, seem to mostly be gone..
If we are talking about late 19/early 20c music, the important thing is to make sure that the fundamental 8' pitch is not obscured, balancing higher pitches with lower. The swell oboe (as with French Romantic repertoire) essentially goes with the 8' flues.
The Kings CD of Stanford choral music with James Vivian at the organ superbly illustrates how to register such repertoire. I would also recommend hearing Colin Walsh accompany at Lincoln. The old Southwark piston settings ( http://www.organrecitals.com/southwarkpistons.php ) are worthy of study The articles on the Gothenburg Willis: ( http://www.organacademy.se/blog ) (formerly just up the road from my Church at St Stephens Hampstead) make a lot of sense too.
The spec of the Abbot & Smith organ of Our Lady and English Martyrs in Cambridge, designed by Stanford is here: http://www.olem.freeuk.com/
Hope this helps a little
M
-
-
-
This is the organ I practised on when I first started learning, complete with sumptuous Willis keys:
http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi...ec_index=N14132
I'd rather like to try it again.
M
Notre Dame - inaugural recital after restoration
in General discussion
Posted
Personally, I think PL's style is extraordinary - he has the ability to conjure that elusive extra-musical atmosphere within the context of the Mass, as did PC.
The organ of Notre-Dame is one that has, and will continue to grow and change according to taste and technology of the day (as opposed to St Sulpice and Rouen, say, which are both fabulous monuments to their creator). Had Vierne had funds, the ND orgue would have, possibly, changed more radically than under PC's custodianship, and since - including the addition of an "English" Diapason, with much else, and a multitude of couplers with a new English/American console!
I rather like the new console which pays homage to CC with its hints of terracing. I also think the Titulaires are better judges of what is appropriate than ringside commentators!