John Furse

The Cymbelstern was activated at the end of the Magnificat- especially composed by Richard Allain. Six bells, when eight were nearly due.

I only heard a little of this live, in the car. At the end, difficulties in the broadcast were mentioned. Does anyone know what these were ? The closing voluntary was taken at such a lick, it more resembled Howells of anguish, than the Psalm Prelude I used to play. The mike placement sounded quite distant, too (?). I do like their splashy Tuba (18), though.

Twaddle (noun): “trivial or foolish . . . nonsense.” ? ? ? I’m sure Britten achieved quite high marks in his harmony exercises (notwithstanding his diatribe against the Gresham’s music teacher) and that his harmonisations of the various hymns in St Nicholas & Noye’s Fludde were, as his arrangement of the National Anthem, designed to be different. His ear, as James Blades attests, was most acute. Colin Matthews, who worked as his assistant/amanuensis, describes his ear as “impeccable”. As for the Jubilate in C, a miniature masterpiece of Mozartian perfection, hands would have been available for registration on both sides of the player at St George’s, Windsor. (I have never understood why many organists here shun the use of registrants. Perhaps it’s that we have more pistons, etc, than most continentals.) Britten’s writing for keyboard and his virtuoso ‘manual’ technique surely cannot be questioned. However, when I first played through its accompaniment, I did think a third leg (not necessarily as many as the 10-armed and 10-legged Mahakali. Where would you rest most of them, anyway?) would have been useful ! A Hymn of St Columba is, for some reason, far less frequently performed; possibly because of its liturgical ‘rarity value’. A Dies irae paraphrase, it is a powerful and totally unified work- in the manner of a Rolls Royce purring along at 60mph. There is an amount of heavy pressure on the accelerator (swell pedal/s); it is another miniature masterpiece (!), with a meltingly tender centre, yet with more than a hint of foreboding. A 1986 recording from Westminster Cathedral (Hill, O’Donnell) is, in my opinion, a menacing benchmark. I feel that there should be dark reed colour captured in the Swell (and Choir, if enclosed) and used throughout. It would be interesting to find out Philip’s opinion, post performance, of the Hymn to St C.

The Britten has usually received unsympathetic comments. It is so odd: he wrote marvellously, idiomatically, and with originality, when using the organ to accompany a choir. The cameo appearances of a chamber organ in the War Requiem are no less striking. However, this piece may have suffered from being composed too quickly and with no time for adequate reflection. Perhaps, he just did not care deeply enough about it. He didn’t compose any other solo organ music which he allowed to be published in his lifetime; this could be telling. I feel that the programme for the service this week could not have been chosen with the demonstration of the potential colours of this instrument to the fore. This is a shame. There were possibilities in the psalm (and hymn) accompaniment and I have heard the Jackson Canticles registered with much more magic and the Prelude with more drama. Perhaps the recording had a part to play, as pcnd5584 has implied; it sounded to me as if the mikes were rather distant from the organ. The sound seemed to change, once the Fugue had begun; was the dreaded compression once more in evidence, or had the balance been tweaked ? We will obviously need to wait awhile for considered judgement.

What I had missed (re my #6, and all were far too polite to point out), was that the introit had been changed, in tribute to Sir John- it was now his The Lamb. There is a fine performance (of course) of Tavener’s God Is With Us here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9haxjywIDVQ . This is one of those pieces that transcend ‘overwhelming’, when the massive organ chords appear, after the words “Christ is born”.

In quick searches, I’ve found nowt on either the Cathedral’s or H&H’s websites. Could this “NEW 5M organ” actually be a form of shorthand for “New, £5,000,000 organ” ?

And, in eery coincidence, today’s Choral Evensong, from Christ Church, Oxford, had Sir John’s Nunc dimittis already on the Music List. Radio 3, as could be expected, have done his music proud today, with several pieces and excerpts that I’ve heard- befitting his status as one of the UK’s major (mainly) 20th century composers.

Totally agree with #3. I remember being blown away by “The Whale”, in the late 60s; but there is so much significant liturgical (and similar) music, of great import and depth. We all know “The Lamb”, but his “Away In A Manger” was commissioned by King’s in 2005 and available, not on their double CD of such carols, but on a solo Tavener album. For the only organ piece (“Mandelion”) of which I’m aware, see discussion at: http://mander-organs-forum.invisionzone.com/index.php?/topic/2388-mandelion-john-tavener/

This, of all weeks ! The Opening Recital of the newly completed organ is Friday: http://www.llandaffcathedral.org.uk/Cathedral%20Organ.htm

In an attempt to gain insight into these matters, I contacted Professor Butt, who was gracious and quick to respond. What he says I find fascinating- and I quote loosely from his communications. (It should be recalled that I was particularly enquiring about the Bach Prelude.) Although 1981 is, of course, a long time ago (!) and he couldn’t remember much about the registration, he said it was likely that he used just Great and Choir choruses coupled, without the Swell. He used to keep that separate, in order to couple the 16' reed down to the Pedal. (That stop is now available independently on the Pedal.) He also believed that the only way of making the Great chorus work well was to use the Sesquialtera, rather than the higher mixture. [in addition, the organ scholars were always encouraged to have the Choir organ coupled through to the Great, which was believed to assist the Choir’s (sung) intonation.] This is quite contrary to the ‘usual’ English organ disease of SwelltoGreatitis. Professor Butt’s academic and performing history, as a pioneering Baroque specialist, should be borne in mind. I recall many of us were doing this sort of thing in the 70s and 80s, in an attempt to achieve greater clarity and a quasi-idiomatic sound (then called ‘authentic’), through registrations and couplings sometimes tortuously altered from normal (British) practice. As for the 32’ Double Ophicleide: H&H would, usually, have tuned in the morning. (The King's organ needs an inordinate amount of tuning, owing to the vast expanse of glass and constantly changing temperatures.) This does not alter my opinion that this stop was sounding a tone lower than it should, on that note. Finally, Professor Butt says that he has written a history of the organ for a forthcoming book (which may have been published: http://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/news/2013/new-chapel-book.html or, there might be an even larger tome on its way), celebrating the 2015 anniversary of the Chapel’s completion. [The recording snippets in #8 are revelatory: indeed, sounding like different instruments.] I await further comments and elucidation with great interest.

I wasn’t thinking so much of the Fugue, which does Regale more. Also, the sole appearance of the 32’ reed, characteristically (for King’s; Ledger allowed this custom to continue) underpinning the last chord of the Wood, sounds as if it’s on G flat- rather than the key note of A flat ? ! Was it out of tune ?

Why doesn’t the organ sound like King’s, at least in the Bach Prelude BWV 547 (to my ears, anyway), in this week’s Choral Evensong archive broadcast from 1981? Is it something to do with the way the 20-year old John Butt registers the organ?

Oh dear, indeed, MJF ! I hope that was a statement of intention, rather than an instruction; as I have felt moved by the recent poetical atmosphere to pen another deeply-felt, sensitive ode: “The daughter of Herr Buxtehude Was no looker- and quite a bit cruder Than La Gioconda: You’d not want to gander At her for too long in the nude-uh.”

“She was only the Organist’s Daughter, But our Dietrich couldn’t do as he oughta And wed her to Handel, Preventing a scandal: He’d not go, like a lamb to the slaughter.”

“Bo***ks!” Counting the number of asterisks, David, I can only conclude that the missing letters were ‘sti’: giving ‘Bostiks’. This is slightly odd. Perhaps the gentlemen of the choir were rather confusedly looking forward to some seasonal Glühwein, in an attempt to drown their sorrows and forget about the ‘issue’ ! I wonder how many know that Mathias, in fact, co-designed (with George Guest) one of the organs at Bangor to include a Trompeta Real- University ceremonials no doubt in their minds: http://npor.emma.cam.ac.uk/NPORView.html?RI=N11677 It is a matter of some perplexity that there was no knighthood for him, after The Wedding. There was, of course, for Sir Elton Hercules John. (Neither was there for that other similar worthy from one of our marginal countries, Kenneth Leighton- not after any nuptials.)

Surely, that’d be ‘Henryk Villis’. Bach apparently wished for a different builder, as he was, it seems, averse to having the Rückpositiv (behind him, of course, in the engraving) positivised; petitioning the church council for handy pistons (to allow “many new ideas”) and a Tuba- to add to the plenum, ‘at the end of my learned fugues’.

I feel sure that this image is posed and portraitistic- not realistic in some of its details. Bach’s arms, wrists and hands are at ridiculous angles and (look where is his centre of gravity) his feet are preventing him from overbalancing on to the keys. Moreover, the manuals are canted downwards, so that they are slightly reminiscent of the upper ones at, say, Atlantic City. Having said that, the bench could not be moved much further forward. Perhaps the true solution for 'authentic' performance is to use lots of braid, buttons and, particularly, garters ! Disappointingly, but in keeping with his Lutheran credo, he has eschewed a more fancy style.

Perhaps we should use differently styled organ shoes for music of different periods. The heels shouldn’t matter for Baroque music. Discuss. Most, however, would stop before donning knee-breeches, long white hose and a sword (H&S issue, nowadays), for the sake of more complete authenticity (!). A full bottomed wig would occasion comment, too. Just as we don’t use the same manual techniques to play, say, Messiaen in the same way as Bach, we do need to use different pedal techniques for later music. (I think of Dupré’s G minor Prélude.)

David sums it up neatly: "he perhaps wrote too much and some of it fell into a routine". (I would add, 'an occasional Messiaenique splash'.) Even if you play all of his organ music, it is sometimes difficult to identify individual pieces, on hearing just a bar or two. But, it did all coalesce into a characteristic style that people would say, 'that's a bit Mathias'. However, the pieces are well written (for organ) and quickly learned. When his "Jubilate" Op. 67, no. 2 was published in 1974, I was successfully playing it at an interview within days. "Invocations" and "Variations on a Hymn Tune (Braint)", much longer works, are favourites of mine, and illustrative of his more extended writing. I also agree with David about his "Ave Rex"- a super piece, joyfully performed by choirs. It should be remembered that he was patronised by the Royal Family. This sympathetic obituary repays reading, for those unfamiliar with aspects of his life: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-professor-william-mathias-1536526.html. Perhaps we are still a little too close to his death, for his true musical significance to be measured; but he was one of the more significant British composers of the second half of the 20th century and leaves a most varied legacy, which repays listening.

Jonathan: your instrument looks gorgeous and, if it sounds half as beautiful, should give centuries of pleasure to those fortunate enough to play and hear it. You are very, very lucky. Organists always seem to wish for something different. I’m sure some would have preferred a Cromorne on the GO, so that ‘authentically Classical’ French trios could be performed. And a question: since the two ‘expressif’ divisions, when combined, act as a sort of Full Swell, are the two swell pedals able to be locked, to facilitate a balanced de/crescendo ? I’m sure many, too, would wish to know (in good time) what some of the unfamiliar (at least, to eyes used to feasting on British consoles) array of buttons and pistons do.

“NINE organ symphonies, none seem to be in print” Perhaps, ‘no longer available from the publisher’ would have been more accurate, still; but thanks for the links, SlovOrg. I note that the 3-CD set of “Nowowiejski: Complete Organ Symphonies” is (used) at just over £17 from a well-known online supplier, whose name is that of the longest South American river. I also note that searches using his first name “Feliks” produce different results from using “Felix” ! Do we have any Polish members who could help ? As for “the wonderful Adam Jarzębski”: I was not directly comparing him with Biber and/or Zelenka, who were later in the Baroque. His music is much more akin to that of Dario Castello.

You could do worse than this site and composer: http://www.pwm.com.pl/__list__gp1.html Go into the 'Publishing house', then 'Composers', then 'N', then 'Feliks Nowowiejski'. Disappointingly, although the blurb trumpets his NINE organ symphonies, none seem to be in print ! The two composers you mention are not here, though. (Polish music publishing has some remarkable lacunae.) You could trawl through all the likely individuals. This: http://www.usc.edu/dept/polish_music/catalog/scoredis.html doesnt give much hope, either. As an aside, the canzoni and concerti of the wonderful Adam Jarzębski (ca. 1590-1649) deserve to be as well known in the west as the works of, say, Biber or Zelenka- but promotion of such does not seem to be a priority. [Pasting from my Word doc was imprecise.]

I recall a week spent at The House in the 70s, as one of a visiting choir. The organ was then still the ‘old one’, but the ‘new’ organist (a Mr Preston). At one service, he accompanied us in the Collegium Regale Mag & Nunc (Howells). This was a quite wonderful experience as he had, of course, been Organ Scholar at King’s. He conjured up magical stop combinations, which seemed almost to alter the acoustic, to its benefit. I also recall a comment on the action (was it by him, or at one remove from Dr Watson?) being like ‘playing on melted chocolate’. A few years later, I returned, to hear a choir transformed into what was now possibly the most exciting choral sound in any UK cathedral/college chapel at the time- and a private mini-recital on the Rieger. A stunningly bright sound in an acoustic which would be enhanced by the sort of work done at Chelmsford. The new organ was not, of course, now entirely (!) appropriate for Howells and the accompaniment would have sounded very different and probably not to its benefit. This does seem to be a slight non sequitur, as it were, in an English cathedral.

"the twin of that in Salisbury Cathedral" If it is, it's certainly not monozygotic- doesn't even have the same number of 'arms'. I know which one I'd prefer to listen to- and it's not the one whose name starts with 'H'. I would hazard a guess that the acoustic at Salisbury is a tad more reverberant, too. Well done, DW, for these fruits of your research.

I've managed to locate a (small) photo here: http://www.britainsfinest.co.uk/historichouses/historichouses.cfm/searchazref/80001330HAMA Over to the Willis archives (?).