Wannes Vanderhoeven

In addition to the useful and correct comments above, I'd like to add that the registrations of Franck's "Chorals" are probably not by the composer himself. Nevertheless, they are very appropriate, but with this knowledge, the performer can afford some more liberties...

In the German magazine "Ars Organi", I read a most fascinating story. To create some extra space in their building, a church community in Kelzenberg wants to get rid of their organ, built by Führer (1988) in an older organ case from 1902. After some opposition by municipal authorities (because of the monumental value of the organ case), this will be the solution: the facade will be separated from the organ and attached to the wall, in order to preserve the visual aspect. The organ itself will be sold. In my humble opinion, this is a rather remarkable way of dealing with historical heritage. documents: http://www.ngz-online.de/juechen/nachrichten/kompromiss-im-orgelstreit-in-sicht-1.2686018 http://www.rp-online.de/niederrhein-sued/juechen/nachrichten/eine-gemeinde-kehrt-zurueck-1.2736430 http://www.rp-online.de/niederrhein-sued/juechen/nachrichten/orgelstreit-kompromiss-in-sicht-1.2684841

I use to play a substantial prelude and poslude before and after every church service. Since last year, the parish team takes praiseworthy initiatives to establish a more convivial and social contact between members of the community. One of the side effects is that since a few months, there are very animated conversations in the church before and after service. My problem is that the conversation of the assembly is becoming so loud that it makes it absolutely impossible to me to play in a concentrated manner (the console is near to the altar, close to the audience). At this moment, I'm feeling that preparing and playing a substantial piece of literature or improvisation is a useless effort which doesn't make sense anymore. I don't really see a possibility to make a change in this evolution, so I'm considering to set aside the habit of playing a prelude and postlude. Yesterday, the sound of people talking was so irritantly loud, that I just stopped playing in the middle of p. 3 of Vierne III Final; nobody even noticed. Do other forum members have similar experiences?