Colin Pykett

When considering how well or otherwise a piece is played in real time in church or at a live recital, I sometimes think it's easy to forget that the standard against which we judge the performer today is perhaps excessively high. This is doubtless because of the influence of recorded music, which is not the same thing at all on account of the ease with which a perfect recording can be produced using multiple takes and sophisticated digital editing. A typical CD will often have hundreds of edits, inserted afterwards to make it as perfect as possible. This means that even the most proficient and famous professional players can slip up when playing live. As just one example, I well recall the time at a Proms organ recital at the RAH when the performer (a very well known player and pedagogue) came to a dead stop in the middle of 'the' Toccata. The slow hand clap at the end was just awful. As a frequent recital-goer I could mention many other examples but will not because it's not really the point. Anybody can make mistakes, and in the days before editing of recordings was possible the standard was actually quite poor by modern standards. Some of Alcock's extant recordings on 78 rpm records are frankly terrible - even he said that he disliked playing them either to himself or in the presence of friends. In the latter cases he used to cough discreetly when the howlers were coming up! So, given this applies to the professionals, I don't expect perfection from amateurs either. Of course, there is a lower tolerance limit below which we should not go, and it just is not good enough when the organist in a church can't play the hymns properly. But beyond that I try to relax my standards somewhat, otherwise one is continually disappointed. CEP

I'm often in a similar position to Westgate Morris, and by dint of experience have found over half a century or so of trying to 'entertain' the average congregation that they much prefer things which either they know anyway, or (if they don't), numbers which have 'a tune'. It is easy to sense whether one has engaged them, particularly at the beginning of a service, by assessing the dB level of their conversations and other noise-making activities. There is an inverse correlation between sound pressure level and their interest as you begin a new piece. OK, so what does one play? I've found Kevin Mayhew does (or did - I assume the items I'm about to mention are still in print) a range of useful and attractive pieces (which on the whole engage me as well as the listeners!). Examples are "The Essential Organist" and "The Organist's Collection" (many volumes available here). "The Little Organ Book" (Banks) in memory of C H H Parry contains some beautiful stuff IMHO. Then there are the many shorter pieces by Guilmant (despite the unkind things I said about him recently in another post!), such as his variations on Handel's works. Franck, Karg-Elert and Alfred Hollins also wrote books full of stuff for either harmonium or organ, and some (though by no means all) is worthwhile if one exercises a bit of taste and judgment. Also "113 Variations on Hymn Tunes for Organ " by GTB (Novello). I sometimes even just play a medley of hymns quietly, with a segway from one to the next. On one occasion I did some of the Sankey and Moody hymns, and was particularly moved when a very elderly lady came up afterwards, supported by her grand daughter, to say with eyes full of tears how much she had enjoyed it. Sometimes it's good to know one has got it right. CEP

Thanks for these perspectives Tony. Aside from the musical issues, I am impressed by your mastery of the 'Expression' stop, which has confounded me every time I've tried it! I have not yet been able to develop sufficient treadle/bellows control to overcome an audible judder each time I transfer from one foot to the other. And what an interesting collection of instruments you have there - pipe, harmonium and (presumably) electronic, all within easy reach. Was this a shot of a corner of your church or are they all in your home? (Tell me to mind my own business if you like!) CEP

Now that a thread on Guilmant has been opened, may I ask for opinions on an aspect of his work which has perplexed me for a long time? It seems to me that the quality of his output is more than a little variable, to the extent of being not much more than 'good in parts' as the curate said of his egg. On the one hand we have his Sonates, at least some of which must surely be in the first rank (personally I love playing them, at least those which fall within my technique). Yet on the other there seem to be books full of shorter stuff, much of which strikes me as little more than note spinning. Taking an example at random (I've just opened one of these volumes) is his 'Prayer in B flat', op. 47 no. 4, and dedicated to M Aloys Klein. Were Guilmant's name not on it, I would not have been surprised to find it in that deplorable mass of 'Novello's Original Compositions' or similar, written by the unknown and compositionally-challenged a century or so ago. Does anyone agree or am I being too unkind? CEP

I guess many of us have had an organ-related Epiphany of some kind which pointed us towards the instrument for life. Mine was at the age of about 14 and it was only one step removed from the organ in the Odeon, Leicester Square. When its then resident organist, the late Gerald Shaw, came to Nottingham to perform on the splendid 4/22 Conacher organ in the Odeon there, my mother wrote to him (unbeknown to me) to ask if he might show me the instrument. Imagine my surprise when she announced that I did not have to go to school one morning, but instead had to get on a bus and present myself at the cinema (she had arranged the time off school as well!). It was, of course, something I have never forgotten. Besides his awesome talents, Mr Shaw was one of the kindest men I have ever met - if he had not been, he would not have gone to so much trouble - and he gave me a lengthy private demonstration of the instrument as well as a complete tour of the 'works' including the blower and the two pipe chambers. I think I ought also to say "thanks Mum" as well! CEP

I admire the intellectual capabilities (far beyond mine) of those who can apparently design organs by doing nothing more than scribbling down a list of stops in some room far remote from the building in question. The late Lt Col George Dixon was one of these, as was his mate Cecil Clutton (and he could barely play a note, apparently). I am glad that we seem to have moved some way beyond this dilettante phase of organ consultancy which was so prevalent in the Imperial British era of organ building - though there is still some way to go. CEP

If anyone feels that an enhanced knowledge of a composer's life and personality helps in developing a deeper understanding of their works, I might suggest they reach for the biography of Stainer by Peter Charlton ("John Stainer and the Musical Life of Victorian Britain", David and Charles, 1984 ISBN 0 7153 8387 6). Dr Charlton's book is in fact a published version of his doctoral thesis, and its fascination and enjoyable style are not unrelated to the fact that not many theses of my acquaintance attract the interest of more than a few unusually determined readers, let alone that of a publisher. Until I came across this book I was unaware of just what a thoroughly kind and modest man Stainer was, as well as the energy with which he threw himself into his work and life more generally until his sudden and untimely death at the age of only 60. Suffice it to say here that Charlton deals with 'The Crucifixion' in considerable detail. CEP

One way to get some registration/accompanimental ideas from the professionals might be simply to listen to their own renditions. I've just had a quick scan of the previous posts on this topic, and a well-regarded recording seemed to be the 2 CD set of The Crucifixion and Olivet to Calvary done by Barry Rose at Guildford. (Note - the 'well-regarded' adjective does not necessarily refer to the quality of the works themselves, only the interpretations!). The recordings are somewhat elderly (performed 1965 and 1969, remastered 1990 and 1993 and reissued in 2002). They are incomplete in some respects, for example not all of Stainer's hymns are included. However I bought this CD set myself a year or two ago for only a few GBP, brand new from Amazon UK. Terrific value and it's always good to dip into either work around Easter (IMHO). The recording is still around, and as of today it is still available on Amazon and ebay. So if anyone is interested, details are: Title: Stainer - The Crucifixion / Maunder - Olivet to Calvary. Choir of Guildford Cathedral (Barry Rose) Issued by: Classics for Pleasure, EMI Records 2002, 7243 5 75779 2 2 If you want it, maybe act fast as this is obviously the time of year when the existing shelf stock will evaporate quickly! Best wishes for your various performances. CEP

I sometimes think the "strict systems" of which David spoke, no matter how well-intentioned, can prove to be a mixed blessing. The more complex a set of rules becomes, the easier it is to find more and more ways around them. This is true of life generally. In Britain there seem to be an increasing number of (Anglican) churches who have realised this, so instead of 'fighting' a corner to dispose of their organ through the traditional system of faculties, consistory courts, etc, they now simply leave the organ where it is and allow it to rot. In the meantime they then import ("temporarily" of course!) an electronic, or worship band or anything else that they prefer. They are also able to ignore the howls of protest from outside their ranks, no matter how loud they might become, because those doing the howling can do virtually nothing about it. Having said all this, I do agree with Contrabombarde who said that "the work of the church is far bigger than keeping its organ going" - Church with a capital "C" of course in this context. I am as fond of the organ as the next person, but if a conflict should arise between money going to the organ fund or supporting a local soup kitchen, I know where my preference would lie. CEP

No, I don't think you are harsh simply by being honest. I was trying to be be kind on account of the good work the IAO does more generally. In the end I'm sure their site will get fixed. CEP

Wearing my web designer's hat again, I fully empathise with anyone who is trying to get a new site working properly - assuming that is what the IAO is doing. You can test it offline or under various hidden URLs until the cows come home, but eventually you have to take a deep breath, go live on the actual server you will be hosting the final thing on, and debug it from there. In situations like this I simply put a short message on the home page telling visitors what's happening and seek their forbearance! CEP

Apologies for starting a new topic, but after several searches I could not find an existing one which dealt with the IAO. I've had to spell its name in full in the Topic Title otherwise this forum's search facility would not find it (it seems to require at least 4 characters in each word in the search string, thus the abbreviation 'IAO' is ignored). Anyway, I wonder if anyone has had a look at the new IAO website? (iao.org.uk). Its navigation list (i.e. the links to the other pages which occur as the buttons displayed at the top of each one) does not seem to be complete. For example, the old 'links' page is no longer there, though one can access its updated version by Googling for it independently - for the record, it currently exists at iao.org.uk/links/ as of today. But there then seem to be additional problems. One is that there are links to apparently unrelated pages dealing with things like 'Computer Security', 'Keylogger Software', etc. As a web designer myself my first thought was that the site might have been hacked, and I strongly advise anyone NOT to go to those places by clicking on these links! Of course, maybe the whole site is still under construction. Maybe, also, somebody on this forum knows more? CEP

Although I promised above to keep quiet from now on, I was moved to reply to Colin Harvey's remarks about the going rate for organ blowers nearly a century ago. In his youth, my late father (b. 1921) used to blow the organ of a Sunday and got paid either 6d (2.5 pence today) a service or 6d a Sunday - I'm not sure which. On the face of it this is considerably more than the 2/6d per quarter which Colin quoted. However I think I recall my father saying that he was only one of several local lads who queued up for this no doubt welcome addition to their disposable income. He also said that the organist would kick the panelling on the side of the console if he became worried about the supply of wind, presumably as revealed by the tell-tale visible only to him. It was also, apparently, a mortal sin not to start blowing in good time when the sermon was drawing to a close. Perhaps another kick occurred if the individual concerned was in default at that critical time. Ultimately he and his colleagues would have been made permanently redundant in 1937 when a completely new organ with electric blowing (and electric action powered by a dynamo) was installed, though I doubt he would have continued with the job when he would have been well into his teens by that date. There is a somewhat more serious side to all this. I think it is true that the subject of organ blowing by muscle power has been inadequately researched, which is a pity in view of the part it played in the social and cultural contributions of the organ to local life. The more one thinks about it, the more fascinating it becomes. Therefore perhaps this thread ought to move elsewhere on the forum so that it can continue to be discussed and given the attention it seems to call for. CEP

Contrabombarde's quote has wider ramifications than winter power outages. I have always felt (vaguely) that an instrument which needs kilowatts of power drawn from a sophisticated supply system is somehow an embarrassment in musical terms. Does this partly explain why the organ is sidelined to some degree, and why it is sometimes an object of amusement or even ridicule to other musicians, especially when electric actions go wrong let alone the blower. (Electric actions also need the National Grid remember - they won't run on batteries). Hence jibes such as "whoever heard of a violin/oboe/trumpet played by an electric action?" Following this trail can be hilarious at times, such as when reading about the motley collection of human blowers who used to lounge for centuries outside churches of all sizes, waiting for an organist to turn up. As late as the 1920s they were to be seen outside Notre Dame in Paris, until a desperate subscription in this country raised enough money to make them redundant. Was that a good thing? At least that enormous instrument would not have been at the mercy of power outages in those days. These thoughts also return when I play a humble foot pumped reed organ - a self-contained musical instrument which needs no electricity as Contrabombarde rightly said. Although I am not their greatest fan, I still remember the occasion when I entered a beautiful church in Lincolnshire many years ago. I think it was in a tiny village called Addlethorpe. Musically, it contained nothing but a Mustel harmonium, but it sounded stupendous in that acoustic - almost like a miniature Cavaille-Coll organ. I sometimes think we organ enthusiasts have indeed lost something along the way. Unfortunately I've gone way off-topic. Maybe this should have been posted somewhere else. I'll shut up now. CEP

I have never been to Newfoundland but would like to, if only because of its vibrant connections with my alter ego as a physicist who did a PhD in radiophysics. Speaking of the hills at St John's, I believe it was on top of the appropriately-named Signal Hill that Marconi first demonstrated transatlantic radio reception in December 1901. And what has this to do with organs? Of itself, nothing, other than we now listen to them routinely through the medium of wireless broadcasting, but a few days later he apparently "attended Divine service" on the 15th according to one biography. As a devout Roman Catholic (he later installed a special radio link between the Vatican and the Pope's residence at Castel Gondolfo), presumably he would have attended an RC church in the town. I wonder if David knows which one that would have been? Marconi was also an accomplished amateur musician who (among other things) played the piano as part of various small chamber ensembles. Therefore Is it possible he was also an occasional organist? Contemporary accounts show what a terrible time of year it was when that epoch-making experiment was performed. David's post emphasises this most graphically! CEP

Dave, having had a quick listen to your clips I'm not much the wiser regarding your questions. However I suffer from the disease which makes me want to know the answer as well when a query arises. So if I get anywhere I'll let you know! CEP

What does the emoticon signify - that the Geigen is indeed considered "rank" perhaps? CEP

Having found David Drinkell's posts interesting and useful recently, I found myself wondering what the weather is like in Newfoundland? Hopefully he might be escaping the worst of the 'polar vortex' affecting Canada and the USA. CEP

IMHO you're not a luddite at all, AJJ. I agree with you entirely. As a schoolboy I once attended a recital by the late Ivor Keys on a three manual mechanical action instrument in Nottingham - he and the console were in full view, and the fact I still remember the occasion so clearly is because I was astonished by his lightning-fast hand registration throughout. No registrant(s) either I might add. That's the standard I feel ought to be aimed at. But if there are to be electronic combination systems, I feel they need to be reined in a bit in terms of their complexity and user-unfriendliness. That's where I am coming from in all this. CEP

Many thanks to those above who have replied to my questions about combination capture systems, and in particular how best to incorporate a 'neutral' option so that certain stops are not affected by the pistons. It seems that people would prefer a system which allows an arbitrary selection of neutral stops to be settable on each piston on a given memory level, rather than a fixed set of neutrals affecting all pistons. The issue then becomes not so much the technical difficulty of implementing it, but how to do so in a simple user-friendly manner. With this in mind, a sketch is shown below of two (rather than the usual one) setter buttons/pistons. Note: if for some reason the picture does not appear on your PC, you can access it independently from my website using the following link: http://www.pykett.org.uk/SetNeutrals-SetActives-Labels.gif I envisage both buttons occupying the traditional place at the left hand end of the lowest key slip which is currently occupied by the usual (single) setter button. The sketch suggests labels might be attached explaining what each button does, simply because it might be difficult to cram the suggested names onto the small head of each button. But it might be useful as well for the buttons to be identified by the engraved numbers 1 and 2, as suggested in the sketch. The system would work as follows: Button 1 captures a combination for a given piston and memory level in exactly the same way as an ordinary setter button does now (thus no neutrals are possible using button 1). Button 2 - optionally - will then capture a (different) selection of stops which are to be neutral for the same piston and memory level. This neutral selection is in effect overlaid onto the combination captured by button 1. The stop selections captured by either button can be adjusted independently. For instance, if you just wanted to add another neutral stop to a given piston, you would use button 2 only. The combination captured previously using button 1 would not be affected in any other respect. The system will apply to both divisional and general pistons. Hope this is clear. It's the simplest scheme I've come up with so far. I could patent this I guess, but having put the idea into the public domain at least nobody else can now patent it! Will it work? Now I have to write the software to find out if there are any hidden gremlins .... CEP

I'm enjoying, and am very grateful for, the responses received to my enquiry - and so quickly too. Obviously I must wait until others have had a chance to reply before launching into further detail on this. However I just HAD to respond to mgp's remarks about whether G/P pistons should ever be cancel-able. I was playing at Salisbury Cathedral some years ago (not something I get to do often, unfortunately!) when exactly that happened. I was in the middle of Stanford's prelude on a theme of Orlando Gibbons (op 105) when a friend who was acting as page turner noticed the fact. Had he not, I would have had virtually nothing 14 bars from the end when there is that wonderful fortissimo stalking pedal motif heralding the coda! Momentarily, I did wonder why he was rushing around the console pulling out just about pedal stop and coupler in sight. Thank goodness he did. Anyway, many thanks everyone for taking my question so seriously. As a result, I already have a relatively simple (I think) scheme in mind which I'll keep revising until the replies stop coming in. CEP PS Yes, thanks Tony (Newnham) - long time, no see. I'm OK, hope you are also. C.

Might I be forgiven for re-opening this rather elderly thread? One of my occupations is designing electronic combination (piston) control systems, and therefore I was interested in the 'customer' opinions expressed here, which I found valuable as a 'supplier' (but I hope an informed one, being a player myself). Even when they work, some of these systems seem to be examples of technology gone mad and at the limit of user-unfriendliness. So I hold firmly to the KISS principle (keep it simple, stupid) expressed above. A recurring theme seems to be that of incorporating a 'neutral' option somehow for at least some of the controlled stops, so that they are not controlled by the pistons. So I have the following questions: 1. Which stops benefit most from being neutral? Couplers, tremulants, piston couplers (gt-ped pistons)? If couplers, should inter-divisional couplers such as swell to great be treated differently to intra-divisional ones such as swell octave? Are there any other stops which should be included? 2. Would it be satisfactory for these neutral choices to be made once and for all by the system designer - hard wired in other words? Or do players want to be able to change them? 3. If players do want to select which stops are to remain neutral, would it be acceptable for there to be, say, an additional button or piston (perhaps placed near to the Setter button) which changed them? One would then, for example, draw all the stops which are to remain neutral and then press this additional button. 4. Of course, such a system would put the same selection of neutral stops onto all pistons. Would this be acceptable, or would a different set of neutrals for each piston be more useful? 5. In my experience, a system which seems to meet the needs of most organists of my acquaintance has a fixed selection of neutral stops on all divisional pistons, so they will not affect inter-divisional couplers (e.g. swell to great) for example. But there are no neutrals on any of the general pistons, thus couplers and everything else will be controlled by the generals. This is a relatively simple scheme (thereby adhering to KISS), but how widely acceptable would it be to members of this forum? I think this list of questions is long enough for now, though it does illustrate yet again how complex a seemingly-simple issue can be. Any replies gratefully received. CEP

I have probably missed the point here because what I am about to suggest is so simple, but to those who are having difficulty pasting into this forum from Word, can you not save the finished Word document as a text-only (txt) file and then copy-and-paste from that? OK, this will be no good if you want to include anything other than basic text, such as images, hyperlinks, etc, but otherwise it ought to work. (In fact it does, because I've done it myself). You can then modify the pasted text using this forum's editing facilities to change fonts, underscore, etc, etc. Word itself inserts a dreadful overhead of invisible control characters which are probably responsible for the difficulties (though they can be rendered visible from within Word if you really want to view them and thereby make yourself feel unwell - they have been aptly termed digital diarrhoea, not the best thing to suffer from at Christmas). Saving the document as a txt file removes all these, leaving only pure ASCII text codes. CEP

"... what is the point of cathedrals ... ?" It's a good question, one on which I have had various discussions with various clergy over the years. Personally I find it useful to ask it in the context of a second, which is "what is the Scriptural authority for their existence?". One gets a wide range of clerical answers to this one! I think it was George Bernard Shaw who said: "I am as fond of fine music and handsome building as Milton was, or Cromwell, or Bunyan; but if I found that they were becoming the instruments of a systematic idolatry of sensuousness, I would hold it good statesmanship to blow every cathedral in the world to pieces with dynamite, organ and all". Nevertheless, speaking personally again, I'm glad they are there, even if it is only to keep the rain off the organs. Compliments of the season to you all, and best wishes for the New Year CEP

Pistons with circular heads mounted on narrow shanks behind are indeed somewhat fragile, especially the cheaper ones made of plastic. The shanks themselves can be mechanically weak if the tapped hole within goes too far up. Thus prodding the piston quickly at an angle can cause the head, and sometimes part of the shank, to shear off. However superglue seems to be effective as a repair even in the long term if done carefully - I've done several over the last few decades. It's worth trying in the first instance, because a proper repair usually involves dismantling the key stack to a greater or lesser extent, and of course an exact replacement head needs to be available. They (circular ones with engraved numbers) also seem to be a magnet for small children who try to twist them - usually with great force. The same thing happens - they shear off. For these reasons I sometimes wish that the more robust sugar-cube type had found wider acceptance and usage in organ building practice. CEP