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Damian Beasley-Suffolk

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  1. Are 32' stops ever used alone? If not, and space rather than cost is the primary problem, and you simply have to have something at 16Hz, what is the objection to quinting? For the first time, I think, I recently played an organ with a 32' acoustic bass (louder 16 + softer 16 wired as a quint), and it sounded fine underneath the rest of the chorus - I am aware that some people don't hear such effects, although I do. I imagine that it works better in larger or more acoustically live volumes. I've occasionally played a Compton Polyphone which was also fine, and an example of which was recently made by a British builder. And of course you can put them anywhere. I don't know the relative costs of pipe v digital in this case, and I don't think it really works for reeds, but a stop knob and a few minutes fiddling with a transmission system can't cost that much.
  2. Martin - I discovered this accidentally. Being fond of passacaglias I must have highlighted it and clicked "search" out of habit and it took me to the link, so I bought it. Serendipity is wonderful 🙂 Reading on WIkipedia about the "liturgical", if that's the right word, meaning of the piece, it seems that the Kol nidre theme is repeated because, although not formally part of a synagogue service, this introduction is repeated for the benefit of latecomers who may have missed it! Now that's something which is probably generally applicable.
  3. Back to the topic (mea culpa), I suppose you've come across the book "German-Jewish Organ Music, An Anthology of Works from the 1820s to the 1960s" Edited by Tina Frühauf, from German-Jewish Organ Music (areditions.com), which does indeed come at a cost. However it seems that you may be able to pay for and download individual pieces, e.g. the Passacaglia und Fuge über Kol nidre by Siegfried Würzburger is available singly for $4.95, although I have not explored it further. There appears to be a fair amount of sacred and secular German-Jewish music from the mid-late 19th century until the mid 1930s, for obvious reasons, which I've only found out about in the last few days simply because of this request. Mindful of history, nevertheless rewarding.
  4. I did suggest playing the Alkan pedal studies with your hands! (who would know?). I've only tried the simple ones, on a straight flat pedalboard - beyond me, as an enthusiastic amateur, but nevertheless rewarding. How does one deal with the occasional B below bottom C of a pedal board, if it's not available? In the middle section of BWV572, for example. Just for that one note, quinting on the pedal seems to work on my instrument, though not so well with reeds.
  5. Charles-Valentin Alkan was Jewish. His 12 Études pour les Pieds seulement contain a couple of adagios, which may sound nice played with the hands. His 25 preludes Op 31 contain a couple of expressly Jewish pieces, "Ancienne mélodie de la synagogue", and "J'étais endormie, mais mon coeur veillait... (Cantique des cantiques)" which may also fit the bill and be playable on an organ. Some of the Prieres Op 64 have specifically Jewish themes. And they're on IMSLP. I do hope you find something suitable, beyond simply knowing of Alkan's faith, I am completely ignorant.
  6. The misogyny and ad hominem (ad feminam?) comments on that well-known other site are appalling. Adding to the general daily nonsense there, why would anyone feel at all attracted to the organ and the art of organ music, especially when many of the commenters are, apparently, church organists? And many of the same lament falling attendances, the closure of churches and consequent loss of many fine instruments. There are always those who knock the successful, presumably disdainful of those who combine ability with a strong work ethic, a peculiarly British disease. Many are apparently not aware of the particularly unwanted and threatening attention that young lady has had to bear. The only (almost) funny part of that is that on FB the churlish reveal themselves for who and what they are. Fortunately I am not on FB, as being retired and beholden to nobody I would not hesitate to take them to task, which would give me great delight though cause much trouble. I have never met AL, but her enthusiastic influence is tangible and deserves admiration, nurture, and support, especially of all those she attracts to the instrument and its music. More power to her elbow! In the meantime, I have only just discovered the organ works of Florence Price who counted Alexandre Guilmant among her admirers, so there is work to be done.
  7. Maybe of interest to someone ... Gebrauchtorgel ~ gebrauchte ~ Kirchenorgeln ~ Drehorgeln ~ Truhenorgeln ~ Pfeifenorgeln ~ Orgeln (gebrauchtorgeln.de) Hope the link works properly.
  8. Although I'm not a church-goer, when attending various services at Hexham Abbey which my wife is involved in there is often an appreciative round of applause at then end of a service for the voluntary. This is wholly supported by the resident clergy. Having heard the Phelps organ a dozen times since we moved here, it really is a wonder.
  9. On the cathedral's Facebook page there is an interesting diagram showing models of how the sound from the old organ and the proposed new organ will be heard around the building. This technique is known as ray-tracing and is widely used in engineering, for estimating the propagation of radio signals around chosen environments, both inside and outside buildings, as well as for acoustic studies. I have seen a couple of short films on measurements inside churches for this purpose, one was in Cologne Cathedral. Its nice to see results like this being published, and very informative. Facebook
  10. Buxtehude is a gem. When I lived in Holland, at the Christmas services when my wife's church "borrowed" the local, and very ancient, church in Voorschoten, I got into a habit of playing Buxtehude's In Dulci Jubilo, an obvious choice maybe, a couple of others from the Complete Works which I had with me, and his passacaglia BuxWV161. The latter was simply because I like it, and when played gently it creates a lovely mood. It helped that I was able to play on an organ built in 1718, which really does provide the required solo voices to bring out the melodies so nicely, which with familiar and non-familiar tunes alike do contribute to the mood of congregants that Martin and Colin mention. FWIW my liking of the Buxtehude passacaglia really is pure. I read "Demian" by Hermann Hesse as a teenager, but it was only when I re-read it a couple of years ago (40 or so years later, still a strange book, even by Bildungsroman standards) that I realised that the protagonist, the equally strange Demian, was playing this very passacaglia in a church while the unnamed narrator was listening. A coincidence, probably ..... But I never tire of playing it.
  11. A welcome counterweight to other voices on other websites is that I now know who St Birinus was, thanks to an informative YouTube video which popped up after watching the video posted above. Thanks to those who like to dig into areas of their own interest and share it with the world, the "Dark Ages" get brighter every day.
  12. The ideas for the consoles at St Thomas don't seem too controversial. Presumably there is money around to do it, but things always evolve and, as has often been debated here, mobile consoles are useful - even if that observation won't appeal to mechanical action purists. As a died in the wool dilletante, although that Facebook page (assuming I'm reading the same one) on pipe organs contains lots of nice pictures of instruments, I try to ignore the many intemperate comments, though I did see enough to read that Bernard Aubertin is retiring. As I write I am looking at the King's Hall in Newcastle which houses our Aubertin, but I still haven't heard it live. It sounded superb in a lockdown concert that Magnus Williamson recorded, and of course it looks fantastic.
  13. Here's a very nice way of making bench-raising blocks - admittedly not a problem I have ever encountered! The rest of this chap's website describing his design and construction of his own pipe organ is well worth a read. Homemade Pipe Organ (rwgiangiulio.com)
  14. Whatever the Dutch version of franglais is, you can get caught out with "free" there as well. The Vrije Universitieit Amsterdam, the Free University of Amsterdam, is not free because it costs nothing, otherwise it would be kostenloos or gratis instead of vrij, but is free of religious dogma or attachment to religious denomination. Until relatively recently in the Netherlands it really mattered which Christian denomination you belonged to, in private as well as professional life. However, the university is still a Christian foundation, and each public event such as a degree ceremony begins and ends with the declaration "Onze hulp is in de naam van de Heer - Our help is in the name of the Lord". These are usually held in the Aula, which houses the uncompromising Couperin organ, an instrument which would be much better known and effective if it were not in a lecture room with practically no reverberation. A great pity. Sorry, almost an irrelevant quip in the comments for a fine organist.
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