Rowland Wateridge

Local intelligence report is “lovely soothing music by Bach, Handel and Pachelbel ... with the the aim to give people a nice ambience to relax”, played by Jonathan Challenger on the Cathedral’s “magnificent Father Willis organ”. No mention of Sweelinck ...

Well, my instinct was sound, but I did not look in the right places!

It means that the accommodation is linked to the employment and the licence does not create a right to possession. In simple terms more of a permission than a right to occupy the accommodation. It would almost certainly be limited to the period and performance of the employment, subject to reasonable notice to terminate the licence.

In the back of my mind I thought the Deans of Westminster and of Windsor had some kind of honour, but was unable to find anything readily. Less excusable was my omission of Trevor Beeson, Dean of Winchester from 1987-1996, now 94 and happily still with us, having outlived two of his successors. Earlier, in 1976, while Canon Treasurer of Westminster, the Archbishop of Canterbury conferred on him the Lambeth degree of MA, he was appointed OBE in the 1997 New Years Honours “for services to the Church of England, particularly as Dean of Winchester Cathedral” and he was awarded an honorary DLitt by Southampton University in 1999.

An interesting requirement “FRCO or higher is desirable”. Does that mean a university music degree above first degree, I wonder.

Subject to correction, I can’t recall any cases of cathedral deans being honoured in the sense that you mean. The two Archbishops and the Bishop of London are automatically Privy Counsellors (hence Right Honourable). On the subject of salaries, in his famous pamphlet A Few Words on Cathedral Music and the Musical System of the Church, with a Plan of Reform (1849), Samuel Sebastian Wesley argued that cathedral organists should be on equivalent terms to bishops “as they are the bishops of their profession”. I don’t think that parity has been achieved yet!

Interesting that you and Martin Cooke should mention Westminster Abbey and St Paul’s in this context. It is more than half a century since the organist of either had a knighthood. In fact in the case of Westminster Abbey it is closer to 70 years! The last there was Sir William McKie 1941-1963, and his three immediate predecessors, starting with Sir Frederick Bridge, 1882, were all knights. Martin C will be aware that Sir John Dykes Bower was the last knighted organist at St Paul’s, from 1936-1968 (where have those years gone?)! Of JDB’s five immediate predecessors four had knighthoods, beginning with Sir John Goss, 1838, the only exception being Charles Macpherson. There have been cases of cathedral organists declining knighthoods, although not in recent times I fear; they don’t seem to be offered. Two that I know of were Samuel Sebastian Wesley and his successor once-removed William Prendergast whose 90 years-old recording I posted recently. I’m sure there have been others. Dates quoted above are of appointments and periods in office, not the date of knighthood being conferred.

TOMORROW MONDAY 11th JANUARY AT 1 PM: A Fond Goodbye to Catherine Ennis Online from St Michael’s Cornhill. For contact details see organrecitals.com There will be live reminiscences from friends and colleauges in The City of London, plus clips of Catherine's playing.

The company was dissolved on 6th October 2020, according to Companies House.

We discussed the subject of ‘Minsters’ on another thread not long ago. New examples in the south and west include Croydon, Reading and Plymouth Minsters, but there are ancient examples as well, like Wimborne Minster. The Saxon Cathedral at Winchester came to be known as ‘Old Minster’ and directly alongside it was ‘New Minster’, the original burial-place of Alfred the Great. To this day the site is faced by Great Minster Street. It’s for the good people of Southwell to decide how they want to be known, but (as an admittedly very traditional person) I would regret the ‘dumbing down’ of Southwell Minster. However, the very fact that this is being discussed demonstrates how far many people’s knowledge of the church and history is lacking in present times.

Gracious, that is a shock. She was a very fine player and personable in conversation. I last heard her in a memorable live performance at Leeds Town Hall. She was able to coax sounds out of the Klais at St Lawrence Jewry which would confound the critics of that organ - a case I suppose, as so often, of the incumbent knowing how to get the best from their instrument. I particularly remember a wonderful performance of Reger’s ‘Pfingsten’. May she rest in peace.

The Rieger, and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by how well it sounded both in accompaniment and in the Vierne I Final (my only previous experience of it being in a masterclass during the IAO Congress in Bristol 20+ years ago). The singing was of a very high standard; a bold move to use a challenging mass setting ‘Missa Universalis’ composed jointly by the director of music Jeffrey Gray and the organist Stephen Bryant. A very appropriate welcome and homily by the Dean reflecting present circumstances, and the whole service had dignity without unnecessary pomp. It was ambitious of the BBC to fit the service in a slot of only one hour, so inevitably the Vierne was faded out!

This is such an unusual and rare recording that, in spite of the slightly quirky introduction and the inevitable scratching and crackling sound from a 90 years-old 78 record, I felt it deserved its own separate thread. In particular I think it should be of interest, and perhaps something of a surprise, to Vox Humana and pcnd5584 from their experiences of Winchester Cathedral organ as quoted on earlier threads. Dr William Prendergast was organist of Winchester Cathedral from 1902, dying while in office in 1933. This makes me feel decidedly ancient as I met three of Dr Prendergast's choristers, knew two of them quite well, and heard anecdotes about the great man and the organ in the early decades of the 20th century. When Dr Prendergast arrived, the organ was wholly the Father Willis of 1851/54, restored and enlarged by the same firm in 1897/98. That, I suspect, is the sound which we largely hear in this recording. In 1905, Hele's of Plymouth were called in to greatly enlarge the sound, primarily to provide for nave services. Their additions included a battery of enormously powerful diapasons on the great, a döppel flute which Tim Byram-Wigfield told me was capable of flooding the cathedral with sound, and a huge-scale 32' and 16' pedal bombarde [NPOR 11462]. I don't know whether they did anything to other reeds, but tend to think that unlikely for reasons below. Their work lasted 81 years, and with the exception of the pedal bombardes was largely discarded in the most recent and very major rebuild by H&H in 1986/88. Incidentally, whilst the choice of Hele's might seem surprising, it was almost certainly influenced by their then recent 1904 restoration and enlargement of Chichester Cathedral organ which was judged to have been done successfully and sympathetically. I think a significant value of this recording is in providing a comparison with the sound of the Harrison & Harrison rebuild of 1938. That strongly reflected the influence of Arthur Harrison, although he was not directly involved, having died before the work was carried out. As examples: re-voicing the great reeds to give more power (suggesting that Hele had not interfered with them), adding harmonic trebles to chorus and solo reeds, enlarging the pedal organ by extension and borrowing (although, paradoxically, reducing the compass from 32 to 30 notes) and controversially removing the Father Willis vox humana and tuba clarion from the solo organ. Tierce mixtures were retained on the great and swell, but they were recast in the next 1986/88 rebuild. But, that's another story. On this record I believe we hear the beautiful Father Willis flutes and swell reeds - (probably with the tierce mixture) much as they would have sounded originally.

Two, perhaps three, Christmases ago the Willcocks arrangement of Adeste Fideles was sung at the ‘midnight’ services in St Peter’s Rome and the Basilica of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington DC, followed by Westminster Abbey on Christmas morning, all televised, in the space of twelve hours.

It looks as though the last verse of “O Come, All Ye Faithful” this year will be an arrangement by David Hill. Also by him “Away in a Manger”.

I’m no taxation expert, but I’m not sure that ‘rent free’ means ‘tax free’. I hope it does for the sake of the successful applicant, but harbour doubts about HMRC’s possible view. On another thread recently I quoted Walford Davies’ salary as organist of St George’s Chapel Windsor at £600 per annum plus a house in the Castle. Alwyn Surplice was appointed his assistant at £100 pa, and no mention of a house. These were the figures circa 1930 (I haven’t checked the exact dates), but the current day equivalents would be around £27,500 and £4,600 respectively. As Martin states, given the skills and qualifications (FRCO minimum specified in this case), professional church musicians are hardly over-rewarded. Fortunately the differential isn’t as drastic as it was in 1930.

Reply sent by PM.

The loss of the organ, with a rare provenance, is very sad, but the destruction of the church is tragic. For some reason the BBC are referring to it as a ‘chapel’, whereas it is a 14th century parish church with a Grade 1 listing. We will have to wait for further news of the extent of the damage and, e.g., whether the outer walls and spire have survived.

The Chapel enjoys its Grade 1 listing in a very wide-ranging comprehensive description: “The buildings surrounding The First, Second and Third Courts” (List entry number: 1332216). It is not listed separately although it is very much later than the rest, the work of Sir Gilbert Scott, 1863-1869. I was also under the impression that the College, if not actually a ‘Peculiar’, was outside the jurisdiction of the diocese - which would effectively make it one? Nevertheless, the Bishop of Ely is the College Visitor.

I won’t show bias by mentioning my local cathedral which had one of the shortest ‘slots’, but what a splendid demonstration of the variety of our organs and the outstanding musicianship of the players. I thought the opening of the fugue on the chamber organ at York Minster was delightful. The sheer brilliance and clarity of the H&H at Coventry was another special highlight, but the rest also marvellous!

Thank you. As sometimes happens here, there is a later thread on the same subject which I can’t link immediately. As I recall, we were told, as you say, that the Maida Vale organ would not be moving to the Docklands site, but it was hoped a potential buyer for it was in the offing. It was also suggested that the Broadcasting House Compton was too inaccessible to realistically salvage, and possibly an equal lack of enthusiasm to do so on the part of the BBC.

Martin, The time-lag problem at St Paul’s is for the organist (or some of them) between the Chancel organ and the West End organ. John Scott said he had great difficulty adjusting to it, whereas he said his assistant (Andrew Lucas?) mastered it easily. At Winchester the relevant time lag is due to the organ being so distant from everyone, and I recall congregation synchronisation problems in the time of Alwyn Surplice, which is now long ago. My ‘suggestion’, with qualifications, would give Winchester the equivalent support at the west end comparable to St Paul’s - but no possibility of an equivalent Dome division! The organ was totally transformed in the 1986 rebuild with a new building frame, the departments re-arranged on different levels and almost total elimination of extension and borrowing. I think considerable credit must go to Mark Venning.

Thank you, Martin. Intriguing! I could not open a link on Paul Hale’s website, and on further attempts can’t even open that! This thread started in York Minster, moved to Canterbury and I make no apology for repeating myself about Winchester which, on the whole, has not been treated very kindly by some people on earlier threads. I’m not clear whether Paul Hale is referring to relocating the existing nave organ or further enlargement of the instrument by the addition of a new division. If the latter, we would be talking of entering the realms of more than 90 speaking stops. Having known the Cathedral intimately for upwards of six decades, I can only think of one place where a nave organ could be located without serious damage to the architecture. (Colin Harvey made a similar point on an earlier thread.) At the extreme west end of the nave above the entrance door on the north side there is a substantial gallery which was successively the Bishop’s Consistory Court and later the Treasury. There is ample space there for a substantial west end organ, but with two potential problems. Like the main organ, it would be partly buried on the north side, although I believe it could speak with two fronts into both the nave and the north aisle. A west end organ at Winchester will present exactly the same problem as at St Paul’s - the significant time lag which (for different reasons) congregation members already complain about. It will be fascinating to see what Paul Hale comes up with! My ‘solution’ would leave the organ entirely on the north side with the problems I have mentioned. Long ago there was an idea, I believe emanating from Arthur Harrison, that the organ should be divided on either side of the quire à la Salisbury and St Paul’s but, of course, nothing came of that. Apologies to York for this digression on a thread ostensibly about their organ which I very greatly admire, and first heard played by Francis Jackson almost 70 years ago, an unforgettable memory!

Perhaps a pedantic point to make, Canterbury, Winchester and Durham, to name just three, were all monastic cathedrals before Henry VIII’s reforms. There would have been no congregational participation on either side of the pulpitum and organ accompaniment would have been very limited. Winchester is a good case in point of what is expected of the organ in a vast building. When the Father Willis was first put in for Samuel Sebastian Wesley in 1854 (and I’m sure he - not the Dean and Chapter - did the promoting at which he was highly adept, getting donations from, among many others, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, no less) the organ had to accompany quire services only and the 49 stops were voiced appropriately. At that time the quire was far more enclosed than now with a solid stone pulpitum to the west and the massive stone reredos to the east. Wesley was thwarted in his wish to have the organ centrally on the pulpitum. What a pity. It would have been the ideal position in that building, but the pulpitum itself was lost not long after, removed by Sir Gilbert Scott, in the Victorian ‘fad’ for the unbroken vista. Then, as you say, the 20th century introduced nave services, and Wesley’s organ in a buried position on the north side of the quire was fully 100 feet from the front row of the nave seating. On top of that, the nave with its complex stone-vaulting has an entirely different acoustic and clarity is lost there - although Roy Massey once said to me that the organ sounded far finer in the nave! Hele’s were brought in to address the problem (something of a snub to Willis, which I suspect has never been forgiven!) and they made enormously powerful, but ungraceful, additions which I think are what ‘our’ Vox Humana has described as elephantine. These lasted 80 years before being largely discarded, and H&H substituted a new and highly effective dual-purpose nave organ with an imaginative specification (including a 5-rank mounted cornet and trumpet with French shallots) which acts both as a ‘booster’ of the main organ and provides significant solo and combination effects. In answer to Martin, I understand that Winchester is on H&H’s long list of jobs to be done - they will continue to be incredibly busy! To the best of my knowledge this will be a conservative cleaning and repairing restoration with the addition of one stop: replacing the vox humana inexplicably removed in H&H’s 1938 rebuild.

Curious, as today a recital by Richard Cook is advertised there on November 5th.