AndrewG
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Posts posted by AndrewG
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2 hours ago, sbarber49 said:
It is very well produced - it looks and feels very like NEH - though thicker. so there might be problems with it staying open.
The old version of the NEH hardly stays open (at least in my experience) - my copy has taken years of trying to get it to do so! It has taken prolonged weighing down open with heavy books to get it vaguely usable. Very frustrating, especially when playing hymns early or late in the book. Not something I've had trouble with any other hymnal.
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On 16/11/2023 at 09:24, S_L said:
Jessye Norman - what a voice!!!!
12th of September 1986!! - with Georg Solti and the LPO
Indeed!
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One of the first Proms at the RAH I went to had Jessye Norman as soloist in Beethoven 9. She had absolutely no trouble being heard over a full orchestra and a massive choir. No mic needed.
It is still one of the most incredible musical performances I have ever heard. As a teenager it made me fall in love with live (and affordable) classical music.
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At a cathedral near me the DoM was unable to give his recital at their summer organ festival for some unexpected reason a few years ago. So pre-recorded it and had it played back as if “live” on the day. It didn’t feel right at the time (and not something they’ve repeated).
Everything online and CD etc is so perfect these days that it is far preferable (to me at least) to hear things played live. Mistakes and all. Although it amazes me how few glaring mistakes get made by the pros in recitals. There are often tiny blemishes that I suspect vast majority listening wouldn’t notice (unless the listener knows a piece intimately - as in I suspect many members of this forum). When I was a chorister it was almost unheard of for the organist to make a mistake in a service accompanying - despite the tiny amount of time rehearsing each day. (Most days we didn’t sing with the organ until the service itself). Which amazes me even more than the recitals - which I am sure are long practiced.
As an amateur I play lots of wrong notes. But it often surprises me how few get noticed by the audience - when as the player they seem so glaring and obvious. But keeping going (and performing) rather than correcting seems to disguise a lot! (Although my teacher seemed to be able to notice even the slightest deviation from the written page!) Maybe my audience are just kind.
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Church funerals seem to falling out of fashion in my experience. With more Crematoria based services with piped music (not in the right sense!) A newly built chapel near me has no organ or any means of playing live music, with everything coming from a sound system - even the hymns (if any).
In terms of unusual choices at a funeral I was asked to play Darth Vader’s March at the end of a service for a teenager. Which they followed with Mr Brightside by The Killers blasted over the PA as the coffin left.
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There’s a disc by Magnus Williamson who specialises in music from that era (available on Spotify).
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BBC Sounds app for Radio 3 lists it as an Improvisation by Peter Holder (following on from the RVW Rhosymedre and before the Parry). Assuming that’s the section you mean? (Maybe explained by rumour that service started a couple of minutes late!)
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William McKie - knighthood
Douglas Guest - CVO
Simon Preston - CBE
Martin Neary - LVO
James O'Donnell - LVO
It seems that being the Abbey's organist has gradually reduced in honours-worthiness over the last century. McKie, of course, provided the Queen's coronation. But then James O'Donnell has provided her funeral (amongst several other big occasions). Times change it seems - although it could be argued that the latest incumbent has provided a large contribution to national music/life over the last 20 years or so.
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<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_BK7ohuN81I" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
A YouTube clip of the first time the organ was in action.
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Wikipedia can be a great resource to start a search.
But we teach our students to never trust its contents without cross checking original sources.
(The same applies to newspaper articles - even in the supposedly reputable broadsheets).
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The Royal Albert Hall twitter feed is suggesting the 4 scheduled "Mystery Proms" will all be organ recitals.
That would certainly massively increase the exposure to organ music compared to any normal Prom year. Exciting if true!
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Bit of a philosophical question. When is a Willis a Willis? If Harrison's or Manders (or someone else) take some old Willis pipes and relocate them elsewhere - does this then become a Harrison organ? Does the whole organ have to be transplanted pretty much unchanged to qualify as a Willis? Does the console and case need to come too? Or can it just it just be the pipes? Even then - how much needs to stay the same to retain the "essence" of the original.
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My teacher recommended the Dover edition. (I think it is a copy of the older Durand one). It's easily available and not expensive.
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Could several posts be Voces humanae 🤔
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3 hours ago, Positif said:
Indeed (which is why it all seems a bit worrying). I saw it on Mr Bryden's Twitter feed.
His Twitter Feed and retweets by well placed local sources suggest it is likely to be true.
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Wow! Cant believe I've just been listening to an accordion playing Messaien. Remarkable how effective it was. I suppose the sound isnt too dissimilar to a French organ sound with all its slightly out of tune reeds? It was just missing the 32ft reeds in the Dieu Parmi Nous! But very enjoyable all the same.
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It’s interesting with so many forum members needing hearing aids. Is this just a product of age? Or is there a genuine risk of “workplace” induced loss due to prolonged exposure to loud music.
Online searching suggests prolonged exposure to anything over 75db can be a problem. Not sure how this equates to a louder registration. But it can’t be far off.
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Reminiscing about timing for the 2 minute silence - I recall Douglas Guest used to have 2 watches when I was a chorister at Westminster in the 70s. One was a wrist watch and the other an old fashioned pocket one on a chain. Both were synchronised to Big Ben early that morning.
We would process to the Unknown Warrior's grave during the service. And then in the run up to 11 would sing an anthem (I forget which) - but we could alter the length by at least 4 different timings - depending on the repeats (i.e. sing first half, sing all, +repeat half or repeat complete) - which he would signal as we sang. He always timed to perfection finishing the singing just moments (sometimes it was only 1 or 2 seconds!) before gun salute to mark 11am.
Following the 2 minutes we would sing his setting of "For the Fallen" - which I have always found very beautiful. (Strangely he isn't known for writing much else).
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3 hours ago, Colin Pykett said:
This sounds like a good solution, though I prefer to have my phone switched off during a service. But I should admit that my predilection for mechanical pocket watches is because I just like them, and sometimes they actually come in useful!
It works well in Airplane mode. (Otherwise I was nervous of it going off mid service!!)
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I found Desk Clock - Analog Clock in the App Store recently. And used it for a funeral where timings of the music were critical. It has a second sweep hand. And is accurate to the second. (And free!) The screen stays on (and overrides the phone screensaver).
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The console looks more like an oversized Hauptwerk set up to me. 🤔
I can't believe changing registration on the hoof is any fun - so would need everything pre-setting. I like the modern design of the organ cases though (in your attached link).
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Slightly off topic (but not much) - I stumbled across this. I think very newly formed.
https://www.societyofwomenorganists.co.uk/about-us
The members section highlights many big names in the organ world (although several missing too).
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Catastrophe. I can’t believe anything of the contents will survive from looking at the aerial pictures. So sad for such a great building. Our thoughts for the people of Paris.
Memorial music - (1) Holocaust Memorial Day & (2) ANZAC Day
in Organ Music
Posted
A former Kings organ scholar said he transposes the BWV 572 up a semitone into A flat purely to allow that one note. (Not sure if he was joking!)