Tony Price

Just an idea or two: Count up the number of pipes in the instrument, and ask people, within and without the parish, to sponsor one or more. Give the largest pipes a really hefty premium price, and attract young people to the smallest. Talk up the project from the very outset with the congregation. Network like mad - local press especially. Offer sponsors the opportunity to be recorded in some way as such - local businesses like this, as do those who would like to make an In Memoriam donations. Do your maths beforehand, perhaps on a spreadsheet, so that you get the balance right. It's surprising how such a sum can be divided into acceptable chunks. Agree Special Collections (preferrably not of the 'retiring sort') during the period of fund-raising. Finally, take advatage of Gift Aid, which is something all churches (I believe) should be able to attract for donations, throught the collection plate or without, to a project such as this. 28p added to every 'Gift Aid £1' donated. I only had to raise £20,000 across 244 new pipes for an enlargement and refurbishment: I was humbled at the response, which comfortably exceeded this within the nine month fund-raising time-scale announced at the outset without further effort, and also provided for a new piano for the church. I was very fortunate in not having to drive things further. It may well take more than this, but hopefully the words might prompt a helpful thought or two. Tony

Like most of us, I would suggest, I have no problem with the intentions of the well-meaning law as it stands. It is the interpretation that is so often the problem. If Diocesan Guidelines were to become a sticking point in the application of the DDA, and a legal challenge were mounted, then the lawyers would only be interested in the law, not in any well-intentioned Guidelines. As I understand it, tone-deafness is likely to be seen as a disability alongside near-blindness. The latter might be accommodated with large scale copies. The former? How far can you push an 'audition' without falling foul of things in time? Historically, organists have lived to play despite huge disabilities - blindness is often the best recorded, and I worked as a youngster in the mid '60s with Fernand Laloux at Sacred Heart, Wimbledon, who had two wooden legs. But today, if a potential organist had a difficulty in mounting the stairs, ..................??? Tony

Many thanks indeed for the thoughts so far. They are encouraging. I too have wondered about the difficulties inherent in making the choir more 'accessible', whilst the organ console remains 'inaccessible'. I also support a parish music group that operates from downstairs with a piano: I suspect the thought of moving the piano into the gallery, whilst asking them to continue their services from downstairs, would cause equal problems for them! As far as I understand it the DDA does indeed ask that 'reasonable provision' be made: equally, it stresses that there should be no change to the 'service' offered (cleary the demise of the Choir would be quite some 'change in 'service'!). The problem is that this is a very emotive subject for some, and the Diocesan Guidelines seem to be given greater importance than the law. I too would love to see some commonsense applied, but this is likely to be impossible to achive with the over-zealous (my opinion) approach made to me. I full support the aims of the DDA, and am more than willing to 'reasonably' comply with it. We are prepared to offer assistance into the gallery, and large print music copies, for example. I feel that if it went as far as a legal challenge, the law would be applied and not the Diocesan Guidelines which I am being 'theatened' with (letter to the PP etc.). That said, I would really not wish to have an unhappy clash of such magnitude with a parish I have been happily and productively associated with for all my 52 years, and part of my reason for asking for help is to try and find a gentle way through the emotion and quagmire of ill-understood legislation. The thought does go through my head that it is my role, as DoM, to encourage, develop, preserve and protect the music in the parish: it is the role of the parish to ensure that the sentiments of the DDA are met. To this end the boot should be on the other foot, with the parish informing me of the provisions it is aiming to take to enable the gallery to become accessible within the remit of the DDA. Am I being naive? We're only an amateur Choir, but as DoM with around 90 involved in the liturgical music-making in the parish, I am very keen to try and resolve things amicably for all involved and associated with us. Tony www.polychoir.co.uk

I have been organist to a parish for 35 years, the last 15 as Director of Music. The organ console is forward facing at the back of a west-end choir gallery which is 'stepped' down towards the east end, and purpose built for a choir of 50+ which is still very much alive. It's a large parish, with c. 1,400 attending the five Sunday Masses. The parish has, quite rightly, a Disability Group which has recently conducted an audit of the building and requested that, in future, the Choir sing from downstairs in the main body of the church so as to enable access to the group for any disabled singers that may wish, in the future, to join. We have been asked to do so to comply with Diocesan Guidlines in respect of the DDA. The sight and sound lines between the console and the main body of the church would make such a move impossible to manage. I do not have any disabled singers wishing to join the Choir. Whilst I am happy to assist disabled singers in absolutely whatever way reasonable, to enforce such a move is likely to ensure the end of the Choir (and two other smaller Choirs that rely on organ accompaniment). Has anyone been on the receiving end of such DDA 'advice'? If so, I'd really appreciate some thoughts as to how to manage it. It does not seem realistic to disband a wholly successful parish choir on the basis that someone disabled, at sometime, may not be able to manage the stairs into the Choir Gallery. I understand that there was a case in a Catholic church in Nottingham along similar lines, that was settled by the Diocese out of court - this has been quoted to me, but I have not been able to find, or been provided with (despite requests), any details on the matter. Any thoughts you might have to help and encourage me would be very much appreciated. Kind regards, and grateful thanks in anticipation Tony

I couldn't agree more, Colin. An absolute 'must' for anyone, especially organists, involved in church music. The tome manages to combine an informative read with much factual information that is just not easily found elsewhere. Some delightfully irreverant moments as well! ISBN: 0955074908 Tony

Yes, that's the one. Tony

Perhaps half a dozen times in the last 35 years I have been faced with a small single manual + pedal instrument built by J. Merklin (Paris?) in a Catholic church in the Clapham area of South London. As an amateur organist, I grapple manfully with the unusual short compass pedal board, and always find it interesting that the few available ranks, all 8ft, are split a la harmonium, Basse and Dessus. The single 4ft is an exception. Never having come across an another instrument like it, I wonder if it has a place in history worthy of conservation (not that I have any input over the welfare of the organ whatsoever), whether the builder was a significant company in France, and if there are other examples of their work in the UK. I would imagine it is a very early 1900s organ, and was probably put in when the church was built at that time. Is anyone able to kindly shed some light on this unusual instrument for me? Gratefully, Tony

The Organ: http://pws.prserv.net/usinet.danance/chorg/vatorg.html The Organist http://www.tcvomaha.com/ArchivedIssues/Oct...ct1Feature2.htm The instrument looks much smaller than it actually is, dwarfed by the building in which it stands. HTH, Tony

Part of the 'local' problem is also the fact that it must often be very difficult to convince a congregation that they should stump up huge sums of money for an instrument that they have seldom, if ever, heard. The more active a parish is in its music-making, the more likely it is that the request for investment will be met helpfully. Without such activity, you are very likely to be left totally in the often unpredicatable hands of the external historians and benefactors as regards any likelyhood of restoration. At parish level, it is generally unlikely that any available funding will go beyond day to day maintainance of the instrument. Tony