John Robinson

An unexpected move in the right direction from the BBC!

Indeed it is, but then Passau is 5 organs (main, north aisle, south aisle, choir and echo in the loft!) and it manages with (only) 5 manuals! My design for a hypothetical organ consists of two organs, each with 6 manual divisions and having only 4 manuals! Incidentally, I often find such translations a little amusing. In this case (Waldsassen) Holzregal 16' is translated into Wooden Shelf 16'!

Yes, an excellent performance. However, straying slightly, I cannot imagine the need for six manuals on an organ, other than one-upmanship of course! The need to stretch up to that top manual must be inconvenient, not to say painful, unless the organist is blessed with the arms of a gorilla of course. In fact, I'd maintain that there is really no need for any more than four manuals as a maximum, bearing in mind that divisions in excess of that number can easily and quickly be assigned to one or more of the four, perhaps by buttons on the key cheeks. And how many hands to do most organists possess anyway?

And the occasional wrong note would probably not be noticed!

Thanks for that. I have bookmarked it to read properly later, as it could take several days to read it all! Looks very interesting, though.

Cats are wonderful creatures, aren't they? Much better than dogs. I can't imagine a dog having the skill to play the organ, on any manual. Or could they?

At both Passau Cathedral and Cologne Cathedral the buildings were full to bursting when we visited. Indeed, in the latter venue people were bringing camping chairs to sit in the aisles, there being insufficient places in the pews (or perhaps the pews were considered too uncomfortable!) and, moreover, the programme was largely Messiaen! Such a shame that the organ appears not to have quite such an ardent following in this country.

How ridiculous. Trendy vicars, not to say money-grabbing ones, will be the death of the Church.

I was given to understand that these early 16' regals were not particularly loud - certainly no louder than the flues above them - yet in addition to providing a sub-octave pitch, they also contributed upper harmonics to the ensemble. I assume the modern ones were inserted for the same purpose.

And yet the changes under the supervision of Francis Jackson have been claimed to make the organ 'more musical'. I suppose, though, that tastes change over time! I do look forward to hearing more about these proposed changes.

And I'm afraid that you are legally obliged not to disturb them. Let's hope that they don't expand their family and set up home in some other pipes!

Looks fascinating, but I couldn't eat anything that has been in an animal's mouth. Would it be possible to have an egg instead? (The old ones are the best!)

Of course. It is in Yorkshire!

I quite like 'Shine, Jesus Shine', although such trendy modern children's songs as the one about "elephants and smelly feet" mentioned by the OP (yes, I know which you mean!) just make me cringe. I believe modern authors and musicians are desperately trying to make Christian music appeal to modern children, but I think that things like that must come across as rather patronising, with the possible exception of the youngest infants. When I was a young child in the olden days, I remember many hymns designed for children which were pleasant and uplifting without the need for 'dumbing down'. Just call me a miserable old git.

Nice to see hymns and other religious music being shared in this way, even though we're leaving the EU. Of course, we are emphatically not leaving Europe!