John Robinson
-
Posts
1,060 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Posts posted by John Robinson
-
-
.... And on several occasions since this date. The Choir Organ, in particular, looks somewhat different to its 1972-77 incarnation.
Actually, I was surprised at how comparatively loud this instrument is - and I refer specifically to the Chancel section. Of course, it is difficult to judge from a DVD, since it depends on the type of playback equipment used - and the volume level selected.
So naturally, I could be quite mistaken....
And where the microphones were placed.
The Royal Trumpets come across as particularly forceful, sounding wonderful in 5.1 surround sound. Their sound is without doubt my favourite of any of the 'party horns' I've heard anywhere.
As a slight aside, the demonstration track concludes with what may be described as part of a 'Fantasia on the Harry Potter Theme'(!). Was this an improvisation especially for the DVD, or is it part of a published work?
-
I wonder whether I might prevail upon members here to offer some suggestions for wedding music...
...with a big difference!
My neice is getting married soon and has sent us all a message asking for suggestions for music for her reception.
She asks for "favourite songs to:
- dance to
- chill out to (I believe that this means to relax to, rather than putting in a freezer)
- eat to"
Of course, I'm sure she expects us to suggest some 'pop music' (or whatever it's called these days) but I thought, just for a bit of fun, I'd list some suitable organ music! At least her grandfather, who is an organist, might appreciate them!
Any suggestions? Perhaps not too obscure, or she won't have a clue what I'm talking about.
-
===============================
What about Leeds PC though, which has just got better and better over the years, and manages to sound utterly convincing in the most awful acoustic known to man?
The old "Odeon" cinema on the Headrow had more resonance.
It makes you proud to be a northerner.
MM
I hope we're not including case design in the equation!
-
=======================
You may be right, but something tells me that the 8ft Bombarde was added after 1993. Also, don't forget the fire, which saw quite a lot done to the organ. There was also some moving about of pedal ranks, but I forget who did it and why.
It's difficult to keep abreast of things in the odd world of cathedral organs.
MM
Ah, I didn't know about the Bombarde being a later addition.
Perhaps you're not so old, after all!
-
Perhaps children in 1848 were more intelligent!
Not sure about this, but I do know that televisions and Wiis (whatever they are) have replaced books!
-
Sorry. This naughty computer posted it twice.
-
I haven't heard it for a long time, certainly not since they moved the Choir organ, but what about Armley?
-
=============================
I think my least favourite instrument in almost any cathedral, has to be Bradford, but not because it is a poor organ.
The trouble is, the poor thing huddles in a chamber, (of generous proportions), in the chancel, and although it sounds splendid at the console opposite, it just doesn't get down the nave at all. This fact was recognised even when the organ was re-built 50 odd years ago, and for this reason, the rather charming Nave Organ, (on stilts), was placed at the back, with a very attractive modern case by Edward Maufe. (Complete with a low-pressure chamade).
The cathedral "management," (I use the word loosely), decided that the Nave Organ was in the way, and pushed through plans to have an exhibition space costing a fortune and serving no particular purpose. Thus, the Nave Organ was removed to a storage location, (has it ever been sold?), and a few loudspeakers and a digitally sampled Bradford System replaced it.
Sadly, whatever happens in the future, there is no getting away from the fact that the old part of the cathedral is an old wool-church with a dire acoustic, and even the very spacious, attractive and resonant Edward Maufe designed chancel, has little impact beyond the chancel-steps.
MM
I'd go along with all of this (I was a choirboy there for a very short time).
Why they built an organ chamber like that when they extended the cathedral beats me. Then again, do architects ever consider the organ? Find a box or a little side chapel to put it in and forget about it!
The loss of the Nave organ (it was there when I was) is also sad. A building like that, with a deep organ chamber facing south to boot, really needs another organ at the west end, and a 'hi-fi' in its place isn't the answer, in my opinion.
I think we both feel the same way about the previous powers-that-be at Bradford. Didn't someone end up at Lincoln and upset everyone there, as well?
-
=========================
If, on the otehr hand, one were to mention the organ of York Minster, it could only be in the context of constant evolution. In my own lifetime it has changed three times, (I think), and even if it is a bit of a mix-and-match instrument, it remains one of my personal favourites because it has real colour and character. That is, without doubt, a subjective response, but one that is shared by many who have played the instrument and accompanied choirs on it. The more objective approach might result in this splendid organ being dismissed as a hotch-potch of periods and styles.....we have to strike a balance.
MM
I agree with this. York is, of course, a mongrel (a bit of Elliot and Hill, a bit of Hill, quite a lot of Walker, some Harrison and topped off with some Coffin!) yet, to me, it sounds perfectly cohesive. One of my favourites, too.
Changed three times? In my lifetime, I think it has changed twice - 1960 and 1993. You must be very old(!), or did I miss one?
-
That takes me right back to schooldays!
That's just taken me back and reminded me that whenever we sang:
...I, ere I sleep,
At peace may be
I hadn't a clue what I was singing about, probably because I had never heard the second word before.
I never read the words - it was just singing parrot fashion at my school - so I thought the word was 'air'.
I always liked the tune, though!
-
These DVDs are a fantastic idea etc. - but - with the cost of things I am not over inclined to get duplicates of repertoire or 'mixed recitals' some of which I can't really justify. I got the Lincoln one because I worked there off and on for a while - and the St Pauls one for the instrument - so far I have not touched the others. Liverpool could be a choice for 'instrument' interest but Exeter maybe not. And that is no relfection on Andrew Millington I hasten to add who I recently saw fill a church for a concert with a nicely played and balanced programme.
A
Duplication does not bother me at all. I find it interesting to compare the sounds of different organs, although a wide range of music is also nice.
I have them all, so far, and am presently trying to persuade SWMBO to buy me the Exeter one as a late birthday present, or an early Christmas present.
My favourite so far is St Pauls: an organ with a very interesting range of sounds, further extended wonderfully (if I'm not being too sycophantic) by our hosts in 1977.
-
This is one of the most entertaining threads I have read for some time!
Thank you, all.
-
This is one of the most entertaining threads I have read for some time!
Thank you, all.
-
Quite possibly the use of the word " remote " could be replaced by " north of Watford Gap " i.e. flat caps and the vowels to go with them , external privvies, et.al. Still mystified though as to how a town located at the confluence of a main railway line AND a motorway connection can ever be described as being remote. I am obviously missing out on something here methinks.
Indeed. Terra incognita to many!
-
Great. We'll try to call in some time. Thanks.
-
If you ever get down into Staffordshire, The Yew Tree pub at Cauldon has several nickleodeons (think that's the correct spelling) mounted on the wall. Just ask at the bar for some free old pennies (240 = £1) and you can take yourself back to past times.
Thanks, Barry. That's worth remembering. Free old pennies? Don't you have to pay, then?
-
============================
We must also not forget the importance of automata, in the form of mechanical music such as fair organs, barrel-organs, penny-in-the-slot polyphones, player pianos, mechanical violins, musical-boxes and the like. These were the juke-boxes of the day.
[/size]
MM[/size]
I think it's a shame that these no longer feature in pubs. I'd much rather listen to one of these than a juke box!
And only a penny, too!
-
Thanks to both for this. I am not a member of the texting generation and have also not come across HTH before! I gather LOL has two meanings; Lots of Laughs and Laugh out Loud.
PJW
I thought it meant 'little old lady'!
-
Each to his own, but when it comes to Carlo Curley, my personal opinion is that the organ world could do with a few more like him.
Hear, hear.
Carlo is one of the most effective evangelists of the organ and, God knows, we need all we can get!
-
=====================
I recall a wrinkly old prune at a big-business charity garden party, who expected me to take her seriously, when she asked, “Did anything good ever come from outside London and the Home Counties?”
“Well,” I replied nonchalantly, “there’s Elgar and Shakespeare for a start.”
Quel bon mot.
Still, I suppose you and I shall one day be 'wrinkly old prunes' too!
-
=========================
Bing back stone floors and a bit of hay scattered around, like they used to have before they invented pews and other types of church seating.
MM
Hear, hear.
Standing throughout a service is good for the soul!
-
Perhaps I'm misreading but this appears to equate ET with 'perfect'. A major third in equal temperament is an extremely fast beat which is some way beyond the bounds of acceptability to most ears. However, our ears have learnt to accept it because there's nothing to readily compare it with. Having one stop tuned differently for a time, as I did, brought this home and even to me (who is used to it) the shock of returning to an ET third was profound and extremely unpleasant.
In most well temperaments, and even meantones, at least half the keys are purer than ET. The better the good ones are, then the worse the bad ones will be. Isn't that rather the point of writing emotion into music?
So, we can't pursue perfection, because that's impossible; so do we settle for a mathematically neat but aurally anodyne status quo, or pursue something better which works? 50 years ago, 'bending the tuning' would have been handed on to apprentices; in this age of tuning meters, only the instructions are followed.
I agree. I didn't mean to imply that ET is perfect; I'm well aware that thirds are 'way out', but that we have become accustomed to them. This also, as I think has been mentioned, has implications with regard to the use of mutations, especially in chords. I'd be more than happy if everyone* adopted one of the 'better' well temperaments for the reasons I said. There would be at least one key which will be unpleasant or even unusable, though, but I suppose that if a piece of music happens to be written in that key one option would be simply to transpose it.
(*Assuming that instrumentalists or orchestras intend to play along with the organ.)
-
If Bach (and others) wrote for 'well tempered' temperaments, wouldn't it be more authentic to play these on an organ tuned to one of these temperaments? Of course, do we know for certain which specific temperament Bach wrote for?
Then, of course, if an organ is tuned to one temperament, perhaps that is good for Bach, but not for other composers.
Personally, I feel that a 'well tempered' option would be preferable on the grounds that each key would sound different (whereas in equal temperament they all sound the same, apart from pitch). The downside, needless to say, would be that certain keys would be at best less than perfect and at worst unusable.
If playing along with orchestras or other instruments, there would have to be some agreement for them to re-tune to fit in with the organ.
The easiest option, of course, would be for everyone to continue to use equal temperament, but I feel that something of colour is missing!
-
I've just received this DVD and I have to say that I am very impressed with both the playing and the organ, whose grandeur belies its (relatively few) sixty stops.
Perhaps more impressive is a recitalist who can play all those pieces (and no doubt many more) from memory. I feel proud to share the same name (although I can't play a note myself)!
Wedding music
in The Organ
Posted
I'm very pleased that my request elicited so much interest. Thank you all. Your suggestions are being 'short listed' as I write!