John Robinson

May I also offer my thanks to David and his colleagues for a very interesting visit to the organ factory and, of course, for the excellent beer. I had a half of each and thought the Rotunda was the better of the two. I'd like to thank, in particular, Joji Shiga who gave us (I dragged along my long-suffering wife) a very informative tour of the metal shop. I was interested, by the way, to see that Willis seem to do a sideline in Rolls Royces! Thanks, David, for a very enjoyable day.

Thanks, John. That's a good idea. I could, presumably, just install a previous version of Windows on a different partition. I'll look into that. I agree that Windows 7 is a big improvement on Vista.

Sorry I cannot help. However, I just wanted to mention that I, too, found Windows Help of no help whatsoever when I had a different (unrelated) problem. Also, my (admittedly old) scanner will not work with Windows 7, even in 'compatibility mode'.

Why strange? (Oh, and before anyone asks, that John Robinson is not me, sadly.)

My St Paul's DVD has just arrived. I think Priory must have been sending them out in batches but, if so, I am pleased that they have sold so many. An excellent DVD and an excellent organ. However, and I may be completely wrong here, I have a feeling that in the 'bonus feature' description of the organ the pipes of the Solo Corno di Bassetto and the Solo Cor Anglais may have been 'highlighted' on the pictures the wrong way around. I would have thought that the Corno di Bassetto was the shorter one and 'stopped', whilst the Cor Anglais would be longer and open. I'm not intending to 'pick nits' here, just interested. If anyone who has the DVD has the patience to look, please tell me whether I'm right or wrong.

Many thanks for the information, and for putting on the open day. Despite MM's comments, I have no worries about leaving my car unattended! Last time I was there, Liverpool seemed to be a very friendly place.

Oh dear. Luckily, I drive a Skoda. Yes, really, I do! I bought it on the grounds that no-one would be interested in nicking it and so far, touch wood, it has worked. Despite that, it's the best car I have ever owned. Seriously, I have looked at the local area on Google Earth but, unfortunately, car parks are not a feature of that programme.

A bonus! I'll get my long-suffering wife to drive! A question, if I may, which may be of interest to others as well. Is there somewhere convenient to park nearby?

Well, I still haven't received mine (the St Paul's btw). I'm beginning to worry that good old Royal Mail have lost it!

Two weeks ago? Then I hope that mine arrives very soon!

The four manual mechanical action console definitely has tilted keyboards if the cross-sectional diagram in the Schnell & Steiner publication is anything to go by.

And I'm sure you'd get a crick in the neck.

I do hope that you write to the Dean and Chapter. I, for one, would be very interested to hear their reply. With the Church of England being concerned about falling numbers of participating members, I'm surprised at this attitude. Do they really want to discourage people from attending? Are they only interested in retaining 'certain' members?

Certainly not! They can start their own channel.

Everyone seems to be walking in through the door and down the nave since John Scott Whiteley set the trend!

I ordered one at the same time as the Gillian Weir, or rather my wife did (for my birthday - on 3rd of August!). As far as I know it has not been released yet but, as you say, its arrival should be imminent - I hope.

Just received my copy of Gillian Weir's 'The King of Instruments'. Well done, Priory! So much nicer to watch a clear picture and listen in stereo compared to my ancient VHS recording.

'Couldn't care less' v. 'could care less'. Personally, I couldn't care less which(!) Lets forget our differences and, instead, adopt the phrase uttered by Captain Bligh (was he played by Trevor Howard?) in Mutiny on the Bounty: " It is of supernatural indifference to me..."

Always good to see the normally inaccessible insides of this organ. Thank you Nigel.

No. I don't think it was humour, or even mischief! The leaflet is dated 1974 and he was describing the 1960 changes (as part of a brief history of the instrument) noting the various improvements. It was all written in a very matter-of-fact way. I'd be interested to know how effective the Choir organ is in the nave, never having had the privilege of hearing it thus. Perhaps some people on here have. I understand, incidentally, that reflecting boards were positioned above the organ with a view to improving the sound.

I agree with MM. I suspect the quire is the best place to hear the organ in balance, especially the Choir organ. It is interesting to note, however, that Francis Jackson, in a leaflet about the organ published prior to the Coffin alterations/additions, states that "...it is now possible to accompany a nave full of people on nothing more than the Choir Organ with its high-pitched Cymbal..." (this latter stop now, of course, has been removed). I wonder just how effective the Choir organ is in the nave, it being on the other side of the organ. Moreover, I have heard that the sound of the organ fails to carry appreciably into the nave, so how the Choir organ alone (even with a Cymbal) can accompany a nave full of people beats me! I too, incidentally, very much enjoyed FJ's recital.

Yes. How ungrateful of her. I'm assuming they were named with her in mind!

I like both the pieces heard in the film 'Battle of Britain' although, if I am not to be considered disloyal, I prefer the Luftwaffe one to the RAF one! I don't suppose either has been transcribed for organ, though.

We just got back from this enjoyable recital. I can't believe that the 'grand old man' is still performing so well at 92 years old. There was an impressively large audience. Did anyone else from here go?

I'm afraid the BBC is a law unto itself. Perhaps if and when the licence fee is reduced or removed, they will have to resort to advertising which may put the ball back in our court. Pigs might fly, though!