John Robinson
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Posts posted by John Robinson
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I find it fascinating that Ottobeuren Abbey has not been mentioned (both instruments divine, but would plump for the Dreifaltigkeitsorgel)
Three, now, surely. An excellent arrangement of two Baroque instruments in juxtaposition - ideal for duets - and a new 'Romantic' at the west end.
By the way, when I visited Ottobeuren I found the contents of the glass cases in the crossing rather scary.
John
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With decisions made in such a cack-handed manner, would you really want a knighthood? It wouldn't mean anything to me.
Hear, hear. Not that I am ever likely to be a recipient, of course!
In this politically correct age I am not sure what meaning these 'honours' have any more. When I read of some of the people to whom they are awarded, and for what reasons, I really do question their value.
I am very pleased that Francis Jackson has been awarded the CBE (although a life peerage, never mind a knighthood, may have been more appropriate!)
However of far more importance, in my humble opinion, is the high esteem in which he is held by many ordinary people whose lives have been enriched by his work and influence. Long may he continue to benefit the organ world.
John
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Hear, hear.
Sadly, the award of a knighthood to George Thalben-Ball came only after hard and public lobbying. Maybe we should try for the same again. You would have my vote and any support I could give! I can think of nobody more deserving of this award.
He has my vote!
Perhaps I'm a bit cynical, but I can't help but feel that had he been the incumbent at a southern/London establishment things would have been different. I am sure that the 'powers that be' (in London) are blissfully unaware of the existence of anything between the Home Counties and the Scottish border.
John
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What I did not realise was that the bench was indeed higher, but it was now also
inclined forward. The recital swiftly turned in to the RECITAL FROM HELL as I
found myself slipping forward. Even a simple Karg Elert Chorale Improvisation
turned into a battle with the bench as one's posterior failed to grip the
polish. Wrong notes abounded, and the sweat began to pour as the Mendelssohn
came ever more perilously close. My wife was up in the pulpit singing solos -
blissfully unaware of the crisis which was looming. None of the pieces I had
selected would allow me to rest a foot on that ever faithful balancing
mechanism, the swell pedal.
Your polished bench brings to mind the occasion when Gillian Weir performed at the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester a couple of years ago.
An overenthusiastic cleaner had brought the bench to a highly polished shine, not realising the consequences.
DGW did not, as I recall, slide off: that would have been most unseemly. Instead, a blanket was hastily found which seemed to help somewhat.
Her Liszt, incidentally, was superb. (No, not a pun, she did play Liszt.)
John
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Check the Klais Website for some of their recent large Concert Hall (and some church) Organs - they often have the Vox Balenae 64' (the whale's voice), which, at least in the bottom octave, is 32'+21.2/3', as far as I know. The latter rank is derived from the 32' - the gap between pure and tempered fifth can be ignored at such frequencies...
I know this may sound silly, as my CD player is supposedly incapable of reproducing anything below 20Hz, but the Vox Balenae 64' (at least that is what I am assuming is making the ground shake) at Cologne Cathedral sounds very effective at the beginning of track 7 (Strauss) on Motette MOT13254.
Incidentally, Klais proposed adding a Donner 64' - a resultant reed - to Altenberg Cathedral. I'd be interested to hear whether this has actually been built and, if so, whether it works: I have never heard of a resultant reed before.
John
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Does anyone share by opinion that the Doctor's latest "companion" is the fittest ever?
No way!
That would have been Leila (? spelling ? name) - the 'cavegirl' from way back.
Mind you, she's probably past her 'sell by date' by now. Still, memories...
John
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On the topic of odd couplers, The organ in the Paul Recital Hall at Juilliard in New York has a Pedal to Great coupler.
I wonder if anyone has ever used it?
Cologne Cathedral has a Pedal to Solo (IV man) on the Transept Organ.
I'm not sure how this would be used, unless by organists without legs?
John
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The first organ LP I ever bought was a sort of compliation including Francis Jackson playing the Cocker at York, Ralph Downes (?) playing some Buxtehude from the RFH and other things that I can't remember now. The cover I seem to remember was an 'arty' picture of the case at Westminster Abbey. The LP eventually wore out through continual playing but I remember still the rather uneven honking of the York Tuba Mirabilis and the point just before the final 'recap.' when Jackson pulled out the 32' reed. - I'd never heard anything like it. Great stuff!
AJJ
Does anyone else remember this record & what else was on it?
Yes, I have it too - we must be of a similar age!
I agree about the York 32' reed. It certainly makes itself felt, at least on that recording. I wonder what it must have sounded like before it was relegated to the south transept!
John
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I am a sucker for this type of collection and must have acquired about 30 + of these programmes over the years but I am afraid this one leaves me cold. The playing seems uninvolved and in my opinion the new position found for the microphone(s) - suspended from the central tower above the pipework - does the sound no favours. Even the Tuba Mirabilis in the Cocker lacks impact, and I much prefer the 60s sound of FJ to the 90s sound of JSW : by contrast what I take to be the new Bombarde ( a stop I have never heard in the building) makes quite a splash in the Purcell, though hardly authentic. Has anyone else heard it and what do they think ?
I have just taken delivery of this CD, which I find rather interesting.
The sound balance, as one might expect, is very different from what I have heard before - recorded or live.
What I find really quite puzzling is that, whereas the Tuba Mirabilis (facing west) is noticeably subdued on this recording, the Bombarde (facing east) is much louder. If the microphone was suspended above the case from the central tower, one would expect both of these horizontal stops to be equally ineffective.
All considered, I like this CD, especially since it cost only £6 (Yorkshire roots coming out again!). Mrs R., not an organ aficionado by any means, likes it too (especially Tuba Tune), which means that I am allowed to listen to it in her presence!
John
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I thought this may be an interesting topic - how many of the participants on this forum are not Christians or church-goers but who appreciate the organ and/or sacred music?
I myself am no longer a Christian but can still sit and listen to such pieces as Stainer's Crucifixion or similar. My love of the organ came from hearing the instrument at my local church (St. Mary's, Kingswinford, anyone familiar with it?) during services I attended as a child and in my early teens.
I would love to hear the stories of how people came to know and love the organ also.
I am a born-again* atheist and yet my interest in the organ is both long standing and profound.
(* i.e. I was once a Christian, but have seen the light!)
I cannot remember how I first came to be interested in the organ, but it must have been when I was at junior school. Whilst at a carol service at our local church, I recall a teacher telling us to sing more slowly than usual 'because the organ cannot play as quickly as the piano', and my feelings at the time that the organ was 'misunderstood'.
I also recall my music teacher at grammar school (the late Keith Rhodes) playing for us the well-known HMV 'Great Cathedral Organ Series' LP of York Minster, which had just been released, including Cocker's Tuba Tune. That did it for me: I went out and bought a copy, which I still have.
John
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After abiut three months it started to sag a little........
I know the feeling!
John
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Good morning and welcome....
this may perhaps amuse you for a minute or so.....
http://www.aktion-neue-domorgeln-magdeburg.de/webcam.php
Cheers
Barry
The voicers arrive on Tuesday.
Excellent.
Oops, somebody nudged the camera half-way through!
John
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Also Keith Emerson of Nice and ELP. I think they got into trouble with Leonard Berstein for a version they did of America from West Side Story. Emerson actually wrote a paino concerto (which was quite weak IMHO). But like Rick Wakeman Emerson certainly had an enviable keyboard technique.
Peter
I rather like Emerson's piano concerto.
John
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Just three words:
French public toilets....
Yes, indeed. A couple of years ago I was in desperate need and was obliged to use the only one I could find in the village we were visiting. You do NOT want to know the details!
John
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Ah yes, 21st-Century Bach. Well what do you want to know?
It is called the Complete Organ Works because over time it will be. The current DVDs that are available are series 1 and 2. Series 3 has been recorded and is currently being edited, and Series 4 is in the pipe-line, but due to change over of Producers/Directors is not running to schedule.
I, for one, enjoy watching (and re-watching) Series 1 and 2.
I should be most grateful if Richard, or someone else 'in the know', would inform us on this site when Series 3 and 4 become available.
Do you know which instruments were used on these latter series, Richard?
Many thanks
John
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American, presumably?
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Just curious as to what other members of this board get annoyed about in the world of organ playing / choral music etc :
Over to you guys.
Then, of course, there is the well known 'God rest you, merry gentlemen' rather than 'God rest you merry, gentlemen'
One assumes the gentlemen in question were drunk.
John
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It just leaves you scratching your head all the more at the decision to sell the 1863 Hill from the Nave at the time of the tonally "surpressive" Walker rebuild of the screen organ in 1903/4. I understand the theory was that, with the console moved to the south side of the screen, any player could get a decent view down the nave and accompany from the main organ. Only last year I heard that this Hill still sounds magnificent in its home for the last hundred or so years at Radcliffe - depite being "nobbled" mechanically in more recent times.
I believe that it was mooted to install a new nave organ in York Minster to supplement the screen organ. This would appear to be the only practical solution to the problem of accompanying nave services.
Has anyone heard any more of this?
John
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What is the "64’ Bombarde Basso" in Washington Cathedral's organ? Is it a 64' reed (it looks like it should be one)? I thought that there was only one 64' reed in existence, the Contra Trombone in Sidney Town Hall (not counting Atlantic City's 64' which is a diaphone).
http://www.cathedral.org/cathedral/music/greatorgan.shtml
-MAS
As there seems to be no 32' reed, could this be a misprint (for Bombarde Basso 32')?
John
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I think I may have read somewhere that the Flute Allemande (at least its incarnation at Passau Cathedral) was a harmonic conical flute - but at 16'?
John
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OH NO!!!
The forum's back.
I've been having some well-needed early nights of late!
Well done, Manders. You have been much missed.
John
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I was taught in the same manner, Vox. However, I was referring to current usage. As you mention, a number of publishers seem to have adopted the method of employing single commas.
They're not commas!
John
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If you watched John Scott Whitely's Bach programmes on TV (the ones with the wasps crawling over the master's bust), you, like me, may have been put off by the gimmicky camera work and sometimes quirky playing.
The DVD version has rather more to offer, however. Apart from a wondrous assortment of organs - Hamburg (Jakobi & Neuenfelde), Arnstadt, Freiberg, Naumburg, Haarlem, Lüneburg and Bath Abbey (for BWBV 565), there are decent programme notes by Stephen Pettitt plus various DVD extras like German/English chorale text subtitles, audio commentary on the pieces, interview with Christoph Wolf (author of the best book on JSB in my opinion), biography of JSB, the inevitable 'making of...' appendix and even more whizzy 'red-button' technical stuff if you want it.
Like or not - I think it's worth a further look, especially as the 2-CD set (148 mins playing time) costs just £9.99 incl. P&P from Bensonworld
Worth another hearing, I reckon.
JS
I agree. Very watchable. They are BEES though!
I, however, paid rather more than that for mine. I wish I'd known.
John
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Sorry if this is abuse of the message board, but could you please get your clock in sync with the real world?
Its quite disturbing (to a simple mind like mine) to see posts listed as "yesterday" that are in fact today, and also to see one's own posts listed in the future.
Hear, hear.
I just went into 'My Controls' and placed myself in the Azores! All is now well, until the board clock is reset. Then I'll move back to the UK.
John
And.... We're Back!
in General discussion
Posted
Been having early nights over the last few days, but back to normal now, Insha Allah!
Thanks, Manders people, for getting this back in order.
John