John Robinson

Slightly off-topic, I suppose, but in past years I have made two or three TV recordings of the 9 L&C, which is fortunate as I don't pay the TV licence any more, so I couldn't watch the live programme even if they were going to show it. Some excellent choices of music, of course.

Hopefully, the existing St John's College organ will find a deserving, and very lucky, home.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNRrV9FTeSc&ab_channel=KölnerDomorgeln I have to say in all honesty, that although impressively loud, to me those two west-end tubas do not sound greatly dissimilar. Perhaps it's my old ears, but I'd have preferred one to be far more free-toned, possibly even like the west-end trumpets at St Paul's.

Yes, relating this to York Minster (sorry to drag the discussion back to that subject!) I believe I may have suggested somewhere further back in this thread that the best solution for the 'nave problem' at York would be the addition of a separate nave organ rather than, or perhaps in addition to, increasing the power of the main organ. Of course, unlike the French system, the two organs should be playable from the same console. Obviously, this would be a reversal of the French system in that the 'grande orgue' would be the one on the pulpitum and would also support the choir, whilst the 'orgue de nef' would be the smaller one having the sole function of supporting the congregation in the nave. This has been done in a number of cathedrals in this country of course and, as has been mentioned above, there have sometimes been problems with making such a system workable. I feel that a nave organ at the far west end of the nave at York would present timing problems and that a far better solution would be to site it in the second (or perhaps first) bay west from the under-tower: in a suitable place for supporting a nave full of people yet not too far from the main organ and the (nave) console. Of course, there are no such plans (and presumably money) to add a nave organ so such a discussion is academic, though I live in hope!

I believe that a similar decision has been taken regarding the York organ. This has been described as now returning to the 1930s Harrison and Harrison voicing of the instrument for Bairstow which, I understand, was rather more powerful than the post-1960 voicing. Clearly, prior to the work presently being done on the organ, it has been rather lacking in power down the nave and that problem is, I believe, being addressed. That's all to the good, and I am looking forward to hearing the improvements. However, I wonder how this will affect how the organ sounds in the choir. Will it be too powerful? I think I might have mentioned this matter somewhere earlier in this thread when I suggested a judicious use of stops might make the organ perfectly suitable for use in the choir. I am aware that on the Great, for example, there will now be a diapason chorus on 7" wind in addition to the chorus on 4 1/4" wind as was the case previously. I am assuming that the higher pressure diapasons are intended to provide the greater power necessary in the nave and the lower pressure stops would be used alone in the choir.

Yes. Under 'MIsc/onsite install' / Sept 2020, there are dozens of photographs of the interior showing just about everything there is!

Yes, he is a talented organist but, having heard him at Manchester (Bridgewater Hall) I find him rather too rapid. I'd much prefer him to slow down a little and give me time to listen to the music!

Thanks. I put my name down for this some days ago.

Thanks. Very interesting. Actually, I quite like chocolate and blue!

Just out of interest, what was the reason for the change in colours of the FRCO hood?

Yes, I love that programme series and have the DVD. Not only is Howard Goodall an excellent musician, but also I find some of his quips highly amusingly descriptive. His brief description of the 'altitudinous' Austrian nobleman, the owner of an historic table organ, as 'six feet going on seven feet' to the background music of similar title from The Sound of Music.

Lovely story. Thank you, from a cat lover.

That's very interesting. Thank you. A horizontal flute, though? That's a new one on me. I wonder what advantage there is in making a flue stop horizontal.

Yes! Who needs an orchestra when you have an organ of that size? AND, you'd save a lot of money, paying for only one musician rather than 80+ !

It's not alone, of course, by any means. I remember discussing this one from Cologne Cathedral on here a few years ago: Aliquot II-III C 1' 8/11' f0 8/9' 15/11' 13/13' cs3 35/9' 15/11' 13/13' I have no idea what it sounds like, but I'd love to hear it (in context of course) just to find out.

Being neither inside the trade nor in possession of very much scientific expertise, I hesitate to reply! Nevertheless, your mention of a 'pin hole in the pipe foot' presumably relates to the use or otherwise of 'open toe' voicing. This is something that I'd like to know more about. What is the point of increasing wind pressure when a closed toe will effectively reduce that pressure? I can only assume that this is done to make adjustments to voicing easier. Also, I'm sure that some lower pressure stops can speak sufficiently loudly without the need for high wind pressures, with the obvious exceptions of such things as tubas of course.

Yes, I have had Phonak aids for about four years now, so not the latest models and I do not have any bluetooth capability or other app for tweaking the settings. I do, however, receive free consultations every 6 months and the audiologist can make any adjustments necessary. As for bass response, I wouln't know really, as my hearing losses are in the higher frequencies.

I confess that I am one who has said that I'd be happy to keep both. On the other hand, if all contributors were to bring their discussions here, rather than simply stop posting, I'd be happy to live with 'the original' exclusively.

Having mentioned that it has been accused of being underpowered, when I attended a performance of the choir of King's College, Cambridge, the organ sounded perfectly good and well balanced to me. Am I right in thinking that the bottom few of the 32' Principal are Haskelled? I think I heard that some years ago.

Interestingly, the Bridgewater Hall organ in Manchester has also been accused of being underpowered. As I understand it, the organ was planned and built before the hall had been completed, and when the interior of the hall had finally been finished, they found that whilst the acoustics were very good generally, the organ should have been planned and voiced to be louder. If that was the actual case, perhaps it would have been better to leave the installation of the organ until the hall was properly completed and its acoustics assessed by the builder (Marcussen).

I'm sure I remember something similar being found in a ruined abbey in Yorkshire. I can't remember much more, or which abbey, but I do remember mention of large pottery jars being sited underneath the stalls.

It's a shame that so many of our churches are either closing down or throwing out their organs in favour of 'worship groups' (what I suggest might turn out to be a passing phase). At least this, and certainly some other, unwanted organs are going somewhere where they will be appreciated. I also find it encouraging that Germany seems interested in acquiring traditional English organ sounds. After all, we have been importing theirs for some time now. My ideal organ venue - never likely to happen, of course - would contain several organs from different European countries for interest and comparison: German, Dutch, French, Italian, Iberian. (Well, I can dream!)

Yes, of course. No criticism intended! I suppose I could have a guess as to what the 38 ranks might be, but I suppose the only people who might know for certain are the builders. Now defunct, of course. It would be interesting to have a root around in there, though, to try to work it out.

Yes, I noticed that too. Personally, although Compton and others did that routinely and, admittedly, the end results may be good, I'd much prefer far fewer extensions as this gives a very exaggerated appearance of size. Perhaps someone in the know might edit the entry and add the usual letters after each (I suspect most) of the listed stops to show their derivation. I'm assuming that there are sufficient letters in the alphabet! Seriously, though, if there are 38 ranks it would be necessary to include some double-letters too.