Peter Clark

One thing I forgot to mention was that the first tutorial book I was taught from, as a 12 year old, was Peeters' Ars Organo - before proceeding (?) to Stainer. Anybody else similarly reared? P

I rather like his Paraphrase on Salve Regina; also his Partita on King Jesus Hath a Garden; indeed his chorale preludes in general are very satisfying although I dispute the advertising blurb I once read which claimed that "these could be mistaken at times for Bach". And the Aria is a useful piece as well. Peter

A few years ago I directed the music for "Godspell" which we put on for a week in the parish hall and then on Pentecost Sunday we used the church - some of the more "conservative" members of the audience walked out, aparently objecting to the womens' costumes!

I am seriously considering getting this software, as from what I can see it is ideally suitable for one working as a church musician. Unlike Sibelius it doesn't offer a full orchestration facility, but does offer SATB, organ (three stave) as well as other features including playback. Has anybody here had experience of it? One organist I know (not on this forum) rates it very highly. (I hope this doesn't count as advertising? If so please let me know.) Peter

Has any of Lloyd Webber's orchestral music been transcxribed for organ? I am keen to get a copy, if available, of his Serenade for Strings (Barcarolle; Romance; Elegy). I had this on a CD called Invocations - now lost, alas. I think it would make a gentle recital suite. Thanks Peter

Hmmm... Dame Gillian, Jennifer Bate, our friend Nigel (because improvisation would be one of the tasks), the late JSB, the late OM (we are, after all, talking a fantasy situation here!), Simon Preston, Jo Brand and TT would guarantee an interesting mix. Oh, and we might invite Nigel Ogden for a sing-song or dance in the evenings (accompanied by or with Pimms, of course), along with John Giacci to give his tremendous arrangement of Slaughter on 10th Avenue! Music: JSB: Fantasia and Fugue g minor Messiaen: Messe de la Pentecote Wammes: Miroir (this could be the sight-reading task) Alain: Litanies well, the list could go on..... Peter

Well Alastair it was the celebrant who told me that the bride and groom would be contacting me, presumably in the knowledge that they had already arranged for another organist! Peter

Even with a slightly gammy leg I still am irked.... Last week and today weddings have been and will be celebrated at the church where I play. "Guest" organists have been engaged for both, without my beiong involved. Indeed, I only found out about today's last Tuesday when I phoned the groom and said that I had not had norification of the music required. This cannot be considered satisfactory. Apart from the financial aspect, if I note that there is a wedding on a certain day I know to keep that day free - or if I cannot get out of another engagement I know can call upon other organists. Yet there seems little I can do about it..... Has anybody else had these problems? Peter

From the Independent, 29 June 2007: "The case against Glass is that his pursuit of big audiences has turned his music bland, and that he has settled for a facile musical formula; the case for him is that he is a ground-breaker, an inventor, and an iconoclast. But if you listen to those regular pulses and thrummingly repeated chords, there are other notes and harmonies lurking in the atmosphere above: an implied musical world, quite different from that which is explicit in the score. And that is what is really clever."

Advice please, people: I had a fall a few weeks ago (as noted on this forum) which put me in crutches for about a fortnight. Obviously little playing was done during that period. I now find my technique has, even in that short space of time, deteriorated and also my left leg doesn't like pedalling for too long and certainly doesn't like fast passages. If anyyone else has had a similar experience, how long before normal service can be said to be resumed? (Previously I was playing for about an hour a day, sometimes more). Thanks Peter

Philip Glass was at Lichfield Cathedral last niight - he opened with Mad Rush! Anybody there? Peter

Yes but you can't get the crosswords online . P

Following Guillmant's recommendation I got this score recently; it has apparently been played at Lichfeld Cathedral (though by whom I know not). My initial thoughts are that this is a piece which will take quite a while to get right. It is not so much the manual and pedal dexterity required - no demi-simiquaver passages, no multi-octave arpeggios or anything like that (though there is some fairly straighforward double pedalling) but the rhythmic element is a little awkward;also the registration changes demanded may require an assistant or a stepper since the hands are occupied without cessation all the way through. BTW this board being down for a while must have saved me a fortune! I'm constantly sending away for music recommended by members of this forum. In the last few months alone I've bough Mad Rush (Glass), some other Glass, Trumpetting Organ Morgan, the Thunderbirds theme tume (yes, it works well!). Another worthwhile purchase is Barry Williams' book which wittily and eruditely explains literally "everything else you need to know" if you are an organist ie it doesn't go into technique, registrations, repetoire &c. I was pleased to learn, for example, that I cannot be sacked from my post for reading Playboy though I would imagine that if I were seen reading it during Mindight Mass some concern might be expressed! On another topic, I recently downloaded from Sibelius a piece called Acceptance by an Australian composer, Paul Copeland, which I played at Communion last Sunday. I find the piece remarkably attractive (and not as easy as it looks - certainly be careful if you sight read it in public!). It has hints of Messiaen in it - the first two chords are very Banquet Celeste - but I think it is a good work. Anyone else know it? Best to all Peter

giving up smoking was easier....! Great to be back, thanks all at Manders Peter

Vox, I consider that to be wholly admirabele - a wrench, I'm sure, but if you are convinced about an issue then it is vital that you stick to your guns. Plus, I wonder how your credibility on this discussion board would have fared had word got out that you were in Malta! Best wishes Peter

Vox, I wasn't defending or even recommending Malta, the Maltese or the Maltese treeatrment of birds, merely pointing out something which I thought of etymological interest in view of Tavener's new setting. Howeever, the Maltese family in this parish seem decent enough people, with little or no friction between them and our avain friends as far as I can tell. Peter

A Maltese friend has just shown me her RC Missal in that language where God is addressed as Allah!

Opinion seems divided over the suitability of a Christian Cathedral as the venue for a new musical work celebrating the 99 Names of Allah, especially, as some have pointed out, the concept of Trinity is utterly alien to the Islamic traditon. Yet as the administrator of the Cathedral, Mgr Mark Langham, pointed out, the Christian Church has used the psalms - decidedly non-Trinitarian - in its daily worship from the very beginning. The second Vatican Council exhorts us to recognise and applaud all that is holy in those religious traditions not part of the Christian fold. My opinion is that anything which seeks to promote harmony and understanding between faiths is to be encouraged, and that the brave move of having this concert (not, as Mgr Langham pointed out, an act of worship) in the Cathedral is to be greeted enthusiatically. Music, after all, has been called the universal language. It can often succeed where words do not. My only fear is the fundamentalists - from both sides - will kick up a fuss (as at least one Catholic spokesperson did when interviewed by the BBC the week). Peter

I read somewhere of a recitalist who would end a recital with Martin's Evensong rather than something somewhat more upbeat. Can anyone recall who he/she might have been? Is this a recommended ploy, I wonder? Peter

And clergy, Vox! Barry, my church pays an annual fee to Calmus, which allows limited photocopying of melody lines for reporoduction in service booklets. However it does not permit the copying of full scores or even 4 part scores of hymns. However, what is the precise rule about copying an out-of-print score when the composer is either still living or has nor reached his/her statutary 75 years in the blue yonder? Thanks. Peter

Barry, I looked on his website but could't see a film music CD. Do you suppose it has been deleted? Peter

I can't quite remember if an organ featured in the choir scenes in the excellent BBC dramatisation of the Barchester novels about 15 years ago - starring Higel Hawthorne and Alan Rickman I think. I've also often wondered who wrote the theme tune for the series - a setting of the Benedictus if memory serves. Anybody know? Peter

I think I mentioned this in another thread: in the film 84 Charing Cross Road isn't the Cathedral of St John the Divine in New York featured, the organist (uncredited I think*) accompanying For Unto Us a Child is Born? My DVD is on what now seems to be long-term loan to someone so I can't verify this, does anybody have it? Peter *It's not you is it Nigel?

Was there an organ in Summersile's (Christopher Lee) house in the original Wicker Man? I don't think it was played, but Christopher Lee's character did play the piano at one stage in the film. Peter

I recently came across a CD (Naxos) of music by the former Genesis keyboard player Tony Banks called simply "Seven", an orchestral suite in seven movements (in which he had help with the orchestration). It certainly has some attractive music. Has anybody else heard/got this one? Incidentally, Jon Lord's Concerto for Rock Band and Orchestra featured as a question in this week's Counterpoint. Peter