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Peter Clark

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Everything posted by Peter Clark

  1. Well known is the curious conclusion to the first section of the Pastorale - although clearly rooted in F major the piece finishes with an A minor cadence. Philip Glass's Mad Rush, similarly rooted in F, also ends on a chord of A minor. Coincidence? Peter
  2. No Vox, it is not rubbish at all; I was assuming you were thinking of the modern era! Having said that, the organ I played most in Spain - in the English College in Valladolid - was a digital!! P
  3. Well actually Vox I don't think of either Spain or Italy being especially conservative in theology. I was a seminarian in Spain for 4 years in the 70s and can assure you that theologically many of the lecturers we had - nearly all of them Augustinians - were up there with Kung and Schillebeekx in the liberal stakes. Even in those days they were drawing certain conclusons about the ecstacy of St Teresa of Avila! P
  4. I have never thought that church music is about being "moving"; rather it should assist in reflecting on theological truths and personal devotion....and be if at all possible scripture/doctrine based, something I feel cannot be said for Candle in the Wind. Peter
  5. Too true, Nigel. I lived and played in Spain for a number of years and the same situation obtains there, with some notable exceptions. I wonder if it might be a result of the fact that the indiginous music of the Latin countries in general is a lot "freer" than that of those countries more readily associated with otgan playing and composition eg Germany - though of course France has a noble tradition of organ playing, building and composition. It could also be that the Catholic countries of Spain and Italy are more festive and feast-friendly than the more severe religious outlook (almost Calvinistic at times) championed by the traditinally Lutheran countries.... Peter
  6. There are quite a few "radio microphone" stories around. There is the one of the priest who got caught short as it were in the middle of Mass and nipped off to the loo but forgot to turn off his microphone ... I'll leave the rest to your imaginations. Another is of a bishop who muttered at the beginning of Mass "is this microphone working" to which the congregation responded "and also with you". Peter
  7. Talk of Campbell reminds me of a story I heard. It concerns the fact that SSC was not an especially religious or even believing man, and someone once asked him, when he was at Souithwark, "but what's the cathedral for?" to which he replied;,"to keep the organ dry." Peter
  8. I hope this is not too off-topic but I think it is of sufficient interest to the many of us here who work in or for a church. You will have noticed that Elton John hired the Catrhedral of St John the Divibe for his 60th birthday bash. Now this is the same Elton John who recently called for religion to be abolished! So this propmpts some questions: 1) Why did he want his birthday celebrated in a building dedicated to the upholding of a major world religion? 2) Why, given his views on religion, did the cathedral authorities allow it? 3) Has any representation been made to the cathedral authorities by disgruntled persons? Whatever next I wonder? The Rolling Stones at Canterbury with a guest appearence by David Flood on keyboards? (Groovy ivories, Dave! ) This cathedral, incidentally, is the one in which Philip Glass played Mad Rush when the Dali Lama visited (o my God is he still going on about Mad Rush I hear you cry! ) It may also be the one briefly featutred in the film 84 Charing Cross Road where the choir are singing For Unto Us a Child is Born. Peter
  9. Has this pedal solo piece been authenticated as by JSB? The copy I have suggests it is a fragment as it ends on a low d held for a few beats. Some of the figures used are reminiscent of passages in other works so I wonder if it might be some kind of "compilation" - or even possibly Bach could have written it as a test piece? Cheers Peter
  10. That is very intereting, Barry. My ex-sister in law and her husband were - are? - members of the congregation at St James, and I had to endure a great deal of happy-clappiness whenever I went to stay with them. I don't ever remember the organ being used, though. I think it was a rather fine 3 manual but I can't remember who built it. Certainly whenever I went to St James there were a lot of guitars and drums and sincerity but little musical finesse. I wonder if the vicar who I used to know there was the sacker of H.A.B.? Peter
  11. Dear me chaps, it was only a joke. I am more than grateful for this forum as I beleive I have indicated in the past... P
  12. Looks like we haven't put our clocks forward, Mr Mander! :angry:
  13. Peter Clark

    Philip Glass

    People may be interested to know that Philip Glass composed the music for the currently showing film "The Illusionist". Peter
  14. There's a good GTB story about how during a service the presiding minister announced "the organ will now play". Silence, GTB remained in his seat. The minister repeated: "The organ will now play". GTB responded, "Then let it!" Peter
  15. Thanks Graham. The website? Go to Widor Gratuit on this discussion board and click on Widor to get into the website which is loads of public domain music free for download and printing. Peter
  16. In the (very welcome!) Widor link posted by John Sayer, I had a shop around this website and camew accross this piece, possibly by Bach, possibly not. It is the first time I have seen it; has anybody get any more information on it? Thanks Peter
  17. Recently on this forum attention has been brought to the fact that some rock stars began life as classically taught musicians - Matthew Fisher of Procul Harum, Rick Wakeman, Keith Emerson being the ones that spring to mind. Now I discover that Peter Skellern, who had a hit in the 70s with "You're a Lady" is also classically trained and is a church organist. I wonder how many more are out there..... Peter
  18. Peter Clark

    Philip Glass

    If anyone is thinking of buying or has bought the score (as I have) there are one or two misprints. At bar 99 the right hand part sgould be the same as in the previous bar, The LH Es in bars 170-1 should be tied. But do look at this piece, it is excellent, nd I am thinking of getting more of his stuff when I have got this one under my belt. Peter
  19. 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
  20. It is also Latare Sunday,the 4th of Lent and this year it follows St Patrick's Day so we've a bit pf a problem. Usually I bend the rules a bit and stick in a Marian hymn (Many Immaculate to Bach's wonderful harmonisations) but as Mothering Sunday is not strictly a liturgical festival we tend to stick with the theme of the day. But there'll be a "big" voluntary - the middle section of the Fantasia in G - following the inevitable Hail Glorious St Patrick. (Well we did O Great St David a couple of weeks ago so fair's fair!) What one might call a liturgical fresh fruit salad. Peter
  21. Rick Wakeman used a pipe organ in Switzerland (I think) on his album Criminal Record. I had heard that he was an organist in a (Baptist?) church on the Isle of Man. So what the hell is doing on Countdown? As to good/bad music and snobbery I happen to believe that the finest, tightest and most disciplined pop single to be relased in recent years is The Ketchup Song (Asereje) by Las Ketchup. Peter
  22. Peripherally related - how about the Scandinavian Otto Olsson? I used to have a recording of Hans Fagius playing some of his music including the energetic Sonata in E. Peter
  23. I was recently given a copy of Wolfgang Rubsam playing Bach on a Naxos issue - "The Great Organ Works" (catalogue 8.553859). I wonder if any others have heard it because I frankly found this a very ponderous set of performances, many of the movements much slower than I had heard before (the first section of the 552 fugue, the Pasacaglia 592 for example) and an almost constant use of 16' on manuals which made for a somewhat monotonous (no pun!) account. He seems to have a prestigious position in the States - have any other members heard this CD? If so, what is your opinion? Best as ever Peter
  24. When I ordered my copy of Glass's Mad Rush, I saw that there seems now to be a company called CheterNovello - have the two houses become as one? A website address of www.chesternovello.com is indicated but seems not to exist. Does anybody know what's happening? Peter
  25. But I trust you avoid it in Veni Veni Emmanuel?! I wonder if anyone's ever been tempted to do a "reverse tierce" ie end a major key hymn with a minor chord - could cause quite a stir! Peter
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