Colin Harvey

Dear all, I'm looking for a copy of the Dupre Meditation, which he wrote in 1966 for Henry and Enid Woodward's Library of Organ Music. Any ideas?

Not YouTube but the recordings off here have given me a lot of pleasure recently: Historic Organ Sound Archive Lots of lovely traditional English organs (many very small) giving a very good account of themselves. And quite rightly too! I'd go for 128K donwloads, which have no problems over broadband and are better quality.

I think it's fine. I would remain open to filling in if you feel you're upto it. If you're still learning and don't think you're yet ready, I would let them know - spotted metal's point about investing for the future is spot on. Playing for services is good experience as long as you've got enough time to prepare (I've found 2-3 weeks for a newbie is about right) and I wouldn't avoid it on priciple. It's also nice for everyone to find out who the mysterious person is who plays the organ in private during the week... If you're open to occasionally helping out, you'll find the church is more likely to be open to you practicing on their organ for free. I'm interested about the comments on practising on an electronic in a church. I know they're much more attractive at home but when will churches realise that no organist wants to travel to a church to practise on an electronic?

Yes, absolutely. It sounds like your church has also gone a little crazy interpreting conditions as well... Your insurance company is not an official body or an authority. They provide the church with a service. I am astonished that they asked for conditions which have apparently so restricted the operation of the church. If I had been in your church's shoes, I would have replied saying that the church had reviewed its security polices, changed locks, etc to ensure that the church is as secure as possible within the practical operations of the church. It may not have been necessary to withdraw keys from anyone or introduce further restrictions on access - that's partly my point. The main point is that you can argue the insurance company's requests are unreasonable if they interfer seriously with the operation of your church. How can the insurance company ensure that their conditions are being met - or prove that they have not been met? I would rather have a happy, well functioning church than a happy insurance company. Insurance companies can be changed or taken to court, you don't care about their feelings: you're stuck with the people in the church.

You can still hear the 1861 G&D: it's at Usk and has been restored recently by Nicholsons... http://npor.emma.cam.ac.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch...ec_index=N09835

If it's the stops I think, I can see the logic. The large Great Open Diapason and large Principal are huge stops and really shouldn't be used for accompanying the choir in the Quire - they're intended for Nave usage. But I would doubt how effective they were in their role in their location, as you say. The new nave division is voiced as strongly as possible before it becomes unpleasent and even this division has difficulty getting past the first 3-4 bays of the nave before it reaches the congregation. A second organ in the nave would be the ultimate solution. I think the Hele stops were dontated by a generous benefactor. The Bombardes are very fine, sounding gigantic in the nave but can occasionally be used with a strong choir in the quire. They usually get quite an airing on the 15th evening, especially if Andy Lumsden's playing...

I used to be invited to play occasionally at St. Mary's Andover (Hants). The organ here was Hele's showpiece - some say the sprat to catch the mackeral at Winchester. Heles built it (all new) in 1904, replacing an 1830s G&D. Note the original spec gives a tuba on the Great. http://npor.emma.cam.ac.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch...ec_index=N11317 In the 1960s, Rushworth and Dreaper got at it, extending various bits. The Pedal organ and Choir organ came in for the largest changes; the Tuba was extended to a 4' Clarion and duplexed on the choir. It was revoiced, too. The organ also gained a detached console and electro-pneumatic action. http://npor.emma.cam.ac.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch...ec_index=N11318 In the 1980s Bishop & White made the console moveable and made further tonal revisions. http://npor.emma.cam.ac.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch...ec_index=D05969 I think the organ must have been very good in its original state and is still a fine organ. The foundations of the organ were good: The choruses on the Great and Swell are very good with well-balenced upperwork and I particularly liked the 4' Gt Harmonic flute. I was not fond of the Great reeds, which neither worked as solo tubas or as Great Reeds. Sadly I found the choir organ dissappointing, poorly voiced and lacking presence. It worked neither as an accompanimental division or a foil to the great organ. The orchestra oboe and clarinet were very poor. I am dissappointed there is no tierce in an organ of 52 stops! The pedal organ upperwork was useless and very poor - the mixture was on an electric action chest placed on the floor at the back of the organ with flexible tubing for the wind supply - you could pick it up and move it around! It was a useless stop, just adding a slight tang of unblending unpleasentness to the pedal line. While I think the organ is good, it's a classic example of an organ which is decidely worse for later alterations, although the quality of the original organ is still apparent and saves the day. Sadly the church no longer employs a professional organist and I'm not sure what state the organ is in these days. It was not quite 100% when I played there and I can only think its condition will deteriorate.

Thank you for this link. I keep coming back to this video again and again. It's beautiful playing and a beautiful organ. I want an organ and chapel like that in my house too! And I'd rather like to be able to improvise as well as that!

Here's the solution: http://www.bagsdirect.com/Product/9003_Sho...r_Tote_Bag.aspx I've had exactly the same dilemma - music cases just don't work for organ shoes. I've tried with a separate shoe bag but it becomes cumbersome with so many bags. I found the perfect solution in the baggage department of John Lewis: something called a shoulder bag. It's big enough for a few volumes of the Bach Baerenreiter, your shoes and various other bits and bobs (like wallets, etc). It has a shoulder strap. It looks smart. It's affordable. I think it's perfect for a travelling organist.

Yes, I know... I would definately use a CMS for my association's website, it's just a question of getting around to it when I've got enough of an inclination to do it... I also want to involve members on the design - do a design workshop to get their input into it one saturday morning. I would want them to feel it's their website. Perhaps this should be my new year's resolution...

This is an interesting topic. What events/activities and aims are the good associations doing? What are the key things that make up a good, healthy local association? I'm also interested on the comments about local associations' websites, especially from my professional background as an IT Business Analyst. What do people find useful on these sites? Why would they go an visit them? I can think of a number of websites which don't look all that brilliant but I use them a lot and think they're great because of what I get from them. I occasionally dally with the idea of setting up my local association with a website. What stops me is that while I could set them up with a very professional site, I'm terrible at keeping websites upto date!

A few of my favorite YouTube clips: Bach Prelude in e minor BWV 548 http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ouJ3O2T4ZI0 Bach Fugue in e minor BWV 548 http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=idhHq1mn1XA The only clip I've found of the Paris Aubertain (not brilliant playing but a fine sound) http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=voqGH5Re5b8 Latry playing Vierne (sadly not his fantastic recording at Notre Dame) http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=vvXddUK7I4k Leonhardt and Buxtehude: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=5VrGQGi4lvA Little Fugue in g minor BWV 578 http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=x1Vm6_mn4ME Something a bit fun out there for you theorists: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=_1ain4qftoM Some sublime piano plaing: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=pR6kpZzOGdo http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=5QGwS69fVyA http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=S3Lox6Qab8A http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Vrr3bfA5QKs

I've just bought ballroom dancing shoes to replace my old organ shoes. They have suede soles and heels (normal profile heels about 1 inch high - not latin heels for salsa). I find suede soles are great - they're much quieter on the pedals than conventionally cured leather soles, they slip or grip as you wish and give a lot better feel through the soles. They're also really light, which helps. Well fitting dance shoes also make your feet much smaller - they're surprisingly tardis-like and I'm now less envious of my 5'2'' organ teacher's dainty little feet (who I think also wears dance shoes when playing). However, I've got to say that I play just as inaccurately wearing heavy brougues as I do wearing lightweight dancing shoes. Don't know about you but I really don't like people playing with heavy shoes on the (relatively new) pedalboard at my church - I don't want the pedals getting scuffed, worn or dirty unnecessarily quickly! Is this just me being really anal? It just seems good manners to wear clean shoes that won't wear the pedalboard unecessarily.

Yes, I need new plumbing in my home, too...

I spoke to the H&H London organ tuner, who had visited Blenheim Palace quite recently. Apparently, the tuba is very fine. I don't know whether H&H now look after that organ but they've got the contacts to get you in if needed - I'm trying to find an excuse to visit myself :-). If you can get in, it's a good option - the under-butler/ head footman is happy for people to look at the organ. Other good places with similarly good tubas are Salisbury Cathedral and Reading Town Hall (both Willis, maintained by H&H).

I can just imagine her walking into the stern opening chords of Widor VI - an appropriate choice. Well Done! I really cannot imagine the mindset of a bride who wants to enter their wedding to organ music like Bach's Toccata in D minor. I guess "I was Glad" or "My beloved spake" is mighty impressive in somewhere big like Winchester, St Albans or St Pauls when it takes several minutes to process up the aisle but I find it rather OTT in an average parish church...

A good organ teacher will know what the examiners are looking for, probably because they've got the RCO diplomas themselves. Don't bother too much with these sorts of books: the risk is that they're pushing their own strange dogma (e.g. Audsley), unless they're period treatises (e.g. various old frenchies for French Classical repertoire who were actually alive when the music was being written - all in Fenner Douglass's excellent book on French Classical registrations - which is possibly slight overkill for ARCO). The risk is that putting too much store by treatises on registrations might make you too dogmatic on registration - consider the recent reductio ad absurdum discussion on these pages about Bach mixtures... So long as you know how the pieces you play should be registered and have a fairly good understanding of all styles of music and organs, then you should be OK. If you want a book - it's a long time since I've read it - try Poul-Gerhard Anderssen's The Organ, published in the 1960s. Although old, it's got quite a lot on registrations and historical organs - it's the right sort of level for ARCO - (You tend to lose marks if you try to be too clever for your own good with ARCO!) Registrations are the least of your worries- I would start in earnest practising the keyboard tests now so you're 100% by next July!! They're the real bete noir of AR candidates. Aim to have transposed all of NEH, be capable of sight-reading Palestrina masses, practice sight-reading, harmonisation, figured bass by then. Aim for 1/2 hr to an hour a day on tests alone. Examiners say that most people who sit ARCO fall into 2 distinct categories - those that have prepared properly and those that haven't. Also, get good at the paperwork - Bach chorale harmonisation and counterpoint. A good teacher will be able to lead you through it all. The RCO study days are worth attending!! I think the next one is in London in November - I would go!

10-11 - Vicar in close proximity to organ loft 10-12 - Verger in close proximity to organ loft 10-12a - random person in close proximity to organ loft 10-13 - Chorister parents approaching 10-13a - failed choirster parents approaching 10-14 - New worship song 10-15 - Sermon over 10 minutes - check lunch in oven. Require Sunday crossword. 10-16 - Unknown visiting preacher 10-17 - Visiting organist lurking close to organ loft after voluntary 10-18 - Praise band in church 10-19 - Choir AGM 10-20 - Toaster salesman. Require baseball bat with nails and SWOT team. 10-21 - Unattended Mad person in church. 10-22 - Unattended Mad person in church alone with you in the building 10-23 - Music list for next month required in next day 10-24 - Music list for next month required in next hour 10-25 - Music list for next month required last week 10-26 - Missing choir music 10-27 - Missing choir 10-28 - flat choir 10-29 - sharp choir (no longer used) 10-30 - choir behind beat 10-31 - choir ahead of beat 10-32 - Trebles/sopranos and altos ahead of beat; tenors and basses behind 10-33 - congregation behind beat 10-34 - congregation in time (rarely used) 10-35 - Swell box shut on arrival 10-36 - Children involved in leading service 10-37 - Sunday school leader involved in leading service 10-38 - Excited, incontinent bats in church. Suspect new sharp mixture may emulate bat mating calls 10-39 - Bride 15 minutes late 10-40 - person close to organ loft before/during/after wedding - use 10-21 10-41 - Mother of bride or usher close to organ loft before/during/after wedding - use 10-21 with high urgency 10-42 - people ringing you about wedding music. use 10-22 10-43 - People want to see you after service - misc. (usually about hymn speeds) 10-44 - Unpracticed organ voluntary on music list to be performed at end of service 10-45 - Pencils stolen from console. Inform police. 10-46 - PCC member wants to get rid of organ. Use 10-21 10-47 - Church member wants to get rid of organ. Use 10-21 10-48 - Charismatic Evagelicals. Use multiple 10-21s 10-49 - Over-enthusiastic choir director 10-50 - Visiting choir 10-51 - Someone playing organ without your permission. Often leads to 10-22.

Thanks for the replies about organ music by Alwyn Surplice. I've already asked Andy Lumsden for suggestions - I guessed he was a pretty good bet. I believe they still sing some of his music, along with music by McWilliam and the infamous Sweeny responses. As a last resort, Alwyn Surplice wrote the hymn tune Wessex, which is in NEH. The RCO library is alive and well - I was even able to search it online for music by Alwyn Surplice! But still no luck. I'm just glad nobody's unearthed a 70 minute organ symphony by Alwyn Surplice yet.

I have to play for a memorial service of one of Alwyn Surplice's daughters this coming weekend. The family are quite keen that some of his music is played. There won't be a choir - do any of you know if he wrote any organ music? (Alwyn Surplice was organist of Winchester Cathedral for many years and is buried in the graveyard of our church at Twyford)

How do people react to the Trost organ at Grossengottern? This is a village church organ, completed in 1717, with a fairly normal Hauptwerk: 16.8.8.8.4.4.3.3.2.1-rank sesquialtera.IV.Trumpet. The 2 stops at 2 2/3 pitches - a quint and Nassat - are perhaps the only oddity on paper. The mixture is a little bit different: Low C: 1, 4/5, 2/3, 1/2 (22.24.26.29) Ten c: 2, 1 3/5, 1 1/3, 1 (15.17.19.22) Mid c: 4, 3 1/5, 2 2/3, 2 (8.10.12.15) The Brustwerk mixture gives little respite: Low C: 1, 4/5, 2/3 (22.24.26) Ten c: 2, 1 3/5, 1 1/3 (15.17.19) Mid c: 4. 2 2/3, 1 3/5 (8.12.17) How should they be used? (Pierre - thank you for the clips of Poitiers - what an organ!) (Pcnd - I can't find your clip of Jos van der Kooy playing BWV541 on the 1980s Flentrop at Westerkerk - a fine organ, btw. Can you re-post it?)

Other good ones are: 72 = National Anthem 80 = O god, our help in ages past 88 = Now thank we all our God

Good advice. I have a friend who seems to get a new grand piano every 2 years (I'm currently buying his present piano as he's getting yet another one). He's finally just had the radiator in the hallway moved as it's necessary to remove the radiator every time to move the pianos in or out. I think the next job will be to put quick-release hinges on the living room/music studio door as that needs to come off as well. I've heard stories of door frames having to come off as well I would advise getting professional movers to move an organ in and out of a house - I tried it once myself and they make it look incredibly easy. It's really hard work without the right tools and having the dark arts. If there's any doubt, measure every door or get them to survey on site. They make it look incredibly easy and controlled. However, I'm looking forward to the piano movers moving a 6'3'' 1890s Bluthner Grand into my 4th floor flat.

I think that's a little unfair and negative. David Owen Norris is renowned for his interest in old keyboard instruments and has gathered quite a collection of old instruments at the university, including a square fortepiano, a Broadwood grand within 100 of the one sent to Beethoven, a Clavichord, etc. He is very keen for people to use them and experience playing them and his research on the piano music of Mendelssohn and CPE Bach with the split damper on period Broadwoods is very interesting. So I think the energy and enthusiam remains. In fact, the music department has probably never been better at Southampton than it is now.

I remember reading in Yachting Monthly a few years ago about some new 170ft yacht which had an organ aboard. I think it was just a 5 or 6 stop house organ. The owner's wife was an organist and if you're prepared to spend £5m on a boat, it may as well have an organ too. It was very neatly done - all the casework matched the rest of the cabin with the interior designer, all beautifully made, etc. It sounded perfect to me - I could combine 2 of my pastimes... In fact, it was my dream as a little boy.