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P DeVile

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Posts posted by P DeVile

    Recitals

    in General discussion

    Posted

    David Hill will be giving an organ recital in St Mary's Saffron Walden on 16th July at 19:30. It is to include music by Bach, Liszt, Howells and Dupre. Tickets are £10 (£5 under 18).

     

    Thanks

     

    Peter

    Thaxted Parish Church - three organs?

    in General discussion

    Posted

    Re The Saffron Walden Chamade, I softened the rank from about Tenor C up about 20 years ago, not particularly due to being over-loud but because it improved the tone somewhat. A Tuba was never considered by Hill Norman and beard in the early 1970s - it wouldn't have worked with the tonal scheme. The 16ft half-length extension on the pedal is a truly revolting sound and is used very infrequently!



    Also we would love to have a proper 32ft Reed but despite being the largest church in Essex there is no room to house it!



    For those who can get to Saffron Walden we have evening organ recitals on 21st June (Jeremy Allen), 19th July (Oli King), 23rd August (Oliver Waterer) and 17th October (David Dunnett) all at 8.00 pm. We have also booked David Hill for 23rd July 2016 and David Briggs 14th October 2016.



    Peter


    Lesser-known Town Hall Organs

    in General discussion

    Posted

    Resurrecting a post that is several years old, but this is a fabulous organ - I don't know of another quite like it.

     

    Colchester is my home town and as a teenager I used to attend the monthly Saturday afternoon recitals. I think the last time I heard the organ was in the mid-seventies when it had been overhauled and the Choir Organ positivised. I am afraid that I was responsible for a piece of misinformation in NPOR (N08698) in saying that the action had been electrified, and I am contrite.

     

    A few years ago, ex-mayor Nigel Chapman started to agitate for the organ to be restored. William McVicker visited and reported but hit a bad day when the organ was in such a state that a fair impression of its capabilites could not be had. Nevertheless, he considered it a'hidden treasure'. I went along a couple of summers ago and Nigel took me into the Hall. Hewent to find the key but said that the organ was unplayable. Switching on, I must have been lucky. Bottom D on the Great was off and the Great Clarion wasn't working, but otherwise everything functioned. Having not heard it for so many years, I was absolutely blown away by how fine it was! As Dr McVicker mentioned, it gives the impression of having twice the resources that it actually possesses. It is a devilishly clever scheme, concentrating on essentials - for example:

     

    Great: Double Open Diapason, Grand Open Diapason, Claribel Harmonic Flute, Octave, Hohl Flute, Fifteenth, Mixture 12.15.19.22, Posaune, Clarion, Sub Octave Reeds

     

    This is quite remarkable for 1902, but was during the short time that T.C. Lewis was with N&B. It seems very likely that he had something to do with the scheme. I can't think of another N&B of the period with such a straightline Great.

     

    There is now a formally constituted 'Friends of the Moot Hall Organ' and Heritage Lottery funding is being sought. They have a website- www.moothallorgan.co.uk - which includes a picture of the case (by John Belcher, the architect of the Hall).

     

    If anyone passes through Colchester, it's worth contacting Nigel Chapman. All comments are grist to the mill.....

     

    Absolutely.

     

    It upset me greatly to give up on it. The big problem was always that one or two people in the Town Hall got enthusiastic about restoring the organ, then after a year or so moved on so nothing ever happened. Meanwhile the heating got to it more and more (The Moot Hall is on the second floor).

     

    Peter

    Transporting an Organ

    in General discussion

    Posted

    In a few weeks, a choir in which I sing is partnering with a local chamber music ensemble to present an "historical Bach" concert, using Baroque instruments and performance practices. I have located a positive organ by Klop which can play at A=415 Kammerton, perfect for continuo in one of the Cantatas, but it lives about two hours away in western North Carolina.

     

    I would happily drive the distance to pick up and later return the organ, but the potential liability gives me pause. Does anyone on the board have experience in moving or arranging transport for an organ, even a small positive organ? Is it possible to purchase insurance if I move the organ personally, or is this kind of work best left to professional movers whose company will assume liability? Should I contact an organ builder in the region to see whether they can transport it?

     

    Justin

     

    Definitely contact an organ builder to move it. He should have insurance to move it and saves you the stress!

     

    Peter

    Playing in very cold churches

    in General discussion

    Posted

    I've often thought about this (your second paragraph).

     

    Surely it's sensible for the church (even if the place habitually isn't kept heated) to ensure that it be at 'Sunday temperature' when the tuner visits? Otherwise what's the point? We do do this here, and as far as I recall it's been the case in previous posts, too.

     

    This is something that I bore everyone stiff about, but they take no notice.......In the last two days I have had 2 records broken for coldest tunings yet. Yesterday I tuned an organ when the church was 2.5c and today I tuned one that was at 1.8c. Thank the lord that there were no reeds!

     

    Total waste of time urging the clery or anyone who'll listen to put some heating on, because they just laugh.

     

    P

    Organ Tuning

    in Nuts and bolts

    Posted

    A colleague of mine commented that Stan may well have used the Viole as his tuning reference because it would have been the softest voice on which to lay the bearings accurately. Laying a scale on heavy-pressure diapasons, in enclosed chambers would be pretty uncomfortable on the ears. Not so sure why he worked between A - a. Piano tuners were generally taught to work F- f, checking 3rds and 6ths as well, a discipline that some tuners are not aware of but perhaps ought to be.

     

    I believe that Stan was widely regarded as a very capable player. I have heard it said that the incumbent of the Dome Brighton was somewhat peeved by his post-tune checkover !

     

    H

     

    I used to hold keys occasionally for Stan when I was a trainee with HNB. A very clever tuner, who was able to make even the most dire instrument sound musical. When I knew him, he lived in a flat in Putney and used to earn a few extra bob in the evenings playing his electronic organ in the pubs. He retired to an old folks place in Witley.

     

    I expect the incumbent at the Dome - Douglas Reeve was peeved, because Stan was such a good light organist. Douglas was very 'protective' of his style and the sound and really didn't like anyone else playing the Dome organ.

     

    Stan probably filled in every so often for Bill Mears, who looked after the Organ at the Dome. I also used to hold keys occasionally there for Bill, who use to set the scale on the Solo Clarinet!

     

    P

    The Organ And Its Music

    in The Organ

    Posted

    The builder of this four manual was HNB. When I visited the Town Hall about ten years ago the console had been banished to the basement. I was told that they just `chopped` the cable. Recently, there have been moves to restore the instrument at a cost of at least £250,000 and estimates have been obtained, one of which was from Germany. Unfortunately, there seems to be some opposition to the project on the grounds that nobody would play it. Unbelievable!!

     

    This instrument was briefly mentioned in a thread 4 years ago:

     

    http://www.mander-organs.com/discussion/in...dover&st=20

     

    It was originally a Norman and Beard with fairly heavy Hope-Jones leanings!

     

    P

    Recitals

    in General discussion

    Posted

    Jean-Baptiste Dupont is playing at St Lawrence Jewry tomorrow (1st June) at 13.00. If he is anything like he was here at Saffron Walden on Saturday you are in for a treat!

     

    Peter

    Recitals

    in General discussion

    Posted

    Dear All,

     

    I would like to draw your attention to an organ recital that is taking place on Saturday 29th May at 7.30 in St. Mary's Parish Church, Saffron Walden. It is to be given by the winner of last year's St. Alban's International Organ Festival - Jean-Baptiste Dupont.

     

    His programme will include:

    Franz Liszt Fantasia and Fugue on B.A.C.H.

     

    Robert Schumann Studien für den Pedalflügel

     

    Max Reger Wachet Auf

     

    Admission on the door is £6 and Students are free.

     

    There is also a big screen.

     

    Peter

    You Get What You Pay For

    in General discussion

    Posted

    If one trawls through the NPOR, it is noticeable that a lot of organ-building work in this country is done by little known tune-and-bodge people, one imagines at very low prices. Presumably they were mostly trained by the big firms, but can make a much better living cutting corners on their own.

     

    I am sorry that you think that anyone that works for him/herself is a bodge artist who cuts corners. A good many organ builders who are self-employed are doing so because they have been trained by the larger firms, but simply cannot afford to live on the wages these firms offer. I worked for a large organ building company for 21 years and then went self-employed - not through choice, simply that the firm ceased trading. In an increasingly diminishing trade none of us can afford to do bodge-jobs, because it affects not only our livelihood, but the organs that we work on - i.e. they get to a stage that they are not restorable and thus are scrapped in favour of electronic piles of junk or, if you are very wealthy, foreign piles of junk.

     

    I look after 180 organs - 40 for another company. They are all very important to me as instruments and get looked after as such. One instrument that I care for was built 2 years ago by a foreign firm and is very good. A British organ building company built exactly the same sized instrument recently for half the cost and is much much better. Also, what 'important contracts' are you meaning? I call Worcester Cathedral's new organ an important contract by Ken Tickell and St Peter's, St Albans by Manders a stunning musical instrument.

     

    Also, I can't understand why clients keep going to some foreign (or British) builders time after time

     

    Who are they suppose to go to then? Marsian organ-builders?

     

     

    Peter De Vile

    Kings Nine Lessons

    in The Organ

    Posted

    ^^

    Someone was speaking to me as O Come was beginning so I missed the intro: please, someone, tell me whether it was introduced by the first line or the last?

     

    It was introduced from the beginning up to Bethlehem

     

    Peter

    Cameron Carpenter

    in The Organ

    Posted

    That is very disappointing to hear that the Tower organ is amplified, surely that is cheating ? Does this happen in large churches and cathedrals to pipe organs. ?

    Thanks Alan for your confirmation.and contribution.

    Colin Richell.

     

    The old Bath Abbey organ had the Swell organ amplified, because it was behind the arch - the great being in front. The acoustic of the chamber was such that the swell was just behind the great, so a microphone and amp to headphones was installed so that the organist could hear the organ properly.

     

    I look after a wonderful Willis organ in Mildenhall Parish Church, which is buried in the south side of the chancel. It is a vast church and the only way for it to get out is to have microphones hanging over the great and swell so it can actually be heard.

     

    Peter

    Spotify

    in General discussion

    Posted

    I discovered this by chance.

     

    Spotify is an online 'jukebox' which has a huge amount of music which you can listen to. I typed in 'organ' and was amazed at the amount of material there. It is flash based, so is protected from being downloaded illegally.

     

    http://www.spotify.com/en/

     

    Opt for the free one and you will have to put up with one or two ads.

     

    Peter

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