notebasher

Something very similar happened to me last Sunday evening acting as the visiting organist at a Leeds church, where the build up of the great pistons was unusual to say the least. The mixture came on about piston 4, but went off on 5, various couplers came and went for no apparent reason - well, not apparent to me. The swell was even worse: full swell only went up to the oboe (there was a cornopean, in tune, not set on any piston) and one of the softer settings included the tremulant! It really did! To be honest it was a nightmare; I couldn't find out how to re-set the things (lack of time), so had to resort to hand registration as the only option. R.

Yes, absolutely, and it's well worth it. I have to say that the one recital we went to we stumbled on by accident one year in September I think - as I recall it was a wet Sunday afternoon! I can't find a current list of recitals anywhere. We've stayed in the city quite a few times usually on the way back from somewhere else, but got to like Rouen, especially the old part. R.

See http://www.xs4all.nl/~twomusic/concerts/rouen/index.html This has a video 'movie' but it's very short. R.

Or maybe even Howard Goodall perhaps?

Which CC do members like best? R

Yes it does have a 32' Contre bombarde on the pedals. I heard it about four years ago (didn't play it but did play the CC at Caen) and was absolutely bowled over by both organs. But then I always was a bit of a soft touch for anything French. My recollection of S. Sernin is that the jeux de fond in particular were exactly what I expected, and most of them are by CC. Some of the stops are stated to be by Daublaine. R

Thanks. R.

I've obviously missed something here. Where would you get this DVD please? R.

Tony Maybe you could stow away with the harmoniums (harmonia???) R.

Yes please - it looks as if it will be well worth the trip from the frozen north. R.

Around here (West Yorkshire) probably £20 to £30 would be nearer the mark for people playing on an occasional basis. This would be for a Sunday Eucharist or Evensong (but very few do Evensong now). As has been pointed out, one of the factors is the ability of churches to pay. A village Anglican church where I play once a month has an attendance of typically 10 to 15 people; clearly they cannot afford much. The other Sundays are done by 'reluctants' and I don't know what they are paid. The priest in charge considers they are lucky to get anyone to play every Sunday. At the last urban church where I held an organist's post the attendance fell from 70 -80 in the 1980s to c.20 two years ago. This is not atypical as far as I can ascertain, but does go some way to explain why pay often is low and fails to attract committed people. It doesn't solve it, any more than it solves some of the other issues you raise Barry. As for able players who won't take posts partly because of other factors you have identified - broadly, condition of service, could this be a case of chickens coming home to roost? R

So much? Offer him a fiver and spend the rest on a half-decent bottle of wine from Tescos, I would. R.

Thanks Paul! R.

The same seller's also offering twelve bound volumes of 'The Organ' from 1920 onwards, ref. 130207874228 'at a buy it now' price of £120... R.

Sorry, made a bit of a pig's ear of that post.

R.

Tell me I'm thick if you like, but I can't see where you put your music. Someone must know! R.

I came across a toaster about 18 months ago with something very like this. You pushed the stop down to turn it on, it sprung back to the centre and lit up. OK except that about 6 of the lights weren't working which meant it was impossible to tell whether these stops were on or off. It was a funeral and all I could do was cancel everything, set up the pistons and stick to them. Good job I got there early... R

Or maybe 'A l'eau. C'est l'heure!' as the late Miles Kington allegedly claimed was the French Navy slogan...!?? R.

Whilst agreeing with what you say, I wouldn't expect this to be such an issue at churches where there is the standard of music you suggest (choir, anthems, psalms), where the DoM would, one would hope, have the judgement not to expect an inexperienced player to take on too much. Where I can see it being an issue is where the sole organist is a reluctant, possibly with no training, where the church could - often in desperation - exert pressure on an inexperienced player to help out, and this could be a real disincentive if it all goes wrong. But at least in this situation in most cases hymn playing is probably all that would be expected. Again it's back to how to maintain people's motivation and not lose them isn't it? I would put my money on the sort of church you describe. R.

Would you not expect an organ teacher to offer some guidance on this? Mine did, and went out of his way to start me when he felt I was up to it. R.

As it happens I had to play Breslau last night. I have found over many years of trying all the various ways that 2 beats between playover and start of v.1, and the same between the verses works for most choirs and congregations and most traditional hymns (but not all the more modern ones!). That's assuming you want them to start singing the verse with the organ, not 1,2,2 1/2, or whatever beats after you put the chord down! With tunes such as Breslau I do the first two lines in time; at end of line two play the last note as two beats, followed by 1 beat pause to breathe, and the last note of the verse = 3 beats (+ 2 beats rest between verses). This works if you take the tune at a reasonable speed e.g. 84/96. No rallentandos except on the last bar of the last verse. It makes a real difference if you're a singer how you approach all this! The only way to take a tune like this in strict time is to do it so slowly that everyone falls asleep out of boredom - is that what we want? R.

RobH I've sent PM re an organ that might interest you. R.

A cautionary tale illustrating the perils of over-enthusiastic hand registration on old organs... Our organist came from Lahor Alas he now plays here no more Grabbed fast for a flute Out the stop knob did shoot And he fell twenty feet to the floor.

An organist lived in Belsize Who found incense obscured both his eyes. Oh such a chore, He could not read the score So he just had to improvise.