SomeChap

Every so often another one of these pops into my head; I hope people don't mind! We are on page 12 of this thread but I don't think we've had Marlborough College Chapel yet. The organ is modern (an heroic 4-man Beckerath from 2006), as are the case pipes, but the case itself is Victorian so we're allowed it; I believe it was designed by Bodley and Garner: MBORO_COLL_BECKERATH_ORGAN_72x400.jpg (400×533) (sslso.org.uk) [having trouble inserting the image, sorry you'll have to click through if interested]

Bump - in case anyone wanted to follow that ebay listng - at time of writing it has four hours to go. In the mean time, Hauptwerk has even started to generate work for pipe organ builders; no less revered a name than Bernard Aubertin has built a console modelled directly on Clicquot's at Souvigny specifically for Hauptwerk, complete with tracker key action and mechanical stops, a shove coupler, a short octave, a French-style short pedal board etc -see here for a demonstration.

Ouch, I hadn't realised they'd pulled it, thanks for the update. I'll correct my post.

Tony Newnham is right to mention GrandeOrgue (note that some see it as a rip-off of Hauptwerk, but let's not get into that; I've certainly used it in the past so am in no position to criticise!). In response I just wanted to flag that Hauptwerk too has a free license tier [CORRECTION: it used to have a free tier before V5 but doesn't now, thanks DHM] which, though limiting in some respects (numbers of stops being the most obvious), could well be enough to get you going for a 2-man practice organ. I've managed to get it to load some nice free / cheap sample sets including [most of] Menesterol (£70ish) and Lipiny (free) among others. And one beauty of using smaller sample sets is that you don't need such a pricy computer to go with them ... I'm dimly aware of OrganTeq but haven't got round to having a play with it yet. I gather it's promising, but early days, and needs a monster CPU? Decisions about hardware will massively affect the cost of any software-based practice instrument of course. Currently enjoying the Cortege et Litanie from Miriam Reveley's recital - lovely stuff!

Surprised the Hauptwerk organ sampling software hasn't been mentioned yet? If you're prepared for a project and have a head for computers/electronics/MIDI and woodwork then you could go the hauptwerk route. People have done very cheap things with Ikea tables, gutted roland keyboards, basic PCs, self-wired pedal-boards, touch-screens, behringer studio monitor speakers (or even just headphones) etc. The best sample sets sound much better than the cheapest commercial digital organs (IMO, others might disagree). But a very cheap set-up like that won't look pretty, and it can be a long journey to a satisfactory set-up, with lots of trial and error along the way! Or (crazy idea alert!) - perhaps if you've already got a digital piano, a decent-ish laptop and some reasonable headphones, then it might even be possible to add a pedalboard to that (assuming some DIY cleverness...), together with a £150 USB midi interface, a sample set and a hauptwerk license to get hauptwerk running with minimal outlay? It's what I do (minus the pedalboard because my wife won't have anything which looks like an organ in the house!). Equally, existing digital organ consoles can be connected to hauptwerk* via MIDI (this is what Richard McVeigh does for his excellent lockdown organ music youtube channel - do have a listen if you're not familiar), and even old pre-digital electronic organ consoles can be 'midified' by someone with electronics expertise. There are (almost too) many possibilities. * This video is actually one of the simplest introductions to Hauptwerk I've seen.

The Braga link is fascinating. I cross-checked with my DVD of the Howard Goodall programme and confirm it's the same music - unattributed on the programme listing on Howard Goodall's website (which just says "18c Portugese [sic] Battle Music"). It was played by Kimberly Marshall at Abarca de Campos - a small village church whose 1778 Tadeo Ortega organ was restored, I believe, under the advocacy of Francis Chapelet. It's up on Youtube too if anyone's interested (watch the first ten minutes or so of the episode ... or all of it if you like!):

A quick thought - I wonder if one of the universities might be willing to host the forum (I seem to recall that Emmanuel College Cambridge used to host the NPOR for example). One could argue that there is academically interesting content in it. Or BIOS or the RCO perhaps?

... and in a not dissimilar style, I hope we can gently flex the off-the-beaten-track rule so that Selby Abbey counts! The 1909 cases were designed by John Oldrid Scott (assisted by Arthur Hill I believe), who was (deep breath, try not to get it wrong this time) son of Sir George Gilbert Scott, brother of George Gilbert Scott Jr and ... er ... uncle of Giles Gilbert Scott. Right?

Another pretty good Victorian facade is Thorney Abbey in Cambridgeshire. The current parish church is the remaining nave of a large monastic church; the organ sits in a transept which I think is either a 19th or a 20th century addition to the building. The Nave has a very strange-looking ceiling - does anyone know if it's a tent or is it solid (eg plaster)? Is it temporary? The organ is pretty historic btw (BIOS Cert) and has had quite a few builders work on it. The cases are either by Bevington or Bryceson, 1858, though NPOR says the organ was originally on the West gallery, divided, so Hill must have re-worked it in their 1888 rebuild when it was moved.

Maybe if the blower intake was next to someone infected who was coughing into it? It's not April 1 is it?

From the monstrous to the diminutive - this one divides opinion but I must admit I'm an admirer - St Martin-le-Grand, Coney Street, York. I find it refreshing.

Another find - the seven-manual console of the Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City These 360 panoramas seem to have become more and more popular in the last couple of years. What do people use to make them? I had a feature on my phone where I could stitch lots of photos into one panorama, but it was very fiddly, took ages and the results were often very poor. There must be a better way? I wouldn't mind making a few myself! Re. the Echo organ at Hexham, I seem to recall reading somewhere it was retained as a tax-efficient measure, to prevent having to pay VAT on the Phelps because with the old Echo still in situ the Phelps could be categorised as an 'additional organ' - does anyone know if that's true?

As far as I know, nothing ever came of this scheme? I know little of the Cathedral but remember dire headlines about its finances a few years ago. A pity if the idea has been shelved - it seemed like a sensible plan to me. Also I wonder if anyone knows, has the removal of the asbestos ceiling a couple of years ago changed the acoustics? For the better?

Brilliant spot on the Doncaster links. Dafydd and Andrew, don't forget that street view gives you a very 'fish eye' view by default, which can skew your perception of perspective and distance quite badly. If you zoom in (use mouse wheel or black buttons in the bottom right) then you can see less of the building at once but the organ doesn't look so far away!

From the Southwell Minster website (I'd guess this is written by Paul Hale?): Possibly Mr Hale might be along to fill us in, but surely the crowding in the case was also a factor, along with the soundboard layout? Was the old Great under the Swell box perhaps? I think the old choir was enclosed, so there were two biggish swell boxes in there - did that box the great in? Was the great masked by 16ft basses inside the case perhaps? Another difference re York, Lincoln and Ripon is that the pulpitum is much higher WRT the arch it's under at Southwell, so there is hardly any height above the organ. It's really quite striking when you look at them next to each other: York: Ripon: Lincoln: ... and Southwell: ... and the Southwell front pipes are only 8ft! It's hard to believe there's a 4-manual organ in there. Colin, just as an FYI, the Southwell crossing space actually has no glass in it. However the misunderstanding over the word 'lantern' prompted your very useful observations about glass's low acoustic impedance at low frequencies, so all is not lost! I think the type of stone is a big factor as well, yes. Thankfully the Binns/Wood has no trouble filling the Southwell sand-stone nave (to put it mildly!).

Doncaster Minster, complete with highly un-amused organist.

I had fun with this thread! Here's Merton College, Oxford

Good find thanks - a very buried Bevington though! I feel a bit sorry for it; I guess that's why there's a toaster in the nave? ETA npor says it's no longer in use, but your Feb 2018 photo strongly suggests otherwise, which is good.

Thanks for the correction! I'll go back and correct my post. I had all of that straight in my head at one point; clearly it all fell out again! There's a BBC Dan Cruikshank documentary on YouTube about the dynasty which I must get around to watching, maybe that will help.

One that got away two years ago (I think!) was Moccas in Herefordshire (Walker 1877), recently given a full historic restoration by Nicholsons. The case is by Giles Gilbet Scott Junior [correction: George Gilbert Scott Junior, oops!]: The church is a lovely tower-less three-chamber Norman building retaining many Norman features including its apse, set in lovely countryside. A gem. ETA: NPOR has perhaps an even more atmospheric photo:

Haven't had chance to watch this yet but I'm generally a fan of Jonathan Scott so must get around to it!!!

Leo van Doeselaar is titular organist at the Martinikerk in Groningen, organist at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw (did I spell that right?), and I think he is (was?) also organist at the Pieterskerk in Leiden, with its awesome 17th-Century van Hagerbeer organ, still with Blokwerk on the Hoofdmanuaal. He has quite a CV, to put it mildly! AllofBach is surely one of the best things to happen in my lifetime. (It's even a bit too good to be true, all being available freely to everyone.... I can't help wondering if there's someone a bit shady paying for it all, but that could just be me being paranoid!) They are using a nice selection of Dutch organists for the project, Doeselaar is perhaps their primus inter pares but there are others as well. I really enjoyed some I didn't know previously - for example Reitze Smits playing BWV662 on an organ not familiar to me or Bart Jacobs playing BWV545 at Haarlem or Dorien Schouten playing BWV578 on the Koororgel at Kampen. I also enjoy the interviews with the players about each piece. The concerted works are phenomenally good as well - we watched their Matthew Passion on Good Friday and it was sublime. ETA: Doeselaar does a lot of their continuo organ playing, often on 'real' organs rather than box organs - eg the short but spectacular motet Nun Ist Das Heil BWV50 at the Maartinikerk Groningen.

LOVE the Chorzempa recording and totally agree about the slightly slower tempo - it's got a real self-confidence about it. It reminds me of the time my wife and I popped in to Notre Dame de Paris in about 2004 on holiday; we were lucky to catch M Latry* playing this at the end of mass and it was utterly stunning and exhilarating - I wanted to shout 'Bravo' at the top of my voice by the end (managed not to, thank goodness!). It wasn't slow though! I noticed Latry often talks about the relationship between the organ and the cathedral itself - how the organ is the voice of the building - and it really was as if the whole cathedral was singing. Sorry, slightly off-topic. Again. * it could only have been him!!

Just wanted to say I really loved the Jonathan Scott recital, and I would have missed it but for this thread, so many thanks to P DeVile, and 'Bravo' to Mr Scott (on the off-chance he's reading this forum)! The playing is brilliant, the repertoire is brilliant, the video editing is brilliant, the organ sounds epic, and the verbal introductions to the pieces are perfectly pitched. Great stuff: looking forward to the next one!

FYI before and after pictures are on Facebook.