Paul Walton

Rushworths were doing the Stockport rebuild at the same time as the Abbey work. My father-in-law (Michael English) was organist of Stockport at the time, and part-way through the rebuild got the phone call of most organists' dreams - "We've got a 32' reed, do you want it?" Paul

That's Back to the Future!

Franck's metronome markings, as adjusted by Tom van Eck (see above), with the original figures Franck wrote in brackets and comparisons with some other players are: Prelude, Fugue and Variation Prelude: dotted crotchet = 48-51 (72) / 52-54 (Langlais) / 54 (Marchal) / 60 (Tournemire) / 63 (Dupré) Lento: crotchet = 40-42 (60) / 48-58 (Marshal) / 58 (Dupré) / 66 (Langlais) Fugue: crotchet = 90-92 (112) / 88 (Marshal, Tournemire and Dupré) / 100 (Langlais) Variation: as Prelude, except Marshal is 56 Pastorale: Andantino: crotchet = 54-56 (76) / 50 (Tournemire recording) / 54-58 (Marshal) / 56 (Langlais) / 58 (Tournemire edition) / 60 (Dupré) Quasi allegretto: crotchet = 104 (126) / 100 (Tournemire edition) / 104 (Marshal) / 108 (Dupré and Langlais) / 120 (Tournemire recording) Andantino: as before except Langlais is 69 Paul

Rollin Smith (in 'Playing the Organ Works of César Franck) gives the following speeds, from editions (Tournemire and Dupré) and recordings (Marchal and Langlais): Allegro maestoso Tournemire: crotchet = 132 (Tempo fluctuations are left to the player's discretion) Dupré: crotchet = 112 Marchal: crotchet = 126 Langlais: crotchet = 126-132 bar 305 Tournemire: crotchet = 132 Dupré: crotchet = 132 Più mosso Marchal: crotchet = 108* Langlais: crotchet = 160 * Smith says 'Dupré, Marchal and Langlais interpreted the ending considerably faster than the rest of the piece', so this figure may be a misprint (crotchet = 180?) Regarding the controversial metronome markings, William Whitehead wrote an article 'New Perspectives in Franck Studies' in the 2003-4 RCO Journal, quoting a hypothesis proposed by Tom van Eck that Franck was reading his metronome wrongly - from beneath the wedge rather than above - and his markings should be therefore be reduced by 20%. (The same theory has been proposed for the metronome markings in Vierne 3, which many find ludicrous.) Franck's tempo of minim = 100 would come out as minim = 76-78 - still faster than all the interpretations above. In general, adjusting Franck's metronome markings in this way and comparing them with the speeds of the 4 players mentioned above show that Franck's tempi were more extreme - the slows slower and the fasts faster. Paul

Yes, it's Herald, and yes it's the Langlais Trois Paraphrases. http://www.heraldav.co.uk/showdisk.php?diskNum=248 Great recording - but I'm biased as I duetted the organ part to the Hakim Kyrie and produced the rest! Paul

It was Cymbel from when I first played in 1997, and I can't think I've seen anything in print calling it anything else. Norman Cocker's original scheme, for those interested, was as follows: Pedal 1. Double open wood 32 2. Open wood 16 (from 1) 3. Open metal 16 4. Bourdon 16 (from Screen Gt 59) 5. Salicional 16 (from Chancel Gt 42) 6. Octave wood 8 (from 1) 7. Octave metal 8 (from 3) 8. Principal 8 9. Bass flute (from 59) 10. Salicet (from 42) 11. Octave quint 5 1/3 12. Super octave 4 (from 8) 13. Fifteenth 4 14. Flute 4 (from 59) 15. Mixture (17 19 22) 16. Scharf (19 22 26 29 - from 11, 13 and 15) 17. Double ophicleide 32 18. Ophicleide 16 (from 17) 19. Clarion 8 (from 17) Enclosed Pedal 20. Viole (from Solo 86) 21. Dulciana (from Sw 68) 22. Dulciana principal (from 68) 23. Posaune (from Ch 38) 24. Hautboy (from Sw 80) 25. Octave hautboy (from 80) 26. French horn (from Solo 98) 27. Orchestral tuba (from Solo 99) 28. Orchestral clarion (from 99) (Pedal scheme retained by Allan Wicks exactly, except the Bourdon rank is not borrowed) Choir 29. Cantabile diapason 8* 30. Viola da gamba 8 31. Echo dulciana 8 32. Stopped flute 8* 33. Unda maris (tenor C) 8 34. Flauto amabile 4* 35. Clarinet 8* 36. Diapason stentor 8 37. Doppelflöte 8 38. Contra posaune 16* 39. Posaune 8* 40. Octave posaune 4* 41. Tuba magna 8 (from Solo 100) Trem Oct / Sub / Unison off Chancel Gt on Ch / Screen Gt on Ch * retained by Allan Wicks, the rest replaced with Gemshorn 4 / Twelfth / Fifteenth / Tierce / Twenty-second Chancel Great 42. Double salicional 16 43. Diapason (no.1) 8 44. Diapason (no.2) 8 45. Clarabella 8 46. Principal 4 47. Salicet 4 48. Waldflöte 4 49. Twelfth 2 2/3 50. Fifteenth 2 51. Tierce 1 3/5* 52. Mixture (19 flat21 22)* 53. Contra posaune (from Ch 38) 54. Posaune (from Ch 39) 55. Octave posaune (from Ch 40) 56. French horn (from Solo 98) 57. Orchestral tuba (from Solo 99) 58. Tuba magna (from Solo 100) Oct / Sub / Unison off * replaced by Allan Wicks with Nineteenth / Mixture (22 26 29). Nineteenth transposed to Seventeenth in late 1990s. Mixture replaced with Fourniture (19 22 26 29) in 2000. Screen Great 59. Bourdon 16 60. Major diapason 8 61. Geigen diapason 8 62. Claribel flute 8 63. Octave 4 64. Flûte harmonique 4 65. Rauschquint (12 15) 66. Harp celesta (tenor C) 8 67. Harp celesta 4 (from 66) not affected by octave couplers (Screen Gt excluded from final scheme - I believe on cost grounds) Swell 68. Contra dulciana 16 69. Diapason 8 70. Echo salicional 8 71. Vox angelica (AA sharp) 8* 72. Dulciana 8 (from 68) 73. Dulciana céleste (tenor C) 8 74. Lieblichgedeckt 8 75. Principal 4 76. Suabe flute 4 77. Fifteenth 2 78. Twenty-second 1* 79. Mixture (17 19 22 26 29)* 80. Contra hautboy 16 81. Hautboy 8 (from 80) 82. Double trumpet 16 83. Trumpet 8 84. Clarion 4 85. French horn 8 (from Solo 98) Trem Oct / Sub / Unison off * replaced by Allan Wicks with Larigot 1 1/3 / Sesquialtera (12 17) / Mixture (19 22 26 29 33). Mixture replaced in 2000 with Mixture (19 22 26 29). Solo 86. Contra viole 16 87. Viole d'orchestre 8 88. Viole céleste (CC) 8 89. Harmonic flute 8* 90. Viole octaviante 4 91. Concert flute 4 92. Nazard 2 2/3 93. Piccolo 2* 94. Tierce 1 3/5* 95. Septième 1 1/7* 96. Orchestral oboe 8 97. Vox humana 8 98. French horn 8 99. Orchestral tuba 8 100. Tuba magna 8 (unenclosed) Trem Oct / Sub / Unison off * replaced by Allan Wicks with Cymbel (26 29 31 - strings) / Spitzflöte 8 / Blockflute 2 / Flageolet 1 Extra octave of pipes at the top for all stops except screen Gt, Solo reeds and Ch clarinet.

The organ is excellent for accompanying, but is not without its problems: lack of anything speaking into the Nave (except Ped reeds!) to support congregations poor chorus work (though the mixtures were replaced in my time as organ scholar and the 2's were meant to be next) scattergun approach to mutation layout (Nazard, Tierce and Larigot are all on different manuals) lack of major solo reed (the Tuba that Norman Cocker specified, presumably for his own Tune, was removed in the late 70s) lack of manual gravitas at 16' The scheme drawn up in the 1980s sought to correct the first three (not sure about the other 2, so long since I saw it) but completely ignored the strengths of the current instrument (as listed by Ian somewhere above). I would imagine this is different - looking at instruments Paul Hale has consulted on, I can't see him throwing out a good Romantic war-horse for a squeak-machine. However, if they are, I'm first in the queue for the French Horn! Paul Walton

Kevin Bowyer, on his last Sunday at St. Mary's Warwick, as the priest was ascending the steps of the pulpit for the sermon, played the theme to Mastermind!

if only . . .

I can't resist relaying a conversation I was told about between a resident and a visiting organ tutor at the RNCM (who had better remain nameless - let's call them A and B!). B was presenting an argument similar to that which PD is gently mocking above. A threw down a challenge - he would take B on a tour of Manchester's organs, not let B see the console, but sit in the church and listen to A playing, and from that would have to judge whether the organ had mechanical action or not. B's response - 'Ah, but you'll vary your touch so I can't tell'.

I've worked a lot with Oxford, and some with Worcester. Personally I find the Oxford infinitely preferable - there are some inconsistencies and occasional oddities which benefit from a bit of re-pointing, but far less so than Worcester. Worcester treats every single verse as 2 distinct halves, with a break at the colon, regardless of the sense of the words and the number of chords you're then left with for unimportant words in the second half (e.g. 3 chords on 'and'!). I don't know whether yours is choral or congregational use. The Choral Psalter, produced by Thalben Ball, is worth looking at - but, as the title suggests, it couldn't be used congregationally. Most chants are new (but usually simple) but are written with the words of each psalm in mind - not only in terms of mood but structure of the chant. So verses that are complicated in Oxford become less so by having (e.g.) 4 chords in each quarter of the chant rather than the usual 4-6-4-6. Paul

So which Ives was it who wrote a setting of Missa Brevis? The Cathedral's service sheet only said "Ives". Also, is / was this the same "Ives" who wrote a piece called the "Intrada"? Heard that in the Cathedral last year and am thinking I may try and learn it when I get the time to do so. Grayston Ives for both pieces. I don't know of any liturgical music by Charles Ives but someone out there may know more than I. Grayston Ives' 'Listen sweet dove' was once announced here as being by Charles Ives - I was sorely tempted to play the left hand a semitone higher but resisted! Paul

It's in the published St. Paul's Cathedral Psalter. Otherwise, someone at Southwell Minster or Rochester Cathedral may be able to send or direct you towards a copy. It's not originally for Psalm 2 (I think it's for 66 but not quite sure) - the one (by Ashfield) originally for Psalm 2 manages to go from C sharp minor to G/C minor and back again, with a top F sharp in the last phrase! Paul

I'm in need of 14 copies of the Monteverdi Vespers and wondered if anyone knew of a source. It's the Novello Denis Stevens edition, but it must be the 1994 revised edition, not the 1960 original, which doesn't contain the Sonata Sopra Sancta Maria (amongst other things). Any offers of help / pointers towards copies gratefully received. Paul Walton

Let he who is without sin cast the first stone!

Absolutely right. Paul

Though I note the list of actions 'Victorian tracker action, trigger swell pedals, balanced swell pedals, electro pneumatic, direct electric, barker lever etc etc' that 'If done properly, they can all work very well' doesn't include tubular pneumatic . . . Paul

Yes! Paul

The mechanical console at Symphony Hall has electric coupling (as do most big, new, supposedly mechanical action organs these days!), though Pos-Gt can be switched between mechanical and electric. I think people are coming round to the fact that mechanical action and the 'symphonic' type of organ don't necessarily go together. Am I right in thinking the Willis firm has built or rebuilt some organs with Barker lever recently? Cavaille-Coll was known to have thought Barker lever the best way round the heavy touch and didn't think much of pneumatic actions - sensible man! Paul

I'm particularly interested in this point. At Bristol, virtually any pipe longer than 4 feet is not on a main soundboard, the Pedal stops are spread around all over the place, and the bottom 2 octaves of the Medium Open are in a different case front to the rest of the Great. As many will know, the organ has problems in terms of co-ordination with itself, but I'm sure no-one would disagree that the blend of the instrument is unquestionable. Paul

Complemented borrowings I find very useful - at Bristol the Choir Dulciana 16' is borrowed onto the Pedal and is very useful to go under just the Swell strings rather than the Pedal Bourdon. Until 1970, it was playable on the pedals at 8' pitch as well - we've often thought this would be a useful softer alternative to the Pedal 8' flute and is something we would reinstate if we could. Conversely, at Manchester the Pedal Bourdon is quite buried and hence very soft - for anything other than the softest Swell strings, the Dulciana 16' (borrowed from the Swell) was always used as well in my time there. In large Harrisons, the Solo 16's are often borrowed onto the Pedal. If, in particularly gritty psalm verses, you find yourself drawing the Solo Sub Octave instead of the 16's (on the manual), the 16's are there on the pedal so is no problem with the otherwise missing bottom octave. Great reed transfers are incredibly useful on Romantic organs as the Great 16' reed is more likely to be the Bach pedal reed of choice than the actual Pedal reed - certainly at Bristol where the Trombone is far too big at the bottom end (and speaks much less promptly than the Great reeds) - what we would give for a transfer! Paul Walton (Assistant Organist, Bristol Cathedral)

The other correction in Carus is bar 4 - rhythm should be the same as bar 31. Paul Walton

From its location on the console plan in Organists' Review, I suspect the new stop is to be a Clarion.

Though one could be the reaction of hearing the other . . .

The Principal Pipe Organs organ will be totally new but I don't know when the installation will start. The haskelled bass of the bottom octave of the Ped Open 16' (added by Nicholsons in 1990) may be retained but that's it. The present organ is desperately inadequate for supporting congregational singing (or playing virtually any piece of organ music convincingly!) - I'm sure the new one will be suitably scaled for the building. Paul Walton (another old boy of KES)