davidh
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Posts posted by davidh
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It is known that one of the conditions for taking Buxtehude's place was that the successful candidate should marry his daughter.
We know that she was still unmarried at the late age of 30.
We know that Mattheson and Handel who considered the job visited Lubeck and left again very quickly.
That the marriage condition is what drove them away is only speculation, as is the guess that she was unattractive.
I must retract the statement that the marriage condition drove them away. Mattheson wrote that "We [him and Handel] travelled together ... We listened to that esteemed artist in his St Mary's church with dignified attention. However, since he had proposed a marriage condition in the matter, for which neither of us expressed the slightest inclination, we took our leave ..."
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Please forgive a slightly OT reponse. I am trying to find some online video of congregational singing in German churches, preferably of the Lutheran chorales. There's probably something on Youtube and I'm not finding the right search terms to locate them, so any suggestions would be welcome. Thanks.
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That persuaded me, for once, that the accordion IS a musical instrument.
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I have just found this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8-oI3NaUeE
which claims to be "A vocal arrangement by C.P.E. Bach of his father's unfinished final contrapunctus from Art of Fugue. Unusual and affecting."
It's quite pleasant, a la Swingle Singers style, but what are the words, did CPEB really make this arrangement, and if so, where is it published?
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If you have time, search the Dutch repertoire. Improvisations (often available later as sheet music transcriptions) and variations on Psalm tunes (the Geneva Psalms) are a substantial part of any Dutch recitalist's repertoire. Some are very clearly developments of JSB's methods, and others verge on theatre organ style.
Many can be heard on the 24-hour 365-day website http://www.musicareligiosa.nl/defaultOrgel.aspx
Look out especially for Jan Zwart, Feike Asma (remarkable perhaps for the variety of his work in this area), John Propitius and many others, according to your taste.
If you would like more details, then PM me.
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MM wrote :I have been going through hundreds of old slides recently, and converting them to digital images as a way of preserving them.
That is only a temporary step. Some of the old photographic prints have survived for more than a century and remain in good condition, and printed material on good quality paper has a life measured in centuries.
Digital media can be very shortlived, for example recordable CDs may become unreadable within 5 years, and we don't know how long other media will last. There is also the issue of the technology that can access these media. In 1986 the BBC started the Domesday Project, with data collected on BBC micros and transferred to a laser disk. Only 15 years later there were no readers capable of handling the data, and an engineer had almost to reinvent some of the system to make the data accessible. Who has a punched card reader, who can read computer tapes from 20 years ago, who can read 8 inch floppy disks, 5 1/4 floppies, or 3 1/2 floppies. CDs for computer storage already show signs that they will soon be on the way out.
So, to preserve data on digital media it is necessary to recopy them from time to time well within the life expectancy of the media, and to retransfer them from older to newer media when technology changes.
Meanwhile, our local photographers (the oldest in England) has glass negatives dating back 150 years, and still capable of yielding prints which compare favourably with most modern monochrome images.
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This moves us on to another set of common beliefs which, whether true or not, do not rest on any positive evidence. First of all, the ox and ass around the manger, the conventional nativity scene, which was perhaps first dreamed of by Francis of Assisi. The magi as "kings", unless the verse about "kings to thy rising" is assumed to apply to them. The assumption that the magi went to the stable. What weight should one place on Greek words for "baby" and "young child", and the statement that the magi went to the "house", not the inn. What about the year of the birth, estimated by Dionysius Exiguus? (Denis the Dwarf)
Whether or not one assumes that the birth narratives are "gospel truth" or not, many beliefs about Christmas are much later traditions. So while we can be pretty sure about Christmas music, we can't be so sure of the words that go along with it.
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Easter Saturday was surely 21st April in 1759.
It depends whether you use the Julian or Gregorian calendar. Which was in use in London at the time?
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There has been some discussion recently of Buxtehude’s “elderly ugly daughter” and I have questioned on what evidence her “ugliness” has been assumed. There are other beliefs, positively stated in many books (most of which might have copied others without checking facts) which are based on assumption and not on firm evidence.
So when did Handel die?
A newspaper of the time announced his death on Good Friday, 13th April 1759.
According to the New Grove he died at 8 am on Saturday 14th April
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According to the Dictionary of National Biography “died at his home in Brook Street, Hanover Square, Westminster, about 8 a.m. on 14 April (Easter Saturday).”
According to Stanley Sadie, “about eight o’clock in the morning”.
According to Oxford Music Online, “He died at ‘a little before Eight o’clock’ on 14 April.“
According to Edward Dent, he “died during the night between the 13th and 14th of April.”
Who should we believe?
The newspaper was premature; he was failing rapidly and expected to die during the day, and the paper, not wishing to miss a scoop, announced his death prematurely. Yet perhaps it was accurate.
He took leave of his friends on Friday morning, and said that he desired to see nobody except the doctor, the apothecary, and James Smyth. At 7 o’clock in the evening he took leave of Smyth and said “We shall meet again”, but told his servant not to let him “come to him any more, for that he had now done with the world.” His servant was the last person to see him alive that evening and apparently the servant went to see him next at 8 am on Saturday and found him dead.
Did he die before midnight, on the 13th, or in the early morning of the 14th?
So, Edward Dent who cautiously wrote ““died during the night between the 13th and 14th of April.” is the only writer who did not go beyond the known facts.
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We know nothing of Handel's "diet", as he jealously guarded his privacy. Hamburgers, vegetables, or perhaps nothing at all. There has been a lot of speculation, and attempts to find clues about his sexuality from analyses of his work. They probably tell us more about the analysts than about Handel.
Men have different preferences for women - some men prefer blondes - and the fact that one man finds a particular woman unattractive is no guarantee that another man might not find her very attractive.
Buxtehude died on 9th May 1707. Johann Christian Schieferdecker was appointed on 23rd June to replace him, and so when he married Anna Margreta Buxtehude on 5th September he already had the job, and Buxtehude pére was not present to enforce any marriage condition. Perhaps JCS liked the look of her!
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It is known that one of the conditions for taking Buxtehude's place was that the successful candidate should marry his daughter.
We know that she was still unmarried at the late age of 30.
We know that Mattheson and Handel who considered the job visited Lubeck and left again very quickly.
That the marriage condition is what drove them away is only speculation, as is the guess that she was unattractive.
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Here's an offering for the next volume:
A local church celebrated Independence Day with some light-hearted organ duets. The two male organists told us that people who played duets had to be very close to each other, and said that they were married - but not to each other! One wife banged a dustbin lid to accompany the Liberty Bell.
I attended with a friend who prefers greater formality. The next week we went to another concert and one of the two organists was selling tickets at the door. He recognised my friend (who did not recognise him) and asked him, "What did you think of the recital last week?" to which he got the reply, "It was mercifully short."
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A few days ago a new multimedia set of DVD, CD and booklet appeared about the Van Hagerbeer/Schnitger and Van Covelens organs in the Laurenskerk at Alkmaar. Anyone who has previously bought the products of Fugue State Films will need no further recommendation; this set is as good as any of its predecessors.
The DVD begins with a 30 minute documentary of the Van Covelens organ of 1511, the oldest playable organ in the Netherlands (although some other organs contain some older pipes).
Then 62 minutes on the larger organ, integrating religious, artistic, architectural and musical history to give a very comprehensive account.
An interview with Piet Kee follows - it's good to see him and hear him well over 50 years since I first bought an LP of his playing at Alkmaar.
Finally 60 minutes of demonstrations.
The commentaries are in English and Dutch (with subtitles in English, Dutch and German). If in any way this DVD surpasses the earlier ones, it may be in the quality of the photography, for which one might credit those who filmed the production, or the quality of light in the buildings.
The history covers some aspects of the organs which have been altered, and there are additional performances from the Pieterskerk in Leiden and the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam which retain some features lost from Alkmaar.
The CD is just 1 second short of 75 minutes with music from Sweelinck, van Noordt, Schuyt, Weckmann, JS Bach, Bastiaans and Piet Kee. The accompanying booklet of course lists the tracks, comments on the composers, gives the specifications and the registrations used.
A demonstration clip may be found at http://youtu.be/Ik3hcTdmJdA
and the set may be bought from http://www.fuguestatefilms.co.uk/shop/ (£31.50 in UK money)
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I suppose that one might ask whether the organ as built was the builder's ideal, or a compromise to fit the available space or budget. I see nothing wrong with adding new material that essentially completes the original ideal; players don't have to use the new material if they don't want, and with luck the additional pipes will not compromise the original action or the relationship of older pipes to their windchests. Modifying the choir may be a far more controversial matter.
For those who read Dutch, or whose browser provides some sort of translation. see
http://www.cathedralorgan.nl/site/index.cfm
The bottom tab takes you to a summary in English.
Otherwise search "Hooglandse Kerk Leiden" on this (the Mander) website. Part of the intention here is to complete what Willis would have done given the opportunity.
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I will just repeat a few lines that I posted some while ago:
I am fortunate enough to quite frequently worship in other congregations, and I find the chatter before and after the service quite distracting, especially when the organist is annoying the talkers by playing music.
It seems to me that either the organ music is mere entertainment, in which case it has no place in worship, or else it is a part of the worship and deserves to be treated as such. Few people would consider holding private conversations during the prayers, the bible readings or the sermons.
If I were a member of the clergy (and I am sure many people are glad that I am not), I would certainly lay down the law on a lack of reverence in any part of the service. -
Dave replied with some plausible suggestions, although none of them solved the problem.
I emailed Augsburg to ask if they had any copies left, or if they could supply a scan. Within less than two hours they had scanned their file copy for me and emailed the images, charging only 50 cents a page. Quite exceptional service.
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Thank you for the suggestion - I have emailed Dave.
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Does anyone know where I might obtain a copy of "Twelve Chorale Trios" by Ludwig Ernst Gebhardi (1787-1862)? They were published by Minneapolis : Augsburg Pub. House, [©1971].
While I am hoping to get the whole publication, my special interest is "Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan"
David
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Try "Until I find you" by John Irving - from Amazon, where you will find a summary, or from other booksellers. A review says, "John Irvin's new novel UNTIL I FIND YOU covers the life of the protagonist Jack Burns from the age of four until his early 30's. The illegitimate son of William (R.C.O.), a church organist and lover of tattoos (an ink addict), and "Daughter Alice," a fulltime tattoo artist-- her speciality is a tattoo called "Rose of Jericho"-- and sometime prostitute, Jack spends over 800 pages searching for his absent father."
A rather grubby story, but there are many references to visits to organs in many churches in different countries.
"He would go on until his body was a sheet of music and every inch was a note ...".
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If you can't beat them, join them! There are plenty of carillon pieces, not just the dreaded Vierne. Perhaps Lebegue's "Les cloches".
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Contact http://www.sibelius.com/cgi-bin/helpcenter/chat/chat.pl?groupid=3 where there are many people who can probably help you.
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Provided with a basic music education, I was taught that it was usually good manners for a piece to return to the home key as it closed, with the assurance that listeners with a good sense of pitch would feel uncomfortable if it ended anywhere else.
I have now heard a lot of Dutch hymn singing, with the organist raising the last verse by a semitone, improvisations doing the same, and published versions of improvisations confirming that they really did end a semitone high. Now this adds nicely to the excitement of the build-up at the end, but it seemed to me a rather cheap and unworthy effect.
Recently I was given a book, with a title which sounds like a post-mortem report, "The Organs of J S Bach", and I learn that in Altenburg he started a hymn in D minor, raised it to E flat minor on the second verse and finished with the third verse in E minor. A witness at the time said "only a Bach could do this and only the organ in Altenburg. Not all of us are or have that."
(Presumably the limitations on many organs of the time were due to the temperament which would not work in all of those three keys. The organ there is now tuned in Neidhardt I, but the original temperament is not known. Of course no such problem exists with equal temperament.)
How many organists elsewhere do this, and is the practice common?
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Don't shoot the tuner - he is doing his best. The stiff strings of a piano guarantee enough inharmonicity to ensure that the instrument is not in tune with itself.
According to simple acoustic theory, an organ pipe should not be in tune with itself, either. A physical pipe length is constant but different harmonics imply different end corrections, so should not be perfectly in tune with each other. Fortunately a more sophisticated theory takes into account phase locking which reduces inharmonicity to a very low level.
Royal Festival Hall in the news
in General discussion
Posted
For UK readers, today's (14th March) Guardian centre-page spread is an excellent picture of the RFH console.