handsoff

This was a lovely occasion and the new book will be of great interest to anyone wishing to learn about the history of the three organs in this most beautiful and acoustically superb of buildings. It is available by post from the Abbey shop at £6.00 + P & P for anyone not able to visit in person. All of the organs were demonstrated to great effect by Carleton Etherington and it was especially exciting to hear the Grove Organ. The sound, from the Quire, was much better than one might have imagined and the pieces played well demonstrated the exceptional voicing of the instrument. The tuba is a sound to glad the heart, as are the strings and Pedal 16' reed. The Elliot organ is a joy to hear; a first for me. The whole event has encouraged me to keep the appropriate weekend in November free for the annual organ extravaganza. Mrs Handsoff came along and I think that she may have been sufficiently impressed (if not quite warm enough) to try more recitals. It was a pleasure to meet Nigel Allcoat again and to see Dennis O'Connor and friends once more. My thanks to Nigel for bringing this to our attention. I wonder if a day at Tewkesbury similar to the recent event at Worcester Cathedral might be a possibility? P

In response to my request, the Steward at Tewkesbury Abbey has kindly sent me a notice which I paste below. Saturday 21st February 2009, 10.45 a.m. “Tewkesbury Abbey: the Abbey Organs” The launch of the latest Friends’ guidebook, Tewkesbury Abbey: the Abbey Organs, will take place in the Quire of the Abbey on Saturday, 21st February at10.45 a.m. After a photography session with the Press, the main event will be an organ recital by the Abbey organist, Carleton Etherington, commencing at 11.00 a.m. He will play pieces on the Milton, Grove and Elliot organs, punctuated by short talks by the guidebook’s author, Nicholas Plumley. The recital programme will be available nearer the time. After the recital, the author will be pleased to sign copies of the guidebook, which will be available for sale @ £6.00 on the morning or in advance. The event will finish by 12.45 p.m. and is open to everyone without charge. Nicholas Plumley MA, FSA, FRSA, is a distinguished authority on the history of British organs and a designer of organ cases. His publications include books on The Organs of the City of London (1996) and The Organs of St Paul’s Cathedral (2001). His new guidebook on The Abbey Organs is a major addition to the literature about Tewkesbury Abbey.

I'm very sorry to hear that you're leaving us Nigel; I have much enjoyed your contributions. I shall certainly go across to Tewkesbury on the 21st and buy myself a birthday present (for 'tis on that day...) and will be very much looking forward to hearing the Grove Organ once again. P

....and quite superb it sounded too! I'm embarrassed to admit that I have forgotten the name of the gentleman to whom about I was speaking about the recordings of the Guilmant Sonatas from St.Ouen. Presto Classical have the 3 disc set in stock (unless they had only one set, which I've just ordered!). Here is a link... http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/wx/23980 P

I must add my thanks to all for a truly memorable day. The organ is simply brilliant and I thoroughly enjoyed Adrian and Chris's introduction and tour of the stops, not to mention the playing by board members. I'm glad that Contrabombarde had time to play the Final from Guilmant 1...mmmmm. The library visit was wonderful; it was amazing and a real privilege to see so many ancient documents, my thanks are due to David the Librarian for taking the time to answer all my questions and point out so many fascinating details. I could have spent hours in there. Non-cathedral highlight? The couple in the pub kindly vacating their large table when 6 of us were contemplating some furniture shifting! I'm only sorry that through a family commitment I had to miss Evensong. P

I should have said that I have the 3 disc set recorded in 1975/76. The sound is thrilling throughout but I do get the feeling on occasions that PC was not fully happy playing the written works of others; his unique talent meant that he somehow wanted to inject perhaps a little more of himself into the music than other performers. I certainly more enjoy hearing his recorded improvisations. I find that the JF recording, taking the 6 symphonies as a single entity, is more satisfying with the sound being possibly more as Vierne envisaged. Anyhoo, must get off to Worcester! P

It is the same recording from St.Ouen on both labels. I assume that Brilliant buy the rights after a certain period and re-release the discs at a budget price. Rather like a paperback book coming out some time after the hardback but printed by Penguin instead of the original publisher. I bought the Brilliant discs for £6.50 last year and play them very frequently. The ending of the Final from Symphonie 1 is almost beyond description but the whole set is quite superb and better, IMHO, than Pierre Cochereau's recording from ND de P. P

I was in Symphony Hall, Birmingham a couple of weeks ago, and whilst waiting for the recital to start thought about the mechanical console. This is a 4 manual instrument and the touch, without assistance, would presumably be very heavy. I played the 3 manual organ in Dorchester Abbey, Oxfordshire many years ago and it was virtually impossible to play on full organ, so heavy was the action. I'm fairly sure that Barker Levers are no longer in vogue so is any form of assistance used or have organ building techniques and materials improved to the point where none is necessary? Thank you. P

I don't think that this webcast has been mentioned here before. The whole service is broadcast but if you want to miss any out any particular item, each is individually clickable. After the final hymn, the Choir to Pub coupler (or as it used to be called in Warwick, the "Off to the Zetland") can be heard in use... The final voluntary is the Allegro Maestoso from Vierne II, complete with a good blast from the Trompeta Real towards the end. The whole is well worth a listen as the sound quality is better than one might expect.

Thanks Tony, I suspect that the use of the screen was a last-minute thing as on my previous visits a large pub-style TV screen was used. The chap was still setting up the hardware only a couple of minutes before the start time and I gather that he had been brought in with little notice so maybe in the panic.....? He was operating the system from behind the screen so the picture would have been OK to him. It was worth the error if only to hear a few of the whispered comments from some of the audience!

I wonder if this is a function of the perspex lighting gantry suspended from, and virtually hiding the best bits of, the ceiling and the new seating being less absorbent (in the acoustical sense!) than the old? I go to the lunchtime concerts probably three weeks out of four and think that one gets used to TT's style of registration; this is in no way a criticism just an observation. When Peter Gould played a quite superb recital late last year, the organ sounded totally different. Amongst many registrations differing from those that TT may have used, Peter favoured the 32' Bombardon at the end of really loud bits where TT might have used the Contra Trombone and this certainly sounded more French. I never tire of hearing the TH organ and am looking forward to next Monday's presentation. I'm sure that the Bombardon will feature in the Mulet.... I had decided that transcriptions of Bliss weren't really to my taste so went instead to Wednesday's recital by Paul Hale at Walsall Town Hall and enjoyed every moment. There was a much larger audience than is normal here, including the Mayor and Mayoress of Walsall, and despite the Great 8' Tromba and one of the mixtures being a bit of of tune (hardly surprising given the temperature in the hall) a good time was had by all. Paul's witty introductions to the music added greatly to the atmosphere and his flawless playing was a joy to hear. He ended with an encore by Nigel Ogden based on "The Saints Go Marching In" which included the first part of the Final from Widor V but with "The Saints" tune in the pedal. Terrific! There was a large screen showing both the manuals and pedals in turn but unfortunately this was achieved by a digital projector linked to the cameras on the console back-projecting onto a standard translucent screen. This meant that the right/left axis was transposed....

I'm with Vox on this. To me the sound of King's at the peak of its beauty is for me best exemplified by the Willcocks recordings of the Byrd 3, 4 & 5 part masses together with the Taverner "Le Roy" Kyrie (one of the best ever written IMHO) and "The Western Wynd" mass. The singing in this is, to me, perfect. The flowing individual voice parts in several sections are sung so crisply and with consummate empathy with the music. I really don't think that today's choir could come within a stone's throw of these 1960s performances. Then there are the definitive performances of Herbert Howells' canticles, RVW's Mass in G minor and , of course, Handel's Messiah. I will not willingly listen to any other recording of Messiah. How could the King's version be bettered? No warbling soprano (solo or chorus), a young James Bowman, Robert Tear and Ben Luxon with the choir doing the rest. The highlights for me have always been the superbly sung counter-tenor solos from JB performed with such verve, along with the choruses, of course. My 3 LP set was the first of my collection to go into honourable retirement when CDs began to infiltrate. The vinyls had been abused by, successively, Dansette, Garrard SP25, Fisher and finally Marantz decks (not that the Marantz, still in use, abused them much), and deserved their rest! The choir today seems unexceptional amongst its peers and the 2008 Christmas broadcasts left me feeling a little disappointed, as they have for several years now. I'm not exclusively a King's/Willcocks fan; the George Guest era at St John's was tremendously exciting both in the flesh and on disc. I loved the way Dr Guest could get the choir to produce an edgy tone for, let's say, Vittoria masses and then soften it to sing English music. I often did the "Sprint" between King's and John's evensongs and it was fascinating to compare the two choirs (and organs) in so short a period. I, like Vox, also admire Westminster Cathedral choir and have learned much from their recordings. P

Au contraire, I commend Penderyn Welsh whisky to all - a fine spirit introduced to me by a very distant Gog relative some years ago. Diolch yn fawr Uncle Dafydd!

I've just seen this... The service list for King's states that "during January and February the organ will be undergoing repair, and the solid-state piston action will be upgraded". This means nearly two months of mainly earlier music, either unaccompanied or with the chamber organ, including Byrd's entire Great Service. ...on a BBC messageboard. It may save someone an "on-spec" journey if the organ is the main focus of the visit.

Agreed. My comment was neither sneering nor contemptuous but based on a dislike of poor quality music badly performed.

I caught a few seconds while the kettle boiled - ugh! The piece I heard was a macoronic take on the Agnus Dei, quote..."Agnus Day, (sic) you take away...." sung to a horribly mawkish tune with the singers putting a little turn on the leading edge of every note. I think that even the piano was actually a piano substitute. Glasgow Episcopal Cathedral next week.

I haven't had personal experience of a CRB check but my wife, who works in the office of an establishment looking after elderly people in sheltered housing, has to complete one every few years. She has no option; if she were to decline then her contract would be terminated. It's not to protect only children but any vulnerable person even if the personal contact with the people adjudged potentially vulnerable is limited. Maybe you have an alto like "the owl that hoots in the desert" in the choir and he is judged vulnerable to abuse of one sort or another!

That'll buy the participants in March a very nice supper

Paul Hale is giving a lunchtime recital in Walsall Town Hall on Wednesday 21 January at 13.00. This is a lovely hall (inside at least) with a nice 4 manual instrument last rebuilt by our hosts. If past performance is a guide to the future there will be about 16 in the audience so if if any local members can make it, I'm sure that their presence would be appreciated. http://npor.rcm.ac.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?...ec_index=D00428

This is a very generous offer and I should love to attend. Thank you and welcome to the forum. That's one hell of a first post! P

If you, like me, did not get a new calendar for the study wall at Christmas then may I suggest that produced by Allegro Music at Worcester is well worth a look? There are some lovely photographs from mostly rural churches, but including the new Quire Organ at Worcester Cathedral. There's one instrument fairly near me that will be investigated soon...

I don't recall having seen or heard this before. It's one mighty trumpet..... http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=oaY3ORoX6Vw&...feature=related

Fascinating - I've never seen such a coupler in use before. Wouldn't something similar to this improvisation be wonderful at the Last Night of the Proms?

I agree to some extent, but had it not been for Messiaen's centenary there would have been a lot less. I keep an eye on the Radio Times and there is very rarely a listed organ piece. Compare that to the amount of piano and even harpsichord music shown. I know that some of the compilation programmes such as "Breakfast" play organ music but it is still quite rare and the music itself is entirely predictable. When I was student in the 1970s, there were weekly recitals, sometimes live and sometimes recorded. The Proms apart, when last was an organ recital broadcast in the daytime? To be perfectly honest, for my own part I don't much care because my CD collection covers pretty much everything I want to hear but I do feel that a regular slot on the radio would do a lot to bring the public's attention to the instrument; something that I think all board members would agree is desirable.