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heva

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Posts posted by heva

  1. I believe I'm right in saying that some of the pipework from the gigantic Sauer organ in the Jahrhunderthalle in Breslau (as it was then called) found its way into the Cathedral after the war.

     

    I have the the commemorative brochure from 1913 (Die Riesenorgel von Breslau) - 5 manuals, 200 speaking stops and 15,000 pipes. It was for the opening of this instrument that Max Reger composed his Introduction, Passacglia & Fugue in E minor Op 127.

     

    The Jahrhunderthalle, re-named Hala Stulecia, survived the war but is today presumably organ-less. The 65m wide concrete span of the dome must have been a remarkable feat of engineering for its time. It must be one of the few buildings in which both Adolf Hitler and Pope John-Paul II addressed the faithful.

     

    According to Wikipedia (German edition) the Cathedral organ has 150 speaking stops and 13,000 pipes.

     

    JS

     

    Read more about it here.

  2. Might be helpful for the B-major: play the chordpassages, like at the start, with both hands together and 'learn' the position(changes) of the hands carefully; breaking up the chords afterwards is rather easy then (OT: this also works for me on Messaien's 'Transport de Joie' - playing on two manuals not needed ;-) )

     

    And as always: learn the most difficult passages by heart (absolute notes as well as 'analytic') and play from memory.

  3. You need to be very proficient indeed to tackle the pieces you mention, and you should possess an assured technique. At the time of their composition (1912), Dupré's contemporaries pronounced the Op. 7 pieces "unplayable". Times change, though. The first piece by Dupré that my teacher gave me to learn was the fugue from Prelude and Fugue in F Minor, Op. 7 no. 2, but it was hard to resist dipping into the pieces on either side.

     

    For what it's worth, pieces he specifically wrote for didactic purposes include the 79 Chorales, Op. 28 "to prepare ...[the student] the better for the study of the Bach Chorales, which are too difficult for beginners."; and Le Tombeau de Titelouze, Op. 38 "...destined for those who are beginning the study of the organ...", the last piece of which is the dazzling toccata Placare Christe Servulis for the Feast of All Saints. My favourite 'easy' Dupré pieces are some of the beautiful versets from 15 Antiphons, Op. 18 (Vêpres du Commun des Fêtes de la Sainte Vierge).

     

    Don't forget that a profound piano technique was mandatory before taking up organstudies ...

  4. Pierre's spec would be a better organ for Bach than the 8-stop H&H I mentioned in the OP! Pierre's instrument at least has a decent chorus. The Harrison's biggest noise is the hooting great Open Diapason (with or without any other stops added - you can't hear them anyway).

     

    Surely one cannot expect any organ of eight ranks to be able to play "the best of the organ's repertoire", if by that one means works on a grand scale: such an instrument will always be limited to small scale works. I can't imagine there are many eight-rank organs anyone would choose to take Grade 8 on, for example - though I'd be interested to hear any suggestions.

     

    In any case, an organ in a small country church isn't really there to render the Great Works of the Organ Literature. It's there to accompany the choir and the congregation.

     

    Not that there is a choir at St Peter's these days. I suspect there was when the organ was installed. There are choir stalls that would accommodate a choir of about eight, and a selection of third-rate anthems going mouldy underneath a layer of bat droppings in a cardboard box at the side of the organ.

     

    The dedication recital was given by Mr Rooks of Blackburn Parish Church. I bet he was glad to get back to his Cavaille-Coll.

     

     

    OT, but: I see no problem in playing ie Bach's D-dur (the h-moll, or the e-moll) on 'my' 7 stop Hill - works fine , if different; but that may come by the splendid performance :)

  5. Take it seriously; the part like on the last page of Pr.in B (with the broken chord in sixteens - no score at hand now) may be a pain for the left hand; but as always your mileage may vary depending on your hands and the organ's action.

  6. These organs can play a lot; I've played 10 years on a (very late) 1-man. flemish baroque organ (Delhaye 1823). I've never missed the 2nd manual and/or separate pedal many colleagues said to prefer/need, the composition:

     

    Prestant 16 disc.

    Bourdon 16

    Prestant 8

    Holpijp 8

    Quintadeen 8

    Prestant 4

    Fluit 4

    Nasard 2 2/3

    Octaaf 2

    Veldfluit 2

    Mixtuur V

    Cornet V

    Trompet 8 disc.

    Trompet 8 bas

    Clairon 4 bas.

    Hobo 8 disc. (reserv.)

  7. Dieu Parmi Nous - not being an organist, nor ever having seen the score, how long should the final chord be held and why? I thought Mr Marshall held it too long, and although Latry's recording at Notre Dame is long it seems right. I heard him play it live one Christmas at N.D. and he could have held it for ever as far as I was concerned, the sheer emotion of it was tangible. I would be interested to hear any comments by performers here.

     

    A simple solution may be to count the exact not value of the final chord related to the speed of the preceding two or three pedal notes.

     

    This passage sounded absolutely overwhelming by John Scott on St.Paul's massive tutti (yes, with dome tuba's and royal trumpets!).

  8. If we are talking about the old Worcester organ in principle here, then Hope Jones work cannot truly be said to have been represented by it, in it's final state. Very much of that old organ was actually by Harrisons, and where not actually new pipework in 1927, was certainly revoiced dramatically by them. I could never think of it as a HJ, and I still consider that HJ treatment of the old Hill job was unforgivable. I have never thought seriously of HJ as a proper organ builder either, and the ridiculous notion that an organ does not need upperwork, not to mention his odd specifactions and stop names, leaves him, for me, as a curio. Some of his individual registers were interesting, and some actually quite fine. But a logical harmonic progression was lacking by and large in HJs organs, and the reliance on octave couplers severely misplaced.

     

    Worcester became a hybrid organ, with many builders having a go at it. It is so sad we lost the original organ by Hill, which is something to lament about. As much as I admired the old organ's Tutti, and indeed many individual registers, I never regarded it as faultless. It was far from perfect, and in any new home would require a pretty radical rethink if you ask me. The finer points of it (of which it did have several) I place squarely as Harrisons work, not HJ. Sorry, but that's my opinion!

     

    R

     

    Of course you're entitled to your opinion, but I've read (and fail to find it now) that H&H's work in the 1920'2 wasn't that 'big' as you claim it to be. So, a lot of HJ should/could have remained.

     

    Speeking of opinions, for me, scrapping an instrument with an historic importance as said organ in favour of a trendy new thing (described here already as being 'like' another one (Westminster Abbey) instead of being its unique self) is like a downright crime. Things like this happend in our country in the 1960's (I lament Anneessens 3x32' IIIP in Breda's former cathedral, scrapped and burned as it happened), yet we've learned (a bit); and I don't believe for a minute that this organ was beyond salvation/redemption.

  9. Dover published an 18th Century edition of Overtures by Handel arranged for keyboard which I've used from time to time.

     

    I think it's virtually impossible to destroy Bach's music if you play the notes he wrote, whatever instrument you play it on, but Handel, for me, doesn't work if it's played too slowly and heavily. It took me a long time to appreciate Messiah - in my youth the performances I heard were usually slow and turgid. So, not too many transcriptions for me, please, although Fireworks and Water Music work well.

     

    Stephen Barber

     

    Indeed: I remember listening to a 'composition' made of a Bach-notes arranged for barrelorgan where all the 4th quarters of every bar were removed and all bits pasted back together (leaving a 3/4 bar). You could definitely hear it WAS from Bach, but there was something strange going on ....

  10. I wonder if anyone on this thread has experience of the non-portable CF recorders? We are hoping to install a permanent recording system into the organ loft at Worcester - should be a great bonus for visiting choirs amongst many others - and are seriously considering the Tascam SS-CDR 1 which will record either to CD or to CF for editing on a computer. It looks a great bit of kit, but would welcome any first-hand experience in this area.

     

    As part of this setup, we are also considering a pair of AKG Perception 400 multi-pattern mics.....while a pair of 414s would be ideal, they are just too expensive for our budget. There are precious few reviews of these mics around, so perhaps someone here has experience.

     

    Best wishes,

     

    Adrian

     

    Why not getting HQ omni mics (Neumann/DPA/Schoeps)? spending so much on organs should enable a 3k euro for this ....

  11. Thanks for the last sentence; I think it has just answered a question for me. :unsure:

    I have a H4 which I use simply to place down the church/hall while I'm rehearsing, to check balances, etc. The recordings always sound very good through my headphones, even with the minimal thought I give to the H4 inbuilt mic placement!

    Last week I decided to keep a couple of these recordings, just for myself, and so burnt them to CD. One is OK, but the other has an audible distortion or 'hiss' on it, not constantly, only when there is any organ sound. The other is fine, very good, infact. :lol: The latter was recorded at wav 44.1KHz, the recording with the 'hiss' at 48KHz.

    For those of us who understand very little about these things can anyone explain it, please?

    And, can the 48KHz recording be converted so that it will burn to CD without the 'hiss'?

    Thanks!

    P.

     

    CD-audio is 16 bit at 44100kHz - you need to 'downsample' the 48kHz recording in order to get in to CD-audio. Audacity (mentioned here before) can do this for you (import the audio, change the project rate in the left under corner and export the audio as .wav).

     

    I've read on forums that the zoom's may produce a very (very) weak distortion in the signal; for me this was a reason not to buy one (because I somehow always manage to 'get' that and be irritated). Just wondering if users here have found it?

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