sbarber49

No. I'd like a 2' flute somewhere. I must say.

Well, I'm playing the first movement of the Elgar sonata in a concert next month and I'm going to use the Large Open for that! It does sound right. I haven't yet played any Bach with it yet - even the end of a Fugue.

I wonder how Harrisons, in 1917, expected the build up to go. At what stage would the Large Open have been added. When Mark Venning from Harrisons came to hear the organ he gently castigated me for eschewing it until I had added everything else, including the swell octave coupler. He said that I should play it the way Arthur Harrison intended it to be played. (ie USE it!) I know what organists in the '70s did, Pierre (that was when I was growing up), but that is a different era. Another question: were any organs built before, say, 1850, or have any in the last 25 years or so, where the principal chorus is not based on the main 8' diapason/principal (or 16')?

There's an audio sample from a box organ on this page. Very chiffy. http://www.skrabl.co.uk/boxorgan.htm Though there are more here, of course: http://www.skrabl.com/en/glasba.htm

Thanks for all that. Obviously I do understand, vaguely, the principle behind it. You have confirmed for me that it is indeed a cut and dried matter. Mind you, surely the organ builders, at least for a good part of the last century in this country, didn't expect their organs to be played in this way. Wouldn't organists have been more inclined to build up the chorus by adding 8s then 4' etc. Even in Bach. I have hacked my way through a good lot of Bach in various cathedrals (playing for a visiting choir) and I wouldn't I wouldn't necessarily expect to be able to just use one 8' stop. (Although I would do so for preference if I thought the sound was right.) Wasn't it a story about William Harris (I think): about to embark on a piece of Bach he pulled on all the 8 foots, paused and then saying "ah, baroque" added a 4 foot?

I occasionally use it as a solo stop in hymns, usually tenor register, but "beautiful"? - I think not! Nor do I use it for a C-C Jeux de fond: I tend to use the small open, Hohl Flute and Stopped Diapason coupled to the swell open. Sometimes omitting the Hohl Flute. The big open is just TOO big (not to mention foghorn-like.) I do sometimes use it as part of the Full Organ in English music (normally with full swell and octave) However my question is: how do you know which stop(s) a chorus is based on: can it a matter of judgement/taste? Is there room for a difference of opinion? After all, 2 organists might not use the same 8' stop as the basis for a baroque chorus - it might be 2 stops, indeed. Or it might be the 16 foot. Does it only apply to a Baroque chorus? I use different foundation stops for different types of sound.

It's the hearing rather than the seeing. I was thinking of doing some of Bédard's Duet Suite for organ and piano, which is a great piece if you like Bédard (which I do, in moderation). The organ and piano are some distance apart, so I wouldn't attempt to do it unless I could hear the piano. The quality of the sound doesn't matter - just being able to hear enough to co-ordinate. (No sight line on this occasion.) I just wondered if a Baby Monitor would pick up enough sound. There is also the advantage that I would be able to hear what people were saying when they thought I wasn't listening!

What are they intended for? If not chorus use then presumably as solo stops?

Yes, but how do you know? I play a fine Harrison from 1917. I wouldn't dream of using the large Open Diapason as a basis for a baroque chorus (in fact very rarely use it at all) but might Arthur Harrison have considered the chorus to based on it? I'm wondering if it's an exact science - it always seems to be stated as an incontrovertible fact, rather than an opinion, that the chorus of such and such an organ is based on, for example, the small open or the 16 foot.

Since I'm at home with a cold: I've wanted to ask this for years, but was embarrassed to show my ignorance. Getting too old now to worry! There are often references to the chorus on a manual being "based on" a certain stop. Does this involve a subjective judgement or is there a technical definition. Sorry about spelling of topic title. I don't know how to edit this.

Apologies if this has been discussed before. Has anyone any experience of wireless microphone and speaker for portable and instant use. The purpose would be to relay the sound of a choir to the organist in those situations where co-ordination is difficult. I once used a pair of walkie-talkies in Amiens cathedral for the Vierne mass and they worked brilliantly - except that one of the sopranos had to hang it round her neck and when she stopped singing it cut out! Has anyone tried a baby monitor? Or any other suggestions that do not involve cables or vast expense? I should have put this in the "General" section but don't know how to move it.

How about this. (Mind you I'm sure it must have been on before - if so, apologies.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEIjP_k-u_g

I am going to Paris for 3 days in half term. I will be there on Sunday, 1st November - All Saints' Day. I am not bothered about going up to an organ loft and I don't want (with my wife in tow!) to rush around Paris on Sunday morning trying to hear as many organs as possible. Just one service. So where should I go? I want good organ playing - spectacular if possible. Good singing would be a bonus (but in Paris? Even now?), though I would be very happy with some congregational plainsong. I was thinking of trying Notre Dame but was told by someone who went recently that, though the organ was good, the vocal side was "a girl singing into a microphone". Is there a website where I could find out if there are any recitals? By the way, I have much enjoyed the Notre Dame CD recommended on another topic - love the antiphonal plainsong and grand organ played by Cochereau. But I'd forgotten just how bad the singing used to be - how could they put this on a CD as representing Notre Dame's liturgy? Stephen Barber

Thanks, En Chamade, I've ordered the CD. Thanks also, Handsoff or P (sorry, I don't actually know who anyone is - one or two exceptions) I will also look at the Solstice site. Bach at Notre-Dame?? What does it sound like? I have seen a youtube video of Vierne and I used to have an old LP of Cochereau playing the Toccata in C and, presumably, other things, but seem to remember that is was fairly grotesque. I remember now, there was Valet will ich.... in D - very slow. Stephen

I have to have these CDs. What are they called and where can I find them? (I'm sure it's been on this board a few times already - if so apologies.)

Is that the famous Toccata in F sharp? Ah just realised we're talking about manuals, not pedals!

Yes, it is. Unless the composer has been dead for 70 years it is. Or is it for "private study"?

No answer at Chimes this morning so I think I'll practise this morning and go down for the Prom later. Thanks for the help - I'd have ended up looking at computers on the Tottenham Court Road!

Good point! Anyone know?

I'm in London tomorrow so checking on shops for organ and choral music. Has anyone anything to add to what has already been said. How do the Chimes shops compare to each other? Are they worth visiting for organ music? How do they and Chappells compare? (I did Foyles earlier in the month.)

I once entertained the citizens of Mechelin (I think it was) with a performance of the Neighbours theme tune on the carillon. My biggest audience ever!

I don't quite follow this logic. If it is the church organist's prerogative to play for weddings then of course he gets the fee. And why shouldn't he/she have that right?

On the Oberwerk?

I'm sure if Bach had had a 32' reed on the Swell and a 64' on the pedal he'd have used them - not!

Has anyone here done Gounod's St Cecilia Mass with organ accompaniment (as arranged by Gounod himself, possibly as a ploy to renew the copyright). If so, does it work well? Does anyone know where I can find the version for reduced orchestra that was also apparently published at one stage? PM me if you have any advice as this is on the periphery of an organ forum. Apologies for that! Stephen Barber