sbarber49

It's presumably still copyright in this country? SB

Where is the fugue to be found? The Chant Donné has been discussed before and was said then to be an exercise in open score format but I presume it has been published since it's a printed copy that I have a scan of. Do we know if Duruflé approved its publication and, if so, as an organ piece? Since he dedicated it to someone (whose name I can't remember at the moment) he must have regarded it as more than simply an exercise. SB

Oh, of course, but actually the Chant Donné doesn't sound academic at all to me - unmistakeably Duruflé. A little chip from the master's workbench. I only have a scanned copy - what publication does it come from? Is it an organ/harmonium collection? (I know it wasn't written as a keyboard piece.) Presumably Duruflé approved its publication I see Wikipedia lists the following unpublished organ pieces. Does anyone know anything about them? Lecture à vue Fugue Lux aeterna S

I've played it - very effective. There's also the little Chant Donné which has been mentioned on this board. (Though I only have a scan and not a legal copy. Is it published? I haven't checked.) SB

Can you say who it was?

Re Kings. Some info here: http://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/chapel/choir/co...anRecitals.html

Or Bach, presumably. Stephen Barber

Yes, Bourgeois's Jubilate. Can't say I liked the piece myself and it was far too high and screechy for the boys to sing (especially at Peterborough pitch!). I liked some of the other music. I watch the series on a regular basis (though not frequently) and love it, though I want to hiss every time Slope appears. Stephen Barber Stephen Barber

So does Peterborough Cathedral. Very confusing. Much worse, my 3 manual Harrison (St John's Peterborough) has the swell pedal on the left and the choir on the right. I still keep using the wrong one. Stephen Barber

I didn't hear much of it but what I did hear I hated. I thought the treatment of Slane was a musical obscenity. Likewise Repton. People should, by all means, do the music they like and that they find helpful, but, as far as I'm concerned, good hymn tunes should not be treated in the way Slane and Repton were. Couldn't we put a preservation order on hymn tunes; or have Listed tunes that may only be bowdlerized on obtaining a Faculty from the Archdeacon. By the way, what was the time signature for this version of Slane? I was in the shower at the time I couldn't make up my mind. I also hate the incessant scooping up to high notes. Grumpy old organist, Stephen Barber

I was the short one at the back, with a beard (long gone) standing between (I seem to remember) 2 tall singers - a bass and a tenor. I was singing tenor at the time (as an acting lay-clerk) but just for two terms. After that I sang alto as a supernumerary. (I had only just moved to Peterborough in 1982.) It's a wonderful adaptation. Stephen Barber

Sorry, I was indulging in irony. Personally I think the King's organ is a national treasure with some wonderful sounds (especially the choir flutes) and is a superb accompanimental instrument. There can surely be no argument that the prime function of this instrument is just that? There would surely be no point in putting a Schnitger "sound-alike" on a screen in the middle of the chapel with no wall behind it? Of course, we could put another Gloucester organ on the screen. (Much as I love the Gloucester organ, I wouldn't do it in King's Chapel.) Stephen Barber

As long as the new one isn't one of those awful equally-tempered things. Stephen Barber

Wasn't there a plan a year or two back to replace the organ in King's with something more in tune with the Zeitgeist? Perhaps someone here would like to design a suitable instrument. Stephen Barber

The music was indeed composed by Derek Bourgeois. The choral music was sung by Peterborough Cathedral Choir, conducted by Christopher Gower. The organ of Peter Cathedral certainly featured, as accompanying instrument, played by Simon Lawford. I was singing in the cathedral choir then and remember the filming fondly – including hearing “Slope's” sermon quite a few times, owing to passing planes etc. The music had some extremely high passages for the boys – often in thirds, I seem to remember, and the high pitch of the organ didn't make things any easier. In one scene Donald Pleasance is seen conducting the choir: his gestures were, to be polite, a little imprecise - needless to say, Christopher Gower was standing behind him out of camera shot. Wonderful adaptation – now on DVD! Stephen Barber

And me, please! Stephen Barber

I like my Great Organ one! (http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=N03444) However I wouldn't be happy to have it as the only 8' flute - there is a stopped diapason as well. I use the Hohl Flute as a solo stop and sometimes to produce a warm 8' foundation tone. It also goes very well with the 4' flute. It doesn't mix so well with the (small) open diapason. By the way, can anyone suggest what I could use the Large Open for? How would it have been used in 1917 when the organ was built? It's so loud and unpleasant! I restrict it to occasional use, since it's there, for solos in hymns and for the last few chords in loud pieces in conjunction with the swell octave.) Stephen Barber

Yes, dedicated to me. Try the website his son runs: www.stanleyvannmusic.org.uk. You can find contact details for him there. (I could send you a scan of a photocopy of the original - in Stanley's spidery writing. PM me with your email.) Stephen Barber

What a vile sound. Burn the organ. Or remove some of the 8' gunge and add some upperwork. Could only improve it. It's not worth preserving: by all means preserve what is worth preserving but, to judge by this recording (and it could perhaps have been registered a little less heavily, especially the fugue) this organ doesn't do Skinner any favours. (I didn't persevere to the end of the fugue so I may have missed something.) As for repertoire: the complete works of Caleb Simper? Stephen Barber

If the instrumentalist won't come to a rehearsal at a time convenient to HG then there must be a charge, payable by the wedding couple. (It's possible, of course, that the relationship between an organist and a choir member could be such that an organist might wish to make an exception.) Couples pay huge amounts for weddings and organists should not be taken advantage of. Stephen Barber

Great (enclosed except Open Diapason) Gross Geigen 16 Hohlflute 8 Open-diapason 8 Octaaf 4 Harmonics Contra Tromba 16 Swell (enclosed) Flûte harmonique 8 Echo Gamba 8 Celeste 8 Contraposaune 16 Cornopean 8 Clarion 4 Brustwerk (enclosed - perspex shutters) Barpfeife 8 Sesquialtera 12/17 Pedal Contrabordun 32 GrossGeigen 16 (from Great) Dulcie Arner 16 (from Antiphonal) Hohlflute 8 (from Great) Flûte harmonique 8 (from Swell) Echo Gamba 8 (from Swell) Open-diapason 8 (from Great) Nachthorn 4 (from Swell) Octaaf 4 (from Great) Bombardon32 Harmonics (from Great) (from Great) Contra Tromba 16 (from Great) Contrabombarde 16 (from Bombarde) Contraposaune 16 (from Swell) Cornopean 8 (from Swell) Clarion 4 (from Swell) Solo (enclosed) Holz Gedeckt 8 Dull strings 8 Nachthorn 4 Nazard 2 2/3 Cornetdeschats Vox Humana 8 Bombarde (unenclosed) playable from manual 4, 5 or 6 Contrabombarde 32 Double Ophicleide 16 TubaMagna 8 (91 inches WP) East Antiphonal (unenclosed) playable from manual 5 Dulcie Arner 16 More dull strings 8 Célestin 4 Dome playable from manual 1 or 6 (unenclosed) Cymbelstern (digital) Voix Mystique (from tenor C - part digital) West Antiphonal (playable from manual 6) enclosed Undamaris Altar Organ (playable from manual 1 or 6, or from own Yamaha keyboard behind Altar using a midi connection) Vox Aetheria Accessories Usual divisional pistons and couplers One general piston,with stepper (2 memory channels) Doubles off piston TV (with “always on” connection to BBCi) Some pedal extensions and "borrowings" proved advantageous. Stephen Barber

I wonder if there's a mature Bach fugue where this isn't the case! I do feel that a pleno suits the piece better - whereas I prefer the "little" G minor ( and the A major etc.) on something lighter. Stephen Barber

Sorry: either "not that slow" or: "there are limits". I seem to have conflated two thoughts.

Oh no, it isn't! Since it's from a "springy" Vivace movement from a Sonata it is (in my opinion, of course!) totally unsuited in mood to Passiontide. There are plenty of pieces based on the Passion Chorale so we don't have to slow this fugue down (presumably?) and devitalize it in order to pretend it is somehow connected. I know Peter Williams says it needs to go slower than the Corelli piece, but not there are limits. I use a light principal chorus throughout. I used to change manuals but I don't now: the episodes are so short I don't think it helps the piece at all. It's one of the few Bach pieces that I know I can get right even if I haven't played it for a while! Stephen Barber

Hear, hear! Stephen Barber