Jonathan Lane

A quick trawl through the list produces the usual sad lack of recognition for serious musicians of any kind. These are the ones I found, there may well be some I missed! Knighthood: Nicholas Kenyon, C.B.E., Managing Director, Barbican Centre and lately Director, BBC Proms. For services to Classical Music. MBE's for: Richard Leslie Burnett, Concert Pianist and Founder, Finchcocks Museum of Early Music, Goudhurst, Kent. Damian St. George Cranmer, lately Director of Music, Guildhall School of Music & Drama. For services to Music Education. Francis Egerton, lately Opera Singer. For services to Music. Of course there are also quite a few for services to pop music etc! Quite sad really I think! Jonathan

Unusual to see the organ presented in such a positive light these days, and looks like a very significant project. And of course, well done for Sarah in getting Chichester, a very good decision on the part of the Cathedral authorities. Jonathan

I have to agree, and actually, it is often much more interesting to see how a less significant instrument is enabled to serve the church for longer, without being completely replaced by a new continentally voiced suspended tracker organ! Jonathan

Absolutely. I took OR for several decades, since a teenager myself, and was always fascinated by the variety of information in each issue, organ specifications fascinate me, as did much more, and to be fair the approach taken by the previous editors never seemed in the least bit amateur, just well informed and informative. In fact, I looked forward to it so much, as I knew I would have three good months of reading and re-reading the material, and then delving into past issues as the years go by. I took a few issues after the change, and still see it courtesy of a friend, and I am very disappointed. It really does no longer provide what I need, so I did not renew my subscription. And I won't until it returns to the better times of the past. I have to disagree with Paul, when he says it has dropped 20% (I know it has been very good to you over the years!), but I feel it has dropped to 20% of its original quality. I'm sure the current editors are doing a very professional job, but they have failed to connect with me, and that means I have no desire to read their magazine. Jonathan

Absolutely, excellent piece, shows what he can do, and certainly deserves a wider audience.

If I had to choose just one disc, it would be the first of the Priory set, recorded in about 1990 by Hereford Cathedral Choir, directed by Roy Massey (before he was a Dr0, and accompanied by their present Director when he was assistant. They set the benchmark for all recordings, especially if you like Roy's style, which I do. Jonathan

A couple of years ago when my OrganMaster shoes died I bought a pair of ballroom dance shoes from a local dancewear shop. They are excellent, and better than the OrganMaster shoes. Jonathan

My thoughts on the subject are generally along the lines stated here. We do not allow non-staff members to use the organ for teaching, partly as pcnd says, because the church is fairly heavily used. Secondly, I would never charge my students nor my assistants students for practice, and very rarely any genuine students. Thirdly, charging a couple of pounds per hour is reasonable I think, especially as the cost of electricity, maintenance, etc., needs to be covered. The proviso would be members of the congregation and those who regularly dep for us should not be charged either. Having said all that, we do not currently charge anyone, because despite our rather fine 1990 Nicholson, not many people come to practise, and those who do are all students, members of the congregation, or deps. Jonathan

The book is by Walter and Thomas Lewis, of 11 Byron Place, Clifton, Bristol. Walter is son and successor of Thomas, who is the Thomas William I mentioned before. The census clearly states that Thomas William worked for Thomas Christopher Lewis of London, so there maybe some connection. The book is excellent and very interesting, although quite dated when it comes to actions, but very useful when it comes to repair work. It is interesting that the London Lewis, are known equally for other things as well as organ building. Thomas Christopher was principally an architect, piano maker and bell founder, and his son Herbert A, was also listed as an estate agent. In 1855 TC was listed as 'an architect who well understands the organ', and this might explain why his organs are often so successful acoustically, but may explain why TC had a very adventorous spirit when it came to the development of the organ, being from a non-organ building background, one might think a 'free-thinker'! Jonathan

I'm currently looking into the connection with the Lewis's of Bristol, there seems to be something that links them, but might just be coincidence, a Thomas William Lewis worked for TCL in 1890. It is likely that Herbert carried on the business after TC. Jonathan

NPOR lists the 1891 census as having a Herbert A Lewis (son, aged 9), therefore born 1881/2, living with T. C. Lewis, and the entry for Herbert identifies him as the son of Thomas Christopher. Jonathan

I agree Pierre, Lewis was a superb builder and pipe maker, we should have far more organs like this. I remember playing it in the late 1980's, thoroughly rewarding. Jonathan

In a liturgical situation, more especially as a final voluntary, it is often much more sensible to play only one movement anyway, unless you are lucky enough to have a congregation who sit and listen beyond the choir and clergy leaving. Jonathan

It seems a bit odd to enchange the reeds, the Trumpet would be far better in the swell. As far as the Dulciana Mixture is concerned, again I don't see much use for it at all, especially if it can't be heard, but then again, I'm not a great fan of the over employment of the Dulciana anyway. Jonathan

I agree, good mechanical action is reliable and generally problem free, although there can be issues even with a modern system, although often this can be caused with mixed actions, i.e. pneumatic motors operating couplers. The problem comes with combination systems, whilst in a small organ, composition pedals and hand registration is not only feasible but preferable, on larger instruments, and with the large scale romantic repertoire, electronics are extremely useful. Jonathan

There was a recital by Carlo Curley on the Frobenius at Kingston, back shortly after it was installed, when the piston system went haywire, making completely random combinations, including the cymbelstern on every setting, even general cancel! Jonathan

I think it would be a good thing, dissemination of information about errors is always useful. I seem to remember a series of articles in OR a few years ago, was it by Olivier Latry?, on corrections to Vierne's scores. I suspect like a lot of organists I make heavy corrections to scores where necessary (Barenreiter Bach for instance), often using tippex and a decent calligraphy pen to make it look half decent. Jonathan Excellent idea, I would certainly support such a website, and use it! Jonathan

In the past, I have found publishers and/or composers more than happy to grant a limited licence (usually free) for a specific service sheet, provided they are destroyed after the service. The exception to this are some of the publishers of modern worship songs, who are often difficult to contact, and who always charge a fee, although not much, but it can add up. The best publisher I have found for granting permission is OUP. Jonathan

Methinks it might only be available in the old fashioned but excellent format of vinyl! If available at all, it is probably only possible to get it secondhand, I would watch eBay. Jonathan

I'm not suggesting it wasn't reasoned and worked out, but rather that it wasn't contrived. Jonathan

Derek Bourgeois is credited as Conductor on IMDb, but there is no reference to a composer. His own website indicates he wrote a piece called 'A Barchester Choral Suite' which was published two years after the programme was first broadcast. The first broadcast was 1982. Jonathan

The question begs itself, did Bach consciously think of this while writing it, or was it his subconscious working. Knowing his fascination with mathematics, and his unparelled (personal opinion) talent, I would suspect the latter. I'm not expecting anyone to know the answer, its just hypothetical! Jonathan

IMDb says the original music for this was written by Dave Greenslade. Jonathan

Certainly would help clarify the situation for all. Jonathan

If you feel like transcribing, or playing from open score, the Morricone score is available from Sheetmusicplus for string orchestra. http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/store/smp_de...art=61419328963 Jonathan