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DouglasCorr

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Everything posted by DouglasCorr

  1. Sorry about the blank reply (haven't worked with computers for 30 years for nothing..... ) I was going to say I heard an unforgettable Franck Chorale I played by Germani in St Pauls. I've also been listening again to my 1967 Selby Abbey Germani recording of the Chorales - they are well worth listening to - and the organ sounds fantastic - very convincing and musical sound! Another famous organist, seldom mentioned in these pages, was Flor Peeters - his London recitals were full - I remember St Mary the Boltons and the Walker Organ in Ducan terrace Islington. At St Mary's I was astonished to see people turning up in taxis and ladies in fur coats! Although appropriate to another thread on how to practice - I also remember a master class by Flor Peeters - he strongly recommended really slow practice.
  2. The message board is a lot of fun! Thanks Manders! Now I'll settle down with L'Orgue Mystique - complete - CDs (a present worth jumping out of bed for! )- later (possibly much later) I'll time how fast the hymns used to be played at King's....
  3. I still remember it! 35 years ago, at the conclusion of the Midnight Service on Christmas Eve, in a large church in Vancouver (the 4 manual organ had a fanfare trumpet over the door; it also had a detatched console at ground level). Near the end of the concluding voluntary, Dieu Parmi Nous, someone shouting at the organist- "Use the trumpets Fred!! What about the trumpets???!!"... :angry:
  4. I still remember it! 35 years ago, at the conclusion of the Midnight Service on Christmas Eve, in a large church in Vancouver (the 4 manual organ had a fanfare trumpet over the door; it also had a detatched console at ground level). Near the end of the concluding voluntary, Dieu Parmi Nous, someone shouting at the organist- "Use the trumpets Fred!! What about the trumpets???!!"... :angry:
  5. The Church of Christ the King, Gordon Square, London has a large 3 manual Walker console with stop keys - but I don't know where you will find a picture...
  6. I don't know if the following publication is still available - but it presents an illustrated guide to really dreadful hymns - The Guild of Church Musicians study guide No C9 - "Seriously Silly Hymns" by Anne Kennedy and E H Warrell
  7. This is the organ you dream about, even if you have your own cathedral organ to play on Revealling picture !!
  8. I think one of the best bits in the B minor mass is in the Confiteor, where the tenors have the plainsong theme in semibreves . So too for Karl Richter, I think; but not without his own superb choir. I remember a performance in the RFH with one of the London Choral Society choirs. At the tenor entry he waved and waved... gesticulated.... the tenors were scarlet, eyes buldging and veins bursting .. but not enough sound was produced.... Other memories of Karl Richter recordings - The ghostly sounds from his continuo organ that seemed as if it only had quintadena stops. Long trills in every entry of the Wedge fugue subject ...... .....
  9. In 1960 I'm pretty sure it was on Wednesday. I reckon 47 years is approximately "always" for the purpose of discussion.
  10. A good place to find out more about all Bach’s organ works is in the Peter William’s organ music of J S Bach books. There are two sides on BWV 643. Having a facsimile is jolly good fun, but doesn’t reveal a great deal more than the normal editions – all it says is Alio Modo. My facsimile was published by VEB Deutscher Verlag fur Musik 1981. What I really wanted to write about is a curious incident for me in East Berlin in 1966. I had decided to visit the museum and in the entrance hall a man in a shabby suit came up and made lots of pleasant conversation and asked if there was anything I particularly wanted to see in the museum. I seized my chance and asked to see any music manuscripts by Bach. Instead of conducting me to an appropriate showcase, he invited me up into some offices upstairs. There then followed a rather tense conversation with a smartly dressed man and woman. I didn’t understand what was being said but, from the tones of voice and expressions, it was apparent that the shabby man had some power over the others, who did not really want to comply with his requests. I was then taken .to a small office with a very large fire proof safe. They opened it and proceeded to hand me several original Bach manuscripts, including the Orgelbuchlein. I remember holding the book and turning the pages over, noticing that there was thin gauze covering each sheet. I had a photocopy of the Lee pocket score for Herr Gott, nun schleuss den Himmel auf in my pocket and I compared that with the manuscript ( for some reason…?). Anyway after all of this I just said good bye and was not even pressed into being a spy….!
  11. Tournemire's Orgue Mystique provides musical interludes for the Mass, or does it? Given the indeterminate length required for interludes, does the music serve a genuine practical purpose? Aside from the final movements, to what extent do any of the correspondents use this music? - It's hardly ever been mentioned in these columns.
  12. No one has mentioned GTB's set of variations for pedal solo - I heard him play these several times - and they were quite a show piece! He also frequently included the Reubke sonata in his programmes. PS its hard to believe anyone could call Liszt's monumental organ works unmusical... Dupre also had a virtuoso piano technique...
  13. No one has mentioned GTB's set of variations for pedal solo - I heard him play these several times - and they were quite a show piece! He also frequently included the Reubke sonata in his programmes. PS its hard to believe anyone could call Liszt's monumental organ works unmusical... Dupre also had a virtuoso piano technique...
  14. St Sulpice is not surprisingly coming out high in the list of finest organs - so I thought fellow enthusiasts might be interested in my trip to Paris last Easter. - Something I've always wanted to do . I started off at the Easter Vigil at St Sulpice at 9:30 pm on Holy Saturday. The congregation proceeded from the square, carrying candles, into a pitch black church... and ... a magnificent Daniel Roth improvisation..... The service was very long, including meditations, baptisms and communion celebrated by 16 preists! At the end, in semi darkness - a great improvisation lasting well over 20 minutes - many plainsong themes - seldom below forte .... At High Mass on Sunday Widor's 10th and another fantastic improvisation . A warning however, in the afternoon I went to Notre Dame - there was a continuous circulation of tourists crowds - even during the services! Hearing both organs on the same day was interesting - there doesn't seem much of Cavaille Coll sound left at Notre Dame .... it's another all purpose organ. Nevertheless Oliver Latry finished the evening Mass with Widor's Toccata - I think this is an enormously effective piece (although much sneered at in these pages )- when played at a sensible speed on a large enough organ in the right acoustics. Heaven is only a Train ride away...
  15. I think it somewhat spoils the intriguing mystery of the aliases:- pcnd5584, Vox Humana etc. One built up a mental image… Once its done it can’t be rewound! I am a radar engineer. I have always been obsessed by organs. I learnt to play on the National Health Service! The chapel of the Royal Free Hospital was kept at pyjama temperature allowing 24/365 practice. After the hospitals move to Hampstead (and disposing of the organ), despite several other kind and helpful practice arrangements, in the 70s I decided the only real solution was to have a house organ. The St Albans small organ exhibitions lead me to the conclusion that Peter Collins was the only person that understood small organs, and I have a 12 stop tracker organ based on 5 ranks (multiple pallets – no couplers). I used to play with the amateur choirs Cantores Medicini, whose records are still on eBay, and the Harant Singers. My playing and CD interests are Bach, Buxtehude, de Grigny; Liszt and composers for the Cavaille-Coll organ – Widor, Dupre, Tournemire. I play Bach with toes and heels according to Ars Organi pedalling principals and I play Bach, Mendelssohn and Franck from Dupre editions. Vive les substitutions!! I’m totally 60s and think Karl Richter is great.
  16. For a long time I wondered how West Point would sound. So I recently bought the Joyce Jones CD. I played it once - and sold it on eBay! I thought it was a poor selection of music - strange recording balance - and perfectly correct playing that was totally boring. I wonder if there is something better to listen to?
  17. Ah yes! And no perspex!! Thanks for Minimes comments.
  18. Look at the SCORE!! The French aren't in right mode to improvise themselves out of trouble now! Could go to extra time....
  19. The England coach has decided to play Vilanella!!
  20. But you are forgetting Pierre Cochereau - which of course takes the score for France to an incredible 1,000,000......... Hang on chaps! The game is never over till it's over. The England coach still has the Psalm Preludes on the bench. He could play those!!!
  21. Recently, on a business trip to Brussels, I saw a notice advertising an organ recital (including a soprano) in the Church of SS-Jean et Etienne aux Minimes. I arrived, somewhat tired, at a massively built, depressing and rather run down church. The organ, on a west end gallery, consisted of a central portion in a gloomy brown wood case, but on either side their were shining pedal towers enclosed in perspex! There was a positive division also enclosed in perspex. No one was around so I waited outside. A few minutes before the advertised start two people arrived who looked as though they might sell the tickets. But only two other people arrived. As well as being tired, I felt uncomfortable about being in such a tiny audience and walked back to my hotel. I also wondered whether the lack of interest said something about the organ? Does anyone know if the organ was worth listening to? Would others find it uncomfortable to be in a tiny audience?
  22. It's surprising how obsessed contributors are with tubas! Even though they only have a role in pieces like Willcock's Christmas hymns. Anyway, I recently read that Daniel Roth said the best romantic organ in the US is at the Woolsey Hall, Yale. So I bought the Thomas Murray JAV124 recording. The organ is an enormous Skinner. This recording is a really interesting and approachably presented. There are 2 CDs: one explains the stops on the organ with lavish examples (hear the strings!!! ), the other plays a selection of music. Coming to the point, there is a Tuba Mirabilis and a Trumpet harmonique on the Solo, both on 25" wind. These are illustrated separately..... and ....... together!!
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