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Keble College, Oxford


andyorgan

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Does anyone know or play this regularly? I was looking something up on the NPOR the other day while researching something, and it seems to imply that there is an electronic there at the moment. Is it being used regularly, or is the pipe organ still in use?

 

http://npor.emma.cam.ac.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch...ec_index=N12459

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Does anyone know or play this regularly? I was looking something up on the NPOR the other day while researching something, and it seems to imply that there is an electronic there at the moment. Is it being used regularly, or is the pipe organ still in use?

 

http://npor.emma.cam.ac.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch...ec_index=N12459

The pipe organ has gone, or at least parts of it have been incorprated into other instruments. See

 

http://npor.emma.cam.ac.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch...ec_index=K00050

 

I playedthe Keble organ for a couple of choral concerts inthe 80s. It was glorious, far more Hill than Rushworth. A friend of mine, who was organ scholar in the late '70s, tells how his fellow scholars would continually ask him for practice time on the instrument, as it was the last decent romantic organ left in the University.

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Does anyone know or play this regularly? I was looking something up on the NPOR the other day while researching something, and it seems to imply that there is an electronic there at the moment. Is it being used regularly, or is the pipe organ still in use?

 

http://npor.emma.cam.ac.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch...ec_index=N12459

 

In the 80s (I think) there was an advert in OR for a large 3 man Kenneth Jones organ for Keble - with a rather nice looking case a little in the Christ Church Cathedral Dublin style with a sideways console but nothing seemed to come of this.

 

AJJ

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Thank's for this so far, but keep it coming. Does anyone know what sort of toaster it is, and whether there are firm plans for a pipe organ. Enquiries at the college have drawn a blank so far.

 

 

It's a Copeman-Hart and sounds just as you might imagine (best from the far side of the quad!) despite the vast bathroom-like acoustic. It was there all through my time in Oxford (2001-4) and I am told-reliably-that there was to be a "new" organ by K. Jones. Money began rolling in but someone at the college (bursar??) thought that an electronium was better value for money. As a result Professor John Caldwell resigned his Fellowship of the college!

 

It really does deserve an organ in there. It somehow always felt like one was playing a radio :( though I remember hearing on the grapevine that there were plans afoot to get back to a real organ.Let's hope!

 

F-W

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It's a Copeman-Hart and sounds just as you might imagine (best from the far side of the quad!) despite the vast bathroom-like acoustic. It was there all through my time in Oxford (2001-4) and I am told-reliably-that there was to be a "new" organ by K. Jones. Money began rolling in but someone at the college (bursar??) thought that an electronium was better value for money. As a result Professor John Caldwell resigned his Fellowship of the college!

 

It really does deserve an organ in there. It somehow always felt like one was playing a radio :( though I remember hearing on the grapevine that there were plans afoot to get back to a real organ.Let's hope!

The old organ, under the control of Mark Blatchly, gave a very convincing account of the Poulenc Concerto c.1979.

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It's a Copeman-Hart and sounds just as you might imagine (best from the far side of the quad!) despite the vast bathroom-like acoustic. It was there all through my time in Oxford (2001-4) and I am told-reliably-that there was to be a "new" organ by K. Jones. Money began rolling in but someone at the college (bursar??) thought that an electronium was better value for money. As a result Professor John Caldwell resigned his Fellowship of the college!

Does this not make Keble the poor man among the Oxford Colleges (organ-wise)? I'm surprised they are satisfied with this, but then, what do I know about internal politics at Oxford?

The old organ, under the control of Mark Blatchly, gave a very convincing account of the Poulenc Concerto c.1979.

Goodness. I'm surprised it was possible to hear anything. What is the reverberation period there? I've forgotten, but it's quite a bit. Six second-ish? I did a couple of unaccompanied choral concerts there once and it was difficult to say the least. The Clerkes of Oxenford took to performing there after they got kicked out of Magdalen and only got away with it by performing everything quietly. I never heard the organ there properly, but imagine it would have suffered similarly.

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Does this not make Keble the poor man among the Oxford Colleges (organ-wise)? I'm surprised they are satisfied with this, but then, what do I know about internal politics at Oxford?

I agree it seems most odd if it is a permanent situation. Mind you, AFAIK the Sheldonian still has an organ substitute.

Goodness. I'm surprised it was possible to hear anything. What is the reverberation period there? I've forgotten, but it's quite a bit. Six second-ish? I did a couple of unaccompanied choral concerts there once and it was difficult to say the least. The Clerkes of Oxenford took to performing there after they got kicked out of Magdalen and only got away with it by performing everything quietly. I never heard the organ there properly, but imagine it would have suffered similarly.

Well, to be fair, I was in the orchestra right next to the organ at the time, so I can't vouch for the clarity in the audience. I remember many concerts there, orchestral and choral, including a Machaut Mass done 2-to-a-part conducted by, ahem, me. Sounded great!

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  • 1 year later...
"The chapel boasts perhaps the finest acoustic in Oxford"

 

The most difficult acoustic in Oxford, I would have called it!

 

That title could be applied (but for different reasons) to that at Christ Church...

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Everybody has seen this, I suppose? http://www.tickell-organs.co.uk/KebleCollegeOxford.htm

 

Exciting stuff.

 

 

'Missed this - 'looks fun - interestingly 'post Worcester' in concept - multiple enclosure seems to be gaining popularity again. Good also to see that they are to restore the pipe decorations. Does anyone know who was involved with the scheme along with Tickells?

 

A

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Everybody has seen this, I suppose? http://www.tickell-organs.co.uk/KebleCollegeOxford.htm

 

Exciting stuff.

It is indeed! I'm going to be interested to see how far Ken Tickell goes to "recognise the spirit of the late nineteenth century" in this organ.

 

One also wonders how much of the old Hill material survives at Keble and how much of this will be incorporated in the new Tickell instrument. If there's enough in a reasonably unmolested condition and they're going to include it, I wonder to what degree they will go to match the new material to the old material? It could be tremedously exciting, especially as the old Hill organ seems to have enjoyed a celebrated reputation.

 

Anyway, this is good news indeed and wish Ken and his team very best of luck with it.

 

P.S. 25/07: Does anyone have a spec of the original 1870s Hill organ? NPOR draws a blank and I'd be interested to know what changed when Willis got his hands on it in the 1890s...

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One also wonders how much of the old Hill material survives at Keble and how much of this will be incorporated in the new Tickell instrument. If there's enough in a reasonably unmolested condition and they're going to include it, I wonder to what degree they will go to match the new material to the old material? It could be tremedously exciting, especially as the old Hill organ seems to have enjoyed a celebrated reputation.

 

I've been in the organ loft at Keble - there is almost no pipework left. Rumour has it that most of it was shipped off to a church in Bristol, but I know no further details.

I think this has the potential to be a fantastic instrument from Tickell.

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It is indeed! I'm going to be interested to see how far Ken Tickell goes to "recognise the spirit of the late nineteenth century" in this organ.

 

One also wonders how much of the old Hill material survives at Keble and how much of this will be incorporated in the new Tickell instrument. If there's enough in a reasonably unmolested condition and they're going to include it, I wonder to what degree they will go to match the new material to the old material? It could be tremedously exciting, especially as the old Hill organ seems to have enjoyed a celebrated reputation.

 

Anyway, this is good news indeed and wish Ken and his team very best of luck with it.

 

P.S. 25/07: Does anyone have a spec of the original 1870s Hill organ? NPOR draws a blank and I'd be interested to know what changed when Willis got his hands on it in the 1890s...

 

Hi

 

There is almost certainly a stop list, etc. of the 1873 Hill in the British Organ Archives - an e-mail to the honarary archivist wold be in order if you're really interested. It will appear on NPOR in due course - maybe when the new Tickell goes in, if whoever enters that spots that there is nfo in BOA which isn't yet on the main site - it's certainly not a priority to deal with historic stuff at present - we need to reduce the backlog of current info first!

 

Every Blessing

 

Tony

(one of the NPOR Editors)

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I've been in the organ loft at Keble - there is almost no pipework left. Rumour has it that most of it was shipped off to a church in Bristol, but I know no further details.

I think this has the potential to be a fantastic instrument from Tickell.

1. Does anyone know which church in Bristol the pipework is supposed to have gone to?

2. The Tickell destined for Keeble looks like it wil be a good instrument and will complement the chapel with its appearence once it is installed in 2011.

 

Dave

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Does anyone know which church in Bristol the pipework is supposed to have gone to?

I wonder whether it might have been St Thomas (City). That used to be a Downes-ified three-manual HNB with stop keys, but I know that disappeared years ago. I was told that after the church was closed, some homeless people who were being allowed to sleep in the place caused a fire which damaged the interior of the church and "destroyed" the organ. This I think would have been towards the end of the '80s. Whatever the truth, some pipework clearly survived because Lance Foy apparently used it when rebuilding King Charles the Martyr, Falmouth c.1993. However, it is evident that another organ, this time with stop knobs, has been installed in its place; I am sure someone told me it is a two-manual.

 

I would be very interested to know whether the case is the original Renatus Harris one or a copy. It certainly looks like the one I remember, but I am no expert.

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I believe the present organ in St Thomas's came from another Bristol church, St Werburgh's, now a climbing centre, and was fitted into the original case. I can't provide any references as NPOR seems to be doing funny things.

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I believe the present organ in St Thomas's came from another Bristol church, St Werburgh's, now a climbing centre, and was fitted into the original case. I can't provide any references as NPOR seems to be doing funny things.

 

Hi

 

It's now 9:30a.m. and NPOR is working fine.

 

Every Blessing

 

Tony

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I believe the present organ in St Thomas's came from another Bristol church, St Werburgh's, now a climbing centre, and was fitted into the original case. I can't provide any references as NPOR seems to be doing funny things.

Thank you for that. The present organ isn't on NPOR yet.

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