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Inspirational Lps


Clavecin

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Guest Roffensis

CSD 3657, Allan Wicks at Canterbury Cathedral. Stunning.

 

 

If I chose a second, then Caleb Jarvis at St. George's Hall, Liverpool. The Malingreau and Peeters were excellent.

 

Another one a friend told me of that he loved, was an "Organ Spectacular" from Croyland Abbey. Has anyone seen this?

 

 

R

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CSD 3657, Allan Wicks at Canterbury Cathedral. Stunning.

If I chose a second, then Caleb Jarvis at St. George's Hall, Liverpool. The Malingreau and Peeters were excellent.

 

Another one a friend told me of that he loved, was an "Organ Spectacular" from Croyland Abbey. Has anyone seen this?

R

Hi roffensive have you asked D.R. he might have it. you never know

Peter

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Guest Roffensis
Hi roffensive have you asked D.R. he might have it. you never know

Peter

 

 

Do you know, I never even thought of that, he may well have it. I believe it had all of Dupre's Second Symphony on it.

 

R

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My friend DR tells me he indeed has a copy, and also tells me that the other side is of Reubke's 94th Psalm. He says he is going to scan the cover.

 

R

well D is a mind of "usefull" info, what he has not got, is not worth having, and he knows who played what, where, when and the record label it was originally on, just like you good self.

Did you know that he plays an ancient 2 man at St. Peters in chains, Doncaster (RC), and the church has a marvelous acoustic, far superior to that of St. Georges

Peter

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Guest Roffensis
well D is a mind of "usefull" info, what he has not got, is not worth having, and he knows who played what, where, when and the record label it was originally on, just like you good self.

Did you know that he plays an ancient 2 man at St. Peters in chains, Doncaster (RC), and the church has a marvelous acoustic, far superior to that of St. Georges

Peter

 

 

Yes. Well apparently this is the thing with this mentioned LP. I was told that the Abbey has a glorious acoustic, one of our hidden treasures one might say. Apparently the organ tone just rolls around in there.

 

R

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Yes. Well apparently this is the thing with this mentioned LP. I was told that the Abbey has a glorious acoustic, one of our hidden treasures one might say. Apparently the organ tone just rolls around in there.

 

R

 

We must be talking about a different Croyland Abbey (although I'm not aware of another one) - or else your friend is having a laugh. Croyland Abbey, near me in Crowland, is a 12-stop Binns and only has 8s and 4s (it now has a 2-rank mixture as well). I would love to hear the Reubke on it! The acoustic in Croyland Abbey in Lincolnshire is nothing to write home about.

 

Stephen Barber

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Guest Roffensis
We must be talking about a different Croyland Abbey (although I'm not aware of another one) - or else your friend is having a laugh. Croyland Abbey, near me in Crowland, is a 12-stop Binns and only has 8s and 4s (it now has a 2-rank mixture as well). I would love to hear the Reubke on it! The acoustic in Croyland Abbey in Lincolnshire is nothing to write home about.

 

Stephen Barber

 

 

The cover refers to "The mighty Binns Collossus of sound". My friend also tells me it is indeed the Lincolnshire one.

 

Hope this helps.

 

R

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The cover refers to "The mighty Binns Collossus of sound". My friend also tells me it is indeed the Lincolnshire one.

 

Hope this helps.

 

R

 

I'm gobsmacked! I would love to hear the Reubke on it - Great: three 8s and two 4s; Swell four 8s and a 4!

 

Has anyone got a copy of this?

 

Stephen Barber

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The cover refers to "The mighty Binns Collossus of sound". My friend also tells me it is indeed the Lincolnshire one.

 

Hope this helps.

 

R

 

Any chance of some more information? I really want to know what's going on here. Who's playing?

 

Stephen Barber

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CSD 3657, Allan Wicks at Canterbury Cathedral. Stunning.

If I chose a second, then Caleb Jarvis at St. George's Hall, Liverpool. The Malingreau and Peeters were excellent.

 

I'm going to have to dig this LP out again, then! I remember buying it secondhand as a teenager, and thinking that Dr. Jarvis's performance was decidedly under-par.

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Guest Nigel ALLCOAT

Croyland Abbey in Crowland (Lincs) is indeed a beautiful place with a really wonky West front (ruined) where the land either slipped or the plumb line held by an enthusiastic monk, decided on being more of a pendulum. If my memory serves me right the lovely nave (north aisle) has a really fine vault which would enhance acoustic wonderfully. The organ on the left half way down? I was about 12 at the time and can remember having brilliant chocolate cake in a Parish Hall to the north of the building. Ah! The halcyon days of being driven in a car for a Sunday jaunt by parents when £1 bought 4 gallons.

Oh! and didn't this Abbey have the first tuned peal of bells in the country cast by the Abbots towards the end of the 10th Century? I have the names of each that they gave them somewhere in my journal. I remember writing them down, smudged a little by chocolate cake.

 

Best wishes,

N

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Guest Roffensis
Croyland Abbey in Crowland (Lincs) is indeed a beautiful place with a really wonky West front (ruined) where the land either slipped or the plumb line held by an enthusiastic monk, decided on being more of a pendulum. If my memory serves me right the lovely nave (north aisle) has a really fine vault which would enhance acoustic wonderfully. The organ on the left half way down? I was about 12 at the time and can remember having brilliant chocolate cake in a Parish Hall to the north of the building. Ah! The halcyon days of being driven in a car for a Sunday jaunt by parents when £1 bought 4 gallons.

Oh! and didn't this Abbey have the first tuned peal of bells in the country cast by the Abbots towards the end of the 10th Century? I have the names of each that they gave them somewhere in my journal. I remember writing them down, smudged a little by chocolate cake.

 

Best wishes,

N

 

 

Yes the abbey is magnifiecent. My friend considers it finer than Westminster Abbey in some respects. He told me that the abbey fell into ruins, or part of it, when the Monks were dissolved.

 

R

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Guest Nigel ALLCOAT
Croyland Abbey in Crowland (Lincs) is indeed a beautiful place with a really wonky West front (ruined) where the land either slipped or the plumb line held by an enthusiastic monk, decided on being more of a pendulum. If my memory serves me right the lovely nave (north aisle) has a really fine vault which would enhance acoustic wonderfully. The organ on the left half way down? I was about 12 at the time and can remember having brilliant chocolate cake in a Parish Hall to the north of the building. Ah! The halcyon days of being driven in a car for a Sunday jaunt by parents when £1 bought 4 gallons.

Oh! and didn't this Abbey have the first tuned peal of bells in the country cast by the Abbots towards the end of the 10th Century? I have the names of each that they gave them somewhere in my journal. I remember writing them down, smudged a little by chocolate cake.

 

Best wishes,

N

 

The Great Bell was named after Guthlac - the founder of the place.

the other tuned six bells rejoiced in the names of:

Bartholomew and Beccelm, Turketyl and Tatwin, and Pega and Bega.

Now you know.

 

Best wishes,

N

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There are four LP records which had quite an effect on my appreciation of the British romantic organ.

 

1. Organ in Contrast on the Apollo Sound label: Stanley Curtis playing the Westminster Chapel organ, London (© 1968)

I found this LP in the seventies in a Dutch record shop in Hilversum. Despite the dull sleeve design (we used to call that a "graphic solution" it was a very interesting programme: 2 pieces by Frank Bridge, 2 symphony movements by Widor, the Summer Sketches by Lemare, 2 movements of Borowsky's Suite No. 1 and pieces by Searle Wright and William Felton. This "forgotten" organ at Buckingham Gate, London, built by Willis in 1879 and entirely re-built and enlarged by Rushworth & Freaper Ltd. looks like a small copy of the Royal Albert Hall organ. The playing was impeccabe and the acoustics were a bit theatre-like. On the back of the sleeve there is plenty of interesting information about the compositions. The organist had been a pupil of G.D. Cunningham and was Assistant Secretary of the London Organ Music Society. In 1986 or '87 I visited the church (it wasn't easy to find) by joining a service. We were welcomed then by the son of the late Stanley Curtis who told us afterwards that this was the only LP his father ever made, and he had always been proud on it. I'm afraid the organ is hardly used anymore, since it is quite an "evangelical" church, using keyboards and drums.

 

2. Caleb Jarvis at the organ of St. George's Hall, Liverpool (RCA English Organ Collection, © 1972), mentioned by Roffensis already. Especially the pieces by Alain (Le Jardin Suspendu) and Flor Peeters (Lied to the Flowers) were sheer magic! (I own three copies because the pressings were not ideal and every pressing is different.)

 

3. Organ music from St. Paul's Cathedral by Christopher Herrick (Vista VPS 1001, © 1969)

Recorded before the re-build by Mander and impressive because of the "unsophisticated" sound of the organ. Herrick does some strange performances (Reger Te Deum, Alain Litanies!) but I seldom heard more romantic approaches of Frank Bridge's Adagio, Liszt's Adagio in D flat ("Consolation in Des"), Alain's Choral Dorien and Messiaen's Prière du Christ, from L'Ascension.

 

4. The organ at York Minster, played by Francis Jackson (side 1) and John Scott Whiteley (Brendan Hearne recording, © 1979). Bairstow's Scherzo in A flat is played wonderfully light (like "dancing on clouds") and in Hollins' Concert Overture in C minor the Tuba Mirabilis makes quite an impression at the end, first coupled to the pedals, later in the right hand.

Brendan Hearne also produced a cassette in the same range (Music from York) with - to my taste - the best recording of Francis Jackson, playing Bairstow's Sonata and Flor Peeters' Suite Modale. In sincerely wish that the old Hearne recordings will appear on CD some time!

 

I also have fine memories of Michael Woodward's LP records of Liverpool (St. George's Hall & Anglican Cathedral) and Reading Town Hall, but - thanks to Priory - they nearly all appeared on CD.

 

[Gerco Schaap, The Netherlands]

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There are four LP records which had quite an effect on my appreciation of the British romantic organ.

 

 

2. Caleb Jarvis at the organ of St. George's Hall, Liverpool (RCA English Organ Collection, © 1972), mentioned by Roffensis already. Especially the pieces by Alain (Le Jardin Suspendu) and Flor Peeters (Lied to the Flowers) were sheer magic! (I own three copies because the pressings were not ideal and every pressing is different.)

 

 

===================================

 

It really is quite fascinating to see the name of Francis Jackson once again; this time from the Netherlands.

 

It pleases me to see that others appreciate the recording which Caleb Jarvis did at Liverpool, St George's Hall, because I think this was recorded when the organ had fallen into semi-disuse.....possibly around 1968?

 

I think it was this recording which inspired me to go out and get the "Lied Symphony" by Flor Peeters, and ever since, I have often included the lovely "Lied to the flowers" in recitals.

 

Even allowing for the undoubted artistry of Noel Rawsthorne at the cathedral, I can't help but think that Caleb Jarvis was the REAL outstnding talent in Liverpool around that time, and yet, few people ever mention him. Somewhere in my collection, I have an excellent photograph of him, which I took when I was all of 15, outside the Willis works, with Henry IV among the group of IAO congressers.

 

Liverpool had quite a buzz to it in those days, and the extraordinary thing is, that a year or two before, when I would possibly have been 13 going on 14, I had a cousin who played guitar with the group "The Merseybeats". I went to hear them at the old "Cavern Club," and almost incredibly (thinking back on it), met all the members of a small Liverpool group who called themselves "The Beatles".....before they burst onto the music scene and took the world by storm.

 

Such memories!

 

MM

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Yes the abbey is magnifiecent. My friend considers it finer than Westminster Abbey in some respects. He told me that the abbey fell into ruins, or part of it, when the Monks were dissolved.

 

R

 

You can find a picture (and more information) on the website here: http://crowlandabbey.org.uk/index.html

 

The original abbey must indeed have been magnificent but only the north aisle is left. I'm still anxious to know about this "Mighty Collossus of Sound" on the 12 stop Binns, including the Reubke. I still don't believe it! Who was playing? Can you get any more information?

 

Stephen Barber

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Guest Roffensis
===================================

 

It really is quite fascinating to see the name of Francis Jackson once again; this time from the Netherlands.

 

It pleases me to see that others appreciate the recording which Caleb Jarvis did at Liverpool, St George's Hall, because I think this was recorded when the organ had fallen into semi-disuse.....possibly around 1968?

 

I think it was this recording which inspired me to go out and get the "Lied Symphony" by Flor Peeters, and ever since, I have often included the lovely "Lied to the flowers" in recitals.

 

Even allowing for the undoubted artistry of Noel Rawsthorne at the cathedral, I can't help but think that Caleb Jarvis was the REAL outstnding talent in Liverpool around that time, and yet, few people ever mention him. Somewhere in my collection, I have an excellent photograph of him, which I took when I was all of 15, outside the Willis works, with Henry IV among the group of IAO congressers.

 

Liverpool had quite a buzz to it in those days, and the extraordinary thing is, that a year or two before, when I would possibly have been 13 going on 14, I had a cousin who played guitar with the group "The Merseybeats". I went to hear them at the old "Cavern Club," and almost incredibly (thinking back on it), met all the members of a small Liverpool group who called themselves "The Beatles".....before they burst onto the music scene and took the world by storm.

 

Such memories!

 

MM

 

Yes, Dr. Jarvis was excellent. The hall fell into disuse in 1984. It reopened in 1987.

 

R

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Yes, Dr. Jarvis was excellent. The hall fell into disuse in 1984. It reopened in 1987.

 

R

 

 

=======================

 

 

Correct me if my memory fails me (as it often does), but I seem to vaguely recall that after about 1968, everything went sort of "Loony left" in Liverpool, and there were moves to flatten a great deal of the city and re-build in quasi-Warsaw style, as befitted the "white heat" years of modernity. (The only good thing to emerge was probably "Concorde")

 

I suspect that the hall and organ were a burden long before 1984, and of course, terribly elitist, as well as being a monument to capitalist principles and grandiose statements.

 

Was the organ ever heard much between 1970 and 1984?

 

MM

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There were regular Saturday recitals in the 70s, I remember attending them but like you my memory also fails me so I can't recall when the recitals finished but it would have been about 1980. Indeed the loony left lost interest in their wonderful buildings and the hall was left to fester for a long time. "Henry Willis" of this parish may well know when the recitals ceased.

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