HMV (EMI) Great Cathedral Organ Series

[Mark Taylor]

I have just discovered that the original reviews for the HMV Great Cathedral Organs series are available on the Gramophone web site. They make for fascinating reading.

 

So far, I have only looked at the reviews for Coventry, Durham, Exeter, Norwich and

Worcester, but I assume they are all there. They make for fascinating reading.

 

Does any one recognise the reviewer of the Worcester recording, identified as SF?

[pwhodges]

I see SW, which I presume to indicate Stanley Webb.

 

From the linked introduction: "He has indeed been obsessed with the organ from the age of six."

 

Paul

[martinstanley]

Does any one recognise the reviewer of the Worcester recording, identified as SF?

 

I think 'FA' in Coventry and Exeter reviews is likely to be Felix Aprahamian.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_Aprahamian

[Martin Kemp]

There are some wonderful typos in the reviews, presumably as a result of OCR. Thanks for the link.

M

[Paul Morley]

There are some wonderful typos in the reviews, presumably as a result of OCR. Thanks for the link.

M

http://www.gramophone.net/Issue/Page/April...+Gluttons+house.

 

Cecil who?

[martinstanley]

Hereford.

 

I turned pages at this recording which due to Melville Cook's imminent departure to Winnipeg was recorded in one evening session!

[Vox Humana]

Westminster Abbey

LIverpool Cathedral. (Who is RF?)

[themythes]

Westminster Abbey

LIverpool Cathedral. (Who is RF?)

 

Could RF be Roger Fiske?

 

David Harrison

[Vox Humana]

http://www.gramophone.net/Issue/Page/April...+Gluttons+house.

 

Cecil who?

I also spotted a reference en passant to "Fats Wailer".

 

Could RF be Roger Fiske?

 

David Harrison

Ah yes, of course. Thank you.

[Mark Taylor]

I've just noted that EMI are about to re-issue the Great Cathedral Organ Series as a CD boxed set. To be released on 17th October, according to Amazon.

[Vox Humana]

I've just noted that EMI are about to re-issue the Great Cathedral Organ Series as a CD boxed set. To be released on 17th October, according to Amazon.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Great-Cathedral-Or...9352&sr=8-1

 

£34.97 for 13 CDs - not bad.

[wolsey]

My set arrived this morning. Pace the four-volume Amphion selection, what an experience it is to hear again - in its entirety - the series which played a formative part of my musical childhood!

[heva]

Could you list the contents?

[emsgdh]

My set arrived this morning. Pace the four-volume Amphion selection, what an experience it is to hear again - in its entirety - the series which played a formative part of my musical childhood!

 

Wolsey's words about these records playing a role in our formation is so well taken. I was seventeen the summer of '67 when my teacher took me to the second International Congress of Organists in several Canadian cities. I purchased the numbers that were then available in Toronto and when I returned home to rural Michigan played them over and over and over. Without it sounding like fatuous gas-bagging, I'd like to share my impressions of the series and the ways that certain performances on certain organs influenced me.

1) Liverpool: unbelievably thrilling sounds and exciting playing.

2) York: having first heard that Tuba, one is not likely to forget it. The easy fluency of FJ really defined for so many of us how the Willan IP&F should go.

3) Westminster Abbey: Never could understand why this number was so often discounted. The playing is masterly and elegant. For a stupid kid from the sticks, hearing the full swell opening at the end of the Mendelssohn was unforgettable. The Rheinberger is marvelous, use of the Tuba, etc. Americans can be a bit snotty about orchestral reeds as we tend to think that there are simply none finer than Skinner, Kimball and Aeolian. But it's nice the hear what one assumes is the Cor Anglais at the Abbey.

4) Gloucester: This number seems to me to encapsulate all the virtues of the so-called English Cathedral style of playing. Of course, the Elgar has never been equaled let alone beaten.

5) Coventry - 6) Exeter: neither of these "spoke" to me.

7) St. Giles: an organ not particularly liked by many (why must one maintain the discipline of decrying any work of HWIII?) but played by a simply splendid organist. There are problems of one kind or another on some pieces, but the Howells is out of this world. Throughout, there is something special about the organist that makes itself felt even when things don't quite come off.

8) Llandaff: nothing distinguished to my ears

9) Durham: I still don't like the Schoenberg, but who cares ? Conrad Eden's playing is so incredibly fine in every moment of each piece (Karg-Elert, WOW) that this number is a lesson in great playing from start to finish.

10) Hereford: hard to find ANYTHING to dislike here. On the contrary, every moment seems to exude exuberance and a BIG technique. I still like this Jongen Eroica BEST.

11) Salisbury: beyond a doubt, one of the very best of the series. Such beautiful, beautiful playing from first note to last, incredible use of colour, interesting use of the Tuba at the end of the Franck (it works!) and then there is THAT organ. I've never heard a Vox Humana to rival this one. How many organs are there that seem to be musical in simply any context ?

12) Norwich: only know this one from the Amphion tracks but the organ sounds very good and the playing is lovely, old-time and marvelously expressive. Wonderful use of the swells.

13) Ely: Even as a boy I found this one coarse and I still do.

14) Winchester: one is conscious that the organist is very good and makes the instrument sound better than it is. The playing is, for want of a better word, jolly.

15) Westminster Cathedral: another high point, a pinnacle really of the series. Transcendant playing and brilliant use of an amazing instrument. Even when the player substitues his OWN registration (beginning of the Vierne), the result is fascinating and totally convincing. I know we don't voice mutations like this anymore, but these are enchanting in their delicious, bell-like sound. As for the full organ, one must admit that this organ is a rock crusher, but a BEAUTIFUL one.

16) Canterbury: Brilliant playing on what sounds like a very good organ.

17) St. Paul's: Everything this organist touches turns to gold. It was clearly time for the rebuild but, my God, what reeds.

18) Lincoln: Again, I know this only from the Amphion excerpts but it is a beautiful organ beautifully played.

19) Chester: I'm not a fan of the R&D rebuild, but the playing is superb and the organ fine in many ways.

20) The bonus tracks are worth the price of the set. Anything played by Brian Runnett is important. How about his accompaniment of the Stainer from St. John's College ? Could anything be finer ? But I have to admit that I would pay for the entire box just to have the Reger played by Germani at Selby. I had that LP as a kid and went through two copies. The easy, easy fluency and incredible clarity, even from a Pedal Open Wood is something not to miss. Of course, the performance is simply thrilling on any terms, ignoring any details. It simply sweeps one away like a tidal wave.

 

Well, hope this doesn't rub anyone the wrong way. One thing is certain. There were giants out there in those days.

 

Karl Watson,

Staten Island, NY

[MusingMuso]

Wolsey's words about these records playing a role in our formation is so well taken. I was seventeen the summer of '67 when my teacher took me to the second International Congress of Organists in several Canadian cities. I purchased the numbers that were then available in Toronto and when I returned home to rural Michigan played them over and over and over. Without it sounding like fatuous gas-bagging, I'd like to share my impressions of the series and the ways that certain performances on certain organs influenced me.

1) Liverpool: unbelievably thrilling sounds and exciting playing.

2) York: having first heard that Tuba, one is not likely to forget it. The easy fluency of FJ really defined for so many of us how the Willan IP&F should go.

3) Westminster Abbey: Never could understand why this number was so often discounted. The playing is masterly and elegant. For a stupid kid from the sticks, hearing the full swell opening at the end of the Mendelssohn was unforgettable. The Rheinberger is marvelous, use of the Tuba, etc. Americans can be a bit snotty about orchestral reeds as we tend to think that there are simply none finer than Skinner, Kimball and Aeolian. But it's nice the hear what one assumes is the Cor Anglais at the Abbey.

4) Gloucester: This number seems to me to encapsulate all the virtues of the so-called English Cathedral style of playing. Of course, the Elgar has never been equaled let alone beaten.

5) Coventry - 6) Exeter: neither of these "spoke" to me.

7) St. Giles: an organ not particularly liked by many (why must one maintain the discipline of decrying any work of HWIII?) but played by a simply splendid organist. There are problems of one kind or another on some pieces, but the Howells is out of this world. Throughout, there is something special about the organist that makes itself felt even when things don't quite come off.

8) Llandaff: nothing distinguished to my ears

9) Durham: I still don't like the Schoenberg, but who cares ? Conrad Eden's playing is so incredibly fine in every moment of each piece (Karg-Elert, WOW) that this number is a lesson in great playing from start to finish.

10) Hereford: hard to find ANYTHING to dislike here. On the contrary, every moment seems to exude exuberance and a BIG technique. I still like this Jongen Eroica BEST.

11) Salisbury: beyond a doubt, one of the very best of the series. Such beautiful, beautiful playing from first note to last, incredible use of colour, interesting use of the Tuba at the end of the Franck (it works!) and then there is THAT organ. I've never heard a Vox Humana to rival this one. How many organs are there that seem to be musical in simply any context ?

12) Norwich: only know this one from the Amphion tracks but the organ sounds very good and the playing is lovely, old-time and marvelously expressive. Wonderful use of the swells.

13) Ely: Even as a boy I found this one coarse and I still do.

14) Winchester: one is conscious that the organist is very good and makes the instrument sound better than it is. The playing is, for want of a better word, jolly.

15) Westminster Cathedral: another high point, a pinnacle really of the series. Transcendant playing and brilliant use of an amazing instrument. Even when the player substitues his OWN registration (beginning of the Vierne), the result is fascinating and totally convincing. I know we don't voice mutations like this anymore, but these are enchanting in their delicious, bell-like sound. As for the full organ, one must admit that this organ is a rock crusher, but a BEAUTIFUL one.

16) Canterbury: Brilliant playing on what sounds like a very good organ.

17) St. Paul's: Everything this organist touches turns to gold. It was clearly time for the rebuild but, my God, what reeds.

18) Lincoln: Again, I know this only from the Amphion excerpts but it is a beautiful organ beautifully played.

19) Chester: I'm not a fan of the R&D rebuild, but the playing is superb and the organ fine in many ways.

20) The bonus tracks are worth the price of the set. Anything played by Brian Runnett is important. How about his accompaniment of the Stainer from St. John's College ? Could anything be finer ? But I have to admit that I would pay for the entire box just to have the Reger played by Germani at Selby. I had that LP as a kid and went through two copies. The easy, easy fluency and incredible clarity, even from a Pedal Open Wood is something not to miss. Of course, the performance is simply thrilling on any terms, ignoring any details. It simply sweeps one away like a tidal wave.

 

Well, hope this doesn't rub anyone the wrong way. One thing is certain. There were giants out there in those days.

 

Karl Watson,

Staten Island, NY

 

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

 

Well it doesn't read like fatuous gas-bagging to me!

 

On the contrary, it comes straight from the heart, and I found myself nodding with approval at many of the observations.

 

I never did actually hear or own ALL the Great Cathedral series, but I have quite a few stacked away.

 

Certainly, there were some gigantic performers around in those days, and one must surely envy the time when being an organist had a certain prestige in the eye of a public who had grown up through the era of cathedral, church and theatre organ playing; backed up by regular celebrity broadcasts on the radio. Little did I know at the time that this was really the end of an era.

 

I think that the York recording was always my favourite, and it still is, a frightening 45 years later. The Willan interpretation still comes up in conversation to-day, and I have never heard anything other than the fact that everyone regards this as the perfect performance of a quite tricky work.

 

I love the description of the organ of Westminster Cathedral....."rock crushing."

 

That's just marvellously accurate in just two words.

 

Chester.....erm.....I don't think it had been re-built when the recording was made, but I may be wrong. I have a recording of the old organ as was, played by John Sanders (I think), and it was at the time when the old Hill electric action was still in use. It's an instrument which needs to be heard in the flesh, because the positioning of the instrument and some of the pedal stops, tends to make it a difficult one to record. Personally, I love the instrument the way it is, but recognise that it isn't the most subtle of accompaniment instruments.

 

Coventry was a bit disappointing I felt, except for the Walond, which delighted me at the time.

 

All the other comments I find myself in agreement with, and then we come to Germani.

 

I've said before, and will happily repeat the impact that Germani had on me as a 15 year old.

 

How many organists could play Reger with such power and musical conviction, that it totally "blew away" a kid that age?

 

I've loved Reger's music ever since, (most of it anyway), but for whatever reason, I seldom hear his music played well in the UK. There seems to be something of a mental barrier for so many English organists/listeners, but that isn't the case in Germany, Holland and America, where great performances are quite normal.

 

I know that when I learned the "Hallelujah" Gott zu Loben" for myself, it was something of a seminal moment, for my desire to master this work was entirely due to the Selby recording, to which I listened and listened time and time again. Even now, I regard it as a peerless performance of a truly great organ-work, and for those of us who have worked at it, the effortless fluency of Germani's playing is quite something; not to mention his depth of understanding. I regard hearing Germani in concert as one of the great privileges of my life.

 

However, changing tac slightly, what of the Ryemuse series of recordings?

 

Never of great quality from a vinyl-pressing point of view, they were nevertheless VERY important recordings of some extraordinary performers. In some ways, (Francis Jackson excepted), the Great Cathedral series were possibly of less significance from a musical point of view, yet perfectly well played and presented.

 

On the Ryemuse label, Francis Jackson (for instance), played some of his own music, and that superb Pastorale by Peter Racine Fricker.

 

Noel Rawsthorne delighted us with what I would regard as the definitive performance of the Howells "Master Tallis Testament," which I like very much. (Remarkable, considering how much I dislike the music of Howells generally).

 

Perhaps the most stunning English recording of all, with one or two exceptions described above, was that produced by Vista from Blackburn Cathedral, when Jane Parker-Smith bowled us over with some glorious French interpretations; not all of it entirely familiar.

Has there ever been a better Durufle Toccata, (original version), or a better-oiled spinning-wheel by Dupre?

 

It's a recording to marvel at, even to-day.

 

Finally, which company recorded and produced the Keith John performance from the Tonhalle, Zurich?

 

When it comes to the Reubke Sonata, perhaps only Roger Fisher and Wolfgang Rubsam ever equalled this on disc, and foolishly, I never bought it at the time.

 

MM

[Florian]

I still don't like the Schoenberg, but who cares ?

 

should read: I still don't like the Schoenberg, but who does?

[MusingMuso]

should read: I still don't like the Schoenberg, but who does?

 

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

 

 

I loved this work on first reading.....really!

 

It was only later that I discovered I had been playing it back to front with the music upside down.....a vast improvement IMHO!

 

MM

[oscar_rook]

>> Finally, which company recorded and produced the Keith John performance from the Tonhalle, Zurich?

 

Priory (PRCD 264) recorded Keith John's performance of the Reubke Sonata, coupled with several Bach works incl BWV564 and BWV527, at the Zurich Tonhalle in August 1988.

 

Oscar

[wolsey]

Could you list the contents?

It's a 13-disc set, so I'd rather not. Incidentally, Amazon craftily paired the set with the Treasury of English Church Music for those who yearn more nostalgia. I'm afraid I fell for the Treasury as well...

[emsgdh]

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

 

Well it doesn't read like fatuous gas-bagging to me!

 

On the contrary, it comes straight from the heart, and I found myself nodding with approval at many of the observations.

 

I never did actually hear or own ALL the Great Cathedral series, but I have quite a few stacked away.

 

Certainly, there were some gigantic performers around in those days, and one must surely envy the time when being an organist had a certain prestige in the eye of a public who had grown up through the era of cathedral, church and theatre organ playing; backed up by regular celebrity broadcasts on the radio. Little did I know at the time that this was really the end of an era.

 

I think that the York recording was always my favourite, and it still is, a frightening 45 years later. The Willan interpretation still comes up in conversation to-day, and I have never heard anything other than the fact that everyone regards this as the perfect performance of a quite tricky work.

 

I love the description of the organ of Westminster Cathedral....."rock crushing."

 

That's just marvellously accurate in just two words.

 

Chester.....erm.....I don't think it had been re-built when the recording was made, but I may be wrong. I have a recording of the old organ as was, played by John Sanders (I think), and it was at the time when the old Hill electric action was still in use. It's an instrument which needs to be heard in the flesh, because the positioning of the instrument and some of the pedal stops, tends to make it a difficult one to record. Personally, I love the instrument the way it is, but recognise that it isn't the most subtle of accompaniment instruments.

 

Coventry was a bit disappointing I felt, except for the Walond, which delighted me at the time.

 

All the other comments I find myself in agreement with, and then we come to Germani.

 

I've said before, and will happily repeat the impact that Germani had on me as a 15 year old.

 

How many organists could play Reger with such power and musical conviction, that it totally "blew away" a kid that age?

 

I've loved Reger's music ever since, (most of it anyway), but for whatever reason, I seldom hear his music played well in the UK. There seems to be something of a mental barrier for so many English organists/listeners, but that isn't the case in Germany, Holland and America, where great performances are quite normal.

 

I know that when I learned the "Hallelujah" Gott zu Loben" for myself, it was something of a seminal moment, for my desire to master this work was entirely due to the Selby recording, to which I listened and listened time and time again. Even now, I regard it as a peerless performance of a truly great organ-work, and for those of us who have worked at it, the effortless fluency of Germani's playing is quite something; not to mention his depth of understanding. I regard hearing Germani in concert as one of the great privileges of my life.

 

However, changing tac slightly, what of the Ryemuse series of recordings?

 

Never of great quality from a vinyl-pressing point of view, they were nevertheless VERY important recordings of some extraordinary performers. In some ways, (Francis Jackson excepted), the Great Cathedral series were possibly of less significance from a musical point of view, yet perfectly well played and presented.

 

On the Ryemuse label, Francis Jackson (for instance), played some of his own music, and that superb Pastorale by Peter Racine Fricker.

 

Noel Rawsthorne delighted us with what I would regard as the definitive performance of the Howells "Master Tallis Testament," which I like very much. (Remarkable, considering how much I dislike the music of Howells generally).

 

Perhaps the most stunning English recording of all, with one or two exceptions described above, was that produced by Vista from Blackburn Cathedral, when Jane Parker-Smith bowled us over with some glorious French interpretations; not all of it entirely familiar.

Has there ever been a better Durufle Toccata, (original version), or a better-oiled spinning-wheel by Dupre?

 

It's a recording to marvel at, even to-day.

 

Finally, which company recorded and produced the Keith John performance from the Tonhalle, Zurich?

 

When it comes to the Reubke Sonata, perhaps only Roger Fisher and Wolfgang Rubsam ever equalled this on disc, and foolishly, I never bought it at the time.

 

MM

 

Wolsey is very kind.

 

Sorry if I got that wrong about the Chester rebuild. I remember hearing the John Saunders recording and thinking that the organ was much darker but also much, much more of a unity.

 

On the subject of performances (recordings) of the big Willan, there have been others of note, but there is one, made at the organ of St. Paul's, Bloor Street, by John Tuttle, that in my humble opinion sweeps all before it. I'm proud to say that John was a mentor to me in my student days but it's not loyalty that inspires me to hail his playing of this very difficult and somewhat illusive piece. In addition, there is a little-known LP of him playing the Reukbe, the Roger-Ducasse and the big Mozart K.608, each played with mastery and consumate brilliance. To give this observation greater weight, you will scarcely believe it when I tell you that I just happened to be in Toronto one Summer (it must have been in the late '70s), on a very low Sunday in August, and, without advance warning, attended service at St. Paul's and heard John play the Roger-Ducasse and the Mozart as voluntaries. They were played fabulously. The final irony is that like Dr. Willan before him, not long after my visit, John left the extremely protestant precincts of St. Paul's and has since been at a truly lovely Anglo-Catholic parish in Toronto, enjoying a long and happy tenure there.

 

When Wolsey refers to the end of an era, I confess it gives me quite a pain. Although no doubt true, I find myself asking WHY ?

[MusingMuso]

Wolsey is very kind.

 

 

When Wolsey refers to the end of an era, I confess it gives me quite a pain. Although no doubt true, I find myself asking WHY ?

 

 

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

 

 

It wasn't "Wolsey," but 'aye' MM.

 

That apart, I often wonder why this period (1965-75) was the "end of an era," but it was.

 

Of course, there are marvellous organists around to-day, but that isn't the problem. It's as if, at the receiving end, there is no longer the eager buzz of anticipation, or the excited clamour to grab the best seat with the prime console view.

 

There was even a sort of folklore when I was a teenager, and I especially recall one:-

 

"You haven't heard Germani? He can play better with his feet than most people can with their hands!"

 

These were two fifteen year old boys having an excited conversation, and I was but the 13 year old tadpole listening to it.

 

It's like great organists were demi-gods, and looking back, I'm sure it had everything to do with education in those days.

 

So too were great engineers and scientists, and at the age of 14, the names of Bernard Lovell (a very competent organist), Fred Hoyle (family friend), Barnes Wallace, Sir William Lyons (Jaguar Cars) and such, were the buzz-word names, not "Pop Idol," "The X-factor" and "Glee."

 

It was as if anything less than the best was an acknowledgement of failure, whereas to-day, any achievement, no matter how small, is regarded as a triumph.

 

It can possibly be condensed down to a simple truth. We get the education others need, rather than what we need, and with the collapse of manufacturing, a highly scientific and technological education is just too expensive, and rather detached from everyday existence.

 

It's extraordinary to look back at my own education, (from which I appeared to emerge rather badly initially), because at the tender age of just 15, I knew about things across a remarkable breadth of disciplines. I knew the difference between Whitworth threads, AF threads and Metric threads. I knew the difference between Fred Hoyle's "Steady State Theory" and the "Big Bang."

I was taught to sing Handel and Bach, rather than 'Gangsta Rap.' I understood plate techtonics, sediments, elements and incraments, and yes, it was unshamedly elitist, because without knowing it, we were the ones being trained to lead and take responsibility.

 

The interesting thing is, that same attitude prevailed across all sectors of education; even in the Secondary Modern schools, where the academic pursuits were of far less important. Even if it was just sports or bricklaying, being the best was important.

 

If the organ enjoyed popularity rather than the cult status of to-day, it probably had a lot to do with a nation who went to church and prayed for King and Country in 1914-18, for the poor and destitute following the Wall Street Crash, and for peace, the bereaved, the wounded and the dead during WWII. It was nothing if not an interesting half century.

 

Add to this the popular pastime of cinema-going, where the best cinemas had the best organists, (Sidney Torch, Bryan Rodwell, Quentin Maclean, Norman Cocker), and it isn't difficult to see how the organ was foremost in the minds of the public; especially when radio also reinforced that almost every day.

 

So the end of an era it may have been, but that end is not unique to the organ-world by any means. I still talk to elderly, retired engineers, who with a mist before their eyes, talk warmly about "the old days" of industry and full employment, when skill and knowledge counted for everything.

 

To expand a recent comment I made in another post, the difference to-day is that sharpened elbows and sharp-practice have replaced razor sharp minds, and razor sharp minds always appreciate the same in others, no matter how remote or how specialised.

 

MM

 

 

PS: When I heard Germani, I knew that my musical peers were telling the truth.

[emsgdh]

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

 

 

It wasn't "Wolsey," but 'aye' MM.

 

That apart, I often wonder why this period (1965-75) was the "end of an era," but it was.

 

Of course, there are marvellous organists around to-day, but that isn't the problem. It's as if, at the receiving end, there is no longer the eager buzz of anticipation, or the excited clamour to grab the best seat with the prime console view.

 

There was even a sort of folklore when I was a teenager, and I especially recall one:-

 

"You haven't heard Germani? He can play better with his feet than most people can with their hands!"

 

These were two fifteen year old boys having an excited conversation, and I was but the 13 year old tadpole listening to it.

 

It's like great organists were demi-gods, and looking back, I'm sure it had everything to do with education in those days.

 

So too were great engineers and scientists, and at the age of 14, the names of Bernard Lovell (a very competent organist), Fred Hoyle (family friend), Barnes Wallace, Sir William Lyons (Jaguar Cars) and such, were the buzz-word names, not "Pop Idol," "The X-factor" and "Glee."

 

It was as if anything less than the best was an acknowledgement of failure, whereas to-day, any achievement, no matter how small, is regarded as a triumph.

 

It can possibly be condensed down to a simple truth. We get the education others need, rather than what we need, and with the collapse of manufacturing, a highly scientific and technological education is just too expensive, and rather detached from everyday existence.

 

It's extraordinary to look back at my own education, (from which I appeared to emerge rather badly initially), because at the tender age of just 15, I knew about things across a remarkable breadth of disciplines. I knew the difference between Whitworth threads, AF threads and Metric threads. I knew the difference between Fred Hoyle's "Steady State Theory" and the "Big Bang."

I was taught to sing Handel and Bach, rather than 'Gangsta Rap.' I understood plate techtonics, sediments, elements and incraments, and yes, it was unshamedly elitist, because without knowing it, we were the ones being trained to lead and take responsibility.

 

The interesting thing is, that same attitude prevailed across all sectors of education; even in the Secondary Modern schools, where the academic pursuits were of far less important. Even if it was just sports or bricklaying, being the best was important.

 

If the organ enjoyed popularity rather than the cult status of to-day, it probably had a lot to do with a nation who went to church and prayed for King and Country in 1914-18, for the poor and destitute following the Wall Street Crash, and for peace, the bereaved, the wounded and the dead during WWII. It was nothing if not an interesting half century.

 

Add to this the popular pastime of cinema-going, where the best cinemas had the best organists, (Sidney Torch, Bryan Rodwell, Quentin Maclean, Norman Cocker), and it isn't difficult to see how the organ was foremost in the minds of the public; especially when radio also reinforced that almost every day.

 

So the end of an era it may have been, but that end is not unique to the organ-world by any means. I still talk to elderly, retired engineers, who with a mist before their eyes, talk warmly about "the old days" of industry and full employment, when skill and knowledge counted for everything.

 

To expand a recent comment I made in another post, the difference to-day is that sharpened elbows and sharp-practice have replaced razor sharp minds, and razor sharp minds always appreciate the same in others, no matter how remote or how specialised.

 

MM

 

 

PS: When I heard Germani, I knew that my musical peers were telling the truth.

So sorry I mistook your reply. Your splendid last gives one so much to ponder that I must do so before considering a reply.

 

I wrestle continually with the dread that Western thought and culture are on the decline. I know they are but I can't bring myself to accept it.

[heva]

It's a 13-disc set, so I'd rather not. Incidentally, Amazon craftily paired the set with the Treasury of English Church Music for those who yearn more nostalgia. I'm afraid I fell for the Treasury as well...

 

A 'what-organ on what-disc' would do, can't find this set on the EMI site(s) ...

[oscar_rook]

Here's a full track listing. I don't yet have the new CD set but, if my memory serves me correctly, the organs are:

 

CD1/Tracks1-9 Liverpool Cathedral

CD1/Tracks10-16 and CD2/Tracks1-3 York Minster

CD2/Tracks4-16 Westminster Abbey

CD3/Tracks1-10 Gloucester Cathedral

CD3/Tracks11-15 and CD4/Tracks1-5 Coventry Cathedral

CD4/Tracks6-13 Exeter Cathedral

CD4/Tracks14-15 and CD5/Tracks1-10 St Giles Edinburgh

CD5/Tracks11-24 Llandaff Cathedral

CD6/Tracks1-6 Durham Cathedral

CD6/Tracks7-13 and CD7/Tracks1-2 Hereford Cathedral

CD7/Tracks3-9 Salisbury Cathedral

CD7/Tracks10-12 and CD8/Tracks1-5 Norwich Cathedral

CD8/Tracks6-23 Ely Cathedral

CD8/Tracks24-25 and CD9/Tracks1-8 Worcester

CD9/Tracks9-12 Westminster Cathedral

CD10/Tracks1-15 Canterbury Cathedral

CD10/Tracks16-22 and CD11/Tracks1-5 St Paul's Cathedral

CD11/Tracks6-16 Lincoln Minster

CD12/Tracks1-11 Chester Cathedral

CD12/Tracks12-13 Selby Abbey

CD13/Tracks1-5 Norwich Cathedral

 

Regards

 

Oscar

[heva]

Here's a full track listing. I don't yet have the new CD set but, if my memory serves me correctly, the organs are:

 

CD1/Tracks1-9 Liverpool Cathedral

CD1/Tracks10-16 and CD2/Tracks1-3 York Minster

CD2/Tracks4-16 Westminster Abbey

CD3/Tracks1-10 Gloucester Cathedral

CD3/Tracks11-15 and CD4/Tracks1-5 Coventry Cathedral

CD4/Tracks6-13 Exeter Cathedral

CD4/Tracks14-15 and CD5/Tracks1-10 St Giles Edinburgh

CD5/Tracks11-24 Llandaff Cathedral

CD6/Tracks1-6 Durham Cathedral

CD6/Tracks7-13 and CD7/Tracks1-2 Hereford Cathedral

CD7/Tracks3-9 Salisbury Cathedral

CD7/Tracks10-12 and CD8/Tracks1-5 Norwich Cathedral

CD8/Tracks6-23 Ely Cathedral

CD8/Tracks24-25 and CD9/Tracks1-8 Worcester

CD9/Tracks9-12 Westminster Cathedral

CD10/Tracks1-15 Canterbury Cathedral

CD10/Tracks16-22 and CD11/Tracks1-5 St Paul's Cathedral

CD11/Tracks6-16 Lincoln Minster

CD12/Tracks1-11 Chester Cathedral

CD12/Tracks12-13 Selby Abbey

CD13/Tracks1-5 Norwich Cathedral

 

Regards

 

Oscar

 

Thanks! nice to see on that link that all organists play works of their own ;-)