This month we feature “All My Hope on God is Founded” as part of our Hymn of the Month series played by our inhouse organist, Jonathan Kingston.
The original words “Meine Hoffnung stehet feste” were written in around 1680 by Joachim Neander and these are often sung to an early German tune of the same name.
The hymn’s popularity increased when it was paired with the tune “Michael” which was written by the great 20th century English composer Herbert Howells whose choral works have become the bedrock of our Cathedral liturgy.
Howells held only briefly an organist post at Salisbury Cathedral. Nearly all of his working life was spent on the staff at the Royal College of Music. In 1935 he received a request to write a new hymn tune. His son Michael had died of meningitis a year earlier and so this tune was named after him. Howells died in 1983 at the age of 90.
This played on our Envoy 35-F which is a very popular church instrument.
More About Jonathan Kingston’s Musical Background
Jonathan studied the organ with Professor Ian Tracey and Ian Wells of Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral, home to one of the largest pipe organs in the world. He was appointed Organ Scholar, and subsequently Sub-Organist to Bradford Cathedral before securing positions as Assistant Director and Director of Music at two leading independent schools. He is currently Associate Director of Music at the Ordinariate Church of Our Lady of the Assumption, Piccadilly.
Jonathan’s Work With Viscount
Jonathan works with us as our very own inhouse organist – he covers several areas from sales, demonstrations, voicing of instruments and performing. His playing features on the current promotional DVD material for Viscount, and he would be very pleased to hear from any churches or individuals requiring an engaging and lively recitalist. If you would like to connect with Jonathan directly, please feel free to follow him on Twitter (@jonkingston) or by email on jonkingston@hotmail.co.uk.
More About the Organ Being Played In This Demonstration
Jonathan plays this piece on our very own Envoy 35-F A ‘Physical Modelling’ based instrument with 35 stops in a real wood veneer cabinet. It has a huge internal library allowing the user to create 4 totally individual voice pallets from classic English through Baroque and Romantic. It benefits from a full complement of divisional thumb pistons and additional toe pistons. This organ also has a full 32 note pedal. For more information have a look at its specifications here.
I have had a passion for church organs since the tender age of 12. I own and run Viscount Organs with a close attention to the detail that musicians appreciate; and a clear understanding of the benefits of digital technology and keeping to the traditional and emotional elements of organ playing.
