The UK's leading Digital Church Organ specialist
Viscount provide 3 practice organs to Oundle for Organists For many years now the name of Oundle has been well known in the organ world for running teaching courses specifically aimed at young musicians. I first was involved over 20 years ago when I sponsored individual recitals which were part of the course activities. Oundle for Organists…
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In April this year we had 22 new Viscount digital organs delivered to us here in Bicester. As most customers know our instruments are made by Viscount in the hillside town of Mondaino in the Le Marche region of Italy. Once a month a truck leaves Mondaino and three days later it arrives in Bicester. There…
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In this “Hymn of the Month” we present you with the hymn song “Praise to the Holiest in the height” by John Henry Newman (1801 – 1890). This is accompanied by the hymn tune “Gerontius” by the English musician and clergyman John Bacchus Dykes (1823 – 1876). John B. Dykes was born in Hull, England,…
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This client installation at Lough Derg is quite an unusual one but very exciting one indeed. From some of the pictures in this blog it is not difficult to see why Lough Derg has developed as a significant place of pilgrimage. The setting on an island lends itself to being a place of peace and…
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Viscount’s physical modelling platform – Physis explained Physis is a computer generated physical model of an organ pipe. This enables the Viscount Digital Organ to be manipulated in just the same way as a pipe voicer would approach an organ pipe. As most of our customers owning a physical modelling organ know these instruments allow a…
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Looking back at our major achievements It is frightening just how fast last year passed by and we are now in sight of mid summers day. Recent conversations with a few customers prompted me to write this review, to create a single post where the major achievements of our year are set out. No doubt…
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Viscount Organs have just added a new vehicle to the fleet. This will help us better serve our growing customer base around the UK. Those of you who know my accountancy background will understand the reluctance with which I enter into capital expenditure. So it was surprising that early this year I found myself suggesting that we…
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In this “Hymn of the Month” we present you with the hymn song “ 0 Thou who at Thy Eucharist didst pray ” by William Harry Turton (1856 -1938). This is accompanied by the hymn tune “Song 1” from the outstanding English composer and organist Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625). Orlando Gibbons was one of the greatest…
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The Astwell Benefice located on the extreme southern border of Northamptonshire with Oxfordshire comprises 6 churches in the villages of Helmdon, Syresham, Radstone, Whitfield Whappenham and Weedon Lois. They are typical small village churches that seat between 100 and 200 if absolutely packed with Sunday services attracting between 10 and 50 depending upon the time…
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I have only recently become aware of the National Churches Trust and wondered if you too may not be aware of the help that they provide. They became known to me in the context of a place to advertise our instruments and services. So we are now listed on the online directory along other trades and professionals…
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The hands and feet of the Cathedral and King’s Ely professional organists will once again collaborate and collide in a splendid ‘battle’ featuring the state of the art Old Palace Chapel organ. Join our performers for a glass of wine in the Palace reception after the event. Paul Trepte, Jonathan Kingston, Sarah MacDonald, Graham Griggs,…
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Viscount have long had two strong dealers, Soundtec Classical Organs and Key Player, north of the border. Both are family businesses. On the East Coast just outside Edinburgh Key Player (previously Edinburgh Organ Studio) continues to be run by Kerr MacIntosh. Once on the Golden Mile they are now outside the city centre in Leith Walk and…
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This month we present the hymn “Hail the Day That Sees Him Rise”, by the great hymn writer Charles Wesley (1707 – 1788). This hymn is usually sung to the Welsh tune LLANFAIR, attributed to Robert Williams (1782 – 1821), even though some historians have certain doubts about his authorship. This hymn was written for…
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My very first job was as an articled accountant in London working a stones throw from Borough Market in a brand new tower block by London Bridge station. That block has since been demolished and on that site now sits the Shard. Who would have though a tower block would become redundant in just 40…
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When I came into the office a while back I was greeted with a sight of a Welsh National Opera vehicle parked outside which I assure you is not a frequent sight. On entering the building I found a repair in progress on their travelling Viscount Organ that had recently blown an amplifier driving external…
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For this month’s hymn we have appropriately selected the Christian Easter hymn, “Jesus Christ is Risen Today”. The author is unknown but early manuscripts suggest that the hymn was written in Germany in the 14th century. The hymn is most frequently set to the hymn tune “Easter Hymn” which was composed in the Lyra Davidica…
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Those of you familiar with St John’s Smiths Square or steeped in knowledge of the pipe organs of the British Isles will know that SJSS has a very fine Klais pipe organ and so should not be in need of a hire organ. However, things do not always go to plan and so it was…
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In 2016 we ran an extensive three month competition to introduce more people to the sound of digital church organs. We developed a Quiz that tested the players as to whether they could identify specific clips of music as a pipe organ or a digital organ. In July last year I had the happy job…
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The hymn tune of the month this time is “Passion Chorale” which was originally composed by Hans Leo Hassler (1564-1612). The most common text associated to this hymn tune is “O Sacred Head, Now Wounded” which is a Christian Passion hymn based on a Latin text written during the Middle Ages. Paul Gerhardt (1607-1676) originally…
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Early in January 2017 I received a request for help with a Sheffield based programme aimed at engaging with youngsters in the poorer areas of the City by way of establishing youth choirs. This initiative is being led by Chris Bishop, the Youth Ministry Co-ordinator and will be based in up to 4 churches in…
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On Saturday January 7th 2017 the RCO in conjunction with the Organ Club, arranged for a full day visit to the Troxy Cinema in Commercial Road East London to explore the Wurlitzer Organ installed there in 2015. What a day out it proved to be! Unfortunately I did not get there until the lunch break…
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Lucca is a Tuscan city that is a must on any visit to Italy. Close to Pisa it no doubt lives in the shadow of that far better know tourist Mecca. Lucca may not have a leaning tower but in my opinion it has a great deal more to offer the visitor looking to pass…
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This month’s hymn, “Tell Out, My Soul”, is a Christian hymn paraphrasing the Magnificat written by Timothy Dudley-Smith (1926 – ) in 1962. In the early days this hymn was paired to a tune by Michael Baughen but it was later paired and greatly enhanced by the sweeping music of Walter Greatorex’s (1877 – 1949)…
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An Organ Recital by Christopher Cipkin will take place on 18 February 2017 at 4pm in St Peter’s Church, Caversham. This is a great opportunity to hear a recital on the wonderful new Regent Classic organ installed in 2016. You can read more about the installation here. Christopher Cipkin, past organist at Reading Minster, Reading…
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