The UK's leading Digital Church Organ specialist
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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