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As ever, we do enjoy a challenge and generally it comes in the direction of SOS organ hires. We received a call from James Thomas the Director of Music at St Edmundsbury Cathedral. He was up against it and at very short notice needed to hire an organ for an event in the choir school which…
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This post is part of a series where I share some of my world travels, which my love for organs has taken me. I help friends, associates and fellow organ lovers with projects that mean I get to see new and old organs in gorgeous settings and really experiment with this instrument. Those of you…
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Trying to compile a list of the greatest composers of organ music, is a little like putting ones head in the lion’s mouth. Given the influence of personal taste, period, and style, perhaps the question is almost a silly one to pose? Even so, I think there will be universally agreed ‘giants’ of the instrument…
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Since the instrument was first invented, the organ has fascinated players and audiences for its construction and size and its musical tone. I doubt there is any other musical instrument that has evolved so greatly, incorporating new technologies as they become available, and where sheer size has been a driving ambition of many builders. Years…
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Our final tune in this year’s series is befittingly the old English traditional Christmas carol “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen”. The composer is unknown but there are records of it being sung within the Christian Church since the 15th century. The hymn was first put into print in 1760 but made available to a wider…
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Towards the end of September we were making another DVD in Selby Abbey and staying near York so it was too good an opportunity to pass by visiting some of the very fine churches in the city. Also never having played York Minster it seemed an ideal time to see if we could have some…
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Everyone who is involved in church music will have their own view about a pipe organ and its use in church life, most likely based on how they use the organ in their own worship. Ask 100 people and you’ll get 100 different answers. Here, I’ve tried to give a little historical context based on…
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The hymn tune Thaxted is taken from the middle section of “Jupiter”, one of the seven movements in the orchestral suite “The Planets” by Gustav Theodore Holst (1874 –1934). Holst adapted the theme from Jupiter to suit the patriotic poem “I Vow to Thee, my Country”, by Cecil Spring-Rice (1859–1918), which honours the soldiers who…
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I had great fun playing the newly restored Willis organ at St Mary & St Giles in Stony Stratford in September this year. The organ has just had a £250,000 major overhaul by F H Browne & Sons which included adding 4 stops that had been prepared for, but never made, and also replacing a…
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Darwall’s 148th or simply Darwall as it is sometimes known is the tune featured this month. The is an especially confident and optimistic tune with the resounding ascent of the final line, was composed by Reverend John Darwall (1731–1789). It was first published as a setting for Psalm 148 in Aaron William’s New Universal Psalmodist…
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Recently, while I was setting up a blog post on the Regent Classic web site to promote the 6 recitals that Joseph Nolan will play for us this year, I remembered that I must get them listed on www.organrecitals.com and this got me thinking. Management of web sites as they grow gets ever more time consuming and complex….
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The RCO Academy are running courses from Friday 28 Oct to Sunday 30 October 2016 (in the Autumn half term) for young organists and pianists. These are generously supported by The GMC Trust, The Williams Church Music Trust and The William Haddon Charitable Foundation. There are two courses to choose from: “Find your feet” This is for early steps…
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