The UK's leading Digital Church Organ specialist
David Burchell’s prelude on the well-known hymn tune “Love Unknown” was included in An Oxfordshire Organ Book, published by the Oxford and District Organists Association. The excellent hymn tune on which it’s based was originally written by the composer John Ireland, who died in 1972. David Burchell was organ scholar and later assistant organist at…
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(This instrument is no longer available!) Some weeks ago now we were contacted by Nikki Pelmear to ask if we could help her fulfil her late father’s wishes for his Norwich Organ and music collection to find its way to a place of worship school or college. She had contacted us because of our quite…
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The following is a comparison between Wyvern Pavane 224 organ compared to the Viscount Chorum 40-S organ. It is understandable that the most popular organ chosen for home practice is often in a small console as space can be tight. Price is also an issue so our instruments at the less expensive end of the…
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I am indebted to our customer Graham Twist for bringing to my attention the material for this short blog. Graham, a retired teacher is now a quite prolific composer of organ music which he regularly presents on Facebook and Youtube, often with a free score. These are played on his Chorum 40-S, supplemented at times…
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John Riley’s “Two Pieces for Manuals” are from An Oxfordshire Organ Book, published by the Oxford and District Organists Association. The two pieces in question are entitled “Lullaby in Dorian Mode” and “Mediaeval Rondeau”. < John Riley, one-time resident of Oxford, is now a freelance musician based in Edinburgh. In his notes he mentions that…
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The first performance of Poulenc’s Organ Concerto took place in 1938 and has been one of my favourite pieces since I first heard a recording in the 1960’s. The B side had Poulenc’s Concert Champetre for Harpsicord, which is also a very appealing composition. I recommend you watch the video below, where International Recitalist Joseph Nolan…
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In a previous article, Robin Harrison did an Introduction to Organ Improvisation where he explained how a few organ improvisation techniques can help when you suddenly need to fill a gap in a middle of a service. In this article Robin discusses Organ Improvisation using One Chord. No Music Shop or Books for Beginners, What…
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The hymn tune Cranham is best known to us for the Christmas carol “In the bleak midwinter”. Relf Clark’s chorale prelude on the tune is from An Oxfordshire Organ Book, published in 2019 by the Oxford and District Organists’ Association. (You can find out more about this collection of pieces in the general introduction to…
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Keen readers of Viscount’s tales will know that the company jumped to attention on a Bank Holiday when the call came for an emergency hire organ at the Old Royal Naval College Chapel in Greenwich. A few months later, in September 2021, I was asked to voice a Regent 356 at the chapel. This new…
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Earlier I wrote about my first visit to Viscount HQ in almost 18 months. I left Mondaino and Viscount behind early in the morning after a brief farewell with the staff. After a few miles I left Emilia Romana behind and was back in Tuscany on the winding hill route toward the town of Sansepolcro….
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It is fair to say that there was a little anxiety, the evening before the event, that our ‘Battle Concert’ audience might be small as early ticket sales were rather slow. In the end the fears were misplaced and an audience approaching 150 slowly filled the Abbey on Friday evening. One attendee had even driven…
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You suddenly find you have to fill a gap with some organ improvisation in a middle of a service. In all of the organ lessons you have had so far, you have been looking at a book, marking fingerings, pedalling, registration and notes with a pencil and suddenly there’s nothing in front of you. PANIC!…
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