Every Sunday morning RTE in Ireland televise a religious service. Mostly this is recorded in a TV studio in Dublin but on special occasions there is also an outside broadcast from some church around Ireland.
Generally a Yamaha grand piano is used in the studio, or the musicians bring in their own instruments usually in the form of a portable keyboard. On Sunday 12th May we were pleased though to see that our Viscount Cantorum Duo was used during the studio mass.
The organist playing the Cantorum Duo during this service also played our Viscount organ during the Papal Visit to Knock Shrine in the west of Ireland last August. We wrote a story about this last year and how David Jeffers (Jeffers Music) provided four hire organs for the World Meeting of Families in Phoenix Park, RDS in Dublin and to Knock Shrine.
The RTE TV Studio Mass on Sunday morning the 12th May used all Irish Compositions. The choir was accompanied by a Irish traditional Flute and a full size Harp as well as the Viscount Organ. The national broadcaster RTE used to have an old analogue Viscount two manual organ but it was good to see the new Cantorum Duo on TV in its place instead.
If you’d like to watch the mass please visit the RTE website –> Sunday Mass 12 May. (Unfortunately the recording will only be available until end of May so don’t wait.)
Maybe in the future we will see a permanent digital organ or another portable organ in the RTE studio? We can always hope.
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.
