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The Grand Organ at Westminster Cathedral was built by Henry Willis III. Willis and Hill vied for position as England finest organ builders but Willis probably has the reputation for building more exciting pipe organs, with especially fine reed stops. The first scheme for a new organ was actually proposed by T C Lewis in…
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I am sure a question that none of us can resist putting to any accomplished professional organist we might meet is – ‘which organ does he or she consider to be the best they have ever played’? We all have genuine curiosity on that topic, one which of course is in reality impossible to split…
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Recently I had the good fortune of attending evensong in the Kings College Chapel (for the second time). The first was some 15 years or so ago when David Briggs had very kindly arranged for me to have a play of the instrument after the service and then join him and Sir Stephen Cleobury for…
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Continued from Singapore Sojourn part 1. During my time in Singapore last summer I was lucky enough to play the largest pipe organ in the island-nation. Opened in 2002, “Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay” is a premier arts complex in a prime location on the north side of Singapore city’s Marina Bay. The architecture…
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International travel has not been a frequent feature of my life but, earlier this year, I was able to join my wife for 11 days in Singapore where she was working as an examiner for the ABRSM. It was my first visit to this island republic of around 5.6 million people and, I suppose, my…
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For me and for most other organists, a particularly pleasing aspect of Advent and Christmas is that we get to play for a good number of carol services which means playing instruments never experienced before. One such event for me was a recent concert at St. Stephen’s Church Launceston in Cornwall where I was accompanying…
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Recently I found myself travelling to Peterborough to meet a potential client. Having time on my hands I decided to revisit nearby Fotheringhay Church where almost 20 years ago now I used to meet James Parsons for a monthly lesson. This was on the wonderful Vincent Woodstock organ that resides there. These trips were really…
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As described in part two of our welsh organ adventure we had started the day at St Peter’s Church in Pentre. This was followed by a detour to St George’s Cwm Parc where the installed Viscount Organ had some external speakers added. By midday we were back in the car and heading towards Brecon for…
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Our short drive from St German’s Church (see part one of our welsh organ pilgrimage) took us to Llandaff Cathedral. Third stop on Organ trip – Llandaff Cathedral Llandaff Cathedral now has a 4 manual organ built by Nicholson of Worcester. Substantially completed in 2010 the final solo organ stops were added in 2013. See…
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Those of you who have kindly read many of my blogs will know that I grew up in Wales moving away to work in London at 21, well before my now obsessive interest in the organ took hold. And so perhaps it is not altogether surprising that the number of Welsh pipe organs I have…
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This is a post written by Richard Lowe who is an Organ Consultant and Organist . He had a very exciting and interesting story to share from Christ Church West Didsbury where he works as Director of Music. So we’ve asked him to write this post for us. Christ Church West Didsbury is rather unusual amongst…
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Back in the mid 2000’s before the financial crisis turned the world on its head I used to enjoy a monthly trip into London for lessons with Catherine Ennis at her wonderful church in the heart of the City of London. It was a most enjoyable ‘day off’ and a visit that I always looked…
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I do not expect that many of us will have a clear memory of the first organ we ever heard, or perhaps even played. I can be fairly certain that for me it will have been the Llandaff Cathedral instrument sometime in 1960, as from the age of 5 I was a pupil at the…
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If you are a social media addict as I am, and in particular a member of a number of organists groups you will be used from time to time seeing comic draw stop names that have for the most part been photoshopped by someone with a sense of humour, ’Fast Forward Sermon’ ‘Mute Preacher,’ ‘Sport…
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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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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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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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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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I have not been to Newcastle for many years so was especially pleased to be invited to be the guest speaker at the Newcastle and District Society of Organists Annual Dinner. This invitation came from Peter Chatfield, one their Vice Presidents – a very passionate organ person and who, like myself, is very active on…
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Born about 1575 Dallam served an apprenticeship as a Blacksmith but went on to become an organ builder of great repute and is believed to have built the organs of Kings College Cambridge, Eton College and the Cathedrals of Norwich, Bristol and Worcester. But none of the commissions can rival the extraordinary instruction from Queen…
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OK, so this is partly an excuse for me to bang on about Italy and all the lovely places I visit there but I am just beginning to realise the very different style the small town and country churches in Italy have that is greatly to the advantage of the music making. There is no…
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Very near my home in Italy is the tiny and elevated village of Sant’ Anna di Stazzema. It is approached by a steep winding road that at times gives a dramatic view of the Mediterranean from Livorno in the south towards La Spezia in the north, a truly beautiful outlook. This summer my eye was…
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