International Organ Festival wants new members
Whenever I bump into the people who help run the St Albans International Organ Festival I’m impressed by their knowledge and enthusiasm. They are one of the secrets of the success of the Festival, which last year celebrated its 50th…
Repertoire revivals – William Lloyd Webber
My good friend organist Terence Atkins gave a recital yesterday which included no fewer than four pieces by William Lloyd Webber. Terence has long expressed his enthusiasm for Lloyd Webber’s music – as he says ‘William Lloyd Webber was a…
Five questions for…..Jennifer Bate
This interview was first published in the run-up to Jennifer’s recital on 1st March 2014 at Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church – which was fabulous by the way: the Liszt Ad nos, ad salutarem undam a masterclass in orchestration. Details of…
Repertoire Revivals – John E West, Passacaglia in B minor
My friend Jenny has been championing John Ebenezer West (1863-1929) and the virtues of his Passacaglia in B minor for about a year, and she’s delighted that it has now been published by Fitzjohn Music Publications, under the editorship of…
Frederick Stocken World Premiere – 11 February 2014
Frederick Stocken will give the world premiere of his new piece Faith, Love, Hope during a recital at St Lawrence Jewry, next to Guildhall in the City of London, on Tuesday 11 February at 1pm. He says the inspiration to…
I was Glad – Sacred Music of Stanford and Parry
If you’ve only experienced Stanford’s settings of the Canticles with organ accompaniment, can I heartily recommend this CD? New editions of the orchestral scores to Stanford’s four settings of the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis have been created by Robert King,…
More pedals-only repertoire
Pedal duets, music for pedals and percussion, insanely difficult variations and assorted pedal workouts – I’ve just published a follow-up to my popular first page of pedals-only repertoire. You can find it here.
Five questions for…..Frederick Stocken
Frederick Stocken is a British composer – the only child of a British-born father and a mother who came to the UK as a Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany. As Organ Scholar at St Catharine’s College Cambridge, he studied with…
The new Dobson Op91 organ at Merton – before and after
The new Dobson organ at Merton College Oxford is proving a popular topic here, so I thought you might like some before and after pictures. The first one shows the casework, au naturel, under construction in Dobson’s workshops in Iowa. …
Some forums for organists
If you think that making snarky comments under the protection of a pseudonym came with the internet, you’d be wrong. The public forums for musical discussion were more slow-moving then, but the letters pages of the Musical World and the…
First performances on Dobson Op91 at Merton College, Oxford
The tuning was finished in the nick of time, and last Wednesday the new Op91 Dobson organ at Merton College Oxford had its first public outing, in a broadcast of Choral Evensong on BBC Radio 3. (And thanks to the…
Liturgical Hair – update for Advent 1
Organist Kathryn Rose is dyeing her hair in the appropriate liturgical colours for the season, to raise money for organ repairs. Here’s the first colour! – for today, the first Sunday in Advent. She needs more sponsorship if she’s going…
St Cecilia – the ultimate lady organist
Last year I gave you four St Cecilias to celebrate the day of our patron saint. This year it’s just one – this extraordinary early 17th century drawing by Daniele Crespi. Cecilia’s clothes are practically dropping off with the energy…
Five questions for…Marilyn Harper
Marilyn studied organ, piano, harpsichord and singing at the Royal Manchester College of Music. As organ scholar at Girton College, Cambridge, she studied with Gillian Weir; performances included Poulenc’s Organ Concerto, and a recital in the Cambridge Festival. She was…
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