Ralph Downes and the Royal Festival Hall organ
I wish I’d met Ralph Downes. His autobographical book Baroque Tricks, subtitled Adventures with the Organ Builders, is difficult to get hold of now* but gives a vivid impression of the man, and his battles with the organ establishment of…
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…
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. …
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…
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…
A Walcker and a Father Willis
To have one organ at your school would seem like luxury – to have two is near self-indulgence, especially when they are two such good examples of their kind. Roger Carter, who teaches at Haberdashers Aske’s School for Boys, in…
Five questions for…Carol Williams
Dr Carol Williams was British born, in a musical Welsh family, and was giving recitals by the time she was eight. She studied at the Royal Academy of Music, then with Daniel Roth at St Sulpice, Paris, before moving to…
The RFH organ restoration – time for the 32 foot pipes
The Southbank Centre recently tweeted a picture of the next step in the rebuild of the Royal Festival Hall organ. The last time I saw this sort of big plumbing was on a trip round the engine room of…
RCO Summer Course 2013 – St Etheldreda’s Chapel
Our practice sessions on the organ at St Etheldreda’s Chapel come with multiple Heath & Safety warnings. NOT SUITABLE FOR TALL OR LARGE PLAYERS says our information pack firmly, and by the time you’ve negotiated a tiny and perilous spiral…
RCO Summer Course 2013 – playovers and extensions
Nothing gets church organists going much more than a discussion of hymn playing – a cue for despairing anecdotes about unmusical congregations, and even more unmusical clergy. Simon Williams kept us (reasonably) on track this morning on a Church Music…
RCO Summer Course 2013 – the Lord Mayor’s Palace
The Corporation of the City of London commissioned an inspired gift for HM The Queen for her Diamond Jubilee this year – an organ, which is temporarily installed in The Mansion House, the home of the Lord Mayor of London*. …
The RFH organ restoration – last pipe delivered by bicycle
On Saturday a group of intrepid cyclists set themselves the challenge of delivering the last organ pipe required for the Royal Festival Hall organ rebuild in London, England, by bicycle, all the way from Harrison & Harrison’s HQ in Durham,…
Update on Dobson Op91 at Merton College, Oxford
Christmas comes early for Benjamin Nicholas as he gets his hands on the new Dobson organ at Merton College, Oxford.
A Dobson organ from Iowa comes to Merton College, Oxford
The installation of the new Dobson organ at Merton College, Oxford, is underway, and you can follow it on Facebook and Twitter. Benjamin Nicholas, Organist and Director of Music at Merton, and Merton’s Chaplain, Simon Jones, have been tweeting pictures,…
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