You can follow Calgary Philharmonic on Twitter, which is where they posted these pictures @CalgaryPhil

The post Picture of the month – December appeared first on The Lady Organist.

The Harrison & Harrison 2010/11 rebuild of the original Hill & Son 1912 organ at Methodist Central Hall, in Westminster, London

Purists might shudder at the new vogue for including LED fairylights in organ rebuilds, but I think they are very much in the tradition of the confident Victorian organ builder, determined to uphold civic pride by including every gizmo going.  LEDs are quite clever and discreet – I don’t think you could accuse them of making a fine instrument look like a downmarket fairground attraction, though you may disagree. (They don’t have to be on all the time, of course.)

I have Gerard Brooks to thank for sending me pictures of the Methodist Central Hall organ in various lighting moods, after its rebuild in 2011 – here it is all dressed up in blue.

Meeting with giants – Gerard Brooks and the organ of Westminster Hall

The post Picture of the month – November appeared first on The Lady Organist.

The 1746 Hildebrandt organ in St Wenzel, Naumburg – restored in 2000, and played by Bach

This month’s pin-up is the wonderfully frilly Hildebrandt Organ at St Wenzel, Naumburg, Germany.   Many thanks to Andrew Benson-Wilson for sending me this picture, after he played the organ on a trip earlier this year.

Andrew told me “Bach and Silbermann approved the organ, running up an enormous bill for food, alcohol and tobacco during their five-day stay in Naumburg.  The stops knobs are original, along with their central paper stop names (which Bach must have touched), but organists are obviously discouraged from touching the paper.   It is a remarkable instrument, and can teach us a lot about the sort of organ that Bach would have liked to have played in Leipzig.  In particular, the ability to combine different stops (for example, variations of all four 8′ stops on the Ruckpositive), typical of Central German registrations at the time of Bach.  One fascinating stop added by Hildebrandt to the contracted specification is the Princ.und.mar on the Hauptwerk which beats with the Principal.”

More information, and the specification, here.

The post Picture of the month – October appeared first on The Lady Organist.

The Mander 1989 organ at St Andrew, Holborn, London

I am building up a big picture library,  and I thought some of them should get an airing, rather than lurk unseen on my hard drive.   So this month’s calendar girl is the gorgeous Mander organ at St Andrew, Holborn, London  EC4.  See  National Pipe Organ Register entry for details.

The post Picture of the month – September appeared first on The Lady Organist.