September / October 2015Number 50

Derby & District Organists' AssociationRegistered Charity No. 510567

Newsletter

This year’s outing allowed us tohear and play three famous organsand visit an organ builder inLiverpool.

We began in the morning at thepremises of David Wells OrganBuilders Ltd where David gave usa comprehensive tour of theworks, complete with a runningcommentary which excelled infascinating detail. The firm hasbeen based in an old church hall inLiverpool for the last 20 years,during which time it has built up areputation for restoration andpreservation rather than newinstruments, though the firm doesbuild new chamber organs, one ofwhich was available to the twelveDDOA visitors to sample. Perhapsthe most iconic product of theWells company is the five-manualnave console in the LiverpoolAnglican Cathedral, which we wereable to play after Evensong,

The thirteen staff working withDavid have an enviable range ofskills which became clear to us aswe viewed the current projects inthe workshop, which included: therestoration of a water-damagedChoir chest from a largeinstrument; a two-manualHarrison & Harrison in mediumterm storage; a new chamber

organ under construction, andmuch of the pipework fromManchester Cathedral.

David's approach is traditional.Having trained with Willis inLiverpool before establishing hisown firm, he is now passing onthose skills to his grandson,Robbie, who has now beeninvolved with the firm for fifteenyears, having spent some of thattime with H&H.

Perhaps the most engagingaspect of the tour was David'svoicing demonstration, taking a'raw' pipe from the metal shop andtransforming it from a metal tubeto a speaking pipe. The effects ofwind pressure, adjustment of thefoot and languid, 'nicking' toimprove the speech of the pipewere all demonstrated with thecare that one expects from atraditional craftsman. The 'feel' ofthe pipe as it sounded was David'sguide as well as his innate sense ofwhat was right in terms of sound.

Our thanks go to David and hisstaff for their warm welcome andhospitality and for giving up theirprecious free time to allow us tosee behind the scenes and toappreciate what has to happenbefore we can sit and play.

DDOA Events 2015

16th September (Wednesday) 7.30pmCelebrity Recital by David AprahamianLiddle at Derby Cathedral. (See page 6.)

OctoberDate, time & venue to be confirmed.Educational Event

18th November (Wednesday) 7.15pmAGM followed by a presentation arrangedby James Muckle featuring stories from theDDOA Archives.

Outing to Liverpool - A Great Day to Remember

Photo: Members pose in front of the naveconsole at Liverpool Cathedral.

Concerts & RecitalsFriday 4th September, 7.30pmStaunton Harold Church, LE65 1RWRecital by Laurence Rogers on the historic17th Century organ by Christian Smith.Free admission. Retiring collection andrefreshments.

Sunday 6th September, 2.45pmAlbert Hall, NottinghamOrgan Recital by David ButterworthBach, Jongen, Lemmens, Schütz & Cholley

Friday 18th - Sunday 20th SeptemberOrganFest 2015, BirminghamFriday: St Chad’s Cathedral, 7.45pmConcert by Birmingham Cathedral ChoirSaturday: Elgar Concert Hall, BirminghamUniversity; RCO Forum 9.30am-5.00pmRegistration £39 including lunch.Saturday: Recital by Daniel Bishop atBroadway United Reformed Church,Walsall, 7.45pm. Admission £5Sunday: St Chad’s Cathedral, 11.00amSolemn Choral MassSunday: Fentham Hall, Hampton-in-Arden, 3.30pm Cinema Organ Recital byRichard Hills. Admission £7, including tea.See OrganFest website for full details.

IAO Event: 17th October, 10.00-5.15Bristol Organ DayTalks and recitals at St Mary Redcliffe,Lord Mayor’s Chapel and Bristol Cathedral.Registration £18. Full details at website:www.Bristol-Organ-Day.com

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After lunch we assembled in theleafy suburb of Mossley Hill to seethe ‘Father’ Willis organ at thechurch of St Matthew and StJames, an impressive and grandedifice in dark red sandstone. Wewere greeted by the Organist andDirector of Music, Colin Porter, whobegan by explaining that thesurroundings were completely ruralwhen the church was built in 1875.Sitting in a spacious loft andhoused in a handsome case, theoriginal 40-stop organ wasinstalled when the church was firstdedicated. It remained in serviceuntil 1937 when Henry Willis IIIrebuilt it in a raised position abovethe choir stalls, installed pneumaticaction and provided it with amodern three-manual console.Although the church suffered bombdamage in 1940, mercifully theorgan escaped unscathed. It wasnot restored until 1953 when thechurch was re-hallowed. The lastmajor work was by Sid Reeves ofLiverpool in 1981 when electro-pneumatic action was installed anda second detatched console withtwo manuals and stop-tabs wasadded in the nave. During ourvisit the instrument was in goodform. Colin demonstrated itscomprehensive range of tones withExultemus by Percy Whitlock, to befollowed by playing members whoexplored its romantic potential, itsprofile for Bach and its voice for20th Century repertoire. Thefluework was bright, just as FatherWillis intended. The mighty Tuba,playable from the Choir, Great andPedal, was full-blooded and hadtremendous presence. We aregrateful to Colin for his warmwelcome (“Come again any timeyou like!”). Although our nextappointment at the cathedral

beckoned rather soon, somemembers took up his generous offerto linger on a little more to enjoythis beautiful instrument.

Leaving Mossley Hill it wassomewhat of a dash to the AnglicanCathedral for Evensong. Thisoccasion happened to coincide with ataster “Be a choirboy or choirgirl fora Day” event at the Cathedral, sofollowing the choir in processionwere two lines of about thirtychildren who appeared to bebemused by so many people staringat them. During the service theyfollowed the music and joined insome of the items. After the servicethe Assistant organist, DanielBishop, descended from the loft,gave us a warm welcome andwasted no time in beckoning us tothe nave console with the injunction“It’s all yours until half-past four!”.So volunteer players had plenty of

time to enjoy the thrill of playingthe largest organ in England. OurChairman led the field with Elegyby Thalben Ball with Daniel deftlyassisting with registration. Thegrand crescendo on thepenultimate page was a greatmoment to savour. TonyWesterman played Toccata on‘Now the Green Blade Riseth’, hisown composition, which exploiteda wide range of tone anddynamics. The final exposition ofthe cantus firmus with the mightypedal reeds had all the glamour ofa thoroughbred French toccata.Speaking of reeds, the choice ofLaurence Rogers, A WeddingFanfare by Arthur Bliss, used theunique Trompette Militaire stop,described by its builder DavidWells as the ‘loudest stop inChristendom’ (on 50 inchespressure). Situated high in theCorona gallery half way down thenave, the aural delay for theplayer was frightening; thecontrol of the tempo was likestirring treacle. Nevertheless theeffect was stunning, particularlyfor people half-way down thenave. Gillian Chatto playedPrelude and Fugue in G minor byBuxtehude; the mighty sound andacoustic was worthy ofBuxtehude’s Marienkirche inLübeck. David Shooter gave usthree verses of Father in highheaven dwelling; again the vastresources of the organtransformed a modest tune intoan epic performance. Notneglecting Bach, another memberplayed a chorale prelude LiebsterJesu, a gentler sound with somelovely quieter solo stops. Duringour performances the throng ofvisitors, fascinated by our consoleactivity, insisted on

David Wells transforms a metaltube into a speaking pipe.

Colin Porter introduces the organ at Mossley Hill. The Willis organ at St Matthew &St James, Mossley Hill.

John Maxwell-Jones plays Elegy by Thalben-Ball.

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photographing us and themselves(‘selfies’) but to our knowledgethere were no requests forautographs! To round off the mainorgan experience, Daniel waspersuaded to improvise on a hymntune for us (Wychbold), chosenmore or less at random from DavidShooter’s hymnbook. Daniel thrilledus with a varied tour of the organ’stonal resources, fully endorsing hisformidable reputation as animproviser.

After exhilarating adventures onthe main cathedral organ, we finallygot round to the primary purpose ofour visit, to see the newly restoredand refurbished 1940 central spaceconsole, now installed in the LadyChapel. David Wells rejoined us togive us some backgroundexplanation to the project which wasfunded by the Alan Dronsfield Trust.In 1974, during Noel Rawsthorne’stime as Cathedral Organist, theWillis (1910) organ in the Lady

Chapel was augmented and alteredtonally to offer a crisper sound,better suited to the Baroquerepertoire compared with the maincathedral organ. In fact wediscovered that this two-manualinstrument with 29 speaking stopswas extremely versatile, renderingFrench repertoire as effectively asBach and serving well the cathedralchoral tradition. Standinghandsomely in its ornate case (byGiles Gilbert Scott) in the westerngallery, the location is imposing butrather impractical for theaccompaniment of choral serviceswith the organist in the gallery andthe choir in the eastern chancel.The addition of a second and mobileconsole solves this problem.Originally serving as the naveconsole, this console has been instorage since the installation of thenew recital console for the mainorgan in 1989. Its refurbishmentfor use in the lady Chapel wascompleted by David Wells last year.A full account of the project byProfessor Ian Tracey was publishedin Newsletter 44 (September 2014).

The day concluded with Danielplaying his latest compositionReflections, shortly to be publishedby ChurchOrganWorld. anddescribed by one member as“achingly beautiful”. We weregreatly indebted to Daniel for beinga genial and charming host at theCathedral and sparing his time sogenerously.

Finally, many thanks to JohnMaxwell-Jones for organising asplendid outing and to AlanDronsfield for facilitating valuablecontacts. This was a great day out.

Tony Westerman & Laurence Rogers

Post Script - Alan Dronsfield adds:Members of our Association whowould like to hear Daniel Bishop inrecital might like to know that hewill be playing at Broadway UnitedReformed Church, Walsall, onSaturday, 19th September at7.15pm(http://www.organrecitals.com/1/recitals.php?organist=danbis). This ispart of Birmingham OrganFest 2015and the admission charge is only£5.00. More details athttps://www.rco.org.uk/events.php?eventid=407. I've asked Daniel ifhe'll play his piece Reflections again.

David Shooter plays a hymn in truly grand style. David Wells describes the background to the Lady Chapel console project.

Daniel Bishop improvises on the tune Wychbold. Visit to the basement blower room: The mighty organ needs a mighty wind supply.

Gillian Chatto at the new console in the Lady Chapel

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It is suggested that we shouldcompile a list of ten works whichmight inspire children of primaryand early secondary age torespond actively and emotionallyto the music of the organ.Laurence Rogers has written aprovocative article in DDOA Newsabout this. The first proposal isthat we might agree on somecriteria for choosing these pieces.

As everyone will surely agree,we – not being children! – maynot see it the way children do.This is so, even though we haveall been children. However, wemay not have had muchexperience of the organ in ourchildhood, and even if we did, wemay not remember how wereacted in our early years. Allchildren are different; not allrespond in the same way, andoften the response is surprising toparents and teachers, as the nextstory will illustrate.

Thirty years ago I wasresearching Soviet musiceducation, at a time when thecomposer Dmitriy Kabalevsky hadcome out of retirement at 70 togo into schools and work out afresh curriculum for class music -class music, note, not music forthe gifted. Many members of aturgid profession which had beentrained to drill children in themeaning of ‘staccato’ etc., andwere rewarded if their pupilscould parrot off approved answersto such questions, were suddenlyfaced with an aim for musiceducation like this: ‘Childrenshould be inspired to seek musicalexperiences outside of school.’One might have expectedcriticism of such a radicaldeparture, however, in theKabalevsky period (he died in1984), the columns of theeducational press were full ofletters from teachers who didapprove of the new curriculum,and who were both delighted andastonished that the piece whichSoviet children of late primary-early secondary age were greatlymoved by was the Lacrimosafrom Mozart’s Requiem. Whowould have thought it?

I tell this story simply to stressthat we need to be open to suchpossibilities. Is there an organpiece as appealing and accessibleto children as the Lacrimosa?

Criteria for inclusion and perhapsexclusion from our list.

LR asked us to consider suchcriteria. I offer a few possibilities,not necessarily in order ofpreference, but I have labelledthem a,b,c, etc purely forconvenience of cross referencing.a) The list should include some

quiet, gentle, even tragicpieces. The temptation to go forexclusively shouty, thrillingblockbusters should be avoided.‘Wachet auf’ by Bach has beensuggested. Perhaps theMarcietta from Dubois’s Septpieces deserves consideration(tuneful, relaxed). As a possibleequivalent to the Lacrimosa,what about the Adagio fromMendelssohn’s first Sonata? Itis popular, beautiful and well-known.

b) The list should include somepieces that children might hearif they went to a parish or localchurch. The Mendelssohn under(a) meets this criterion too (asdo others).

c) We should set a strict limit ontrumpet tunes. One is enoughin a list of ten.

d) We should not be too afraid ofarrangements or borrowingsfrom other repertoire; to haveone in our list (but perhaps notmore than one) would not bebad. True, it is organ music weare setting out to promote, butas LR says in his article, theMendelssohn Wedding March iswell known on the organ. So isthe ‘Entry of the Queen ofSheba’, and the prelude Wachetauf is Bach’s own arrangementof one of his own cantatamovements. My recommendationhere is Mozart K 356, theAdagio he wrote for glassharmonica. If we were to betruly pedantic and insist onnothing but authenticinstrumentation we shouldnever hear this delectable gem:how many glass harmonicashave you ever seen and heard?!I once heard Paul BaduraSkoda, no slouch as a pianist,play it on a Steinway grand in apiano recital (in Hong Kong, ofall places.) And it giveswonderful opportunities on theorgan for adventurous quietregistration – and on a digitalkeyboard, wow! [Criteria a andb also]

Organ Pieces from which Children Might Find Inspiration - James Muckle

e) Of course, we must includevirtuosic, blockbusting ff‘outgoing’ voluntaries. I wonderif the Widor Toccata is quitewhat children go for, but manyFinals from organ symphoniesby him and by Vierne andGigout are catchy, rhythmic,tuneful and thrilling. Here wewant something not too longdrawn out. There is also Karg-Elert’s Nun danket alle Gottwhich also meets criterion b.Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in dminor I heartily approve of. Icannot understand why the‘authorities’ seem to prefer theHenry Wood (alias ‘Klenovsky’)or other orchestralarrangements. The lack of anorgan also deprives thiswonderful work of some of itspunch and impact. The Toccataon its own may well appeal tochildren without the fugue.

More actual works. LR hasproposed several fine works in hisarticle. Handel: Organ concerto‘The cuckoo and the nightingale’.His Opus 7 no 4, secondmovement is also very appealing,and there are others. Stanley –what a treasury! Wesley Air andGavotte – yes, to be considered.Messaien Transports de joie – whynot? [criterion e] If only Dieuparmi nous were shorter!Guilmant Grand Choeur op.18: EdStow’s party piece, which heplayed so effectively at many aCATO day. As for livingcomposers, what about Naji Hakim– can someone in DDOA make arecommendation? Dare I suggestNigel Ogden, whose ‘popular’pieces cross over into the‘classical’ repertoire. We needgood advice from DDOA membersabout choices here.

Consumer research. I wonder ifDDOA members might beprepared to test the reaction oftheir own young children orgrandchildren to some of thesepieces? The musically-awareteachers who have accompaniedchildren to our CATO days shouldalso be approached for opinions;this too would be a way of keepingthem ‘on board’ with the CATOproject.

James Muckle

Postscript. It is not too late tosend your own thoughts on thistopic. Please see page 6. Editor

The jOrgan Virtual’ Organ - a Hauptwerk Alternative - Alan DronsfieldIn our last Newsletter I explained how you could

convert a MIDI keyboard into a one manual desktoporgan using the GrandOrgue live CD. I also explainedhow it was possible to convert a two or three manual(+ pedals) home organ with MIDI connections into afunctioning virtual organ. It may be helpful to readagain the previous article to reacquaint yourself withsome of the technical issues introduced there.

A similar live CD produced by jOrgan gives youaccess to about 20 organs across the world and oneharpsichord. Again they will be playable from a MIDIkeyboard, but for maximum enjoyment you really wantto connect the software to your home (MIDI) organ.Firstly download the relevant jOrgan file fromhttps://sites.google.com/site/savirtualorgans/jorgan-pup 1 and save it to your desktop. It is namedjorganpup20116.rar (a compressed file format) and is617 MB in size. You will need to open it with a suitableprogram. “RAR File Open Knife”2 is a free utility thatwill do the job for you, but see first if there’s aprogram lurking within your version of Windows thatwill perform the extraction. Look for thejorganpup20116.iso file (622 MB) and burn it as abootable disk image as you did for the GrandOrgueCD.

Open Windows and right click on an unclutteredpotion of the desktop. Make a note of your screenresolution. Turn on your MIDI keyboard and connect itto a USB port on your computer. Insert the disk andboot from it using the F12 routine or whatever workedbefore. Switch on your computer speakers and waitthe several minutes whilst your program loads into thecomputer’s memory. The operating system will probeyour video card resolution, if asked, and then showone or more possibilities. Choose the one closest tothat you noted for Windows display. You will then be

Select some stops and attempt to play some notes fromthe virtual keyboard. If you don’t hear any sound,proceed to Customize Fluidsynth Sound and increase thegain for all the manuals. To make your MIDI keyboardor organ manuals “talk” to the software, click on File(top left) à Customise. For a single manual5 scroll downthe Device box and highlight the line with “USB” in it. Tothe right, choose “Channel 1”. Keep clicking on Next,until you come to the screen labelled CustomizeFluidsynth Sound. Here you can adjust the gain controlfor the manuals, if you need to. Too much gain willcause distortion on full/loud chords. Exit, draw a fewstops and start playing !

You may have to tweak the system to minimisedistortion, especially when playing big chords +associated pedal notes. You will have to alter the volumeon your external amplifier, the program’s volume control(reduce the number of yellow bars – see Note 3) and/orreduce the gain values in the Customise sequence.

Alan Dronsfield

The jOrgan/Puppy Linux Desktop

asked to select the “bit number”. Usually it’s best tochoose the highest one on offer, typically 24 bit. ThePuppy Linux desktop should appear and if all has gonewell, you should be rewarded with a brief puppy-likebark from your speakers. If not, or if you later cannotget any sound from your system, please see Note 3.

Now left click on the puppy icon (bottom left) andchoose Multimedia à Media Tools This will bring up ahost of organ installations. Click to make your choice.4

The jOrgan Christie Theatre Organ Console (part)

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Notes

1. This site gives many jOrgan additional tips andshould be consulted if you need extra help

2. When downloading free programs, make sure youdon’t also download extra unwanted utilities. Given achoice, choose “custom” installation and create a restorepoint before starting work so that you can revert to thestate your computer was in before attempting thedownloading. It is also sensible to perform a fullcomputer scan both for viruses and malware afterwards.

3. Right click on the speaker icon, bottom right andselect Full Window. Make sure there are ticks in theMaster, Headphone and Speaker boxes. Also ascertainthat there are yellow bars filling about 70% of therectangles associated with each. Then inspect thespeaker icon again to check that an “x” is notsuperimposed, telling you it is muted. If the sound froman organ is still very quiet or non-existent, you mayhave to increase the gain associated with theinstrument: see my earlier comment about CustomizeFluidsynth Sound.

Continued on page 6.

www.derbyorganists.co.uk

Items of news or articles for the November/December edition of the should reach the Editor by Monday19th October, either via e-mail: DDOAnews@gmail.com or by post: Dr Laurence Rogers, 24 St.David’s Crescent,Coalville, Leicestershire LE67 4SS. The Secretary, Stephen Johns, may be reached via mail@derbyorganists.co.ukPlease visit the DDOA Website www.derbyorganists.co.uk for information about Association activities, past editionsof the newsletter, photo gallery and many special features of local interest.

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Forthcoming DDOA Meeting

Celebrity Organ Recital by David Aprahamian LiddleWednesday September 16th in Derby Cathedral at 7.30pm

David is an internationally known recitalist who also happens to be blind.His programme will include music by the great Victorian organists: Hollins,Lemare and Wolstenholme - whose 150th anniversaries all occur this year.He also includes some compositions of his own. The bonus on thisoccasion is that he has kindly agreed, as part of the programme, to explainhow a blind musician operates with particular reference to managingunfamiliar organs and learning music; a unique opportunity for DDOA andfriends.

Tickets £7 (£5 for DDOA members and members of other IAO affiliatedAssociations)  Available in advance from FOULDS MUSIC SHOP,Irongate, Derby (01332 344842), the Cathedral Bookshop, the HonSecretary Stephen Johns (01332 764792) and mail@derbyorganists.co.uk

PLEASE COME to this very special event and bring friends. It should be ofinterest well beyond the organ world.

4. About twenty virtual organs willbe on offer, ranging from a tinyportable instrument to a hugecathedral-like one. Some havebeen sampled from actualinstallations and others, like thecathedral one, have been puttogether specially for jOrgan. Theinstruments also include a theatreand a Hammond organ, and a largetwo manual harpsichord.

5. For the several manuals on ahome organ, repeat the process foreach, and the pedals. Channel 1 forthe Swell, 2 for the Great and 3 forthe Pedals usually works. If not,the organ’s handbook will have tobe consulted.

John Scott

The organ world was shocked tohear the news of the sudden deathof John Scott aged 59 on 12th

August. Director of Music at StThomas Church, New York, Johnwas previously Organist at St Paul’sCathedral for 26 years. Lastsummer he gave a superb andmemorable recital in the DerbyCathedral Summer Recital Seriesand will be greatly missed from theworld recital scene.

Your NewsletterTen Pieces for Organ

I am grateful for James Muckle’sthoughtful article on page 4,responding to my lead article in theJuly Newsletter. Thank you also toMargaret Eades and John Forsterwho have submitted full lists ofsuggestions. James hashighlighted the challenge of seekingthe likes and dislikes of childrenthemselves, and, to this end,perhaps members with access tochildren or grandchildren couldsolicit authentic views on what islikely to appeal to youngsters?Please give the initiative somethought and send yoursuggestions; it is not too late – yet!

In the Autumn I shall convene asmall working group to review allyour suggestions, such that wecould publish and promote a listbefore Christmas. Please send yourideas to DDOAnews@gmail.com orby post to the Editor’s address atthe bottom of this page.

Laurence Rogers, Editor

Photo: Demonstration sound board in theworkshops of David Wells organ builders..

Members’ NewsMrs Gillian Hunt

It is with sadness that we recordthe death of Gill Hunt on 1st August.With her late husband, John, Gilljoined the Association in 1975. Inrecognition of their service overmany years, both were made Lifemembers in 2011. We offercondolences to their son anddaughter and families.

Children and the Organ (CATO)

The CATO team is looking forwardto two bookings in October: BishopLonsdale School at St Luke’s, Derbyand Egginton primary School.