May / June 2012Newsletter Number 30

Derby & District Organists'Registered Charity No. 510567

Association

DDOA Events 201219th MayDaytime visit to organs in Wollaton,Nottingham (See page 6)

19th JuneAnnual dinner at Willersley Castle(See page 6)

24th JulyEvening visit to local organs including EdStow’s rebuild at Holbrook.

22nd SeptemberAnnual full day outing, including LeedsCathedral and Armley PC

13th OctoberMembers’ Recital evening, Sudbury PC

21st NovemberChairman’s Event and AGM

One of the joys of travel fororganists is the discovery of newsights and sounds which are oftenunique to the location of an organ.As well as participating in visitsorganised by our Association, Ihope members will share theirdiscoveries of instruments whichexcite curiosity. Your NewsletterEditor is always very keen toreceive such contributions frommembers.

On a recent visit of my own toLondon, I discovered thisunusually beautiful organ in the

ancient heart of our capital.Pictured here, can you guess itslocation? For a parish church toacquire such a remarkableinstrument, it would require anextremely wealthy benefactor. Asyou may have guessed, thelocation is not a church but aprivate chapel, in this case datingfrom the 14th Century. Despite itsappearance, the organ is of muchmore recent origin, built byWilliam Drake of Buckfastleigh,Devon and dedicated in 1999. Thecase is based on a woodcut

Concerts & RecitalsWednesday 16th May, 8.00 pmSt John’s the Baptist, Church Street,Staveley, Chesterfield S43 3TN.Organ recital by Geoffrey Gratton

Saturday 19th May, 2.30 pmLenton Methodist Church, Derby Road,Lenton, Nottingham (opp. Savoy cinema)Organ recital by Keith Hearnshaw:‘Popular music to suit all tastes’. £6.Tickets from John Wilde 0115 9285827.

Saturday 9th June, 7.30 pmSt John the Evangelist, Bridge Street,Derby.Diamond Jubilee Recital by AndrewStorer, Organ.

Wednesday 20th June, 8.00 pmSt John’s the Baptist, Church Street,Staveley, Chesterfield S43 3TN.Organ recital by Ken Ellis

Saturday 23rd June, 7.30 pmSt Andrew’s, Swanwick.‘Last Night of the Proms’ - Brass Bandand Organ Concert. £6.

Saturday 23rd June, 8.00 pmSt Mary’s Church, Bridgegate, DerbySancta Cecilia Mass (Scarlatti),Magnificat (Pergolesi). Sitwell Singers.£10.

A Traveller’s Tale - Laurence Rogers

illustration by Augustus Pugin, aleading figure in the 19th Centuryrevival of Gothic architecture.Pugin supplied designs for manyGothic interiors in schools,colleges, churches and cathedralsthroughout the land. Mostfamously he was responsible forthe decoration of the new Palace ofWestminster, rebuilt by Sir CharlesBarry after the great fire there in1834. This is your main clue to thelocation. The organ is in theChapel of St Mary Undercroft in thePalace of Westminster. Along withWestminster Hall and the Cloister,the chapel survived the fire whichdestroyed most of the medieval OldPalace. Immediately above theundercroft formerly stood StStephen’s Chapel, to the sameheight as Westminster Hall andimitating the prestigious eleganceof Sainte Chapelle in Paris. Theresemblance between theundercroft and the crypt of SainteChapelle is unmistakable.

The Drake organ replaced anearlier ‘box of whistles’ stuffed in acorner as unobtrusively as possiblewith all the consequent logisticalproblems and poor egress ofsound. When this instrumentbecame unserviceable a few yearsago, enlightened voices in the LordChamberlain’s office determinedthat a new instrument would beplaced in an acoustically effectiveposition at the west end to a designwhich would be sympathetic to itsenvironment. The resulting organfits the bill superbly. Its normalposition is on the central axis of thechapel a few feet in front of the

2

Stephen Johns

ceremonial west door. Blockingvisibility of the door in this waywas controversial, but the amazingcompactness of the instrument andits manoeuvrability on castorshelped to win the argument. Indaily use, only the north-westentrance is used, posing noproblem for access of worshippers,but on ceremonial occasions, suchas weddings, the whole instrumentcan be pushed to one side,allowing grand entry through thewest door.

William Drake specialises inbuilding, restoring andreconstructing mechanicalinstruments, and his portfolio listscommissions for many prestigiousvenues, including BuckinghamPalace, and for private clients,including a certain ‘Thomas TrotterEsquire’. The chapel organcomprises two manuals and pedalsand twelve stops. Tuning is to themean tone temperament devisedby Thomas Young in 1800. Thisapparently gives smoothersounding thirds than with equaltemperament. The specification

Pugin’s sumptuous decoration of the medieval vaulting of St Mary Undercroft, Palace of Westminster

Woodcut by Pugin in Sir John Sutton’s A ShortAccount of Organs (London, 1847)

Chapel of St Mary Undercroft. Organ by William Drake 1999

Great Organ C - g3 Swell Organ C - g3 Pedal Organ C - f1

Open Diapason Open Diapason BourdonStopt Diapason Stopt Diapason Octave Bourdon (8’)Principal PrincipalFlute TrumpetFifteenth CouplersSesquialtra Bass Temperament 3 normal couplersCornet Treble Thomas Young. Reversible Gt. to Ped.

and voicing is well suited to theclassical repertoire as was welldemonstrated during my visit witha Voluntary by William Russell anda series of Variations on ‘JesuMeine Freude’ by J.G.Walther.

The meeting I attended washosted by the Organ Club whichorganises monthly visits to notableorgans throughout the country andannually a visit abroad. Forcolleagues who are prepared totravel outside our region, Istrongly recommend membership.Meetings are inexpensive, well-organised and always furnishedwith copious contextual notes onthe organs and churches visited.Everyone who wishes to play cando so by submitting their name tothe playing secretary who thendevises a rota which allocates thesame amount of time to eachplayer. More information can befound at www.organclub.org. Visitsremaining in 2012 include KingsLynn, Bury St Edmunds, Marlowand Bavaria.

Laurence Rogers

3

lever swell might have been aproducer of sprained ankles, it wasable to create a sforzando that canrarely be achieved from a balancedpedal. An English organist mightstruggle with a passage in whichthe feet are constantly busy and acrescendo is required; Frenchorganists ask their assistant todeal with the swell pedal (mountedat the side rather than centrally)and effect the crescendo. MrCowan told us that the lever swellis still in use in St Sulpice.Changes in dynamic are usuallyachieved by the swell pedal; stopchanges are indicated in the score.

One significant difference inregistration practice is the freedomwith which French organists blendchoruses: the bold FluteHarmonique, often found on theGrande Orgue, is freely blendedwith the Montre (a softer version ofthe English Diapason) and other 8'stops, or with a Prestant (4'Principal or Octave). We shouldbear in mind that during thenineteenth century Cavaillé-Colldeveloped the Montre giving it amore string-like tone. Mr Cowan'sadvice was to try to achieve thespirit of the sound indicated in ascore rather than draw an Englishstop of similar name.

The free use of couplers tocombine stops from differentdepartments is common practice inFrance and was recommended byMr Cowan for performance ofFrench music on an English organ.The French Hautbois, often used asa solo voice, is a more colourfulstop than many English Oboes; MrCowan recommended the use of asoft Trumpet with an 8' flute tosoften the tone. As solo melodyagainst a sustained supportingharmony is so common in Frenchmusic, we should strive to achievethe lyrical flexibility with which theFrench organist interprets phrasingand tempo.

After presenting us with so muchinformation, Mr Cowan performed

Recent EventsThe Spirit of the Sound

More than twenty members andguests gathered at St Werburg'son March 19th to hear David Cowan(Holy Cross Priory, Leicester) offeradvice and insight into theinterpretation of French romanticmusic on an English organ.

His opening comments about theconstruction of French organs andregistration were expanded duringthe course of the evening as werecomments on changes betweenmanuals that are often called forby French composers to effect achange in volume. These werediscussed in relation to piecesplayed by James Muckle, BenMiddleton, Andy Storer and DenisLittleton. A summary of MrCowan's informative observationsfollows.

The Grande Orgue, the lowestkeyboard to which everything elsecan be coupled (and usually is) hastwo wind chests: one withfoundation stops 16, 8 & 4; theother with fiery reeds and upper-work. The wind supply to thechests is controlled by levers atthe console operating ventils, orvalves, which close off the airsupply to the entire chest. Thus, asudden reduction from a crashingtutti to a solid foundation tone canbe achieved easily; the ventilsystem also allows stops to be pre-selected.

The French Positif (manual II) isin effect a small Great with its owncollection of foundation stops andsmaller scale reeds and providesanother step down in volume; itshould not be confused with theEnglish Choir organ or the GermanRückpositiv. The Récit (manualIII) is usually expressive, with ahitch-down lever controlling theshutters. These lever swell pedalshave almost disappeared fromEnglish organs in favour ofbalanced swell shutters; whilst the

four pieces to illustrate what ispossible on a quite conventionalEnglish instrument; I particularlyliked the set of variations byGuilmant.

James Muckle thanked theperformers for volunteering theirservices, and Mr Cowan for hisinformative and interestingpresentation. Our thanks also goto Fr Julian Hollywell for allowingus to use St Werburgh's and tothose who prepared therefreshments.

Tony Westerman

Ben Middleton, Andrew Storer, David Cowan, Denis Littleton, James Muckle

London Organ Day 2012

This year’s event in March washeld at Christ Church, Chelsea,which boasts a new two-manual,24-stop Flentrop organ, installed in2009 and ideally voiced for theBach repertoire.

The theme was “J S Bach & theLutheran chorale”. Proceedingswere opened by Daniel Moult witha session called “Recreating theconditions – the chorales incontext”, in which he consideredthe uses to which the organ wasput in the performance of thechorale. Part of this involved theaudience singing some choraleswith Daniel improvising interludesbetween the verses.

This was followed by anentertaining lecture and master-class on the performance of organchorales from Bach-expert,Professor Peter Williams.

After lunch we heard superbsinging by Pegasus chamber choirwho performed motets by J SBach, Lassus, Balthasar Resinarius,Brahms & Knut Nystedt.

Organist Margaret Philips, GaryCole of Regent Records and WillFraser of Fugue State Films thendiscussed the problems ofperforming and recording inforeign locations. Margaret hastoured Europe recording thecomplete organ works of J S Bachon historic organs.

To end the day Professor LudgerLohman from Stuttgart gave amasterly performance of theClavier Übung III (apart from themanuals only pieces).

Overall, it was a most interestingand enjoyable day. I commendnext year’s London Organ Day,which will take place at the RoyalFestival Hall on 23rd February.

Denis Littleton

in the University of the Third Age,and kept up his local musicalactivities. He was a long-standingmember and office holder of DerbyChoral Union (for which he wroteup the history on the occasion ofits centenary, with a follow up 25years later), Derby Concertorchestra, in which he playeddouble-bass, and latterly also ofDerby Bach Choir, which he joinedin 2000 in order to sing in the first(and so far only) Derbyperformance of Britten’s WarRequiem.

At the time of his death Peter waswithin a few days of achieving 55years as Organist of St Francis,Mackworth, where he had latterlyserved as Churchwarden. He wasindeed the only holder of theformer position, having beenappointed at the time an organ wasfirst installed. Readers familiarwith the church will know that thesmall Norman & Beard organ,although of fundamentally of goodquality, is quite insufficient for abuilding of that size (and at presentnot in very good condition either);Peter had been promoting a projectto replace it with a more adequateinstrument, for which purpose aredundant Nicholson & Lord organhad already been procured andstored on the premises. Sadly hedid not live to see it installed, but itis hoped that the project will stillgo ahead. It was understood thatPeter was intending to present thenew organ in memory of his wife,who died several years ago;perhaps it will now form a fittingmemorial to both of them.

Edmund Stow

Your newsletterPlease write to the Editor!

I am very grateful to all ourcontributors to this edition of theNewsletter. In the March/Apriledition I invited views and opinionson widening the appeal of organrecitals. Thank you to AlanDronsfield who has followed this upwith more practical ideas and foodfor thought. It would be good tohave a discussion in these columns,so please send your thoughts onthis or any other topic which willinterest members.

Editor

From page 6:

Kingswood Methodist Church,Lambourne Drive, Wollaton.

Two manuals (C-g) and pedals(C-f), by Brindley and Foster 1876,most recently refurbished byEdmund Stow.

Great: Bourdon 16, Op. Diap. 8,St. Diap. 8, Principal 4, Harmonicflute 4, Flageolet 2, Mixture III,Trumpet. Swell: Open di. 8, St. di.8, Principal 4, Fifteenth 2,Nineteenth 11/3, Oboe 8, Tremulant

Usual unison couplers plus swellsub-octave. Tracker actionthroughout; stops and combinationpistons electronic.

An excellent instrument with a richsound in a resonant acoustic.

4

DDOA - Your AssociationNeed a lift?

If you are prevented fromattending a DDOA meeting due tolack of transport, please contactone of our committee members orthe Hon. Secretary for help.

Children and the Organ Project

Workshops have been arrangedfor Melbourne Junior School in Mayand The Pottery School, Belper inJuly. DDOA members are welcometo attend as observers, providedthey inform the Hon. Secretary,Stephen Johns well in advance.

Members’ NewsWe are sad to record the deaths oftwo long standing members, PeterHaslam and, just before going topress, Gordon Smith. A tribute toPeter, well-known in Derby for hismany musical activities, is kindlycontributed by Edmund Stow.

Peter Haigh Haslam19 August 1926 – 19 March 2012

Members gathered at Spondonfor the March meeting wereshocked to be told of the suddendeath of Peter Haslam. He hadsuffered a heart attack theprevious evening and died in theearly hours. The Association waswell represented at his funeral atSt Francis, Mackworth, on 3rd April.

Peter was born in Derby, a great-nephew of Sir Alfred Haslam, theDerby ironfounder and pioneer ofcommercial refrigeration. At theage of 10 he became a chorister atSt Michael’s College Tenbury,remaining there for four years untilhis voice broke. His educationthen continued at Trent Collegeand Birmingham University, wherehe studied Engineering. AfterNational Service he returned toDerby in 1949 as a GraduateApprentice at Rolls-Royce. In 1953he married Anne; their fourchildren, Alison, Simon, Michaeland Julian, all inherited musicalability, and Michael, after readingMusic at Christ Church, Oxford,became a professional musician.

In the early 1960s Peter decidedon a career change, took a year’steacher training, and spent the restof his life in teaching posts, mostlyat Ecclesbourne School, Duffield.In retirement, if such it could becalled, he became heavily involved

NotesRecordings and editions ofmusic by Samuel Wesley

Following his talk in February, Prof.Philip Olleson has providedadditional information aboutpublications of Samuel Wesley’smusic:

Recordings

Samuel Wesley Organ Music fromSt James’s, Bermondsey. JenniferBate: (SOMM CD 036).

Wesley: Music for Organ. MargaretPhillips (York CD 111) (also includesmusic by Charles Wesley Jr andSamuel Sebastian Wesley).

Samuel Wesley Symphonies.Matthias Bamert, London MozartPlayers (CHAN 9823).

Organ works by Wesley are alsoincluded in Jennifer Bates’scollection From Stanley to toWesley (6 CDs).

Editions

A complete edition of SamuelWesley’s organ music, and editionsof organ works by Thomas Adams,William Russell and others, arepublished by Fagus Music, BeechCottage, Drumoak, Banchory, AB315AL, UK (01330 811363)http://www.fagus-music.com.

Derby Cathedral Summer OrganRecitals

Recitalists for the 2012 series:July 4th  Jane Watts

11th       Daniel Moult18th       Martyn Rawles25th       D'Arcy Trinkwon

August 1st   Steven Grahl8th        Peter Gould15th      David Liddle22nd  Tom Corfield

increase their audiences forrecitals. She can be contacted at01773 605291.

Secondly, we try to attract a largeaudience by only charging a smallentrance fee, rather than a smallaudience put off by a high ticketprice. The concert cost only £3.50and (as Martyn’s fee was met by acharitable donation) the only outlaywas for food and drinks for thelunch buffet, and even allowing forheating and lighting, the venturemade a worth-while profit forchurch funds. But it wasn’t just afund-raising activity for StAndrew’s. It supplied our recitalistwith a significant fee which he puttowards the cost of entering for hisLRSM examination (which I amhappy to say he’s passed) but italso it was a vehicle for out-reaching to the Swanwickcommunity: to give them the

opportunity of hearing live musicthat they would not normallyencounter; to spend an enjoyablecouple of hours seeing what organmusic has to offer. A type ofmissionary work, maybe. And thisleads me on to my third point: thechoice of programme.

He who pays the piper…

The Trust that sponsors theserecitals knows exactly what type ofprogramme its player is going tooffer. It could be summed up as“Classic FM rather than Radio 3”. Itcertainly would not fund a concertof the type of “highbrow” organmusic that organists aresometimes inclined to play to otherorganists. I can’t see Messiaenattracting a large Swanwickaudience (at least, for a secondtime round). And let’s face it,pieces such as the Whitlock OrganSonata can have their longeurs,where the seats get harder and theminute hand of the watch seems toslow down…. Swanwickunashamedly offers a potpourri ofpopular organ pieces andtranscriptions, some Bach, Widor,and Handel, interleaved with NigelOgden’s theatre organ-likecompositions characterised by theirtuneful nature. Our Swanwickaudience went out with a collectivesmile on its face.

Dates for your diaries

And the future? Our next ventureis our annual organ and brass bandconcert (23rd June, £6.00admission) for which we anticipatean even larger audience. Martynhas been invited back to giveanother lunchtime request concert(9th February 2013). We’ve justhad from him some of the oldfaithfuls like the Toccata and Fuguein D Minor. I’ll certainly be askingfor a repeat of his rendering ofBach’s A Minor Prelude and Fuguethat your Editor said “…was asuperb performance…played at anexhilarating speed but without anysacrifice of clarity, indeed the finalpedal solo demonstrated purevirtuosity”. But we might also getrequests for Handel’s Largo, andSullivan’s Lost Chord. At least, onecan but hope!

Alan Dronsfield

Some further perspectives onthe Swanwick Recital, Saturday11th February

This recital given by MartynNoble, a first year student at theRoyal College of Music, attracted awarm review from your NewsletterEditor in the March/April issue, inpart commenting on the “fullcapacity” audience that the recitalattracted. Indeed I only know ofone other UK ecclesiastical venuewhere you have to arrive early tobe sure of a good seat. Actually theaudience numbered 125,sufficiently large so as to propelthe catering volunteers to raidSwanwick’s two grocery shops tobuy up stocks of packaged cakes tomake sure that there was enoughfood to go round in therefreshment interval.

How does a village of only 5,000residents attract numbers for itsrecitals that other major venuescan only dream about ? Some fiveyears ago I was in Ilkley, for arecital given by Ian Tracey. Itmight be thought that this well-to-do spa town might have a goodmusical tradition. But the audiencenumbered just 21, which reducedto 17 after the interval, the tealadies having left. Of the residue,one was the organiser’s motherand another four, friends of Ianwho had travelled someconsiderable distance to hear himin action.

Publicity

I suggest there are three reasonsbehind Swanwick’s success. Firstlywe have an excellent teamoverseeing the publicity. Concertsare widely advertised within StAndrew’s itself, but also in thenewsletters and parish magazinesof neighbouring churches. StAndrew’s notice board sports alarge poster well in advance of theevent, and we have a village-wideposter campaign. Press releasessecure entries in our local freepapers and local radio, and we geta listing in our DDOA Newsletter.We also feature the recital detailson line at organrecitals.com,concert-diary.com and on theDiocesan website. Mastermindingthe campaign is former ChurchSecretary Wendy Butt who ishappy to share her experienceswith DDOA members seeking to

How to Promote an Organ Recital - Alan Dronsfield

The Swanwick Recital, 11th February 2012

St Andrew’s Church, Swanwick5

www.derbyorganists.co.uk

Items of news or articles for the July/August edition of the should reach the Editor by Monday 18th

June, 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.

Forthcoming DDOA Meetings

6

Annual Dinner 19th June

Willersley Castle Hotel, Cromford

7.00 for 7.30pm

Guests of Honour: Ben and Cathy Lamb whojointly hold the post of Director of Music atLichfield Cathedral. We look forward to hearinghow our honoured guests perform their duties inthis unique partnership in cathedral music.

Booking your place:

A three course meal will be served. Price perperson: £15.95 excluding wine. Details of themenu are shown on the booking slipaccompanying this newsletter. Please indicateyour choices on the booking slip and return itwith a cheque (payable to the Derby and DistrictOrganists’ Association) to the Secretary, MrStephen Johns, 24 Oaklands Avenue, Littleover,Derby DE23 7QG (01332 764792)

AS SOON AS POSSIBLE BUT NO LATER THANTUESDAY 22ND MAY

Visit to Organs in Wollaton Hall and Kingswood Church, NottinghamSaturday 19th May, 2.00 pm to 5.15 pm

We are expected at the Hall around 2 pm to 2.15. There is noentrance charge to the Hall, but parking costs £2.00 for threehours and the City Council enforcers are brutal. You mayprefer to park outside Kingswood Church, which is about ¾mile on foot from the Hall, and walk over, or possibly sharingcars to avoid the full charge. It is a very pleasant walk.

We move on to Kingswood at about 3.30: refreshmentsavailable there. After playing the Kingswood organ, if theweather is good you may like to explore Harrison’s plantationnature reserve: beautiful, peaceful, colourful.

Car parkingalong here(£2 three hours)

Wollaton HallBramcote LaneFrom A 52via Bramcote

A 609 fromTrowell,Ilkeston

Kingswood Church(ample parking outsideand in street)

Vehicleentranceto Park

Wollaton Hall organ (Kingswood details on page 4)

A historic organ of great interest, but the facts of itsconstruction are uncertain. The first manual by Gerard Smith (?)around 1690, but with some earlier pipework. Four octaves, G toE. A second short enclosed manual (‘Ecco’: from G below middleC) added before 1790. Restored by Mander in 1981. Mean-tonetemperament of a type known on the Continent, but notpreviously in England. Hand blown: We shall have to pump foreach other.

First manual: Stopped diap. 8, Open diap. 8, Flute 4, Principal 4,Fifteenth 2, Sesquialtera (which can be brought into action ornot by means of a separate pedal).

Ecco: St.diap 8, Hautbois 8, Open diap. 8.

The organ is particularly suitable for the early Englishrepertoire: Gibbons, Bull, Tomkins, etc., but in view of asuspected Dutch connection through the builder, maybeSweelinck and his ilk would go well.