very intense music from Liverpool Cathedral....

[smilingvox]

lol... I like that bit about the local canines. Reminds me of a small 3-manual Rieger (1970s), which has the worst trumpet stop I've ever heard. My simile for that is South Park's Erik Cartman squealing in a tantrum at his Mum, or Erik at a Barbra Streisand concert (he hated her so)..... It's that bad!

But seriously, I really appreciate your long response and found it very educational, pc.

I am very well aware of the sound of organs like St. Mary's Redcliffe, Bristol Cath. & the like. These were built during what I feel was Britain's greatest hour of organ building (from around 1870 to WWII). I have a great penchant for heavy pressures.

 

[pcnd5584]

... I am very well aware of the sound of organs like St. Mary's Redcliffe, Bristol Cath. & the like. These were built during what I feel was Britain's greatest hour of organ building (from around 1870 to WWII). I have a great penchant for heavy pressures.

Well, of course, this is your choice. However, if you had to live with one each week, and accompany a choir - or even if you wished to play Buxtehude, Bruhns, Bach, etc - you might find that you tired of opaque Trombe, leathered diapasons and mixtures which contained both tierces and flat twenty-firsts.

I suppose that there may be some initail thrill with big, heavy pressure reeds, etc; but I would be surprised if you did not yearn for something more blending and musical - and less destructive - after a short time.

For the record, I deliberately separated the superb JW Walker organ at Bristol Cathedral from Redcliffe and the other Harrison organs - for they are worlds apart. Bristol is an aristocrat; Edwardian in its voice, it is true - but it is a thoroughly musical instrument, without one ugly sound.

A colleague went recently to play several instruments (including Redcliffe and King's, Cambridge), since his 'own' church organ is due for major work and he is not really conversant with either the mechanics or the ethos of the voicing. In each case, he came back and, whilst praising the quiet registers, he criticised the chorus and big solo reeds (and the diapason choruses), for their lack of blend, musicality and aural tolerance (on the part of the player).

Incidentally, I am glad that you found my previous post helpful - thank you.

 

[smilingvox]

I thought about what you said at the beginning of your last post while listening to M. Durufle's Fugue sur le...... Carillon..... de Soissons being played on the organ at the Collegiate Church of St. Mary, Warwick, on youtube earlier to-day. Indeed, this is one good example where, if there aren't any mixtures or anything else that has splash, there would be no electricity in this piece (and I wouldn't get goose pimples everytime I listen to it).

Also, I'm a big fan of J. S. Bach, and much of his works call for the use of mixtures.

I guess, perhaps, I've heard one too many bad sounding examples of mixtures, whether placed in the wrong settings or improperly voiced and/or balanced with the rest of the stops, and as a result, a bad taste was left in my mouth. My ears probably just needed some "re-balancing" in the form of orchestral tones, hefty diapasons & flutes, etc. The above-mentioned clip told me that I was ready to receive the mixtures once again.

 

[hauptwerkIII]

Thank-you for your post pncd! Useful info on 20th century British organ building.

 

[pcnd5584]

Thank-you for your post pncd! Useful info on 20th century British organ building.

Thank you for your kind comments, hauptwerkIII - they are much appreciated.

 

[pcnd5584]

I thought about what you said at the beginning of your last post while listening to M. Durufle's Fugue sur le...... Carillon..... de Soissons being played on the organ at the Collegiate Church of St. Mary, Warwick, on youtube earlier to-day. Indeed, this is one good example where, if there aren't any mixtures or anything else that has splash, there would be no electricity in this piece (and I wouldn't get goose pimples everytime I listen to it).

Also, I'm a big fan of J. S. Bach, and much of his works call for the use of mixtures.

I guess, perhaps, I've heard one too many bad sounding examples of mixtures, whether placed in the wrong settings or improperly voiced and/or balanced with the rest of the stops, and as a result, a bad taste was left in my mouth. My ears probably just needed some "re-balancing" in the form of orchestral tones, hefty diapasons & flutes, etc. The above-mentioned clip told me that I was ready to receive the mixtures once again.

I am pleased to hear this, smilingvox.

See if you can find some examples of Bach, as played by David Briggs, at Gloucester Cathedral - this organ is simply stunning for many types of music, but it 'is particularly good as a vehicle for the music of Bach. The eight-second reverberation in this beautiful cathedral adds wamth, yet does not blur the sound.