|
Glorious Moments and Missed Opportunities – A history of composing for the organ |
24 July 2010
Convened by the International Organ Festival Haarlem (www.organfestival.nl)
This one-day symposium of the International Organ Festival Haarlem focusses on thecircumstances of organ composition and performance in the past and present. It has often been assumed that the nature of Bach's output from year to year was largely determined by the requirements of his various employers, both clerics and nobility. Less familiar are Sweelinck's circumstances as a composer and performer in Amsterdam in the aftermath of the Reformation.
In the long but chequered history of organ composition, Glorious Moments lend welcome relief to many Missed Opportunities. Why did Purcell, organist of Westminster Abbey for sixteen years, write no more than five little pieces for the organ? And can the lack of interest in our instrument among mainstream composers of the 19th and 20th centuries simply be explained in terms of the vicissitudes of the Church?
For centuries, an organist, a carillonneur and an architect have been employed by the municipality of Haarlem. In recent years, new city organists' posts have been created elsewhere in Holland. What can we learn about opportunities for organ composition and performance from the circumstances under which our illustrious predecessors struggled and triumphed?
Contributions could address such topics as:
- Sweelinck's duties in relation to his oeuvre
- the Werkmeister Buxtehude
- the concert-hall organ then and now: a blessing or a curse?
- the town-hall organist: champion of orchestral arrangements or a new secular repertoire?
- the electric organ blower: its ability to make organ music unnecessarily loud and long and to give organists too much time to practise.
Confirmed speakers include Christoph Wolff and Peter Williams. If you would like to offer a paper please contact the secretary of the festival at
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Please do not use "reply to" as this will not reach the Haarlem Festival organisers.
|
|
|
Organ recitals, news and other events |
Dunblane Cathedral, Saturday August 7th at 12.00 p.m.
Chris Nickol B.Mus., F.R.C.O., A.R.C.M
Music by Liszt, Nivers, Purcell, David Sanger, Saint-Saens & Vivaldi.
New Kilpatrick Church, Bearsden G61, Sunday September 5th at 6.30 p.m
Chris Nickol B.Mus., F.R.C.O., A.R.C.M 50th Birthday Recital
Music by Bach, Franck, Haydn, Howells, Jongen, Leighton & Sweelinck.
Both of the church's organs will be played: the 1909 Norman & Beard Chancel organ & the 1870 Ewart chamber organ in the Side Chapel.
Proceeds from the recital will go towards the Nicholas Danby Trust.
The SOCIETY of FRIENDS of GLASGOW CATHEDRAL
Please click here for details on the Summer Music Series 2010
EDINBURGH ROYAL CHORAL UNION - 2010-2011 season announced
Please click here for full details of ERCU's upcoming concert season.
Paisley Abbey Recitals on Wednesdays at 7:30pm
- 24th March 2010 - George McPhee
- 21st April 2010 - Dame Gillian Weir
- 16th June 2010 - Alexander Anderson
- 10th October 2010 - Joseph Cullen
Gordon Frier's Organ Recitals at Partick Methodist Church
Sunday Concerts at 2.45 pm. At the Wurlitzer console...
-
20 December Grand Christmas Concert with Duncan Sinclair and Friends
- 17 January 2010 S.C.O.T. AGM and open console.
- 24 January Phil Kelsall (Maybe ticket only due to high demand)
- 21 February Jean Martyn
- 7 March Abbey Brass (conductor Allan McPhee)
- with Duncan Sinclair, Organ
- 21 March Robert Wolfe
- 25 April Len Rawle
- 23 May Chris Powell
- 20 June Simon Gledhill
|
|
|
For sale, disposal or wanted |
The Lewis Organ at St Andrew's Hall, Glasgow
Although the Bernard Edmonds Recent Research Conference 2008 (run by BIOS) has aleady taken place, your web-manager having presented his paper on the above topic to an appreciative gathering, he would be still interested in finding recordings made on the 4-manual Lewis organ at the St Andrew's Hall in Glasgow. If they exist, these recordings might be commercial or private, on film, vinyl or shellac discs or on audio tape. Mature readers may remember that the hall, with its legendary acoustic and Lewis organ, met with destruction in a spectacular blaze early in the morning of Friday 26 October 1962. Please send John an e-mail if you can provide assistance or useful leads.
KING OF GLORY The Choir of St Mary Redcliffe, Bristol
Organist - Andrew Kirk Clifton Brass
Old Hundredth - Vaughan-Williams: Rejoice in the Lord Alway - Anon
Te Deum in C - Britten : I Was Glad - Parry : Bow Down Thine Ear - Arensky
War in Heaven - Neil Cox : Galliard Battaglia - Scheidt (for Brass)
The Spirit of the Lord - Elgar: Ave Maria - Simon Lindley
Christus - Mendelssohn : O Clap Your Hands - Vaughan-Williams
The Secret of Christ - Richard Shephard: Te Deum in B Flat - Stanford
Cwm Rhondda - (glorious setting for choir, brass and organ)
Organ by Harrison & Harrison; more details on www.stmaryredcliffe.co.uk
The above CD costs £12. Order five for £50.
Available from Bill Hutcheson, 20 Ballater Drive, Thornly Park, Paisley PA2 7SH
Telephone: 0141 884 5954
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
HAYDN : SEVEN LAST WORDS : KAISER HYMNUS
John R. Turner at the Willis/Harrison Organ of Glasgow Cathedral: mollterz mtz002
Available in the shops. GSO members can buy this CD from John R. Turner
(address in Yearbook) for £10 www.mollterz.com
NEW HOME WANTED
2-manual & pedal organ by John Hardy & Son, Stockport (circa 1897) at Carntyne Old Parish Church, at corner of Wellshot Road and Shettleston Road. The Editor has a stop-list for this organ. Photos (below) by John Power. Enquiries to Colin Hooper, Fabric Convenor, Shettleston New Church. Mobile:- 07962 216796 E-mail:
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
FOR SALE: Belton DKB49 2-manual domestic/club organ - £100
Iain Wallace www.freebiscuits.com
|
|
|
