RFH organ

[ardcarp]

As The Choir sometimes hosts discussions about organs, has anyone got any comments about the refurbished instrument, and the publicity it is getting on both R3 and 4 ?

(BTW, I heard a R3 presenter refer to it as a Hamilton and Hamilton on one occasion.)

[BBMmk2]

Oh, yes ardcarp!! I rememeber one R3 presenter calling Black Dyke Band Black Dyke Colliery band! I mean!!

But didn't the organ sound great! Well worth the wait, although I thought the Mendelssohn wasn't done well. My only gripe! But the brass and organ was very well suited!

The publicity of the RFH H & H organ is well deserved!

[Petrushka]

You wait ages for an organ recital on R3 and three come along at once!

For those interested, John Scott plays this coming Friday, March 21; Thomas Trotter plays on Monday, March 24 and Olivier Latry plays on Thursday, March 27.

I've heard the RFH organ played in recital just once when I attended a Wednesday afternoon of Bach played by Peter Hurford in 1980.

[Roger Judd]

Ardcarp - I'm delighted that the refurbished organ in the RFH is getting so much publicity - so it should! It was nothing short of a scandal that it wasn't done at the same time as the hall had its refurbishment - there is the makings of a book there ...! An astonishing 60,000 donors have contributed to the necessary funds in addition to the Heritage Lottery to make this all possible. As I'm sure is well-known, the physical internal arrangements of the organ had to be completely re-configured to allow for an enlarged orchestral platform, and the instrument then had to be re-voiced for the new acoustic situation - hence the huge cost.

At the moment I can only comment on the sound of the instrument as broadcast by the BBC. I thought that it came across as richer and fuller. Part of the re-configuration has meant that the organ is slightly higher, and the extreme bass pipes are not shielded by woodwork as they were in the earlier incarnation, this seems to have added to a fullness of sound in the lower and middle registers. It also sounded beautifully in tune, and regulated - no surprise there, Andy Scott (Harrison & Harrison's Head Voicer) is a genius.

Of the programme itself, I would say that neither of the commissioned pieces (Peter Maxwell Davies and John Tavener) added gloriously to the repertoire - the latter's piece needed serious editing; why say something once when you can say it three times! Jane Parker-Smith was brilliant, as was John Scott; David Goode didn't really have a chance to shine on his own, which I regretted, and Isabelle Demers seemed a little over-cautious.

I'm going to forsake the Wye Valley to hear John Scott, Thomas Trotter and James O'Donell (Poulenc Concerto and Saint-Saëns 3rd Symphony) live in the Hall, so will experience the sound for real. If anyone is interested, I'll report back.
RJ

[Old Grumpy]

If anyone is interested, I'll report back.
RJ

Yes, please. I am not an organist, but enjoy the sound and would be interested in your comments. I enjoyed the concert last night and was particularly interested in the interviews with the various organ bods.

OG

[ardcarp]

I am slightly amused that, when R3 play any sort of organ snippet on Breakfast, it has to be a brisk toccata-like piece (if not THE toccata they're always playing), e.g. Mulet's Carillon Sortie, Vierne's Carillon de Westminster, Boellmann's Suite Gothique (Mov't 4) etc,etc. as if the organ had no subtler moods.

The RFH organ is (like Coventry Cathedral) a sort of open plan affair with no discernible casework and no werk prinzip design. Purists probably sniff, therefore, but as a concert organ how does it rank (no pun intended)?

And may I add a yes please, do report back RJ.

[Miles Coverdale]

Of the programme itself, I would say that neither of the commissioned pieces (Peter Maxwell Davies and John Tavener) added gloriously to the repertoire - the latter's piece needed serious editing; why say something once when you can say it three times!

Probably because you're being paid by the minute. Back in 2000 I typeset some of his Fall and Resurrection, the first minute of which is written-out rests …

[Roger Judd]

Ah ...!
RJ

[BBMmk2]

I'm rather looking forward to John Scott's recital. The Deputy DoM at the school where I work, is a friend of JS's(so I learned yesterdaY!!)

[Lento]

I think some witty person once said that the most important stop on any organ is the acoustic of the room in which it is housed. On the radio the Harrison sounded a bit "clinical" to my ears compared to "Organ Movement"-influenced instruments in more resonant rooms. I guess that has always been the deal with the RFH: it doesn't flatter or integrate the sound, be it organ or orchestra, but everything is very clear. Pros and cons, I suppose. I wonder how the RFH organ compares with the Marcussen at Bridgewater Hall.

[ardcarp]

the most important stop on any organ is the acoustic of the room in which it is housed.

Indeed...preferably a 10 second echo. Big French churches....mmmm!

[Bryn]

Indeed...preferably a 10 second echo. Big French churches....mmmm!

Takes me back to a talk by Keith Critchlow some years ago on the subject of sacred geometry, which made considerable reference to French ecclesiastical architecture and its acoustic properties.

[ardcarp]

Live from Royal Festival Hall, London FRIDAY 21st at 7.30

Presented by Louise Fryer

Continuing Radio 3's residency at Southbank Centre, celebrating the re-opening of the restored Royal Festival Hall organ, John Scott plays a selection of music from the Baroque to our own era.

Marchand: Dialogue in C
Buxtehude: Chorale prelude Komm, heiliger Geist (BuxWV199)
J S Bach: Prelude and Fugue in flat major (BWV 552)
Mozart: Adagio and Allegro in F minor (K 594)
Dupré: Esquisse in E minor( Op.41 no 2)
Dupré: Esquisse in B flat minor (Op.41 no 3)

8.25 Interval

8.45
Liszt: Fantasia and Fugue on 'Ad nos, ad salutarem undam'

John Scott (organ)

When first installed in 1953, the Royal Festival Hall's great 8000-pipe organ attracted admiration and opprobrium in equal measure. Controversially, it aimed - for the first time in a major British instrument - to be able convincingly to recreate the sounds and timbres required for every period and school of organ composition, and drew inspiration from many famous European instruments of the past. John Scott, formerly Organist of St Paul's Cathedral, and now Director of Music at St Thomas', Fifth Avenue in New York, demonstrates the RFH organ's versatility in music from 17th-century France to our own day.

[edashtav]

Good to see some Dupre and I love the Buxtehude.

[Vile Consort]

Good to see some meaty works in these organ recitals. Jeremy Filsell complains in the most recent edition of Choir & Organ that so many recitals these days consist of 'bite-sized' movements often extracted from this or that symphony, sonata or suite. He is writing of the USA, but the same thing is happening here. He notes that string quartets don't give recitals made up of odd movements from Beethoven or Schubert quartets, nor do orchestras play concerts of selected movements from Mahler or Bruckner symphonies.

My other bête noire is the 45-minute recital with 11 works on the programme. These will, of course, be padded out by the organist talking about the works to be played (although nobody will be able to catch what he says because the PA system isn't turned on).