CE Hereford Cathedral Sept 18th 2013

[ardcarp]

the Bösendorfer 290 has an extra 9 bass notes (down to C)

Oops. I forgot about the Bos Imperial Grand and the 290. I seem to remember that when the former first appeared, they had the extra white notes coloured black so that pianists doing a wild stab at a bottom A didn't hit the wrong ones.

[Keraulophone]

I forgot about the Bos Imperial Grand and the 290.

The Bösendorfer model 290 is the Imperial Grand.

'The first prototype was built in 1909 following a request from Ferruccio Busoni. He was working on a transcription of Bach's organ music and needed a piano with deeper bassnotes. As a result the Imperial was created with 97 keys- eight full octaves. Its extraordinary sound inspired major composers, including Bartók, Debussy and Ravel. Several music pieces composed require an Imperial to ensure that they are played true to the original.' (Bösendorfer website)

[ahinton]

having F as the top note of the pedal-board allows a wild stab during wedding mode Widor to pay off

Not if you're Kevin Bowyer and, being bored witless with having to play that for the umpteenth wedding, you play the movement in F# instead; actually, he was once asked by a couple to play "the finale from Widor's Organ Symphony" for their wedding, so he played the one from the Sixth Symphony, but I never did discover whether or not the marriage ended in divorce....

[ardcarp]

The Bösendorfer model 290 is the Imperial Grand.

Thanks for the correction Keraulophone. Oh dear...I should stick to topics I know a bit about! The Bos I saw (ages ago) must have been the 225 which has a mere 92 keys; and the extra G and F at the bottom were definitely black. Things may have changed since.

[Roger Judd]

As I recall, I don't think the notes were black - an aunt had a model 225, and the extra notes had a black fabric-covered hinged flap that hid them when not required which, I imagine, is most of the time.
RJ

[Vox Humana]

Not if you're Kevin Bowyer and, being bored witless with having to play that for the umpteenth wedding, you play the movement in F# instead; actually, he was once asked by a couple to play "the finale from Widor's Organ Symphony" for their wedding, so he played the one from the Sixth Symphony, but I never did discover whether or not the marriage ended in divorce....

A friend of mine was once booked to play for a funeral and told that the deceased had requested Fauré's Pavane to be played at the end. On informing the church secretary he was slightly bemused to receive a return email asking whether this was "the same piece as Toccata from Symphony No. 5 on Windsor".

[ahinton]

A friend of mine was once booked to play for a funeral and told that the deceased had requested Fauré's Pavane to be played at the end. On informing the church secretary he was slightly bemused to receive a return email asking whether this was "the same piece as Toccata from Symphony No. 5 on Windsor".

Mon Dieu! There must be tons of these, possibly even on a par with viola jokes; if only an organist here would initiate a thread about them!

By the way, Kevin did once say that the next time he had to play the Toccata from Widor's Fifth Organ Symphony, he'd do it with the hands reversed, again to alleviate the risk of boredom; he didn't say whether he planned to practice this challenging and unconfortable feat beforehand, still less whether he ever actually did it...

I did once hear him play it, in F and with the hands not reversed, at the end of a wedding in Glasgow (I wasn't attending the wedding - I'd come to see Kevin himself and was waiting outside the church for him); he stormed through it at around minim = 90 as I'd never heard anyone do before and I couldn't help but think "this marriage might be a short one!"...

[Finzi4ever]

Don't accuse the Brahms of being over gushy in comparison with the vomit-inducing first prayer, I'm now hearing: "Praise be!"
Sorry to sound like the sad, old, cynical, godless, church muso, but do share your favourite phrases from this splurge of saccharine-coated bilge.
Thank God for the glorious final hymn!

[Bullock in D]

So how was evensong then?

[decantor]

So how was evensong then?

Top class, since you ask - all sung with authority, sensitivity, and great beauty of sound. IMO. Sadly, it was all too short.

[DracoM]

Well........potentially, DOM Bowen has another top class ensemble here - men terrific, boys - some excellent leaders - but generally sound as if they need just a bit longer to 'sing themselves in'. Hardly surprising given how early in the tern it is. We talked a little last week about drawing the short straw? By half term, this will be a crack team.

And I have to confess that the Brahms was pretty nearly the best thing they did. Grrr! Lovely line, nicely sustained tone and interaction between the parts.

Yes, it was short in terms of the service, but, wow!, then we had Peter Dyke's virtuoso Dvorak! Three hands and three feet? I'm no organist: would one need someone to assist in changing registration?


Like others, I regularly squirm at the Tripadvisor commercial at the start. Surely this must come on orders from the BBC Religious Affairs Dept? It seems very odd that a priest would want to do this kind of PR in a religious service. WHY do they do it? How can we stop them doing it? Info is readily available in LPG and on the internet whether you are listening at home or abroad. It is a major blush. Please STOP!

[Magnificat]

So how was evensong then?

I would still like to know why the anthem had to be sung in German rather than in English.

I don't see the point in view of the fact that a well known translation exists unless it was to show off a bit.

decantor,

The singing was very competent but I thought it lacked a bit compared to previous broadcasts from Hereford. The psalms to me were a little dull and what I always look for in the Sumsion Mag is how the choristers soar at " all generations". I didn't think the boys quite pulled it off.

I didn't mind the prayers but I thought the Precentor seemed continually out of breath although I liked the way he was determined to sing holy ghost and not holy goat!

Enjoyed the service very much nevertheless especially Peter Dyke's playing ( a good old Hertfordshire boy ) whatever the capabilities of the organ. I'm afraid all the technical stuff above is way over my head.

VCC.

[Miles Coverdale]

Well........potentially, DOM Bowen has another top class ensemble here - men terrific, boys - some excellent leaders - but generally sound as if they need just a bit longer to 'sing themselves in'. Hardly surprising given how early in the tern it is. We talked a little last week about drawing the short straw? By half term, this will be a crack team.

And I have to confess that the Brahms was pretty nearly the best thing they did. Grrr! Lovely line, nicely sustained tone and interaction between the parts.

It's a wonderful piece. You have a Romantic composer setting a text about how lovely something (or somewhere) is. What do you expect? It's not going to major on intellectual, cerebral detachment, is it? After all, die Abwechslung is das Gewürz des Lebens, as Herr Brahms might possibly have said. Or not.

Yes, it was short in terms of the service, but, wow!, then we had Peter Dyke's virtuoso Dvorak! Three hands and three feet? I'm no organist: would one need someone to assist in changing registration?

Like others, I regularly squirm at the Tripadvisor commercial at the start. Surely this must come on orders from the BBC Religious Affairs Dept? It seems very odd that a priest would want to do this kind of PR in a religious service. WHY do they do it? How can we stop them doing it? Info is readily available in LPG and on the internet whether you are listening at home or abroad. It is a major blush. Please STOP!

A bit unfair, surely. All you had was a few seconds about how long people have offered worship in that place. You make it sound like you were being told where the best pubs were.

[Miles Coverdale]

I would still like to know why the anthem had to be sung in German rather than in English.

I don't see the point in view of the fact that a well known translation exists unless it was to show off a bit.

Possibly because Brahms wrote it in German, and the vowel colours of the original language are often an important part of the sound of the music. Rachmaninov Vespers sung in English is only the palest imitation of a performance in Russian, for example.

If cathedrals were to follow the BCP to the letter then nothing would ever be sung in a language other than English (certainly not Latin, far too Catholic). However, virtually every cathedral in the land cheerfully ignores this injunction on a weekly basis, and their musical life is all the better for it.

Anyway, next time you program a broadcast, you can do it in English, can't you?

[bach736]

Well, full compass - or "full compass", if some might prefer - is essential to performances of certain repertoire, not least Sorabji's three symphonies for organ solo which, as they add up to some 18 hours of music, is hardly an insignificant contribution to music for the "full (compass) organ"...

The thing is, Alistair, that Kevin Bowyer is probably the only person playing the Sorabji symphonies, so it's not really a big problem is it?