Exciting Organs - Organ Australia

Transcription

Organ Australia
March 2008
Exciting Times...
..Exciting Organs
Exciting Times
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MARCH 2008
Organ Australia
Published by the Society of Organists (Victoria) Incorporated
PO Box 315, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia
ABN 97 690 944 954
A 0028223J
ISSN 1832 - 8725
PP3409 29/00015
A National Journal for all interested in the Organ and its Music
published for subscribers and members of all organ societies in Australia
by the Society of Organists (Victoria) Incorporated
Editorial Team
Chief Editor
Bruce Steele AM FAHA
03 9817 2151
Layout & Production
Blackhills Digital Printing 03 9877 7178
Business Manager
John Lester
0429 331 344
State Correspondents
Queensland
Hunter District
Wesley Music ACT
Victoria
Tasmania
South Australia
Western Australia
David Vann
Kath Waddell
Garth Mansfield
Joy Hearne
Dr Jim Hunt
Mark Joyner
Bruce Duncan
07 3256 0048
02 4933 7638
02 6248 6230
03 9893 3095
03 6244 3516
08 8331 2611
08 9574 0410
Deadlines for all contributions, including advertising, are 1 February, 1 May, 1 August, and 1 November.
Contents - March 2008
Volume 3 No 1
Australian Organ Directory
2
Editorial3
Guest Editorial
4
To the Editor
5
News and Views
6
State News and Coming Events
11
Music and the Church
21
And another thing ... or two
24
Memoir of Petr Eben
25
Organs and Architecture
27
Reveiw Article
35
Reviews39
From the Builders
45
Front Cover Photo:
The Rieger Organ in St Giles’ Cathedral, Edinburgh. See Organs and Architecture article page 27
Photo: from IAO brochure 1994
All materials published in Organ Australia are the property of the publishers [The Society of Organists (Victoria) Inc.]
and may not be reproduced elsewhere without written permission from the Society or its agents
in which case due acknowledgement must be made
Page 1
From the Editor
THE AUSTRALIAN ORGAN DIRECTORY
The Organ Society of Queensland
www.organsociety.com.au
President Dr Steven Nisbet rsnisbet@optusnet.com.au
Secretary Dennis Wayper wayperd@bigpond.net.au
The Hunter District Organ Music Society
President Gail Orchard ddglo@bigpond.com
Secretary David Evans davidwendy@ozemail.com.au
The Organ Music Society of Sydney
www.sydneyorgan.com
President Andrew Davidson ad046@hotmail.com Secretary Kathy Drummond katyd1@ozemail.com.au
The Society of Organists (Victoria) Incorporated
www.sov.org.au
President Ian Harrison
iandavidharrison@hotmail.com
Secretary Joy Hearne
joyhearne@optusnet.com.au
The Hobart Organ Society
President Craig Doherty Secretary Ian Gibbs The Organ Music Society of Adelaide Incorporated
President Christa Rumsey 39 Invergowrie Avenue, Highgate, SA 5063
Secretary Mary Holden (no email address)
The Organ Society of Western Australia (Incorporated)
www.waorgansociety.customer.netspace.net.au
President Simon Lawford slaw7887@bigpond.com.au
Secretary John van den Berg
bergs@iinet.net.au
The Wesley Music Centre (ACT)
wesleymc@bigpond.net.au
Director Garth Mansfield wesleymc@bigpond.net.au Organ Australia
Remember Christmas? As I write this it is already two months since organists, like most
of us, had perhaps their busiest time of the year. In the northern hemisphere, the great
celebration is followed by digging in for the cold, snow, frost, rain, floods the next couple
of months bring and getting on with the job. Here in the southern hemisphere we follow
Christmas with a month or more of heat, holiday and relaxation and often find it hard to
get back to the business of the new year. Perhaps that is why this issue of Organ Australia
is leaner than usual of local news.
But with the New Year came the Honours List and we were delighted to hear that another
of our colleagues, Kath Waddell of the HDOMS received an OAM. While one public
commentator deplored the small recognition given to the arts in this year’s list, it is gratifying
to know than an organist was among the few.
It is a great pleasure to me personally to have a Guest Editorial from Geoff Bock, the editor of the Sydney Organ Journal. He
has been in the editorial business far longer than I, and his work with the Sydney journal is greatly appreciated by who read
it. What he has to say is topical, to say the least.
The visit to these shores of Peter Phillips, the director of the Tallis Scholars, caused more than a ripple on both sides of the
continent. His column in the Spectator, in which he was critical of the Archbishop of Sydney and the position of music in St
Andrew’s Cathedral, began the furore. But his reflections in a speech he gave last January, both in Perth and in Sydney, opened
up some more general questions on the topic and we are pleased to be able to reproduce the text of his speech.
Articles and correspondence for publication, including letters to the editors should be sent to:
In the articles and discussions about organs we usually see, most attention is given to specifications and tonal qualities. We hear
very little about appearance and case-design. Yet when we see a new instrument, it is the visual impact which first arrests our
attention. It is therefore of some interest that we were able to secure an article on organs in relation to architecture – organs
visually rather than just tonally. The author Graham Tristram is an Edinburgh architect and member of The Organ Club in
the UK and I am grateful to him and to the editor of The Organ Club Journal for allowing us to reproduce the article.
Photographs for publication should be sent to the Editor (as above):
Now that Organ Australia is half-way into its third successful year, I wonder whether it is appropriate for subscribers, members
of the various societies and their councils to consider the possibility or the desirability of a national organisation to bring us
formally together as Organ Australia has tried to do informally. We note the meeting together in Melbourne of members of
the Victorian, Queensland and Sydney Societies on the Queen’s Birthday weekend. This could be an opportunity to start some
informal discussions. The American AGO or the English IOC might be possible models.
The Editor Organ Australia, Attention: Bruce Steele AM, 36 Campbell Road, Deepdene, Victoria 3103
Email:editor@sov.org.au
Phone: (03) 9817 2151
Fax:
(03) 9817 7431
Articles and letters for publication may be submitted in written, typed or CD form, or as an e-mail attachment to the Editor,
or to the appropriate State Correspondent listed on the inside front cover.
Photographs may be sent in photo or photo negative form, slides, or as a high quality e-mail attachment. Phone for advice. Indicate
whether you wish photos to be returned. Please provide a caption and accurate acknowledgement of the source of the photo.
To Advertise in this Journal contact:
Full page in colour:
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Inserts can be mailed with Organ Australia at $130 (minimum) per A4 sheet. Contact the Advertising Manager for more details.
Please note that advertisements received in colour will be printed as black and white (grey-scale) advertisements.
Further to this, I will point out a curious situation. When this journal was first proposed, there were some who thought that
a national society should precede a national journal, so that the national organisation idea is not new. The opposite view
prevailed (rightly in my view). In the event it happens that, as the editor of Organ Australia, I am not the Victorian Society’s
editor. While for the present, the SOV has a sub-committee which administers the financial and subscription management of
OA, this is the result of a Council decision, not a constitutional requirement. SOV’s editor, constitutionally appointed, is the
editor of the Society’s monthly Newsletter for members. For the present, then, I am ‘employed’ by, and answerable formally
to, no one. I would imagine that a national body (whatever its nature and constitution) would be responsible for Organ Australia
and so appoint a national editor.
Subscriptions:
Meanwhile, let us know your views.
The Advertising Manager: Organ Australia, PO Box 315, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia, or contact John Lester: 0429 331 344.
Advertising rates are:
To receive Organ Australia as a subscriber the annual subscription is $44. Enquiries regarding subscriptions should be directed to
The Business Manager, Organ Australia, PO Box 315, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia, or contact John Lester: 0429 331 344.
About Organ Australia
Organ Australia is a national organ journal published quarterly (during March, June, September, and December) by the Society of Organists
(Victoria) Incorporated for members of participating Australian Organ Societies and individual subscribers. Our logo symbollically expresses
what it is about. It shows a map of Australia from which the state boundaries have been removed, symbolizing a unity within Australia,
and six pipes representing each of the States that have some kind of Organ Society; the whole being encircled by rings which reinforce the
concept of a community of organists unfettered by state and local boundaries.
Organ Australia aims to provide a publication containing material of local, state and national interest, to enable exchange and sharing of
ideas, plans and activities for all who are interested in the organ and its music, and to promote a sense of national community amongst all
organists and organ music lovers. Organ Australia depends on you, its readers, to provide material both verbal and visual, for publication.
We were wrong
In the December issue of Organ Australia there was a pagination error: pages 39 and 40 were reversed. We apologise for the
inconvenience caused by a last-minute production slip.
We would like ...
* to hear from anyone interested in assisting the editor of Organ Australia in assembling and checking material submitted to
the magazine.
* to hear from persons interested in CD and concert reviewing.
Contact the editor either by phone (03 9817 2151) or email <editor@sov.org.au>.
Deadlines for all contributions, including advertising, are 1 February, 1 May, 1 August, and 1 November.
Page 2
Page 3
Guest Editorial
Geoff Bock, Editor, Sydney organ Journal
The views expressed by organ builder Ian Brown (see ‘To the
Editor’ p. 5) will strike a familiar chord with many readers.
They certainly did for me. A few years back I was asked to
play for a relative’s wedding in a country church where, for
some years, I had been organist. I was quite looking forward
to re-acquainting myself with the organ, the only one in
the district and capable of handsomely acquitting itself
in both liturgical and recital roles. Indeed, the parish had
developed a reasonably good standard of music for which
it had been justifiably proud. It was therefore more than a
little disappointing to find the organ a shadow of its former
self, and barely playable. The incumbent explained that as
there was nobody to play it, it had not been maintained and
thus had been neglected. He stated that ‘we only use the
guitars now’ and in his view, ‘people no longer wanted to sing
hymns.’ If they were to be led by guitars, then no wonder.
Considering that the instrument had been the brainchild of a
previous rector and the parish had been enthusiastic enough
to raise the not inconsiderable funds to acquire the organ in
the first place, this seemed to be a wanton waste of resources
and perhaps a reflection on a parish council which counted
the cost of everything and the value of nothing.
The problem of disappearing organists is no doubt more
acute in regional areas rather than in the major cities and to
its credit, our Society has been at the forefront in fostering
the development of new players, particularly younger ones,
and the Society will continue active programs in this direction
as long as funds will allow. As individuals, perhaps we also
should bear some responsibility for handing over our posts
and attempt to ensure that when we leave a position, there
will be a successor. It is not enough to assume as I did, that
there will be ‘somebody around’ to take over when often,
clearly, there is not.
On a more positive note it is encouraging to be able to report
on the opening of the restored Bevington organ in St John
the Baptist Church, Bonnyrigg in outer western Sydney.
We also are awaiting details of another new installation, this
time at Woy Woy on the NSW Central Coast, the first pipe
organ in this highly populated area.
We also look forward to the return of the Rose Bay Kincoppal
Convent’s Puget. That these installations are all in Catholic
churches is perhaps an indication of fresh thinking on the
part of a church which in the past, had not been noted for
the importance it attached to music. Indeed, the Catholic
Church has the power and drive to give a lead in this direction
if it so wished, rather than leaving it in the preserve of the
Anglicans and non-conformists.
The Puget organ before removal for restoration, Kincoppal
Convent, Rose Bay, NSW Photo: Pastór de Lasala 2005
But on another much less positive note, the following item
appeared on page 6 of The Sydney Morning Herald of 1 Feb,
2008: ‘Discord rages in music war. The Dean of St Andrew’s
Cathedral, Philip Jensen has hit back at the conductor of one
of the world’s leading renaissance choral groups, who has
accused the Dean and his brother, the Archbishop of Sydney,
of vandalising Anglican music and culture in Sydney.
‘The British musical director with the Tallis Scholars, Peter
Phillips, yesterday re-ignited a long-standing row when he
accused the Jensen brothers of sidelining traditional music
at St Andrews. But Dean Jensen said his ministry was for all
people – “not just those who follow an elitist repertoire of
church music. A broad range of music has flourished, from
the annual concert of music for children with Colin Buchanan
to the presentation of Handel’s Messiah at Easter.”’
Speaking on Radio National’s Religion Report, Mr Phillips
accused the Jensens of dictating musical preference and
of a very, very extreme approach that doesn’t deal with
people properly, doesn’t connect with people, just dictates.
The former director of the St Andrew’s cathedral Choir,
Michael Deasey, said choir performances in the cathedral
had been dramatically cut under the Jensens.
Restored Bevington organ at St John the Baptist church,
Bonnyrigg, NSW Photo: Pastór de Lasala
Page 4
Readers will of course have their own opinions, but it is
sad indeed to see the mother cathedral of the Anglican
Church of Australia so roundly criticised and its leaders,
holders of ancient and honourable offices, increasingly
being lampooned in the press as authoritarian, outdated and
irrelevant figures of fun.
To the Editor
from Ian Brown, Organ Builder, Sydney
For some time, there
has been a matter on
my mind and it was
brought into focus
again during our June
organ tuning trip. There
were two organs where
it was possible that
our services might no
longer be required, but
for no obvious reason.
In each case the organ
Ian Brown
had been played most
faithfully by a very dedicated organist for in excess of 50
years. It is very right and proper that we should honour
people like this because it represents an outstanding
contribution of time and skills. The average person has no
idea of the amount of practice time required to play any
piece of music well. In some cases it might actually be 50 or
100 times longer than the performance time. These people
have generously given all of this and have been there Sunday
after Sunday to ensure that there is music for thousands and
thousands of church services. The reason why we might no
longer be required at these two places is that the dedicated
organist has either died or is now in a nursing home. There
is no-one else who can play the organ and other instruments
will have to be used.
Contrast this with another church where several years ago
an organist said ‘Well I’m getting on a bit and won’t be here
for ever. You, you, you and you can play the piano. You’re
all going to have some organ lessons.’ This lady is no longer
with us but that church now has a roster of people able to
play for its services. What a wonderful legacy for an organist
to leave.
I beg you to consider whether such a situation exists where
you faithfully play Sunday by Sunday. We need organists in
the future. Is there some young person in your congregation
to whom you could offer encouragement, a few lessons
and unlimited use of the organ for practice? Could your
parish offer a scholarship to a young person to have formal
organ lessons from a qualified organ teacher? Can we help
in some way? Possibly a workshop on organ playing might
be arranged to coincide with a tuning visit, or I could
recommend an organ teacher nearby. My son is also an organ
builder. If there are no organists then there might well be no
organs and that does not give him a promising future. But it’s
more than that. I know that the church will survive without
organs. It did for the first 1,000 years!
But we are getting all too good at throwing away our
heritage, traditions and culture to be replaced by inferior
and cheap substitutes. Our hymnals contain a wealth of
the most profound and deep spirituality and theological
thinking. Throw out organs and hymn books and replace
them with holy nursery rhymes and hundreds of years of
rich Christian heritage is no longer available to inspire this
or future generations. It just might also be the reason why so
many people have stopped going to church. Practise hard,
play well, make the organ sound exciting, not boring, and
look out for others to continue your good work after you are
gone. This is one way to ensure that this priceless treasure
of tradition and heritage is not lost.
from Bob Elms, WA
Congratulations to David Shield for the research he has done
on ‘Walkout on Sir George Shenton’. It is an interesting
article.
Firstly let me apologise to Sir George Shenton for having
knighted his father. This was an obvious slip as one would
not expect Mr Shenton Senior to have lived long enough to
present an organ to Perth Wesley in 1908. However it would
not seem to have done much damage to the history of the
organ in WA. These things happen. The George Shenton
(Snr) in question was a pioneer of the Methodist Church in
this state, being also Trustee of Albany Methodist Church,
the only contact with Albany at this time being a sea trip.
No pipe organ there either at that time.
Regarding David’s remark ‘Although he suggests it to be
a harmonium it is just as likely to have been a pipe organ,
and as such bears further research’ this seems to me to be
a presumptuous remark. The Wesley Church (Fremantle)
Minutes merely record the gift of an ‘organ’ in the 1850s.
There is no mention of a ‘pipe organ’. If it had been a pipe
organ it would have been the first in this state yet the evidence
that the Wesley Church Perth Bishop organ installed in 1875
was the first pipe organ in WA is irrefutable. Fremantle
Wesley at that time was a small chapel long demolished,
and any pipe organ would have been moved to the new
church built in the 1880s. There was none in that church till
the Joseph Freeman instrument was installed in the early
20th Century.
Leon Cohen produced a book Gathered Fragments on
the life and work of WA’s first organ builder, Robert Cecil
Clifton. To quote: ‘When the first pipe organ arrived in
Western Australia in 1875 for Wesley Church, Perth, a keenly
interested observer of its installation was 21 year old Cecil
Clifton.’ The FIRST pipe organ. Clifton, in his memoirs
states, ‘I went a couple of times to Wesley Church and had
a look at the work of setting it up, and was rather mystified
by what appeared to me a tangled mass of mechanism.’ He
then set about learning how to build an organ himself and
produced the instrument now in a much altered form in St
Aidan’s Church, Claremont. No mention of a pipe organ
already in Fremantle. If there had been surely that would
have been mentioned by Clifton, who would certainly have
known about it given his excitement at seeing the Perth
Wesley organ.
Page 5
It is unfortunate that rumour affects the history of the organ
to the degree it does. I have had the following over the past
few years:
•The Bunbury organ from Golden Valley moved to St
Mary’s Church, West Perth was a Dodd (this from David).
It was not. It was a Fincham.
• There is a pipe organ in Cannington not listed. Yes, there
was a fairground organ recently imported. Now listed. Not
a church organ.
• There is a pipe organ in Fairbridge Farm School Chapel. There
isn’t. It is a reed organ with a wood pipe showcase all nicely
gilded.
It is interesting to note that Wesley Church Perth’s first
organist was a woman, Aggie Read. At York for many years
the Pyke Sisters played both the Wesley and the Anglican
organs. In Albany the first organist at Wesley was Miss
Angove, followed by George and Clementina Haywood, and
more recently Mrs Beverley Bird. George played that organ
for about 70 years and Beverley Bird, still official organist,
has played it since 1959. Women have played a big part in
church organ playing in this state.
After completing his LMusA in organ studies under the
direction and guidance of the distinguished organist Mr
Sergio di Peri, Bruce put into practice a well planned high
standard of church music and choral training at All Saints’,
resulting in the long term success of a loyal SATB choir of
15 members. He firmly believes ordinary people are attracted
to sing, enjoy and achieve extra-ordinary results when they
are given the opportunity to participate, learn, practice and
perform in major choral and festive works.
I actually heard EJ Watkin play in Wesley Church Perth near
the end of his life. He was a fine player, as also was ES Craft
(Cheddar to the Wesley College boys of whom I was one).
In 1967 All Saints’ purchased for $10,000 a very fine pipe
organ. Installed by the local firm Geo. Fincham and Sons, the
original 5 rank extension instrument served the congregation
well until major additions were made in 1978. It was enlarged
to 14 ranks and 27 speaking stops. Today the organ is known
for its clarity of sound, a lush diapason chorus and a lively
spontaneous electromagnetic action. It is well maintained
and in excellent condition.
News and Views
Kath Waddell OAM
Organist turns 100
Harold Popple
Kath Waddell OAM at St Peter’s, East Maitland, NSW
Photo: courtesy David Evans
Congratulations to our Hunter District Correspondent, Kath
Waddell on her award of OAM in the New Years Honour
List!
Kath told an interviewer that she finds church music
inspiring. ‘It has such a long, long history and to be involved
in something that is over 700 years (old) is truly wonderful.’
She has three sons and nine grandchildren, and has long
enjoyed the company and talent of hundreds of singers and
musicians. She considers her award a tribute also to people
she had worked with over the years.
‘I have also been lucky to have the most magnificent 1876
Henry Willis pipe organ to play at St Peter’s’ she said.
Mrs Waddell is also a member of the Samaritans, the
Mothers’ Union and the UK-based Guild of Church
Musicians and the Royal School of Church Music. She
has been a member of HDOMS for 30 years and has held
executive positions.
Page 6
Congratulations and
good wishes to Harold
Popple of Wantir na
South, Victoria, who
turned 100 on 20
December last year.
Before his retirement
in 2000 he had been
organist at four different
churches over 70
years. By profession a
mechanical engineer, he
built an organ in 1970
which he still plays in
his home.
He celebrated this milestone birthday with many friends at
the Boronia Road Uniting Church.
Ordinary People Providing an Extraordinary Service
from Ian R Steed
Since 1965 Mr Bruce
Allen has been
the Organist and
Choirmaster at All
Saints’ Anglican Church,
Greensborough, an outer
North-Eastern suburb of
Melbourne. Bruce began
his organ studies with
Mr Albert Greed, an
organ tutor at Melbourne
Grammar School, in the
early 1950s. At the age
of 16, Bruce became
organist for two years at
the Methodist Church in
Bruce Allen at All Saints’
Preston (Vic) when the
Photo: John Bothe
regular organist retired
due to ill health.
On Friday the 23 November 2007 a small group of organ
enthusiasts was invited to All Saints’ to hear and play this
fine organ. For this occasion the visitors were surprised by
the presence also of a small digital computer organ, loaned
and set up by Prestige Pianos and Organs of Bell Street,
Preston. It was a real privilege to hear these two lovely
instruments side by side and to hear the vast improvement
of digital computer technology in producing the authentic
pipe organ sound, and to acknowledge that each instrument
complemented the other.
With Christmas approaching I was invited once more to All
Saints’ for a special service of Nine Lessons and Carols, to
be held on Sunday 16 December 2007 at 8.30am. All Saints’
stated mission is – ‘Our Mission is to know Christ and to make
Him known to the world.’ Here was the chance to experience
the organ and the well nurtured resources of the Church’s
people - organist/choirmaster, singers, lay-reader, and Vicar
combining with the congregation, all united in worship.
On a beautiful Greensborough morning the service began
with appropriate organ music by Bruce. The congregation
was given an order of service listing the Nine Lessons and
the words of the connecting Choral items. I do not propose
to review the service in detail except to make my point that
outstanding contributions were made by all concerned.
The choir sang with clarity of diction, secure intonation
and warmth of tone befitting the well chosen selection of
music. I congratulated them on their contribution to the
service. Of course this was led through the mastery of organ
accompaniment by Bruce. His choice of registrations, use
of expression and phrasing was superb. He has often told
me that this latter skill is developed by carefully reading
the words of each verse in order to capture and support the
composer’s message.
Special mention should be made of Mr Christopher Parsons,
an important member of the choir, a composer and bass
singer. His choral composition ‘From East To West’ to
words by Caelius Sedulius (5th Century) was very moving
and sensitively accompanied by Bruce. Chris is also Bruce’s
assistant organist, having a Batchelor of Music degree. He
studied organ with Dr June Nixon and Mr John Mallinson.
The service concluded with Sir David Willcox’s arrangement
of ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’. However for the organ postlude,
the All Saints’ congregation was treated to Bruce’s fine
rendition of JS Bach’s Prelude in E Minor BWV548.
As we have heard before, and certainly true in this case
‘behind every successful man is a good woman’. Bruce and
his wife Maree work together as a team. Maree sings in the
choir, and has been a solid anchor for Bruce in his successful
business career as a CPA accountant and Company Director.
In his semi-retirement Bruce donates much of his time
teaching and advising other organists on the finer points and
skills in presenting traditional Church music.
Here in Melbourne, every Sunday morning at 7am we are
very fortunate to have local radio station 3MBS presenting
‘Hymns Old and New’, an excellent program compiled by
Peter Wakeley, featuring choirs from all over Australia.
Along with the small band of people at All Saint’s and other
people producing such beautiful music, it is important to
acknowledge them, and not to take them, or the service they
provide, for granted.
These are ordinary people giving extraordinary service to our
religious communities. If others feel as I do and would like
to write articles about local Church or Parish Organists or
Choral activity, perhaps the editor of this excellent Journal
would find space to share it with the readership.
A Record at 90
from Rick Fisher
Kath Watts Photo: Rick Fisher
Kath Watts, (nee Kathleen Ey), grew up in Gawler, SA
and was appointed organist of the Tod Street Methodist
Church in 1935. In 1938 she won a scholarship at St. Peter’s
Cathedral and became assistant to Revd Horrace Finnis until
1945. In 1941 Kath won the Chancellor’s Scholarship and
continued to study under John Horner and the Adelaide
City Organist, Harold Wylde. During this time she played
for cathedral festivals, ABC state and national broadcasts
of services and gave recitals at the Adelaide Town Hall
and Elder Hall, both of which, of course, have gained new
instruments; the ATH, two I believe. Many years passed
before Kath returned formally to the organ bench, but in
1983 she was appointed as organist at St John’s Port Fairy
(Vic) and served there until 1992.
Page 7
By now readers are possibly considering Kaths’ age, however
her journey continues. As mentioned above, the organ at
Christ Church Mount Gambier was rebuilt in 2000. At this
time we had a willing team of amateurs, but no one who
could really do justice to such a splendid instrument. In
2001 Kath and Ron Watts appeared in the congregation. As
musical director of the parish, I was informed that this new
lady parishioner was a former cathedral organist and that I
should ‘give her a go’. ‘Little old ladies’ brought images of
ponderous playing, lots of tremulant and left foot plodding
on the pedal board. I nervously asked if she would like to
play. In great humility she apologised for her age and lack of
practice. She slid onto the bench, kicked off her inappropriate
shoes, lunged confidently at pistons, couplers and a few extra
stops, then rendered all present speechless.
To say ‘the rest is history’ is better phrased – ‘the rest adds to
a considerable and wonderful history of organ playing and
service to the church and its people.’ Kath celebrated her
90th birthday in December 2007. Her music is still full of life,
inspiration and technical accuracy. She is the centrepiece of the
traditional music in our church and wonderfully accompanies
our four-part choir who refer to her as ‘a living treasure’.
I have no doubt that Kath Watts must be among the most
senior organists in active service at this time, and I hope in
some small way, this report might publicly acknowledge her
work and skill amongst her peers.
In 2006 one of her daughters informed me that no recording
of her playing had ever been made and that the family would
be grateful if we could redress this. Amid great reluctance
and statements like ‘can’t think who would ever listen to this’
Kath submitted to a no fuss, limited-take recording session.
Armed with some borrowed microphones and a mixer, a
PC and some free software we recorded a few tracks in the
morning. Kath listened to these with little comment. After
lunch and a little time to herself she returned with boundless
energy. CF Lang’s Tuba Tune was played from memory (not
bad in your 89th year) and in a last minute decision, with
little practice, she decided to record the Bach ‘St Anne’
Fugue. With my good friend Otfried Linder, we recorded 21
tracks in one day. The final CD is ‘home grown’ but has quite
credibly captured the sound of the Christ Church organ. It
has also documented Kath’s skills as an organist and a cross
section of the music popular with organists in her time as a
prominent Adelaide organist.
We hope Kath’s journeying has now brought her to settle
with us at Christ Church and that when the time comes
she may retire with a feeling of great satisfaction. But that
could be sometime yet, for she is in excellent health and still
loves to play.
If any organist ‘out there’ would care to send Kath a
congratulatory card or letter on her achievement and service, I
am sure it would gladden the heart and strengthen the resolve
of a very fine, dedicated and deserving musician. Please use
the following email address: <lyn.rick@bigpond.net.au>
or write C/- Rick Fisher, Christ Church, Anglican Church,
PO Box 1357, Mount Gambier SA 5290
Page 8
Peter Guy, Organist and Master of the Choristers.
from Kath Waddell
Garth Mansfield to retire
Long serving Canberra
Church Musician, Garth
Mansfield, OAM, will
retire on June 30th after
30 years’ service to the
Wesley Uniting Church.
Peter Guy at Christ Church Photo: courtesy HDOMS
The newly appointed musical director of Christ Church
Cathedral, Newcastle is Peter Guy, at 26 years of age the
youngest person ever appointed to this position. He is no
stranger to the Cathedral organ bench having been Organ
Scholar there from 2002-2004 while studying at Newcastle
University Conservatorium. After a brief period during
which he occupied the positions of Assistant Director of
Music at Wesley Uniting Church, Forrest, ACT, and as
Director of Music at St Stephen’s, Macquarie Street Sydney,
he has returned to the Newcastle scene.
Peter graduated in 2004 with First Class Honours and the
University medal, having achieved the highest grade point
average in the entire faculty of Education and Arts. He
was the recipient of the Newton John prize for the most
outstanding graduate, the Vice-Chancellor’s Honours Award
and an Australian Postgraduate Award. He also has AMusA
(piano) and ACert CM (Guild of Church Musicians).
In 2003 Peter reached the keyboard final of the Symphony
Australia Young Performers Award playing the organ in the
Saint-Saëns Concerto in G Minor for Organ, Strings and Timpani
with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. This performance was
broadcast on ABC Classic FM. He has also performed on BBC
Radio 3 in the UK and for 2 Korean TV stations. On 2 occasions
he has toured internationally with the Newcastle Chamber
Choir, playing on organs in St Paul’s London, Westminster
Abbey, Southwark Cathedral and Liverpool Metropolitan
Cathedral in England, and Notre Dame de Paris in France.
His Australian recital schedule has included organs in Sydney,
Canberra, Newcastle, Adelaide and the Barossa Valley, and in
July 2008 he will perform at the National Convention of the
US Organ Historical Society in Seattle USA.
His priorities as he commences this appointment include
not only developing the Cathedral choirs and adding to
their repertoire, but reviving the popular Cathedral events,
The Glory of Music recitals, and the Cathedral Festival, as
well as assisting parish musicians through such groups as
the Royal School of Church Music and the Hunter District
Organ Music Society.
Garth Mansfield, Wesley Uniting
Church, Canberra
Photo: Graeme Brown
Originally appointed as
Director of Music, Garth
has also been Director
of the Wesley Music
Centre since its opening
in 2002. The Music
Centre also manages
the ACT Organ School
which this year has 12
students.
The Church has
commenced the search for someone to take on either or
both of these Directorships. Interested people should,
in the first instance, contact the convener of the Search
Committee, Graeme Brown, who can provide further
information, at <wesleymusic@grapevine.com.au>.
Detailed job descriptions are on the Church’s website:
<www.wesleycanberra.org.au>.
The Organ in Japan
from Vic Searle in Tokyo
With all this discussion about churches closing and organs
being dumped, I’d like to tell a bit about the situation here
in Japan.
The first organ was brought from Portugal by Franciscan
monks in the late 1500s, and installed in a chapel in the town
of Azuchi, where the shogun Oda Nobunaga had his castle.
He was assassinated and the country plunged into civil war.
The chapel and organ were burnt, and the persecution of
Christians began, continuing unto 1853 when Japan was
opened to the world by Admiral Perry.
The faith was carried on by ‘hidden Kirishitans’ and during
the Meiji era, churches began to be built. Tokyo had St Mary’s
cathedral and an EM Skinner organ was installed, but was
destroyed in the 1944 firebombing of Tokyo.
When I came to Japan in 1948 with MacArthur’s Occupation,
there were only about four or five organs in the entire country.
Now, while Christians comprise only about .01% of the
population, there are an uncountable number of churches. When
Japan revived its economy through its supplying materials for the
Korean War, there was an upsurge of organs being imported.
A previous Prime Minister promulgated a huge grant to
every city over a certain population and there was a virtual
deluge of organs coming in. Of course many were bought by
churches, but a surprising number of fine instruments went
into public halls. And every major music school has at least
one organ, a certain mega-university has five!
And of course the electronics, being cheaper, made great
inroads, 40 Allens in the Osaka area alone. Every hotel of
any size has a wedding chapel complete with some kind of
organ, to provide a venue for brides to wear the latest wedding
fashions as opposed to the cumbersome Japanese bridal
kimonos. Although only a very tiny majority of the couples
are Christians, they still long for the beauty of a traditional
Christian ceremony.
I taught for 42 years at the University of Japan, on an 1885
Casavant, and turned out over 75 organists. And almost all
of them are staff organists in these chapels, making far more
money than I ever did in my active days. One girl (almost all
are young ladies, as the wedding producers like pretty young
things in low-cut dresses. I only know of four men who do
play in these chapels.) plays an average of ten weddings every
Saturday and Sunday on a locally-built pipe organ.
The JGO has printed three volumes listing the organs from
the past up to date, and at present three are records of 1100+
pipe organs. The town of Azuchi where the first organ was
brought had Mander build a glorious memorial organ in
their town hall. The organ is exquisite, but suffers from a
dreadful acoustic.
And recently there has begun a demand for pipe organs
in Buddhist temples! How they integrate them into their
ceremonies I don’t know, but they do have the money.
The largest of these is Virgil’s Touring organ V/125 with
600 speakers in a fabulous temple near Kyoto, installed and
voiced by list member Ken List and myself. Although it was
originally analog, it could outperform any pipe organ. If you
doubt it, hear it on Organs and Organists Online. It has now
been digitalized by money – grabbing Roland, and I’ve not
bothered to hear it.
In my opinion the three finest organs are the Grenzing in the
Niigata Cultural Center, a Walcker in Kokura’s Kosei Nenkin
Hall, and the new Mascioni in St. Mary’s Cathedral in Tokyo.
And recently an 1800s tracker organ has been installed, of
all places, in a shopping mall!
The most unique instrument is not per se either a handplayed or mechanical organ. It has about 50 pipes placed in
bunches of 3-4 at various levels on the walls of a 50’ high
atrium and is blown from one large blower, and each pipe
valve is controlled by little revolving magnetic motors which
have strings wrapped around the shafts to vary the amount
of wind sent to each pipe.
These magnets are in turn controlled by a computer which
receives its data from a windmill on the roof of the building.
There is no attempt to reproduce melodies, only a mysterious
ambience, and an amazing thing to hear. Everything is
random and never will you hear the same sounds again, as the
velocity and strength of the wind is the performing factor.
I have access to many of the organs here and if any listers
are passing through Tokyo, I’ll be glad to assist you in seeing
and possibly playing some of these.
Page 9
McGillivray Memorial Organ
Winthrop Hall, UWA Perth
Prevoicing the new
pipes of the Trompeta
Real 8’ rank on its
new display windchest
in the SIOC voicing
shop. →
Installation of the rebuilt 1964 J W Walker
organ commenced in
January 2008 for
completion by the
March graduations.
The scene halfway
through the 2 month
installation
program.
Layout (L to R): Swell,
Great north, Positive,
Great south, Choir &
Pedal. The deepened
platform has improved maintenance
access and allowed
additions such as the
Pedal Contra Trombone 32’ (R). →
Page 10
← The rebuilt
console in the
SIOC wor k s hop
with 7 additional
stops and new
Peterson ICS4000
capture and transmission s y s t e m
f e a turing 256 memory levels, piston
sequencer, inbuilt
MIDI
record/playback
and USB port.
State News and Coming Events
Queensland
Western Australia
Sunday 9 March at 3pm
Opening Recital at All Saints Anglican Church,
Chermside
Christopher Wrench will perform the Opening Recital on
a new Allen Q-352B 3-manual digital organ at All Saints
Anglican Church, Chermside. Light refreshments will follow
the recital. The church address is 501 Hamilton Rd (between
Gympie & Webster Rd), Chermside 4034.
Pipeworks
from Bruce Duncan
Queen’s Birthday Weekend 7–9 June
Melbourne Organ Ramble
OSQ members are invited to join a group travelling to
Melbourne for an organ ramble to visit some of Melbourne’s
largest and best pipe organs. There will also be a group of our
colleagues in Sydney travelling to Melbourne for the ramble.
Many OSQ members will well remember the very successful
‘organ ramble’ trip to Sydney in 2005. The 2008 trip to
Melbourne promises to be just as successful. Please register
your interest with OSQ Secretary Denis Wayper on 3263.9452
or email <wayperd@bigpond.net.au>. The procedure will
be similar to that for our 2005 Sydney trip; members will be
responsible for making their own travel and accommodation
arrangements. Partners and friends are welcome to attend
also. When the weekend schedule has been forwarded to us
by our Melbourne colleagues, we will pass these details on
to those who have registered their interest with the Secretary.
Then members can make their travel bookings, and arrange
accommodation at one of the recommended hotels.
One of the 2007 workshop experiences presented by the
Organ Society of Western Australia was conducted with
the tremendous assistance of, and at the premises of, Pipe
Organs WA Pty Ltd in Bayswater. The workshop aim was
to provide a learning opportunity about pipe making and the
essentials of sound production in a pipe organ. During the
course of the two-day workshop participants were able to
make real organ pipes, then voice and tune them.
Graham Devenish, proprietor of Pipe Organs WA Pty Ltd,
gave an informative talk at each session, using practical
demonstrations from different types and shapes of pipes,
about how sound is produced. This led in to the practical
part of the workshop where each participant was provided
with the essential tools and material to build a pipe – in the
first workshop a wood Gedeckt, and in the second a metal
Diapason.
Further organ activities in 2008
OSQ Members are advised to check the Society website
<www.organsociety.com.au> regularly for updates on further
organ activities. As this issue of the journal goes to press,
plans are being made for:
1. a visit in April to the recently-installed Wurlitzer theatre
organ in the Gallery of Modern Art at the Cultural Centre,
South Brisbane
2. a visit in May to the organ in the Old Museum, Gregory
Terrace.
This organ was previously installed in St Stephen’s Catholic
Cathedral, Brisbane.
Members without access to the internet are advised to phone
OSQ Secretary Denis Wayper on 3263.9452 to obtain upto-date information.
St John’s Cathedral, Brisbane
Organ Recitals – International Series 2008
Sundays at 3pm
March 30 Mark Bensted [Sydney]
April 20 Daniel Trocmé Latter [NZ/UK]
May 18 Lachlan Redd [Melbourne]
June 29 Rupert Jeffcoat
Graeme Devenish (centre) talks to the workshop participants
When the Gedeckt pipe was built, pieces of Mahogany
had been prepared beforehand by Graham and Justin
MacDonnell, his staff organ builder, so that participants with
almost no wood-working skills could not only take part but
also finish the task. First the block was joined to the walls of
the pipe in such a way that the walls remain parallel and that
the languid (tongue) of the pipe would later be accessible for
shaping and the voice of the pipe could be made.
Then the back and front of the pipe were glued down,
taking great care to ensure air-tight joinery throughout.
Varying degrees of skill and aptitude were found around the
worktable, and from it developed a camaraderie and team
spirit that flourished during the day. Those more adept helped
those who struggled, and between us we began to see our
handiwork taking shape. Graham and Justin were on hand
at every phase of the project.
Page 11
Coming Events
March 2008
Sunday 2 March at 2.00 pm
TOSA Concert
John Leckie Music Centre, Nedlands
Compton Organ and Grand Piano
Organ, Flute and Soprano
St. Albans, Highgate
Dominic Perissinotto – organ
Neil Fisenden – flute
Rae-Helen Fisenden – flute, soprano
Ensuring the languid is in the correct position
When it came to making the pipe speak, it was a test of
patience as we learned how to shape the block and fit the
cap so that the air passage was just right. Then came the
stopper and gasket, all of which had to be carefully shaped
and sanded till they fit perfectly. The pipe cannot speak
clearly unless everything is airtight and it was with a great
sense of achievement that participants at last started to hear
the squeaks and squawks of the new pipes.
Solo division of the Miller organ
the pipe and then cut up the mouth to size for production of
the desired sound of that pipe.
The next stage was to voice the pipe so that the desired
harmonics would be produced. In most cases the front of the
languid had to be nicked. Finally the pipes were tuned, using
the cone tuning method, to the exact pitch of middle C.
Final attention to detail brought the pipes to a fine finish,
the wood smoothed and sealed to reveal the lovely grain of
the mahogany timber. The metal foot piece was inserted, the
stopper in place and now the pipes were sounding out the
true (well, almost) note of A at 440 cycles.
Good Friday 21 March at 4.00 pm
The Lamentations of Jeremiah
SABBATO SANCTO
Summa Musica Chamber Choir
St Michael the Archangel chapel
Catholic Education OfficesRuislip Street, Leederville
April 2008
Tuesday 1 April at 7.30 pm
Vivaldi’s Gloria
John Septimus Roe School Chapel
Sunday 6th at 2.30 pm
Prière
Trinity College chapel, East Perth
Leanne Glover – oboe
Paul Wright – violin
Noeleen Wright – violoncello
Saturday 19th at 2.30 pm
Essentials of Hymn Playing
Trinity Church, St Georges Tce, Perth
Presented by Jangoo Chapkhana
Completed pipes on the tuning machine
Foot tube and front cap plate installed
At the second workshop, held some time later in the year,
Graham was assisted by another of his staff, Tomasz Nowak.
Tomasz had been engaged as a specialist organ builder
working on the reeds of the massive Miller organ destined
for Haileybury College, Melbourne. Because much of the
Miller organ had progressed to playable stages, Graham and
Thomasz demonstrated the various divisions and ranks that
were available, both for the general interest of participants
and also to graphically illustrate the different sound structures
in the instrument.
This led into the metal pipe voicing segment of the workshop.
Blank pipes had been pre-made for the occasion, but had not
been cut open. Participants learnt how to open the mouth of
Page 12
Participants were now well equipped with the first two pipes
of their future organs, and many began dreaming of the ranks
of pipes still to be made! Of particular importance to the
Organ Society of Western Australia was the opportunity to
encourage and involve young people in the practical aspects
of pipe organs. Equally, a number of older organists attended
and, for the first time in their lives, began to understand
just how it is that an organ makes sound. Some gained a
better understanding of problems that occur with pipes and,
through that understanding, felt better equipped to respond
to the tuners and repairers of the organs in their care.
This is an example of how a keen organ builder can work in
with societies to promote the organ in a very practical way. It
seems that when you hold a pipe in your hand, particularly
one you have just made, that the rest of the instrument,
however large or small it may be, gains a new perspective
and greater interest.
Sunday 8 June at 2.30 pm
Histoires
Christchurch, Claremont
Matthew Styles – saxophone
Wednesday 11 June at 12.10 pm
Lunchtime Concert
Presented by John Septimus Roe at
St George’s Cathedral, Perth
Friday 20 to Sunday 29 June
Pipeworks Festival – Dublin
South Australia
An Organ Journey in Time
from Rick Fisher
Director of Music, Christ Church, Mount Gambier
Mount Gambier is a rural city of 25,000 people situated in
the very bottom south eastern corner of South Australia
about 450 km from Adelaide. It nestles against the side of
the famous Blue Lake volcanic caldera and is a significant
tourist destination although not famous for pipe organs.
I am not academically trained in the world of organs but a
self-confessed pipe organ fanatic. I am always fascinated by
pipe organs; the stories each instrument has to tell of times,
technology, trends and traditions, also of the people who have
been there along the way.
Mount Gambier boasted four pipe organs in the grand old
days when everyone went to church. Three of these still exist
in the town in varying condition. The fourth moved back
to Adelaide after the Wesley Church closed in the 1980s.
Each of these is a story for another time perhaps, but it is
on the organ of Christ Church, Anglican Church that I wish
to focus.
May 2008
Sunday 4 May
York Promenade
Holy Trinity Church, St. Patrick’s Church and Wesley Church,
York.
Monday 12th to Sunday 24th
Fremantle Eisteddfod
Saturday 17 May at 2.00 pm
Discover the Organ Day
North Perth venues to be advised
Sunday 25 May
UWA Choral Society Concert
Winthrop Hall
June 2008
Saturday 31 May to Monday 2 June
Country Organs
Visiting the organs of Albany
Christ Church, Anglican Church, Mt Gambier
Fincham and Hobday constructed a two manual and pedal
organ of 17 stops early in 1882. Arthur Bolt (first organist
of St Peter’s Cathedral, Adelaide) and WR Pybus (Adelaide
City Organist) gave a recital on this organ before 275 guests
in the F&H factory on April 1st of the same year. They
spoke very well of its touch and voice. There is considerable
recorded dialogue between Arthur Hobday and the Rector of
Page 13
Christ Church, Revd Basil Craig over costs and specifications
of such an organ at this time. It appears this is the organ
that was eventually purchased for £510 and set sail from Port
Adelaide to begin this story.
The organ had this original specification:
Great
Large Open Diapason 8 Stopped Diapason 8 Clarabella (TC) 8
Keraulophon (TC) 8 Principal 4 Clear Flute 4 Harmonic
Piccolo 2 Mixture 1
Swell
Double Diapason (TC)16 Open Diapason 8 Dulciana (TC) 8
Stopped Diapason 8 Gemshorn 4 Flageolet 2 Oboe 8
Pedal
Bourdon 16 Grand Open Diapason 16
The organ set sail aboard SS Ferret arriving without incident
in Port MacDonnell. The organ was ultimately more
fortunate than the Ferret. Coastal steamers were the lifeblood
of trade and transport in the days before roads and road
vehicles came to dominate. SS Ferret had an eventful life. he
rescued SS Ethel from the rocks at Ethel Bay on the south
eastern tip of Yorke Peninsula. Ethel, although successfully
escaping the rocks was washed back aground and broke up
some hours later. Ironically Ferret suffered a similar fate in
1921 and joined Ethel on the rocks, fortunately without a
pipe organ on board. I recently traveled to the shipwreck
location. Ferret’s boiler still protrudes from the sand and is
visible at low tide.
The organ was transported 27km from Port MacDonnell to
Mount Gambier by bullock train and subsequently installed
against the rear (west) wall of Christ Church.
The South Eastern Star, 13 February 1883 reported ‘The
woodwork and shape were pleasing, and they were
surrounded by gothic pinnacles. The show pipes were
coloured and gilded. There were 866 pipes and 19 stops and
the effect was powerful, rich and mellow.’
Arthur Bolt was invited to give the opening recital. He set sail
from Port Adelaide for Kingston to catch the connecting train
via Naracoorte to Mount Gambier. He missed the connection
and the Rector’s wife, Mrs. Craig ‘did the honours’. In an
interesting repeat of history, when the organ was rebuilt in
2000, our good friends Thomas and Simone Heywood were
engaged to give the opening recital but had to cancel for family
reasons. On this occasion organ scholar of the time at St Peter’s
Cathedral, Adelaide, Anthony Hunt, played for the dedication
service and Fr Bruce Naylor, who had been our consultant
and advisor gave a splendid recital. The current Rector’s wife,
who does not play, was greatly relieved! Thomas gave a Gala
Recital a few months later and has returned many times since.
There is no record of Arthur Bolt ever returning.
The organ’s journeying continued in 1895 when a chamber at
the front of the church was enlarged and the ‘very Anglican’
tradition of shoving organs into chambers to speak across the
chancel, deafen those in the sanctuary and deprive those in
the nave was enacted. Much of the casework was removed at
this time. Mrs Mary Lucas who played the organ in the 1950s
reported that the organ sounded very fine – for the organist!
Page 14
Apart from a blowing plant being installed in 1932 upon the
arrival of electricity, little seems to have happened for 60
years. We do know the organ gave continuous service until
the time when Hill, Norman and Beard came through the
town over a five year period in the 1950s, modernized three
of the town’s instruments and built a new small extension
organ for the Lutheran Church in 1965.
The HN&B rebuild was ‘partial’. Electro pneumatic action
was provided, a new detached console moved the organist
into the nave on the opposite side to the pipe chamber. The
organ was pushed right back into the chamber and the old
console cut out. To hide the now unsightly frame, chests
and pipes, an extruded metal screen was provided. The two
towers and flat of decorated façade pipes were visually all
that remained of F&H’s grand appearance. Voicing trends
of the 1950s also seemed to have removed their powerful
rich and mellow sound too.
I moved to Mount Gambier from Adelaide in 1985 to take
up a new teaching position and was delighted to find that my
new church had a pipe organ. I don’t play particularly well,
but found myself playing for most of the first year. Thirtythree years after an ‘unsympathetic’ rebuild I discovered the
organ had serious problems. Collapsing bellows, runnings
on sound boards, non-sounding notes, oboe pipes collapsing
under their own weight and fouling the swell shutters – it
was literally falling to pieces. Not to mention a dull, muted
and very uninspiring sound.
Organist and fellow enthusiast, Eric Gilham, tuned, did some
essential work to keep the organ alive and urged the parish
toward a decision about its future. In 1995 the process started in
earnest. Quotes, discussions, consultants and the usual parish
wranglings over ‘all that money’ and the predictable debates
over ‘going electronic’ and restoration verses rebuild.
In October 1998 the organ was farewelled at a recital given by
our consultant, Fr Bruce Naylor. SS Ferret being unavailable
for this journey, the organ was trucked back to Adelaide by a
local pasturalist. However, not to the long-since removed city
workshops of Fincham and Hobday, but to the organ factory
of George Stephens at Lonsdale. With a limited budget, a
brief to return the organ to its bright, rich original sound, to
complete choruses, add a bright reed to the swell and give
the organ an appearance which complements the building,
George and staff set to work.
The organ made its most recent journey in June of 2000
when it was trucked back, reinstalled and dedicated on
Sunday 23 July.
What an incredible success! As part of the rebuild, George
moved the whole organ one metre forward in the chamber,
constructed a new swell box with vertical shutters to direct
sound through an arch into the nave, and worked his magic
with voicing. A three rank mixture, trumpet and delightful
wooden 4’ flute were added to the swell, and the oboe
extended to provide a manual 16’ which was ‘lost’ in 1957.
The Great gained a twelfth, the claribel was extended to
provide a 4’ flute. The pedal organ gained a fifteenth and
access to the Swell trumpet.
New Organ Music Competition
The details of our New Organ Music Competition, part
of the 70th anniversary celebrations, were published in the
June edition of Organ Australia. Submissions are now due by
Friday 28 March 2008. If you would like more information
please contact Ian Harrison (03 9889 2744).
Southern Grampians Promenade of Sacred Music 2008
The eighth annual Southern Grampians Promenade of
Sacred Music festival will be held from Thursday 17 to
Sunday 20 April at historic venues in Southern Grampians
Shire. Tickets for the festival are now on sale and people are
encouraged to get in early. The Promenade’s artistic director
Douglas Lawrence OAM, has worked closely with the festival
committee to present a diverse and professional program.
Christ Church, Mt Gambier Photo: Rick Fisher
The reconstructed façade was decorated by local artist and
art teacher Claire Souter. This was her first attempt at organ
pipes and as can be seen from the photo, she achieved a very
fine result. The original motifs were retained, but a whole
new colour scheme adopted.
We now have a versatile liturgical and concert instrument,
which is fully restored and ready for the future. It has been
played in recital by Thomas Heywood, Harold Fabrikant
(Aus), Fred. Hohman (US), Roger Fisher (UK) and Robert
Munns (UK) as well as a number of organists from Adelaide.
All have spoken highly of the organ.
Victoria
Society Anniversary
The Society of Organists (Vic) celebrates its 70th anniversary
this year.
Coming Events
Monday 10 March, 12 Noon.
Country BBQ (bring your own meat) to be held at Howard
and Margaret Terrill’s property ‘Brightwell’ at Heathcote.
There will be a charge of $5 each for coffee, salads and sweets.
It is suggested you bring a picnic chair for outside lunching.
If you are coming please notify Joy Hearne (03 9893 3095)
38 Barter Crescent, Forest Hill 3131 by 1 March.
Howard will demonstrate his instruments after the BBQ and
the rest of the day is yours to play your music.
Wednesday 7 May
TOSA Clubnight
Malvern Town Hall
SOV Members are invited. This is being planned as an
opportunity for members from both Societies to meet
together, to each provide a featured artist, and offering
opportunity for any members to bring their music to play
on the Compton organ during that evening. The TOSA
Organizers have suggested that music pieces be short. Those
who would like to take part should telephone Joy Hearne
(03 9893 3095) by early April so that the TOSA Organizers
can plan accordingly.
Douglas Lawrence
The line-up of musicians features an exciting group of local,
national and internationally acclaimed artists performing
a mix of early and contemporary, instrumental and choral
music. With over 2000 people attending the festival in 2007,
this years festival is expected to attract even more visitors.
Enquiries & Tickets: Hamilton Performing Art Centre,
Ph. (03) 5573 0429, www.sthgrampians.vic.gov.au
Gold Pass (admission to all events): $95, $90 concession
(conditions apply). Children 12 & under free
Free Bus to Tabor, Dunkeld & Coleraine: Bookings essential
through the Hamilton PAC.
2008 Program
Thursday 17 April, 8.00 pm
Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Tabor
Renowned organist Rupert Jeffcoat with a combined senior
choir, bringing together the best singers from a range of
schools in the Shire
Cost: $20 Full $15 Conc.
Friday 18 April, 12.15pm
Central Arcade, Hamilton
Shoppers Concert: Stage Band from Baimbridge College
Cost: Free
Page 15
Friday, 4.00 pm
Uniting Church Foyer, Hamilton
Harpsichord workshop with Elizabeth Anderson
Cost: $10 Full $5 U18
Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd (Hall)
Trumpet workshop with Mark Skillington
Friday, 5.30 pm
Presbyterian Church, Hamilton
The King of Instruments: Douglas Lawrence gives a lecture
recital on the history of the organ; its mechanisms, sounds
& literature.
Friday, 8.00 pm
Christ Church, Hamilton
The Great Johann Sebastian Bach Quattro featuring the
Vocal Ensemble Chamber Choir, Elizabeth Anderson on
harpsichord
Saturday, 19 April 10.30 am
St Mary’s Catholic Church, Hamilton
Children’s Concert with Andy Rigby and his band Blackwood
(returning after popular demand in 2007)
Cost: $20 Family Ticket $10 Single
Saturday, 2.00 pm
Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Coleraine
Organist Rupert Jeffcoat with the Geelong Handbell Ringers
combine to present a varied program suitable for the whole
family in Coleraine
Organs in the Hamilton District
Time: Saturday, 4.30 pm
Hamilton Uniting Church
Past Echoes - Soprano & Recorder Louisa Hunter-Bradley
& Harpsichord - David Macfarlane
Saturday, 8.00 pm
St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Hamilton
The Thomas Kantor & The Red Priest: JS Bach &
Antonio Vivaldi The Four Seasons and Gloria performed
by Melbourne-based Chamber Choir Gloriana, under
the direction of Andrew Raiskums, and the Promenade
Ensemble with string quartet Quattro, Douglas Rutherford
on double bass, trumpeter Mark Skillington, Elizabeth
Anderson on harpsichord.
Sunday Morning 20 April
Various Church Venues in Hamilton
Services featuring singers from Gloriana
Cost: Free
Sunday, 2.30.pm
St Michael’s Lutheran Church, Hamilton Hwy, Tarrington
Hymns, Strings, Brass and Choir featuring commissioned
work The Good Shepherd composed by Brenton Broadstock
using words from the 23rd Psalm and performed by Elizabeth
Anderson on harpsichord, string quartet Quattro with
double bass, and local children’s choir from schools, in the
Southern Grampians. Concert features community singing
lead by Tabor Male Choir and Hamilton Singers. Organist:
Rupert Jeffcoat
Lutheran Church, Tabor
Photo: Brian Hatfield
Christ Church, Hamilton
Photo: Brian Hatfield
Organ in St Andrew’s Presbyterian
Church, Hamilton in 1965
Holy Week at The Scots’ Church
Cr Russell and Collins Sts
Tuesday 18 March, 1.00 pm
Marcel Dupré – Passion Symphony John Mallinson, organ.
Wednesday 19 March, 1.00 pm
The usual Wednesday service with extra organ music for
Passiontide.
Andy Rigby
Saturday, 11.00 am
St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Hamilton
Organist Rupert Jeffcoat with the Geelong Handbell Ringers
combine to present a varied program suitable for the whole
family.
Saturday, 12 noon
PAC Entrance
Lunch time concert - Stage Band from Baimbridge College
Cost: Free
Saturday, 2.00 pm
Dunkeld Uniting Church, Dunkeld
Harpist Andy Rigby and his band Blackwood
Page 16
Monday 17 March, 1.00 pm
Heinrich Schütz – Saul (12 part chorus and continuo)
Dietrich Buxtehude – Mein Herz ist bereft (Bass solos cantata)
Niklaus Bruhns – O Gottes Stadt (Soprano solo cantata)
Soloists, Deborah Kayser and Thomas Drent; Ensemble from
the choir and string quartet.
Thursday 20 March, 1.00 pm
The chamber choir Gloriana. Andrew Raiskums, conductor.
Rupert Jeffcoat
Sunday: 5.00pm 8.00pm
Hamilton Institute of Rural Learning (HIRL)
Promenade Party Featuring Ragtime Rollers
Catering: Hamilton North Rotary Club
Cost: Free
The Scots’ Church, Melbourne Photo: Brian Hatfield
Sunday 16 March, 2.30 pm – Palm Sunday
John Stainer – The Crucifixion
The Scots’ Church Choir; Vaughan McAlley, tenor; Thomas
Drent, bass. Robin Batterham, organ. Douglas Lawrence,
conductor.
Friday 21 March, 8.00 pm
Johann Sebastian Bach – Johannes Passion
The Scots’ Church choir and orchestra.
Soloists: Deborah Kayser, Elizabeth Anderson, Chris
Busietta, Thomas Drent, Jerzy Koslowski. Evangelist:
Vaughan McAlley. Douglas Lawrence, conductor.
Sunday 23 March, 11.00 am
Brass, organs and choir with works by Gabrieli, Palestrina,
Rutter, Thiman and Mcalley.
Admission to all the above is free.
Page 17
St Michael’s, Melbourne Concert Series
from Rhys Boak
Since late 2007, St Michael’s Uniting Church, Melbourne
has featured free 30 minute lunchtime organ concerts as part
of the weekday tours. These concerts are given by a variety
of organists, including myself and my wife Ryoko Mori and
have so far been well attended. Other organists in 2008 will
include Dr Gordon Atkinson, Douglas Lawrence OAM and
Colin Jenkins and many more. Admission is free.
120th Anniversary Concert
Friday 28 March at 8.00 pm
Richmond Uniting Church, 314 Church St, will celebrate the
120th anniversary of the opening of the George Fincham
organ – still in its original state. Organists : Andrew
Blackburn and Jim Fletcher.
Information: 03 9427 1282
or contact <cliftonarts@bigpond.com>.
ACT
Wesley Uniting Church & Music Centre
20-22 National Circuit, Forrest, Canberra ACT
Admission: $25, $20, $10, $5
George Stephens Rebuild 2002 EP 3/61 Enquiries 02 6232
7248
<wesleymc@bigpond.net.au>
– Pastór de Lasala –
Forster & Andrews 1882 M 1/7 Restored Pogson 1983
Scots Kirk Presbyterian Church, Belmont Road Mosman
Charles Richardson 1917 EP 2/15
Please check <www.sydneyorgan> for latest information
closer to the event.
Organists will give short recitals followed by open console
sessions.
Bring along a short piece.
Enquiries Neil Cameron 02 9499 2776
Sunday 1 June at 3.30 pm
Amy Johansen and Celia Craig (Oboe)
Tuesday 5th August at 6.00 pm
Thomas Trotter* British Virtuoso
Birmingham City Organist,
St Margaret’s Church Westminster UK
Professor of Organ at the Royal College of Music, London.
For more information see <www.usyd.edu.au/organ>
2008 Organ Competition
Junior and Intermediate Sections
Christ Church St Laurence Sat 26 July at 10.30 am
Adjudicator: Dr Jim Forsyth
Open Section
St Patrick’s Cathedral, Parramatta
Sunday 3 August at 2.15 pm
Adjudicator: Thomas Trotter*
*Adjudicator in Recital
Tuesday 5 August at 6.00 pm - Great Hall Sydney University
An exciting event and opportunity to hear our young
organists perform.
St James’ King St
173 King Street Sydney
Davidson/Hill Norman &Beard Enquiries 02 9232 3022
1900/1971 EP 3/66
Lunchtime concerts will resume later in the year, probably May.
<www.sjks.org.au>
The organ in the Great Hall, Sydney University
St Andrew’s Cathedral, Sydney façade and console
Photo: Pastór de Lasala
Sydney Town Hall
George Street
Hill 1890 P 5/126 Enquiries 02 4758 6067
The Sydney Town Hall is closed during 2008 for
Renovations
Wesley Uniting Church, Canberra
Friday 11 April 5.30 – 7.00 pm.
ACT Organ School Master Class Series
‘Legato or non-legato’. Philip Swanton provides much
needed clarity on the complex question of baroque keyboard
articulation. What do 17th and 18thC writers have to say?
How can factors such as tempo, registration and church
acoustics further confuse the issue? $10/$5
Sydney
Organ Ramble
Cremorne and Mosman
Monday 24 March 2008 at 10.00 am – $10
Uniting Church, Belmont and Cowles Roads, Mosman
Möller 1929 EP 2/14
Other Churches:
St Peter’s Anglican Church, Cnr Belgarve and Winnie Streets,
Cremorne
Tony Welby 1981 EP 3/37
Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Cnr Military Road and
Cardinal Street, Mosman
Page 18
St Andrew’s Cathedral
George Street (next to the Town Hall) Gold Coin Donation
Hill/Létourneau 1866/1998 ME 4/53 Enquiries 02 9265 1661
Friday 1.10 - 1.40 pm
Mar 7 Ros Cobb – St Andrew’s Cathedral
Mar 14 Neil Cameron – St Swithun’s, Pymble
Mar 21 No recital - Good Friday
Mar 28, April 4, April 11
April 18 Kurt Ison – St Peter’s, Watsons Bay
April 25 Brendon Lukin (organ) and RAAF Brass ensemble
May 2 Mark Quarmby – St Andrew’s Cathedral
May 9
May 16 Wilbur Hughes – Sydney
May 23 Hayko Siemens – Germany
May 30 Ross Cobb – St Andrew’s Cathedral
Great Hall, Sydney University
Parramatta Road Free Admission
Von Beckerath 1972 M 3/53 Enquiries 02 4758 6067
*Free Carillon Recital every Sunday at 2.00 pm
Amy Johansen - Sydney University Organist
Sunday 20 April at 3.30 pm
David Drury - St Paul’s College, Sydney University
Sunday 18 May at 3.30 pm
Hayko Siemens - Munich, Germany
Page 19
Music and the Church
ORGAN HISTORICAL TRUST OF AUSTRALIA 31st annual conference : 29 September to 4 October 2008 Past Evidence – Future Keys : Organ Documentation Home and Abroad by Peter Phillips
The following is the text of a speech
given by Peter Phillips, Director of the
Tallis Scholars, originally given at Perth
cathedral, and repeated at the Tallis
Scholars Summer School in Sydney in
January. We understand that the author
is happy for any and all to read it. The
title is editorial. (Photo: from website)
Shakespeare wrote in the ‘Merchant of Venice’:
The man that hath no music in himself,
Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds,
Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils,
The motions of his spirit are dull as night,
And his affections dark as Erebus:
Let no such man be trusted.
The 2008 OHTA annual conference is to take place in Victoria, based in Melbourne and Bendigo, in the Victorian countryside. The theme of the conference will be the technical documentation of significant pipe organs and how this information can be used to facilitate accurate restoration and reconstruction. The keynote speaker will be Paul Peeters, from Gothenburg, Sweden, the president of the International Association for Organ Documentation. A number of recitals will take place by notable performers such as James Tibbles (Auckland) and Peter Jewkes (Sydney). There will also be visits to significant organs by the local builders William Anderson, George Fincham, Alfred Fuller, Hill, Norman & Beard, Daniel Lemke and William Stone, and the overseas builders Bishop & Son, Hamlin & Son, Hill & Son, Merklin et Cie, Frederick W. Nicholson, R.A. Randebrock, Henry Willis, Wurlitzer – and anon. Further information including a brochure, will be available by next April but check out the OHTA website at www.ohta.org.au for latest details including information on the organs to be visited. Accommodation has been reserved at a central Melbourne hotel and in Bendigo. IMAGE : 1898‐1900 GEORGE FINCHAM ORGAN, ST MARY’S STAR OF THE SEA CHURCH, WEST MELBOURNE Page 20
Like me, the Dean of Perth carries the name of a great
renaissance polyphonist. Our prototypes would never have
met, since Sheppard was two generations older than Philips,
but at least we can make up for lost time; and I think the
coincidence in itself entitles the two of us to plan meetings
like this, partly because our name-sakes lived and died in the
service of bringing beauty to religious worship, and partly
because we would like to do the same ourselves. I say this
despite having myself decided to take the easy route, and
perform sacred music outside religious services. Not for me
personally the endless debate about whether church services
should be taken up at such length, or at all, with music,
what kind of music is appropriate, how high the standard
of performance should be, whether the church should pay
to maintain such standards, and so on and on. Life on the
concert platform is a vulnerable activity, certainly, but at
least one is one’s own master. The problem for musicians
employed by the church is that the church itself is not stable
in its attitude to these things. A highly qualified church
musician may find that one priest does not think like another,
and may be quite suddenly, if not out of a job, then working
in conditions which make his calling impossible. This is what
happened to my friend Michael Deasey at Sydney Cathedral.
Since I am speaking as a lover of sacred music from outside
the liturgy, perhaps it will be thought that I am not really
involved in what I am about to say. In fact this debate means a
lot to me, both as a member of the congregation at the Chapel
Royal in London, where my son is a chorister (and Joseph
Nolan plays the organ), and in the wider cultural context of
my country. After all, just about every singer I have worked
with has come through some branch of the Anglican choral
tradition, the women as much as the men. The constant
threat to the good performance of good music in church
services from people who seem to want us to worship out
of doors in the pouring rain in our egalitarian wellies, so
that we can have a more transcending experience of God,
anger me for their astonishing arrogance towards a heritage
it has taken 2000 years and the greatest minds to build up.
But in any context highly motivated dogmatists are always
dangerous people, capable of great damage; and they need
principled rebuttal.
The argument about whether elaborate ritual of any kind
should be tolerated in worship is an old one. You may think
that the Anglican church in Australia just now has a bad
attack of it, but the pros and cons were just as hotly debated
during the Reformation and Counter-reformation, and
indeed before that in Erasmus, in John Wycliffe’s Lollard
movement of the 14th century and subsequently in the
teaching of Jan Huss. That it has come back so regularly
over the centuries suggests that it touches on something
fundamental in human nature, something which cannot be
resolved once and for all.
Some people like ceremony and grandeur, like to lose
themselves in delicious complication and find inspiration in
workings which are larger than they are. Paradoxically in a
way, these people, who relish a kind of mystical abstraction,
also seem to prefer formal liturgies and rituals, perhaps
feeling the need of vessels to contain something which
otherwise would be too formless. At the other end of the
spectrum are those who want everything of importance
explained, made touchable, solid, in the past at least afraid
that hidden away in the long words and learned formulations
of organised religion there would be things designed to get
the better of them, resulting in a kind of robbery of the truth
of what Christ actually said and did as a man. In this way of
thinking ignorance of the most tangible available meaning
of the central religious texts was held to deprive people of
their chance of salvation. So it was high stakes. Paradoxically
again, people who want every meaning made plain, prefer
informality in their worship, as if the Word is enough and
ritual an obfuscation.
Perhaps, as with our sexuality, there is something of both
these points of view in everyone’s make-up and therefore
we can understand something of both. Obviously I tend
towards the former approach, but much as I dislike the
false intimacy imposed by the kiss of peace, or the forced
conviviality of much low-church worship, the principle of
involving everybody in a communal activity is a properly
democratic one, and to be encouraged. The desire to try to
explain everything, to speak in plain terms, must be at least
in part a reaction by ordinary people to the instinct of every
government there has ever been – from medieval monarchy
to John Howard and Tony Blair – to conceal what they are
really up to. When a 16th century priest stood with his back
to the congregation and mumbled the essential words of
the Mass in a language few understood, it must have had a
similarly glazing effect as Blair addressing us on Weapons
of Mass Destruction, except that the priest wouldn’t have
sounded so compellingly sure of himself. When that 16th
century congregation – or a congregation of black African
slaves in the 19th century – were given the opportunity to
work with the preacher to get at the truth of things, I’m not
surprised they all jumped at it. And I’m not surprised that
Page 21
that reaction persists today: more than ever we are educated
to want to pin things down, cut the crap as the jargon has it,
and turn every situation to our advantage. It goes without
saying that this is not possible with God.
The need to ‘get back to basics’, as Blair’s predecessor John
Major once put it, has motivated reformers throughout
history. It is related to the fear about politicians. The argument
runs: originally there was a pure, clearly stated truth which
misguided people for their own selfish ends have perverted.
The villain of this story is always the Papacy, which is
habitually cast as having been grasping and unscrupulous
in building up its own position. In the words of the Preface
to the 1559 Prayer Book: ‘There was never any thing by the
wit of man so well devised, or so sure established, which
in continuance of time hath not been corrupted, as (among
many things) it may plainly appear by the common prayers
in the Church, commonly called divine service....’ The
thrust is always to get back to how it was in Jesus’s lifetime,
before the days of a formalised, ritualised, institutionalised,
financed church with its hierarchies, big buildings, beautiful
vestments, elaborate liturgies and trained choirs. The hope
is that simplicity will yield up the truth.
Put into effect in its most relentless, puritanical form, this
way of thinking presupposes the elimination of just about
everything the church has built up since the earliest days of
its existence. If you should complain that such behaviour
is boorish and ignorant, let alone short on understanding
of Christian teaching, you will be hit with the charge of
elitisim. That’s the one which reformers think can’t be
answered, since anyone can see that ordinary people are
excluded from worship which takes place in a foreign
language and/or involves sophisticated art-forms, like
polyphony, performed by highly-trained specialist musicians.
Since literally everyone seems to agree that music of some
kind is a desirable adjunct to worship, then, the argument
runs, obviously the music should be of the people, simple,
catchy, to words which everyone can easily identify with,
accompanied on the people’s instrument: the guitar. For the
most extreme evangelicals it will not be far off the ultimate
ideal – spontaneous, communal song.
If this is so obvious, why is it that over time even the most
determinedly puritanical churches have either lost their
congregations, or have felt it necessary to move back towards
some kind of formality and, in music, some kind of training?
At the reformation – which is my area of academic interest
– every church involved in reforming – which of course
included the Catholics – eventually drew back from total
informality. The Catholics at the Council of Trent thought
to abolish polyphony and go back to plainchant: in the event
they asked Palestrina to write a showpiece – the Missa Papae
Marcelli – which is both a masterpiece and a complex work
of art, and called the hunt off. The Anglicans at their most
extreme moment closed down the choir-schools, thereby
causing pieces like Tallis’s ‘If ye love me’ to be written, but
very soon had refounded them, which ushered in the age of
Byrd and Gibbons. The Lutherans were led by a man who
was said to have a sweet tenor voice and wrote Ein feste Burg
amongst other things, saying he didn’t see why the devil
should have all the best tunes. The Calvinists published their
Page 22
Geneva Psalter; the Anabaptists vanished. It is true that,
in a world which has also embraced communism, more
trenchant attempts have been made in the last decades to get
back to basics in religion: Vatican II put the final nail in the
coffin of the Italian liturgical choirs, which were anyway in
terrible disarray at the time, and spawned the vogue for folk
masses which have so debased Catholic worship in so many
people’s opinion that the current pope, a man of musical
sensibility, stating that he can’t bear such low standards any
more, has started to undo the processes which led to them.
The Anglican cathedrals in England have never wavered in
their commitment to good church music, no matter how red
or low the priest in charge, in reaction to which charismatic
and pentecostal off-shoots have formed. Few of these is
prepared to have a liturgy, but many of them find they cannot
do without trained musicians to lead the singing. One of the
most successful is based in Kensington Temple, where for
many years the musician in charge was my sister, Vanessa,
playing miked piano and backed by a band. Not a robed choir
singing polyphony, certainly, but her musicians were trained:
she learnt to transpose any tune at sight and the band learnt
to harmonise it in any key. The Salvation Army is famous for
their bands. Meanwhile the other Nonconformist churches
are not the force they once were, not in the UK anyway.
None of this, Gregorian chant, Tallis’s ‘If ye love me’, folk
masses or band music, would have been familiar to Jesus
and his disciples, but who’s to say they wouldn’t have liked
it, or indeed who’s to say that they didn’t have music and
singing of their own?
argument, prominent at the time of the reformation, but
now frankly looking a bit tired. Nowadays the wreckers need
something more up-beat, more absolute, more transcendent
to take with them into battle, which comes over as a kind
of God-fix. Here is the thinking of the Dean of Sydney, on
the unsatisfactory influence of the Old Testament on the
possibilities inherent in the New: ‘Old Testament categories,
language, concepts and practices were rather uncritically
imported into Christian church practice. There was also
influence from the prevailing Greek thought forms of the
day. The shift that took place in church life was from that
of the fellowship model to that of the liturgical model. We
can trace a direct line from Clement and Cyprian and all
the rest to the ongoing practice of Catholicism and High
Anglicanism today. It’s an alternative gospel which we must
not get tired of opposing. Little wonder that evangelicals have
often been considered deficient in their worship, rightly wary
of mysticism in all its forms, having stripped away the gaudy
baubles of sacramentalism, with all its theatre and colour and
movement. Using the language and categories of worship
in church is untenable. We desperately want our church
meetings to be occasions of transcendence, of epiphany. It’s
no accident that feelings of epiphany (transcendence) occur
when certain human activities are undertaken, especially
music, symbolic acts, drama, certain architecture. And
these things induce feelings of transcendence regardless of
the content or even the religious context. We need to help
people see that nice feelings are nice. They’re desirable. But
they don’t represent contact with God.’
The charge of elitism is worth a closer look, since it underlies
much of the contemporary rejection of organised religion. It
is a concept which has communist revolutionary undertones:
the rich and educated classes are enjoying expensive and/or
highly wrought things which we, the ordinary people, do not
understand and which are used in some insidious way to
keep us in our place. Smash them up and we will be free, in
the Christian case free to worship in the simple way of the
apostles. In the 16th century this way of thinking may have
had some force, but keeping strictly to today how accurate is it?
The rich and educated people I meet around London by and
large haven’t a clue what polyphony is, presumably because
their expensive educations were devoted to other topics, like
business studies. Many useful things weren’t taught at my
school, which to me now can make them seem desirable
and unattainable, like for instance an understanding of the
international banking system, cookery, and carpentry. Anyone
who can make a chair which doesn’t collapse, let alone a highly
worked cabinet, is part of an elite I feel excluded from. I might
be able to acquire the necessary skills just as a carpenter might
be taught to write polyphony or sing the solos in church, but
I don’t have the time now, and neither do they. To do any of
these things well you need an initial aptitude or reason for
taking it up in the first place – like your father did it before you
and showed the way, and then a lifetime of practice – Jesus or
Joseph could have told you this about carpentry. They were
skilled in something most people cannot do.
At first one notices the casual dismissal of accredited
wisdom: the Church Fathers are lumped together as ‘all the
rest’; Greek thought in its entirety is mocked; Catholicism
and High Anglicanism are held to be the same; mysticism
is rejected. But the idea that music, especially music, doesn’t
represent contact with God is so extreme a statement that
it quite takes one’s breath away. If Phillip Jensen had said
that CONGREGATIONAL singing was what was wanted,
and trained choirs singing by themselves was not, I would at
least have understood him, since the Bible constantly refers to
singing in worship, presumably by everybody present; but he
makes bold to reject the evidence of the New Testament as
much as the Old in the matter of singing to God. Everywhere
you look in the Bible people are singing. The Psalms set the
scene magnificently:
The people who would by-pass the entire tradition of
Christian worship rarely admit that they are afraid of the
unknown, of the necessary vaguenesses of the unstated
things in religion. In the background for them is still the elitist
Psalm 95, the Venite: O come let us sing unto the Lord.
Psalm 47: O sing unto God with the voice of melody...O
sing praises, sing praises unto our God.
Psalm 66, the Jubilate Deo: O be joyful unto the Lord, all ye
lands. Sing praises unto the honour of his name.
Psalm 149: O sing unto the Lord a new song, let the
congregation of saints praise him.
And, to put it the other way, Psalm 137: How shall we sing
the Lord’s song in a strange land?
And the NT? Here is St Paul in 1 Corinthians 14: ‘I will sing
with the spirit and with the understanding also.’
One suspects that from time immemorial singing and
worship had gone hand in hand, from Druidical drones to
the oldest plainchant melodies, which are said to descend
from Pharaonic temple worship. The Jews certainly had a
method of chanting from early on, 20 of their psalms not only
referring to singing as a desirable activity, but superscribed
with the word Alleluia, to be sung as a response between
priest and people in the Temple of Jerusalem. The early
Christians quickly picked up on this possibility of antiphonal
chanting, as the sermons of St Augustine of Hippo (who died
in 430) make clear. There is anyway very early manuscript
evidence for the first Christian rites: a capitulare evangeliorum
has survived from the time of Bishop Fortunatianus around
350; and particularly and most delightfully a reference by St
Jerome to a body of clerics known as the ‘Chorus beatorum’
that surrounded Bishop Valerianus in the 370s and 80s.
Every religion has encouraged singing: surely Jesus and the
Apostles would have sung together. By the law of averages,
some of them must have had serviceable singing voices,
perhaps Jesus himself did. Joy in religion has always been
synonymous with singing out loud. To describe this as being
nothing more than ‘nice’ is, as I say, breathtaking.
But the issue for us, as for most reformers from the renaissance
onwards, is how good, how specialist, to allow the singing
to be. When the psalmist exhorts his people to praise the
Lord with every means at their disposal, does he sanction,
even indirectly, the choir of Westminster Abbey singing
polyphony at High Mass? Does he say ‘praise the Lord as well
as you possibly can’, because He deserves it, and anyway you
yourselves will be the more uplifted by it; or is he saying you’ve
all got to join in otherwise it doesn’t count, and anyway if you
don’t join in you’ll not be able to come as near to God as He
would like? In modern terms, then, is it to be congregational
music, perhaps chant, sung by everybody; or the robed choir
singing composed music of genuine complexity; or the folksinger with her guitar and tambourine? To put it another way:
does God deserve the best, and if achieving that best means
sometimes leaving people out of the singing, are they being
insultingly excluded, or is it possible that they too are able
to converse with God through what they hear, even though
they are vocally silent? The audiences of the Tallis Scholars,
world-wide and often from outside the Christian tradition,
know the answer to that one.
Throughout the Christian tradition, however, thoughtful
commentators have suggested that artistic excellence is desirable,
or at the very least imply that the opposite will not do:
Martin Luther wrote: The Kingdom of Christ ‘is a hearing
kingdom, not a seeing kingdom: for the eyes do not lead
and guide us to where we know and find Christ, but rather
the ears do this.’
Thomas Aquinas: ‘The exultation of the mind derives from
things eternal bursting forth in sound.’
Joseph Addison: ‘Music – the greatest good that mortals
know, and all of heaven we have below.’
Thomas Morley wrote in his Plain and Easy Introduction
to Practical Music: music in divine service is able ‘to draw
the hearer, as it were, in chains of gold by the ears to the
consideration of holy things.’
Page 23
The 12th century Abbot Suger, abbot of the royal monastery
of St Denis near Paris, argued that we could only come to
understand absolute beauty, which is God, through the effect
of precious and beautiful things on our senses. Kenneth
Clark, who quotes this in his survey of Civilisation, goes on
to say that the 12th century was the age which gave European
civilisation its impetus, specifically through a belief that God
may be approached through beauty. This doctrine seems
to say: the more beautiful the artistic endeavour on one’s
senses, the nearer one may approach to God. That, surely,
is a justification for straining every nerve to sing to God as
well as one possibly can. And the corollary must hold: bad
singing must surely diminish a sense of God.
can be perfect, nothing can exist without it. For the world
itself is composed of the harmony of sounds, and heaven
itself moves according to the motions of this harmony.’ For
through the mystical beauty of the harmony of the spheres,
music comes close to God; the closest which we will ever get,
pace Shakespeare who wrote that we will remain unable to
hear such harmony ‘whilst this muddy vesture of decay doth
grossly close it in.’ (Methinks, in passing, that Shakespeare
didn’t listen to enough Byrd and Tallis, even though they
were his contemporaries. The idea of the harmony of the
spheres, so unbelievably beautiful, always brings tears to my
eyes, not least because some polyphony, the sort that goes
round and round, seems almost to depict it.)
Why is this vision of cultivated beauty so difficult for some
people? Because it isn’t active or muscular enough? Because it
seems effete, even? But it comes as no surprise to discover that
the rejection of something so inoffensive leads to distortion.
By what right does a priest say to a believer who is blessed
with musicianship: we don’t want your talent; it is of no
use to us. Take your voice to the opera house; take your
instrument to the conservatoire; but if you want to worship
with us you must narrow your expertise to the level of the
lowest achiever here, otherwise they will feel excluded. But
why is the singing voice considered to be so much more elitist
than the good speaking voice, the pride of so many priests;
or the knack of leadership in a community, also a matter of
pride to priests, not to mention the work of the carpenter
who made the altar?
People who are forever trying to root difficult concepts in the
earth, dig them in, make them solid and fixed, instinctively
look downwards for their explanations in life, to where Hades
was always supposed to have been located, to the traditional
empirium of Lucifer. Sacred music, as listeners to the Tallis
Scholars never tire of telling me, takes them out of themselves
and lets their spirits soar upwards into a world of mystical
regeneration. Heaven traditionally is that way, as much for
the listeners as for the singers.
Why is it, in fact, that music, especially music, is always the
first art to be branded? I think the answer may be because
music, above every other means of human communication,
is capable of expressing the inexpressible and to those who
must have everything laid out in black and white, this is
worrying. There is something extreme about the finest
music, especially polyphony. It tears into people in a way
they cannot resist. For the ninth century Arab theorist
Hrabanus Maurus: ‘Sine musica nulla disciplina potest esse
perfecta; nihil enim est sine illa.’ ‘Without music no discipline
Peter Phillips with the Tallis Scholars Photo: from website
And Another Thing ... or Two
Bad Reader
I played for a funeral this morning – some one who was once
connected with the church. One of the readers was very
poor and instead of ‘God’s continuing grace’ read ‘God’s
incontinent grace’ and then continued about our ‘immoral
life’ instead of ‘immortal life’. Oh well, it lightened the
atmosphere for me.
Did you know...
Did you know that Puccini became an organist in a small
church in Tuscany when he was 14? To buy cigarettes, he
stole some of the church’s organ pipes and sold them. The
theft was not discovered for some time because he rearranged
the music to avoid playing the missing notes.
Page 24
Famous Remarks
Hector Berlioz: There is one god – Bach – and Mendelssohn
is his prophet.
Paul Hindemith (attributed): I don’t know how, with no
vibrato, Bach could have so many sons!
PI Tschaikowski: Handel is only fourth rate. He is not even
interesting. (Oops!)
Memoir – A personal recollection of
Petr Eben (1929-2007)
by Jennifer Chou
I was a late-comer to Eben’s music. My first impression
of Petr Eben formed when I was a graduate student at
Northwestern University. One evening the organ class was
treated to a lecture-recital by alumus Janet Fishell on the Four
Biblical Dances. Eben’s name found a place in my memory
on that magical evening.
I did not play a single piece by Eben until a few years
later when I studied with Susan Landale in Paris at the
Conservatoire National de Région de Rueil-Malmasion. The
organ class had foreigners from the UK, Denmark, Germany,
Japan, Russia, Czech Republic, Brazil, Taiwan, etc. Susan
is a close friend of Petr Eben, editor of many of his scores
prior to publication, and a true global ambassador of Eben’s
music given what the organ class was like. In the middle of
my first year there, Petr Eben came to give a Masterclass on
his music. Christian from Denmark performed the complete
Sunday Music from memory. One would expect the master
to come close and point his finger on the score and tell you
what’s wrong, how things should be played, etc. Yet, that
was not the Eben I met. He was a composer who was always
grateful to players who perform his music. Apart from my
colleague’s stunning performance, it was the essence in the
music, the musical language, and the suffering and horror
well hidden in the writing that made his music so special to
me. At the end of the Masterclass, we all went out to the
dog-friendly restaurant at the corner for a meal. We were
asked to sign a T-shirt for Eben. It was his birthday and we
presented to him the signed T-shirt to say thank you. He blew
the candles on the cake and cut it and had a great time. I
decided that I should play his organ works.
It was great working with Susan as she often showed me
Eben’s manuscripts and changes he made along the way. The
first Eben piece I played was ‘The Dance of the Shulamite’
from the cycle Four Biblical Dances (1992). The eastern colour
and dreaminess in the music perfectly portray the beautiful
bride from ‘Song of Solomon’. After a taste on playing Eben’s
music, I bought the complete cycle and some of his other
organ works. I should mention that Eben has also written a
large quantity of choral and instrumental works.
I worked on two other movements from the same cycle in
my last year in Paris and had the opportunity to play them to
Eben. He came again to give us a Masterclass. He showed us
a video of the choreography of his Four Biblical Dances. The
choreographer, dancers and organist were all from Prague.
Two dancers danced the whole cycle in a long, wide and
high-ceilinged church in Prague while the organist played
the complete cycle from the organ in the gallery. It was most
impressive and memorable as the choreography made use of
all the space available in the church. The performance was
full of elegance and excitement. He also gave us copies of his
own harmonisations on many hymns to demonstrate how to
keep things simple and beautiful, different and fresh.
Since two of us were working on the Four Biblical Dances for
the Prague Spring International Competition, Susan wanted
us to play the whole thing to Eben. Véronique played ‘The
Dance of Jephtha’s Daughter’ and I played the other three
movements. That year, I lived outside metropolitan Paris
and took over an hour and a half to get to the conservatoire.
The day when Eben came was not my lucky day. The train
was badly delayed and I arrived with less than 30 minutes to
set the pistons. (The last time I performed the whole cycle, I
used approximately 60 pistons!). Disaster struck as something
went wrong with my registrations during my performance. I
had to stop to fix things. Susan decided to pull stops for me
as quickly as she could so that I could continue to play. It was
the last thing I wanted to happen in front of the composer
whom I highly respect. I was upset and kept apologizing
saying I ruined his most beautiful music and was very sorry.
Yet, he was the same man I met two years before, full of
generosity, humility and kindness. He even said he enjoyed
my performance so much and that I played them really well.
In thanking me for the performance of his music, he gave
me a signed copy of Laudes. As I told him that I performed
one of the dances in Hong Kong, he looked really surprised
and said that he wouldn’t think anyone outside his country
would have heard of him or perform his works.
A few months later, I went to Prague to compete. All
candidates were required to play a work by Eben. Finally,
I was able to deliver an excellent performance of the same
pieces in front of the composer in his home country. Once
again, he told me how much he enjoyed my playing, to the
extent that it was one of the best performances of his works
in the competition (the Petr Eben prize went to Dong-ill
Shin who performed his Laudes). I joined Susan to go to
dinner with Eben in a cosy Prague restaurant and was quite
shocked by a similar experience I had travelling in China
as a non-mainland Chinese: If you can read the menu in
Czech, everything is just half price for the same or better
quality and quantity!
I profoundly admire and respect Petr Eben as a composer and
as a great person. I continued to perform and work on works
by him, and each time I performed his music in concerts,
I sent him a copy of the programme and sometimes also a
recording of it. A few times I told him what I was working
Page 25
on and he sent me tapes and CDs of those works to keep me
guided. And usually I also discovered the beauty of his other
pieces he put on the tape to fill it up. In one of the very few
replies from him, he wrote that he enjoyed my performance
of movements from his Faust and the Two Invocations for
Trombone and Organ and he wrote ‘…you have an excellent
understanding for my music.’ I think that was the most
flattering comment one can get from a composer.
Some months before my wedding in 2003, I asked if he
had written some really short pieces that I may use as an
introit at my wedding. He congratulated me in a card with
three bars of handwritten music in joyful figurations titled
Oratorium lacobus on the words ‘Fulget dies ista’ with the
German translation in bracket and mixed choir and orchestra
underlined and written in Czech – great humour of this
composer! He also sent me a copy of an unpublished Fanfare
for Organ and Trumpet and Duetti per due trombe – a collection
of duets for two trumpets (published by Schott). The Fanfare
for Organ and Trumpet is less than 1’30” long, it has a motif
in groups of three quavers in triplets plus a crotchet. It is a
very pleasant piece to play and to listen to, and just the right
length. We chose his Alla marcia from Duetti per due trombe as
our recessional music, a delightful and rhythmic piece for two
Tim N B Giilley
Craftsma
an Organ Pipe Maker
trumpets. Despite it being a technically demanding piece, it
was elegantly performed by two friends as we marched from
the chapel without the organ!
A few years ago Susan Landale told me Eben had not been
well at all and his mind was sometimes quite muddled.
However, whenever he heard his own music performed,
he would be comforted. She told me to keep sending him
recordings and copies of concert programmes, which I did
every time in the hope to help in a very small way, knowing
that I probably won’t ever get a reply from him again.
PO
O Box 618
Lillydale VIC 3140
3
by Graham Tristram
This article originally appeared in The Organ Club Journal edition 2007-3 published in the United Kingdom to some 550 members worldwide and is
reproduced here by kind permission of the author Graham Tristram and The Organ Club.
Introduction
The editor kindly invited me to write on the inspirations and
procedures of the architect in relation to the design of modern
pipe organs; I hope readers will tolerate the resulting emphasis
on matters architectural and visual rather than tonal.
The text is divided into four sections: some general remarks
about architecture and pipe organs; a review of the design
process; thoughts on traditional and contemporary design
and motivation; finally, some examples of recent work.
As far as I can tell, architects today rarely encounter the pipe
organ. Probably, for most of them, it brings to mind cliché’d
visions of ancient dark churches, heavy carvings, gilded
figures and complex mouldings. My first exposure came
in the late 1980s at St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh when
my colleague Douglas Laird was invited by the church to
design the case for the new instrument to be built by Rieger
Orgelbau. By request of the client and the donor, the case
was to be an example of contemporary work.
Ph. 0418 374 961
Email: tgilley@bigpon
nd.net.au
Claremont, California
ABN 97 356 147 152
Tim is pleased to provide
p
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e following services:
Manufacture off new hand
dcrafted orrgan pipes
(flue and reedss.)
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epair workk.
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Page 26
St Giles’ Cathedral, Edinburgh
When it was complete in 1991, we relaxed; the end result was
well received both musically and visually. It had been a very
challenging and enjoyable commission and we imagined it
would never be repeated.
Some years later we were approached to work on a new
project in Claremont California. Caspar Glatter-Götz,
by then master of his own firm, was responsible for that
project and the life-enhancing experience and opportunities
that have followed from it. The collaboration with Manuel
Rosales, Caspar and his colleagues Stefan Stürzer and Heinz
Kremnitzer continues to be an education and a pleasure.
Their vision and enthusiasm for contemporary design and
the place and potential of the pipe organ in the modern world
is a real inspiration.
Quite clearly the purpose of an organ is to make music; and
if music can be said to have a purpose perhaps it is to reach
the soul and move the listener between emotional states. In
the right circumstances architecture will also have this effect
(*Note 1). So, whenever a new pipe organ is made, there is
an opportunity for organ and architecture to communicate
with each other, enriching the experience for all. This is true
whether the organ is encased, sculptural or minimal. There
are plenty of examples of pipe organs built without cases.
Many, but by no means all of these are in modern buildings
and fulfil the basic requirements for the instrument – pipes
planted firmly on the chest and form perhaps following
function. Others may be simply referred to as a pipe fence.
A case however provides physical protection for the many
pipes inside; it will also conceal working parts (action,
blowers, bellows, etc.) or components deemed unsightly;
depending on its construction it may enhance the quality
of sound (or hinder it); it provides a supporting frame and
defining space for the principal facade pipes; it can reveal the
underlying logic of the organ – the location of the separate
divisions in the Werkprinzip tradition; above all, it becomes
the public ‘face’ of the instrument and in some situations
may even be the focus of the interior architecture. Because
Page 27
of this the pipe organ may be subject to sustained scrutiny
in recital and the challenge in designing a case is to provide
the viewer/listener with an appropriate visual counterpart
to the enormous range of musical expression.
A pipe organ is unique; each one is designed and made
for one location. It may have the characteristics of small
architecture or large furniture, but it is seldom created in
isolation, design considerations apply just as they do for
any object made for a specific place and need. In churches
the placement of the organ is related to liturgical practice
and there are clear differences between denominations and
cultures in what is acceptable; the location of the organ
certainly has an influence on the design approach. In North
America for example, at least for some communities, the
organ may occupy a prominent position in the chancel that
is unusual in Europe or the United Kingdom.
2) In the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles (RosalesGlatter-Götz 2005, architecture and pipe organ by Frank Gehry)
the hall itself has a warmth and relaxed informality that belies
its size. The sweeping curved walls cradle tiers of audience
seating, finished with Douglas fir timber and richly coloured
fabrics. The organ is a single highly sculptural focal element
in the space; a simple inner case structure and swell division
is restrained inside an apparently free-form arrangement of
extraordinary curved wooden pipes; the instrument speaks the
same language as the new building, uses the same materials as
the interior and it seems a natural occupant.
So there are both practical and aesthetic purposes that
reinforce the close relationship between organ case and
architecture. There are many ways this relationship can be
explored once the potential is acknowledged. The ideal of
complete integration of organ and architecture is certainly
nothing new as illustrated by the following two examples,
far apart in time, space and detail:
Walt Disney Concert Hall, LA
When the organ arrives much later than the architecture
quite different results can be expected. The Muller organ
at St Bavokerk, Haarlem (1735-8), stands in complete
and astonishing contrast to its surroundings: a simple and
robust late gothic basilica with a plain geometric timber
vault of the 16th century. The structure of the instrument is
obscured, its profile enriched with outsize figure sculpture,
asymmetrical in detail but maintaining the overall symmetry
of the composition. The carved and gilded detail appears to
colonize the underlying classical case in a truly organic way;
it draws the eye from tower to tower reflecting the alignment
of the pipe mouths that suggests a diagonal lacework through
the facade. Can we doubt that this complex design was
considered the most avant-garde solution for the building at
the time it was made?
Process
It is usual for architects to work to a brief – at minimum
a schedule of the client’s basic requirements. It may be a
general intention to provide for a certain purpose, worship,
recital, or tuition for example or a very precise and detailed
specification for a new instrument; it may or may not refer
to appearance. But the brief for a project rarely springs into
existence fully formed; it is more likely to develop through
a time of discussion, investigation and reflection.
Organists, advisors and organ builders naturally form
judgments about tonal aesthetic, specification, internal
arrangement and scales. Whether the pipe organ is for an
existing building or part of a new building project, these
subjects will also be influenced by acoustic and structural
concerns, which will help determine the placement of
the instrument in the space. Of course there may be
conflicting demands and part of the creative process involves
reconciliation and balance between them.
I sense that many organ builders store memories of the awful
consequences – for the organ – of architects’ defiance of the
essential practical aspects of organ building. (Of course some
architects also ignore the practical aspects of architecture but
that is a separate subject). The spatial and technical demands
of the tracker and stop action, wind supply and access for
assembly and maintenance are critical for the performance
and durability of the instrument and therefore an integral
part of the brief.
Before starting to model or draw, the architect must
understand the key ingredients and carefully combine them
with judgements about architectural character, historic
significance and the spirit of the place.
It should be clear then that an organ installation is a
collaborative business; the right advice at the right time
is essential when fundamental decisions about a project
are being taken. The more complex the situation, the
more important this becomes. Many pipe organ projects,
particularly in existing buildings, will involve some additional
works (building alterations for structural or acoustic reasons;
servicing; electric power and lighting; decoration etc). Sooner
or later the question of cost will creep into view and an
understanding of the implications of the project is needed
to balance resources with desires.
1) At Weingarten Abbey, Germany (Gabler 1750) the baroque
organ case and architecture blend together in a restless unity
of curved and carved surfaces, painted, gilded and pierced
with openings corresponding to windows in the outer wall.
Here the organ case adopts the spatial complexity of the
architecture; a complexity the painted decoration of the
ceiling aims to extend from the interior into the heavens.
Page 28
St Bavo Kerk, Haarlem
However, for heritage to exist and be cherished there must
also be creation.
The past has always been a source of inspiration, but
rarely has it been sufficient to copy from one generation to
another – invention is inescapable as the designer responds
to new influences and circumstances.
For example, artists and architects in Italy during the
Renaissance looked to classical antiquity for insight and for
exemplars of an ideal way of working (*Note 2), and yet out
of this exploration they created forms and spaces that were
entirely new and of their time (*Note 3).
The neo-classical designs of the mid eighteenth century and
the Greek and Gothic revivals of the nineteenth were also
based on carefully researched details of ancient or medieval
construction and inspired by the apparent virtues of these
earlier periods (Classical: strength, formality, refinement
and an understanding of proportion as a reflection of the
order in nature; Gothic: structural clarity, purity and even
Godliness) (*Note 4). The result was an extraordinary range
of invention and production as these styles were adapted
to new purposes. But few people nowadays would confuse
‘revival’ designs with the originals – they have qualities of
their own. Every work bears the distinctive marks of its age
and in part it is the philosophical basis for the design – the
way tradition is interpreted, used or rejected that accounts
for this. Technological innovation, in the tools and crafts of
manufacturing and the materials available, also produces
characteristics that fix an object in its time as much as the
historical or aesthetic influences that shape its outward
appearance (*Note 5).
Many of the techniques and materials of pipe organ building
are still based in craft tradition, underlining a further
relationship with architecture; and just as few architectural
projects today can be achieved without recourse to modern
means (*Note 6), very few organ builders are able or prepared
to reject contemporary methods entirely. For most, the
modern world is inescapable.
The implication here is that the ‘traditional’ approach to
design is the surest way to aesthetic satisfaction, why attempt
anything different?
The purely historicist approach to design is still adopted
however. One reason for this may be that the classical orders
themselves (*Note 7) provide the seed for an apparently
infinite variety of proportional relationships as well as a high
test for invention and craftsmanship. But looking closely at
historic examples we see that form, proportions and detail
are revealed by light and shade: through the edge of the
sharply defined moulding, the soft curve of a surface, the
sinuous or heavy line.
In the twenty-first century there are highly regarded artefacts
from previous ages all around us. Age gives context to an
object and contributes to its significance if it happens to
be very old or extremely rare. In addition to rarity, beauty
and craftsmanship in design and execution, association
with a particular artist, individual or event and remarkable
These elements – light, shade, and proportional relationships
– are indeed timeless; they can be manipulated to create
the effects of mass or void, movement or rest that influence
mood. Light itself reveals material, surface and detail that
invites and rewards the attention of the observer; such is the
aim in all design.
Tradition and Modernity
A question is sometimes put to the architect: Why design
organs with modern cases – what is wrong with cases as they
always were?
Weingarten Abbey, Germany
achievements with limited means are all good reasons to value
and appreciate historical work. The conservation of past work
is quite rightly practised as an important activity in itself.
Page 29
So we may look to the past for inspiration but whatever
we produce passes through the filter of our own culture
and bears its imprint. We can only truly be and act in the
present. In answer to the question then, a contemporary
approach to design is an expression of faith and confidence
in the creativity of our time, in the ability of modern means
and craftsmen to provide aesthetic experience as rich and
rewarding as any.
Notes
Note 1: Baukunst eine erstarrte Musik nenne – ‘I call architecture
frozen music’. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1748-1832):
letter to Eckmann (March 23, 1829)
The idea of modernity in design is itself a modern concept
developed and refined in the early twentieth century, so
the modern ‘style’ is often associated with that particular
period in the history of design (*Note 8). However in
the present day the term covers a very broad range of
approaches. I believe the subject is less a question of
a preconceived style than a state of mind in which the
following subjects play a part:
Andrea Palladio (1508-80), I Quattro Libri dell’architettura,
1570 English translation: Dover Publications, 1965
Context:
A concern with the specific nature of the place; an
appropriate response to both architectural character and the
overall intention / purpose of the project. Out of this arises
the fundamental choice of symmetry or asymmetry and a
guide to form.
Abstraction:
A pipe organ functions by the movement of air, through
physical volume and the shape and composition of the pipes.
The reality of the organ is three-dimensional and the case
may express this in an abstract way.
Proportion:
‘The aim of proportional systems can be described as the creation of
an ordered complexity’ (*Note 9). The pipe organ is unusual in
that the musical scale has inherent proportional relationships
– the natural length of the facade pipes – that provide the
basis of scale and measure in the visual design.
Light:
Understanding the available sources of natural and artificial
light as a means of defining form, proportion, surface texture,
and detail.
Craftsmanship:
An interest in materials, their qualities and economic
fabrication; in detail as a source of aesthetic pleasure. Detail
arises where surfaces meet; it has a relationship to scale and
to the materials and construction methods selected. The
specialist organ building details (e.g., tracker action) are
frequently concealed; this is a pity as they have precision and
intrinsic beauty, which is appreciated by many.
Structure:
How is the organ structure to be made? Is it to be visible
or concealed in the finished work? What is the relationship
between structure and case?
These subjects provide fertile ground for creative activity and
usually provoke further questions in any given situation. But
there comes a time in any design project to move from rational
analysis to a three-dimensional idea and at that stage there enters
an element of intuition that defies analysis or explanation.
Page 30
Note 2: Leon Battista Alberti (1406-72), De re aedificatori
English translation: On the Art of Building, in Ten Books
Rykwert, Leach, Tavernor MIT Press 1991
The Roman architect Vitruvius wrote one of the earliest
known codes of practice or design guides. In The Ten Books
On Architecture he asserted that all structures should have
the qualities of firmitas; utilitas; venustas; translated as:
strength or durability; usefulness or fitness for purpose;
and beauty. Even today this pretty much covers the range
of concerns. Vitruvius’s emphasis is on a combination of
practical knowledge and theoretical understanding. His
precise terms and definitions however have been the cause of
debate: Beauty: ... when the appearance of the work is pleasing and
in good taste, and when members are in due proportion according
to correct principles of symmetry (Bk I Ch. III).
Symmetry: ...is a proper agreement between the members of the
work itself, and relation between the different parts and the whole
general scheme, in accordance with a certain part selected as standard
(Bk I, Ch. II).
It is no co-incidence that the renewal of interest in his work
occurred at the commencement of the Renaissance, a time of
unprecedented exploration and expansion of knowledge. The
desire to observe, measure, analyse, and codify is absolutely
central to the approach to knowledge in the scientific age.
In relation to building at least, the design guide has now
evolved and multiplied into literally thousands of British
Standards and European Normes (by comparison with these,
the English translation of Vitruvius’s text is pure poetry) It
finds its ultimate form in the statutory building regulations
or codes, which deal with all matters of firmitas and many
of utilitas, but so far say nothing on venustas.
Vitruvius, The Ten Books On Architecture – translated by Morris
Hicky Morgan. Dover Publications 1960. Book X, Chapter
VIII explains how to build a water organ.
Note 3: Two examples of a simple building type, the loggia,
illustrate this: in Florence the Spedale degli Innocenti by
Brunelleschi (1420-40) employs details that are superficially
Roman in origin (the shape of the columns, details of the
capitals and style of the vaulting) although the building has
no known Roman prototype. The loggia by Michelangelo
at the Capitol, Rome, (1546-68) displays a complete change
in the conception of ancient architecture, using a complex
layering of orders of different scales and a more emphatic
and sculptural use of detail.
E. Battisti: Brunelleschi: The Complete Work, Thames and
Hudson, 1981 P. Murray: Renaissance Architecture, Faber
and Faber, 1986
Note 4: Pugin: The True Principles of Pointed or Christian
Architecture, 1841. Ruskin: The Seven Lamps of Architecture,
1849
Note 5: For example: in the nineteenth century, iron was
used increasingly in building construction, sometimes
in combination with `Gothic’ or ‘Classical’ detailing;
advances such as plumbing and electric power were adopted
enthusiastically in new buildings wherever possible.
Note 6: Economic reasons are often cited but the intensive
regulation of construction plays a significant part.
Note 7: Classical orders: ‘The Tuscan, Dorick, Ionick,
Corinthian and Composite, are the flue orders made use of by the
ancients’ – Palladio (I Quattro Libri dell’architettura. English
translation: Dover Publications, 1965, Ch. XII, p.11)
Each order is composed of a column (or pilaster), with base
and capital surmounted by entablature with cornice. There
are variations from order to order but the different parts
(mouldings, projections etc) are dimensioned as multiples
or subdivisions of a module, usually derived from the
diameter of the column. The application of the orders to
organ design is not straightforward because of the problem
of incorporating accurately proportioned columns (or
pilasters) and entablatures in an organ case – they take up
a lot of space!
Note 8: In brief: a rejection of historical styles, ornament
and ‘unnecessary’ detail; an emphasis on function; the
simplification of form and clear expression of structure and
materials. The ideal of a system of proportion as a generator
of architectural measure persisted in Le Corbusier’s Le
Modulor Faber & Faber, 1954.
Note 9: R. Padovan: Proportion: Science Philosophy Architecture
Spon, 1999, p.42
It seems there are two ways of regarding systems of
proportion. The first and oldest in western culture is based
on the idea that proportional systems reflect an order that
is inherent in nature, that nature is essentially mathematical
and understandable through mathematics; the second
considers such systems as a purely human construction that
we impose upon nature as an aid to understanding it. This
can be distilled into the question of whether mathematical
truths are discovered or invented – a question still debated
by philosophers of science.
The following are brief accounts of recent organ projects
undertaken:
St Paul, Minnesota: Augustana Lutheran Church
Rosales/ Glatter-Götz organ completed in 2005
Client: Augustana Lutheran Church, St Paul, Minnesota
Organist: Dee Ann Crossley Tonal design and voicing: Manuel
Rosales, Los Angeles
Organ Builder: Glatter-Götz Orgelbau GmbH, Owingen, Germany
Acoustic consultant: Dana Kirkegaard, Chicago Design: Graham
Tristram, Campbell and Arnott Architects, Edinburgh
Augustana Lutheran Church, St Paul, Minnesota
The church building was constructed in the nineteeneighties. The main space is a single rectangular volume,
symmetrical about the central axis, with the chancel as
focus, but asymmetrical about the cross axis; the organ
and choir asymmetrically sited. It is built with simple
materials: exposed brickwork to the lower walls and
chancel with drywall plaster to the upper walls, laminated
timber roof beams and exposed timber boarding to the
ceiling. The roof pitch, visible structure and roof windows
emphasise the chancel; the organ naturally responds to
this asymmetry.
The church has an extensive music programme and the new
organ a much larger specification than the old instrument.
But there were problems with the building acoustically
because the lightweight upper walls provided very little bass
response. Acoustician Dana Kirkegaard was appointed by
the church to advise on improvements; after some debate
the solution adopted was to replace the drywall with new
robust plastered surfaces on a more rigid structure. But to
avoid direct reflection of sound the plaster surfaces had to be
modelled in relief, so the opportunity was taken to integrate
the design of the wall panels with the organ case.
With the console built in to the organ the ‘footprint’
is compact and there is a convenient relationship with
the Swell division above it and Great placed on top.
Visually this creates a very solid object however and to
avoid completely obscuring the windows it was placed to
one side, in the same position as the original organ, but
forward a little into the room to take maximum advantage
of the available height. The extended width of the organ
embraces the choir, the Pedal tower with its large façade
pipes occupies the corner and directs attention toward
the chancel.
Pedal and console are connected by a solid screen, which
provides acoustic support behind the choir. The space
between the Pedal and the Great acts as a visual pause in
the design; being lower it allows light from the windows
to pass through the facade so in this sense the organ and
the architecture are connected. The coloured glass panels
placed inside the high level windows are part of the
installation.
Page 31
The specification is:
Great
Prestant 16 Principal 8 Bourdon 8 Flute harmonique 8
Salicional 8 Octave 4
Spitzflute 4 Octave Quint 22/3
Super Octave 2 Tierce 13/5 Mixture IV-VI Dulzian 16
Trumpet 8 Clarinet 8 Tremulant
Swell
Gedeckt 16 Geigen Principal 8 Bourdon 8 Viole de Gambe
8 Voix Celeste 8 Principal 4 Flüte octaviante 4 Nazard 22/3
Octave 2 Waldflute 2 Tierce 13/5 Larigot 11/3 Plein Jeu
IV Basson 16 Trompette 8 Hautbois 8 Clarion 4 Tremulant
Pedal
Contrabass 16 Prestant (Gt) 16 Bourdon 16 Gedeckt (Sw.)
16 Quint (ext.) 102/3 Octave 8 Flüte (ext.) 8 Bourdon
(ext.) 8 Octave 4 Flüte (ext.) 4 Mixture IV Contra
Posaune (ext.) 32 Posaune 16 Basson (Sw.) 16 Trumpet
8 Schalmey 4
Cymbelstern
Nightingale
Couplers: Swell to Great, Great to Pedal, Swell to Pedal
Wind Stabilizers Off
Mechanical key action; stop-action electric
Temperament after Kellner
Plan of Augustana, the organ at top right
The plan is a consequence of the corner location but
it also turns the organ towards the congregation. The
angular alignment is combined with the geometry of the
main walls and the sloping roof to generate an abstract
three-dimensional composition of intersecting planes at
the console level. This theme is developed in the main
case above: pipes are grouped in projecting and receding
sections with openings creating a sense of depth; these are
set against areas of texture and shadow in the case detail at
high level and in front of the Swell shutters. A screen with
wooden pipes separates the main case from the Pedal and
a large frame penetrating the façade defines the internal
dimension of the Pedal division.
The case materials are natural red beech and painted
wood with polished tin for the metal pipes. The painted
timber was chosen so that the panels of the outer case
have a stronger relationship to the remodelled upper wall
areas. The red beech provides the warmer surface around
the console, in the screen behind the choir and the solid
details of the case.
The basic conditions of the project were given to us: on
the one hand, a corner installation with restricted space
in a simple building with acoustic problems, on the other
a trusting client with enthusiasm for the pipe organ and
contemporary design and real determination to achieve
both.
Page 32
Phoenix, Arizona: Central United Methodist Church
Rosales / Glatter-Götz Orgelbau
The commission for the design of this project was confirmed
in January 2007. The organ is a collaboration between
Manuel Rosales and G-GO Orgelbau GmbH with Dana
Kirkegaard acoustic consultant.
Architecture:
The church, built in the 1950s, is a single volume of simple
geometry and generous scale with secondary supporting
spaces formed by the transepts and the side aisles. It is
influenced by the historic Mission church architecture but
the building has simplicity that is timeless and appealing.
This is largely due to the clarity of construction and materials
– the walls are brick and concrete and the roof is timber left
exposed. Where concrete is used it is carefully detailed; a
sense of balance and careful proportion between parts is
evident in the building’s design and beauty and pleasure lie
in the clear relationship of one material to another.
The focus of the interior is the chancel. The architecture
reflects this in an elegant way – the plain brick walls are
pierced by a series of tall narrow openings into the side
chambers. This creates a vertical pattern of light and
shade in compliment to the circular geometry of the rose
window. Natural light is limited because of the climate, so
the brilliance of the rose window is greater, enhanced by
the delicate colour and very detailed character of the glass.
Together these elements provide the setting for the organ.
Organ Design:
The drawing illustrates the preliminary design. The layout of
the organ is kept as shallow as possible to benefit the tonal
projection. The Great is in the centre, above the console but
below the window. The Swell and Positiv and Pedal divisions are
located in towers to left and right where height is available.
Foldnes, plan
At the base of the case new wall panelling will provide a
solid acoustic support behind the choir. The console, pulled
forward of the main case, is raised to accommodate the
action. The organ case is designed with towers to left and
right enclosing the divisions under expression and supporting
the 16’ principal pipes of the facade.
The central part of the facade corresponds to the Great with
8’ and 4’ pipes grouped in towers and flats. The chamade is
arranged to echo the circular geometry of the rose window.
In keeping with the architecture the details of the case will
be simple. There is no reliance on mouldings, but there is
close attention to the way the case is made. The separate
parts – towers and flat sections – are defined clearly and as
with the building, the form, material and construction detail
is of primary importance.
Foldnes Church, Norway
This was a competition entry designed for Stefan Stuerzer
of G-GO Orgelbau in 2005. Some projects are destined to
remain in the imagination and this is one such.
Foldnes, exterior
The brief was to design a case for a two-manual pipe organ
to be located in the space planned into the new building on
the liturgical north wall of the sanctuary, framed by two
freestanding concrete columns that support the roof and
define the side aisles. The organ projects into the side aisle
with the Great placed above the console, Swell and Pedal
located behind within the prepared alcove.
The church interior is finished simply with white plastered
walls and an exposed timber roof that increases in pitch
towards the chancel area.
The organ is placed on a framed pedestal with a timber
structure on each side of the console. The case is composed
of flat panels, angled planes and small openings that reflect
elements of the architecture. The main facade pipes in
polished metal are placed between the columns and flanked
by a simple lattice. The visible sides of the case are formed
with wooden pipes.
A raking panel above the console carries the centre pipes
in the facade; the sides of the pedestal would be glazed to
provide a view of the tracker action to those curious enough
to look inside.
Sources:
The illustrations are derived from the following sources:
All drawings – GT, Campbell and Arnott Ltd
St Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh www.freefoto.com
United Church of Christ, Claremont, California
www.gg-organs.com/eng/ projects/ claremont_images_frame.htm
Weingarten Abbey http:/ / de.wikipedia.org/wiki/ GablerOrgel Weingarten
Walt Disney concert Hall, Los Angeles www.gg-organs.
com/eng/projects/ disney.htm
St Bavokerk, Haarlem www.bavo.nl
Augustana Lutheran Church, St Paul, Minnesota www.ggorgans.com/ eng/ projects / augustana. htm
Foldnes church, Norway – G-GO Orgelbau
About the author
Graham Tristram (born in Chester, England in 1955)
studied architecture at the University of Wales in Cardiff,
and Edinburgh College of Art, Scotland. He joined the
Edinburgh architectural firm of Campbell and Arnott,
becoming a director in 1990. The practice has a wide portfolio
of projects for clients in both public and private sectors. GT
is a member of The Organ Club and in his professional life
divides his energy between the conservation and repair of
historic buildings and the design of contemporary work. The
firm has a thriving department designing organ cases in a
number of countries around the world.
Campbell and Arnott Ltd, 80 Commercial Quay, Edinburgh
EH6 6LX. www.eampbellandarnott.co.uk
grahamt@campbellandarnott.co.uk.
Page 33
Review Article
BILLY HYDE MUSIC
Dialectic in Karg-Elert’s Polaristische Klang - und
Tonalitätslehre
159 WHITEHORSE ROAD
by Kieran Crichton
Postal address: PO Box 436
BLACKBURN VIC 3130
Kieran Crichton is currently undertaking a PhD at the University
of Melbourne under the supervision of Warren Bebbington and
Kate Darian-Smith. His thesis examines the development of music
courses there between 1891 and 1927. He is also interested in the
role of Dame Nellie Melba as an art patron, and the work of two
prominent Melbourne artists, Christian and Napier Waller. He is
Director of Music at Christ Church, Brunswick and active as a
recitalist, playing the organ, harpsichord and piano.
ph 03 9878 8777 fax 03 9877 4425
local call 1300 768 777
email: simonc@bb.billyhydemusic.com.au
website: www.finemusic.com.au
The Organ Music of JS Bach Peter Williams $99.00
Originally published in 2 volumes in 1980, this new edition, of 2003, takes into account the Bach Scholarship of the intervening 25 years. Poème Héroïque Op 33 Marcel Dupré $15.00 Thanks to Crescendo Music this work is once again available in the composer’s own arrangement for solo organ and also in the original for Organ, 3 trps 3 tbns and side drum $40.00 Victorian & Edwardian Marches $46.95 A wonderful collection of marches by Frederick Bridge, Alfred Hollins, Edward Elgar, Herbert Brewer, Edwin Lemare, William Faulkes, Henry Smart, WT Best & CV Stanford. Highland Cathedral $64.95 Traditional Scottish Music arranged for Bagpipes or C instrument and Organ by James Wetherald. Offerande de Saint Sacrement Olivier Messiaen $24.95 Discovered in 1997, the sketches show elements of Le Banquet Céleste of 1928, suggesting a similar date, whilst registration recalls that of Charles Tournemire, whom Messiaen admired. Training your Choir This book by David Hill, Hilary Jones & Elizabeth Ash will prove invaluable in developing your own training skills, giving you the confidence to bring out the very best from your singers. Page 34
$35.95 Many Australian organists
are aware of the music of
Sigfrid Karg-Elert through
his 65 Chorale Improvisations,
of which Nun Danket Alle
Gott is undoubtedly the
most popular for weddings,
funerals – indeed any
occasion in church when the
organisers want something
grand-sounding but
‘different’. I am sure at least
most Melbourne organists
know of the connection
between that city and KargElert, through his correspondence with Arthur EH Nickson
from around 1913 till Karg-Elert’s death in 1933. We are
fortunate to have in our company Dr Harold Fabrikant,
whose work in translating the Nickson letters was merely
the start of a process that has enriched our knowledge of
Karg-Elert very considerably, the latest fruit of which is the
work of translating Karg-Elert’s harmony treatise. This has
been a long time in the making; Karg-Elert’s original – and
unfulfilled – desire was that the book should be translated
in Melbourne by Greta Bellmont.1 So it is fitting that the
translation of this complex work should be realised in this
corner of the world, albeit some 80 years later.
Rather than review the translation from a literary standpoint
– which would rely on one’s own very wobbly German to do
intelligently – I think it would be helpful to most readers of this
journal to attempt some broader contextualisation for KargElert’s ideas. That said, the only reservation I would have about
this edition is the absence of facsimile pages of the original
front matter; this has been reproduced in the parallel German
title page, but it is a long established practice in scholarly work
like this to provide some flavour of the original publication.
A facsimile edition of the German original is available. This
is a very minor point, however, as the entire German text is
reproduced with the English translation on facing pages. One
lacuna that I think sorely limits the usefulness of the hardcopy
version is the lack of an index: the book is also available as
a CD ROM, which is searchable, but I am decidedly oldfashioned in preferring to hold a book, and an index would
make it easier to navigate. Had this book been in the hands
of a publisher I suspect an index would have been compiled as
a matter of course: the book having been published privately
means that an index has not been supplied. Fabrikant provides
some helpful commentary, but there is always more that can
be said about German approaches to explaining tonality in
the latter part of the 19th century. In particular, I would like
to highlight the importance of dialectic as a key concept in
Karg-Elert’s thinking, and as a useful way for approaching
his theory of tonality.
Karg-Elert was born in
Ober ndorf am Neckar
in November 1877, the
youngest of 12 children
in a family of newspaper
publishers. His earliest
education came through
the choir school of the
Johanniskirche in Leipzig;
his father’s death in 1889 left
the family in straightened
financial circumstances and
in 1891 Karg-Elert was sent to Grimma to begin training as
a teacher, which he discontinued after two years. In 1896 he
returned to Leipzig and entered the Conservatorium. Here his
teachers included Emil Nikolaus von Rezniček, Carl Reinecke,
Salomon Jadassohn, Paul Homeyer and Karl Wendling. In
1902 Karg-Elert joined the staff of the conservatorium at
Magdeburg, and he also came under the influence of Greig,
who advised Karg-Elert to study older compositional styles.
In deference to Greig’s wishes, Karg-Elert altered the spelling
of his first name to the Scandinavian form. From 1903
Karg-Elert began to write for the Kunst-Harmonium – from
1926 he gave weekly concerts for broadcast from his home
on this instrument – and this led him to write for the organ,
bringing him to the attention of Max Reger and Karl Straube.
Following the outbreak of war in 1914, Karg-Elert enlisted
but was kept from active service due to his musical reputation.
Failure to obtain the post of organist at the Berlin Dom in
1917 brought about a crisis of confidence: writing to Nickson,
Karg-Elert displayed a strong animosity towards Straube that
can probably be traced back to this episode.2 In 1919, KargElert succeeded Reger at the Leipzig Conservatorium, and
remained in that post until his death in 1933.
There is one critical biographical point that leads to KargElert’s theory of tonality, and this helps to locate him in a
broader contemporary discourse. In 1893 he moved from
Grimma to Markranstädt where he supported himself as
a freelance performer and teacher while studying music
theory and philosophy. Markranstädt was not a university
town, so it is likely that Karg-Elert’s studies here were either
self-directed, or undertaken privately: as a major industrial
centre the town would have offered plentiful opportunities
for a musician to gain work. The importance of Karg-Elert
having studied philosophy is crucial: Kant and Hegel are the
key philosophers for the German tradition – indeed, gigantic
figures for Western philosophy generally – and an important
Page 35
feature of their work is their emphasis on dialectic, a process
of reasoning and logic that involves holding concepts in
tension. An example of how this philosophical approach
was infused into music theory can be seen in the ongoing
debates over harmonic dualism. The essential question
underlying this concept is: what is the nature of tonality; in
particular, what are the origins and nature of minor tonality?
The implications of this question drive to the heart of how
music is organised: the logic of music. Some explanation of
the background of this question may be useful.
Through the 19th century there was a shift in the way tonality
is understood, which had a strong influence on the approach
music theorists took to discussing harmony, which in turn
affected the methods taken by teachers. For the sake of this
article a distinction between these two terms might be useful:
tonality refers to overarching considerations of intonation,
scales, key, intervals, consonance and dissonance; harmony
refers to the use and understanding of the ingredients
of tonality as combined to form specific chords, chord
progressions, modulation, inversion and doubling of degrees.
Karg-Elert largely adopts this distinction. Earlier theorists took
recourse to a variety of methods in accounting for tonality,
focussing on mathematical proportions demonstrated by
stopping off a monochord (like a single-stringed violin) to
show intervals, and more general aesthetic considerations to
discuss the treatment of consonance and dissonance.
However, the pioneering work in acoustics of figures such as
Hermann von Helmholtz demonstrated the existence of the
harmonic series, or overtones produced by a fundamental
tone. This formed something of a challenge to the existing
understandings of tonality, which had been largely based on
ideals of proportion expressed in mathematical terms, and
moved towards an understanding of tonality as a natural
phenomenon that could be explained in more scientific or
perceptual language. Harmonic dualism arose from this
shift, and there are as many variants on harmonic dualism
as there were theorists who wrote on it – the best known are
Hugo Riemann, whose main English follower was Ebenezer
Prout, although Prout was also influenced by another theory
advanced by Alfred Day.3
Riemann’s theory was that major and minor chords had a
distinct harmonic series belonging to each: major chords had
the series develop as overtones; minor chords had a series of
sub-tones. Riemann held that sub-tones were audible, in spite
of this being clearly problematic in a scientific discourse that
demanded that natural phenomena be readily observable.
A more satisfactory approach to this problem is to see it in
terms of dialectic: the nature of minor tonality arises out of
its nature as the reversal or inversion of major tonality, like
a mirror image or a shadow. This places major and minor
tonalities as opposing phenomena with their acoustical
properties being accountable in terms of being overtones or
sub-tones to the fundamental. However, one is still compelled
to discern the original (major tonality) casting a reflection or
shadow (minor tonality); dialectic in this sense is a means to
enable this discernment by bringing one back to the original
or primordial form (in the platonic sense), which is almost
invariably a major chord, whether one reads it from the
bottom upwards, or from the top downwards.
Page 36
The resolution of the tension can be unravelled by observing
that where a major chord has the larger third between the
root and the mediant, a minor chord inverts this – the larger
third occurring between the mediant and the dominant – and
in Riemann’s view the chord must therefore be read ‘upside
down’. This creates a conceptual tension for which dialectic
is the most useful approach both to account for the tension
itself and to reach some resolution. In reality, applied to
analysis this creates endless potential for complexity, and it
should come as no surprise to anyone who looking at KargElert’s book to know that it is Riemann’s theory (with some
qualifications) that forms the key influence for Karg-Elert’s
Precepts.4 Like Riemann, Karg-Elert developed a dense toolkit
of analytical symbols to represent the functions chords both
in a progression and in terms of their place in the harmonic
dualist scheme. The analyses that Karg-Elert presents in his
book therefore have two superimposed functions: to describe
the tonal properties of a given chord and to illustrate its
harmonic function.
There are two significant comments Karg-Elert makes in his
foreword that set up the dialectic structure of the treatise:
first, he affirms that ‘the major and minor chords are natural
phenomena of equal value.’ This is in sharp distinction to other
dualisms, which sometimes attempted to locate minor tonality
in the remote overtones of the harmonic series, making major
tonality the more immediate and therefore most ‘natural’
tonality – an approach laden with epistemological problems
of a very formidable order, and one that Karg-Elert dismissed
as an enterprise that lacked logical coherence.5 Secondly,
Karg-Elert draws a distinction between harmony and melody,
stating that ‘the harmonic and melodic spheres point to
completely different building units.’ Karg-Elert grounded his
approach in what he describes as ‘pure, naïve experience’ and
the ‘naïve empathy for living, practical music.’6 However,
while he invokes nature as the basic premise of his system of
describing tonality, Karg-Elert employs a sizeable chunk of
mathematical and scientific reasoning in his appeal to nature
as the fount of the aesthetic experience.
For the casual reader, or anyone whose interest in the
intricacies of the Pythagorean Comma, just intonation or
extended chromaticism is limited, much of the book will be
somewhat of a blur. With a good grasp of basic harmony
and some knowledge of how figured bass works it is possible
to begin to grapple with Karg-Elert’s theory, but there are
a couple of caveats that should follow this. Karg-Elert
illustrated his theory with copious diagrams and musical
examples: this is an intensively visual book that will easily
beguile one, and I found myself turning diagrams upsidedown, if only in deference to the dualism! Because of the
dialectical structure of Karg-Elert’s theory, many of the
diagrams do in fact operate in inversion, and may be turned
upside down without altering the conceptual balance of
what they set out to demonstrate. The book is enhanced
by Fabrikant’s thoughtful inclusion of recordings of many
of the musical examples, which he asserts may well have
been intended to be performed.7 This may be so; however,
if we take this book as being an unusually complete record
of someone’s teaching, then it is possible that this is how
the examples were presented in lectures. The ‘multimedia’
aspects of the presentation are highly stimulating. Finally, as I
am endeavouring to suggest, this is an intensively philosophical
book: it will leave one with a headache at times; KargElert is to music theory what Heidegger is to philosophical
existentialism.8 With these warnings in mind, for those
who remain yet fearless I would venture to suggest a way of
approaching this book. Above all it is important to remember
that the polarity that Karg-Elert is seeking to demonstrate
is (a) between major and minor chords (b) between any
given chords. In dialectical terms, polarity is expressed
in an essential unity between apparently irreconcilable or
opposing chords, either through common tones (notes) or
larger relationships.
First, to get the bare structure of Karg-Elert’s concepts, turn
first to sections VII and XII. These contain the basis of KargElert’s ideas about the essential unity of minor and major
chords: an extremely important statement opens section XII,
which is worth quoting here:
Harmony is to be best understood as completely
abstract: devoid of space and weightless. Its form of
representation in the concrete world of manifestation
is the chord.
If one strips the chord of all physical forms
(‘manifestation’), then only the concept of harmony
(‘essence’) remains.
A trivial example: four brothers form a close circle of
relatives. The weights of the 4 brothers are, e.g., 40,
50, 60, and 70 kg….
The brothers part; each goes his own way - - The brothers (concrete) are the bearers of the
relationship. The bearers together weigh 220 kg; the
bearers scatter to the four winds, but the relationship
does not weigh 220 kg, and the relationship does not
scatter to the four winds!9
This is followed by a series of musical examples, but KargElert’s essential point is that chords retain their essential
functionality, however they are spelled. Next, one should
turn to section XV, which explains some of the basis of
Karg-Elert’s theory and locates it in the contemporary
literature of German music theory and introduces some
of his analytical symbols. Section XIII contains a ‘General
Survey of (Consonant) Relationships in Sound’, although
this should be read with sections XV and XVI.
The second and third parts of Karg-Elert’s book contain
discussions of harmony via the function of chords and
extended tonality. These parts are enormously complicated,
and have copious musical examples with analysis applied;
one gets further on the same territory with Schenker (who
is decidedly more ‘mainstream’) and his followers, the
ubiquitous Aldwell & Schachter. If you have struggled
through the process of learning how to perform a Schenkerian
analysis, you should have some of the basic tools to pick up
on Karg-Elert’s analytical symbols and apply his methods.
However, unlike Schenker, it is clear that Karg-Elert does not
intend all music to be reducible to the chord of C major and
a descending line; the famous ‘three blind mice’ objection
to Schenker. As a system for musicians to understand their
art, this analytical system has some powerful insights to
offer, but many pratfalls for the careless, poorly informed
or lazy: Karg-Elert himself hoped that such people would
never read this book!
One final question is worth raising here. For whom did
Karg-Elert write this book? I have already suggested that
it might be an unusually complete record of a teacher in
the classroom, in which case the success of the book is
already in jeopardy. Karg-Elert’s students found his lectures
enormously difficult to comprehend, and Fabrikant points
out that some of them petitioned the Conservatorium to
exempt them from having to be examined on what Karg-Elert
was teaching. The print run was apparently very small, or at
least, there is only a small number of surviving copies. This
is in contrast to Riemann, whose works enjoyed widespread
acceptance and popularity; the English music publishing
firm Augener took on translations of many of Riemann’s
smaller treatises (particularly the Catechisms), thus securing
an English readership for his ideas. Given the lively scholarly
debate over harmonic dualism that continued in Germany
right up to the eve of WWII, it seems unlikely that, for all its
eccentric complexity, Karg-Elert’s book would have lacked
for an informed readership – although the change in German
politics that took place in the year after Karg-Elert’s death
could be seen as a factor that limited the market for a book by
a composer who was quickly added to the ‘debased’ list.
I think this is an intensely personal book, and is probably
something of an artistic-ethical credo. Fabrikant points out that
much of the concepts outlined here were undoubtedly clear
to Karg-Elert, but almost completely impossible for others to
understand. Difficulties with his publisher were a constant factor
in the long gestation of the book, which was begun 1902 and
not published until 1930. Karg-Elert described the difficulties
and heated exchange breaking off of the arrangement with his
first publisher in a letter to Greta Bellmont:
When I had word of the failure of my great publication
[the publisher is a frightful mark, incomparable rabble,
his approximate words: ‘I must have been dead drunk
(!) when I agreed to publish your “goat-shit”’ [!!!my
great work!!!], no no no, I have my nose full (!!), take
back your filth (!!), look around for some idiot who
will put out this “rubbish” (!) and so on’10
Karg-Elert viewed his theory of tonal polarity as simplifying
harmony, and opening the way to develop further on the
existing systems. Perhaps more hopefully than anything else,
Karg-Elert was convinced that his students were liberated
from other harmony theories by his insights:
I have always believed that my Precepts of the Polarity of
Harmony, which in simple fashion solves all conceivable
problems of harmonic tonality and sound, which is
a sensation of the highest degree pointing absolutely
to the metaphysical ... this stupendous discovery
of a mysterious polarity transforms the teaching of
Harmony, current to this day, and at last secures
agreement with practice ... I have experienced it with
my students when they arrive stuffed up with the dust of
Jadassohn’s dead documents – unload the whole mess
within 10 minutes and – new and free of prejudice climb
into the Philosophy of Sounds of Cells and of Cosmic
Page 37
Polarism. In only 14 days they are as if transformed and
Palestrina, Geualdo and Monteverdi are as fluent for
them as Debussy, Scriabin or Schönberg.11
Westerby, Hugh. ‘The Dual Theory in Harmony’. Proceedings
of the Musical Association. London: The Musical Association,
1902-03.
As I commented above, the publication of this book is a longawaited event. Fabrikant, with the aid of Staffan Thuringer,
are to be congratulated on a marvellous achievement that
opens up new insights on Karg-Elert’s tonal thought to
English readers. It is a pity that the print run is pretty much
non-existent: I am of the view that a scholarly publisher
should have been pestered until taking the work on, as the
private publication of this book means that it will have a
necessarily limited circulation. That said, for the average
organist, this book will have a very limited usefulness. For
those valiant readers out there who are prepared to do the hard
work of grappling with Karg-Elert’s concepts, best of luck.
Notes
1. Harold Fabrikant, ed., The Harmony of the Soul (Adelaide:
Academy Music, 1996) 56-7.
2. Fabrikant, ed., Harmony of the Soul 31-34.
3. See Ebeneezer Prout, Harmony: Its Theory and Practice
(London: Augener, 1889). However, Prout abandoned many
of the concepts of his tonality theory in the 16th edition
(1901). See also E Prout, ‘Some Suggested Modifications
of Day’s Theory of Harmony,’ Proceedings of the Musical
Association (London: The Musical Association, 1887-88),
Alfred Day, Treatise on Harmony, ed. GA Macfarren (London:
Harrison & Sons, 1885).
4. Other translations of the key German term in the title lehre
include ‘teaching’ and ‘doctrine’.
5. Karg-Elert, Sigfrid. Precepts on the Polarity of Sound and
Tonality (The Logic of Harmony) (Leipzig: FEC Leuckart, 1931),
trans. Harold Fabrikant and Staffan Thuringer. (Caulfield
[Melbourne]: Private publication, 2007), iii, 61-65.
6. Sigfrid Karg-Elert. Precepts ii.
7. Fabrikant, H, Musical Examples in Precepts on the Polarity of
Sound and Tonality (The Logic of Harmony) [CD liner notes].
(Caulfield [Melbourne]: Private Publication, 2007) 2.
8. Existentialism is a philosophical movement that posits
that individuals create the meaning and essence of their lives,
as opposed to deities or authorities creating it for them. It
emerged as a movement in twentieth-century literature and
philosophy, though it had forerunners in earlier centuries.
Existentialism generally postulates that the absence of a
transcendent force (such as God) means that the individual is
entirely free, and, therefore, ultimately responsible. It is up to
humans to create an ethos of personal responsibility outside
any branded belief system. In existentialist views, personal
articulation of being is the only way to rise above humanity’s
absurd condition of much suffering and inevitable death.
For a basic account, see ‘Existentialism’ entry on <www.
wikipedia.org> and Kaufmann, Walter, Existentialism from
Dostoyevsky to Sartre. (New York: Meridian [Penguin Group],
1975), esp. chap. 9.
9. Karg-Elert, Precepts 50.
10. Fabrikant, ed., Harmony of the Soul 83.
11. Fabrikant, ed., Harmony of the Soul 56.
Harold Fabrikant at his house organ Photo: John Mallinson
Some further reading
Dale, Catherine. Music Analysis in Britain in the Nineteenth and
Early Twentieth Centuries. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2003.
Day, Alfred. Treatise on Harmony. Ed. G.A. Macfarren.
London: Harrison & Sons, 1885.
Fabrikant, Harold, ed. The Harmonies of the Soul. Adelaide:
Academy Music, 1996.
Forte, Alan, and Steven E Gilber. Introduction to Schenkerian
Analysis. New York: Norton, 1892.
Pierce, Charles W. ‘Some Further Modifications of Day’s
System of Harmony, Suggested From an Educational Point
of View’. Proceedings of the Musical Association. London: The
Musical Association, 1887-88.
Prout, E. ‘Some Suggested Modifications of Day’s Theory
of Harmony.’ Proceedings of the Musical Association. London:
The Musical Association, 1887-88.
Prout, Ebeneezer. Harmony: Its Theory and Practice. London:
Augener, 1889.
Prout, Ebeneezer. Harmony: its Theory and Practice (London:
Augener, 1889). 16th ed. London: Augener, 1901.
Rehdig, Alexander. Hugo Riemann and the Birth of Modern Musical
Thought. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003.
Riemann, Hugo. History of Music Theory: Polyphonic Theory to
the Sixteenth Century. Trans. Raymond H. Haggh. New York:
Da Capo Press, 1974.
Stephens, Charles E. ‘On the Fallacies of Dr Day’s Theory
of Harmony, with a Brief Outline of the Elements of a New
System’. Proceedings of the Musical Association. London: The
Musical Association, 1874-75.
Page 38
Reviews
Concert Reviews
Orchestra Victoria
Conductor: Alexander Shelley
Simon Preston, organ
Melbourne Town Hall, Tuesday 12 February 2008
Messiaen: Les Offrandes Oubliées (‘The Forgotten Offerings’,
1930) Copland: Symphony for Organ and Orchestra (1924)
Messiaen: Les Anges (from La Nativité du Seigneur, 1935)
Transports de Joie (from L’Ascension, 1934) Stravinsky: Firebird
Suite (1910)
Reviewed by Tony Love
Simon Preston
Photo: Tony Love
This, the first for 2008, was
a free concert presented
by Orchestra Victoria in
association with the City of
Melbourne and Australian
Red Cross. Attendance was
good and both side balconies
were occupied in addition
to the rear balcony and the
ground floor usually used for
Organ-ic Lunch concerts. No
doubt the audience included
many who subscribe to
Orchestra Victoria concerts.
Unfortunately no program notes were issued for this concert,
but some research suggests that there were musical links
between each of the composers whose music was played
and that both Messiaen and Copland were to some extent
influenced by their knowledge of the music of Stravinsky.
The concert began with Messiaen’s Les Offrandes oubliées (‘The
Forgotten Offerings’) written for orchestra and described as a
symphonic poem in three sections to represent the Cross, the
sin of humanity, and the offer of salvation – religious themes
that Messiaen was very familiar with as organist at La Trinité in
Paris. It is worth noting that in addition to the organ Messiaen
composed for a great variety of instrumental combinations
and this work was re-written for the piano in 1935.
The Copland Symphony for Organ and Orchestra followed.
Copland was born in New York, USA, and he wrote this
Symphony shortly after his return from a year in Paris
during which he heard much music written by the ‘modern’
French and Russian composers and became familiar with and
attracted to the music of Stravinsky, especially Stravinsky’s
use of rhythm. This work does not display the organ in
any real solo capacity but uses it as another instrument in
the whole ensemble. However there were some occasions
when the percussion department – tympani and huge bass
drum – seemed to secede from the orchestra and the music
became a triple fortissimo battle royale between orchestra,
percussion and organ probably best listened to as a whole
without attempt to distinguish what each section was
shouting about.
Following an interval Simon Preston presented two solo
works on the organ, using the case console as he did for the
Copland. These two works clearly showed that he has not
lost any of his virtuosity and sense of rhythm. Both were
played with clear sounding registrations and the Transports…
sounded particularly effective due to the outstanding acoustic
of the Melbourne Town Hall which gave this work an added
unexpected dimension. Of course neither work requires great
variety of registration so this was not an opportunity for the
orchestrally oriented audience to hear how the MTH Hill,
Norman and Beard/Schantz can sound on its own, but it did
enable them to hear superb clear registration and strongly
rhythmical playing. Hopefully some will take the opportunity
to hear more concerts such as the Organ-ic Lunch series in
the near future.
The concert concluded with a fine performance of
Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite which was commissioned for the
1910 ballet season in Paris by Sergei Diaghilev the famed
ballet impresario and founder of the Parisian Ballets Russes.
It is a musical expression of a Russian folk tale about a
magical bird that is both a blessing and a curse to its captor.
It began the collaboration between Diaghilev and Stravinsky
and led to the production of Stravinsky’s other well known
ballets, Petrushka and The Rite of Spring.
It is regrettable that no solo concert at the Melbourne Town
Hall was arranged for Simon Preston. Regrettable because
organists and people interested in hearing organ music were
not given the opportunity to hear a master of the organ at
work using what is an outstanding Concert Hall organ. It
seems that too often Melbourne audiences seem to miss out
on the opportunity to hear overseas artists. Why so?
Simon Preston in Recital and Conversation
St John’s Church, Camberwell
Sunday 17 February
Reviewed by John Maidment
Jennifer Chou, Simon Preston, Ian Harrison
Photo: Tony Love
Page 39
A capacity audience (probably around 400 people) filled St
John’s Anglican Church, Camberwell for Simon Preston’s
recital on 17 February. There was a reasonable age mix, too,
with young and old keen to hear a man who had been billed
as the former Organist of Westminster Abbey. Tribute should
be paid to the excellent publicity through radio station 3MBS
FM and an hour feature in their programme The Score on the
morning of 11 February on Preston and his work.
What resulted in such a large audience one wonders? I have
been to first rate concerts at St Patrick’s Cathedral where
the audience numbered no more than a meagre dozen
people. I guess that Preston’s name is well known from his
many recordings – one can recall listening to his early LPs
back in the late 50s and early 60s from King’s Cambridge
and Westminster Abbey. Dare I say it, I think that royal
connections still count for much – remember Christopher
Dearnley’s recital at St Paul’s Cathedral in 1981 just after
the royal wedding at St Paul’s London with more than 1,000
present. And then the recital took place in Camberwell – at
the epicentre of Melbourne’s WASP belt!
I cannot think the programme content should have proven
too appealing – one could have heard any of these works
played here more than 40 years ago. It was a strange but safe
choice of works – nothing new, nothing daring. However,
given that much of the audience probably wasn’t too au fait
about such things, there was still probably much to appeal.
I enjoyed mainly the two Messiaen works – Les Anges (from
La Nativité) and Transports de Joie (from L’Ascension), played
with conviction and authority by an acknowledged champion
of this composer’s works. The Elgar Vesper Voluntaries,
written for service performance, seemed a curious choice,
but the lush, twisting harmonies proved similarly appealing.
Conversely the hackneyed Bonnet Variations de Concert
palled very quickly and Bach’s Canonic Variations on ‘Vom
Himmel hoch’ failed because of the inarticulate sound of
the instrument, not through any shortcomings of the player
(although the extended fumbling between the sections for
new registrations was disconcerting).
It was good that Simon Preston spoke to the audience
between the works, although better preparation with
microphones (and indeed having a copy of the programme
at the console) should have been thought out in advance.
After the conclusion of the concert Ian Harrison led an
interesting discussion ranging from difficulties experienced
by a Cambridge graduate working in Oxford, recording
works, younger people and the organ, and experiences at
Westminster Abbey (sadly marred by ancient and recalcitrant
lay clerks).
The organ was the star mis-performer of the afternoon. A
deteriorated chipboard baffle box, located on the floor of
the blowing chamber outside the church, had opened up in
the heat and was seriously losing wind, causing a drop in
pressures and appalling out of tuneness. The opening Bach
BWV 565 provided some of the ugliest sounds I have ever
heard from a pipe organ. Some smart work got some of the
leaks redressed but generally the full sound was ugly and
abrasive and out of tune (the air is drawn from outside the
Page 40
church). While the instrument certainly has presence in the
building and an interesting three-dimensional quality when
the Great and Swell are coupled, frankly it doesn’t deserve to
be preserved – it is just a hotch-potch of pipework, chests and
obsolete mechanism. One might hope that the church could
commission a smaller new organ that provides delightful,
colourful and clear sounds controlled by a sensitive action.
Questions of the overall programming and the organ aside,
this was a well-polished performance, very successfully
organised, and clearly enjoyed by the large numbers
present.
Hans Uwe Hielscher, Organ
Organ-ic Lunch Concert
Melbourne Town Hall Friday 22 February
Bédard, Suite du premier ton; Rheinberger, Sonata No 4; Ketèlbey,
In a Persian Market; Trad. (arr. Hielscher) Three American
Folksongs; Kee, Variations on an old Dutch Hymn.
Reviewed by Bruce Steele
No stranger
t o M e l b o u r n e,
Hielscher has
not played in the
Melbourne Town
Hall till now. As he
said in his opening
remarks, there was
something here for
everyone – in fact it
was an ideal ‘Town
Hall’ program. Canadian Denis Bédard’s neo-baroque Suite
opened the program. It’s a stylish piece and the registration
showed again the versatility of this instrument. In his bid
to bring Rheinberger back to centre stage, Hielscher played
one of the lesser-known Sonatas with complete conviction.
The charming second movement even brought its own
applause.
Ketèlby’s ‘In a Persian Market’ took us back to the old silent
cinema days and demonstrated the refined ‘theatre-organ’
effects available on the old HNB organ. Super-kitsch it might
be but the audience loved it and it was played by a master
of effect. It was followed by his own arrangements of three
American songs – familiar to those who know Hielscher’s
Dunedin Town Hall recording. Interesting variations on
‘Amazing Grace’ and a moving rendition of ‘Deep River’.
The program ended with Cor Kee’s Variations, a virtuoso
piece on a very staid theme and a crowd-winning conclusion.
As a little encore Hielscher played a charming little Italian
cantabile.
An interesting novelty in this recital was the placing of the
console in the centre of the hall with most of the audience
in the surrounding gallery. This is by far the best position
for a performer to judge registrations, and it’s a fascinating
spectacle for the troops. If anyone can sell the organ as a
recital instrument, Hielscher can. And it’s a pity the audience
was a bit smaller than usual.
CD Reviews
The Portuguese Scarlatti:
Ke y b o a r d S o n a t a s by
Domenico Scarlatti
Jacqueline Ogeil Fortepiano and Organ
ABC Classics ABC 476 6221
Total playing time: 62’ 57”
- 16 keyboard sonatas
Fortepiano: anonymous
Portuguese instrument, c. 1750
Organ: João Fontanes de
Maqueixa, 1765, Church of São Vicente de Fora, Lisbon.
Sonata K185: Andante; Sonata K186: Allegro; Sonata K208:
Adagio e cantabile; Sonata K209: Allegro; Sonata K215: Andante;
Sonata K216: Allegro; Sonata K238: Andante; Sonata K239:
Allegro; Sonata K331: Andante; Sonata K332: Allegro; Sonata
K347: Moderato e cantabile; Sonata K348: Prestissimo; Sonata
K287: Andante Allegro; Sonata K288: Allegro; Sonata K328:
Andante comodo; Sonata K417: Fuga. Allegro moderato
Reviewed by Mark Quarmby
While most of us know there were two Scarlattis and
that one of them went off to Spain and wrote some 550
keyboard sonatas (mostly just one movement), how many
of us knew that Domenico went to Spain via a ten year stay
in Portugal? Melbourne keyboard player, Jacqueline Ogeil
has put together a convincing argument that this Scarlatti is
the first major composer for the piano and that many of his
works were not conceived for the harpsichord after all. She
has recently completed a PhD on the subject.
Also interesting to learn is that very little has survived in
Portugal from before 1755 due to a massive earthquake and
tsunami at that time. For those expecting to hear an organ
CD they will be disappointed as only the final four of the 16
sonatas are played on the organ. The remainder are played
on a fortepiano to have survived from this period and to be
found in a private collection in London where these sonatas
were recorded. Only for those sonatas where two manuals
were required, were these played on the organ instead. These
were recorded in Lisbon on a historic organ of the period
which is still basically in original condition although with
some sympathetic restoration work having been done.
Only a tiny picture of the organ, taken from the floor of the nave
looking directly up at the case is given in the book. It is very hard
to appreciate how large it is or what it actually looks like. A full
specification is given in the book with pipe lengths in 24’, 12’,
and 6’. No mention is made of a pedalboard, pedal stops or even
pedal pull-downs. The manuals stops are divided into bass and
treble registers and some of the reeds are en chamade.
is just beautifully played and a total joy to listen to. The
fortepiano gives a new character to the music and it is
surprising to find how virtuosic much of this music is. The
organ sounds old. There are problems with the winding
(mostly only noticeable in the pleno sections) but none of this
is bad enough to distract us from the music and the stylistic
performances given. The flutes and reeds used in contrasting
sections on two manuals are very colourful.
Highly recommended for those with an interest in early
keyboard music.
Bach Cantatas
Cantata movements for
organ four hands Volume II
Euwe de Jong and Sybolt
de Jong
Played on the 1727 Müller
organ of the Grote of
Jacobijnerkerk, Leeuwarden,
The Netherlands.
Total playing time: 56’ 53”
Ordering information at
www.dejongdejong.nl
Concerto Super: Was mein Gott will, das g’scheh’ allzeit (BWV
111/1); Suite: Adagio - Ouverture - (BWV 196/1); Allegro (BWV
34/5); Adagio Assai (BWV 12/1); Allegro Assai - Gigue - (BWV
191/1 - 232); Aria ‘Ich habe genug’ (BWV 82/1); Concerto Grosso
(BWV 187/1); Three chorale trios: Trio Super: Zudem ist Weisheit
und Verstand (BWV 92/4); Gefigureerd Koraal Super: Der Leib
zwar in der Erden (BWV 161/6); Trio Super: Ertöt uns durch dein
Güte (BWV 22/5); Concerto Grosso Super: Ach wie flüchtig, ach
wie nichtig (BWV 26/1); Aria ‘Die Seele ruht In Jesu Händen’
(BWV 127/3); Prelude Super: Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh’ darein
(BWV 2/1)
Reviewed by Mark Quarmby
For those who love Bach and Bach on the organ, this is
a wonderful recording for those looking for something
different. All the music has been arranged from various
cantatas by the players for four hands and four feet. Add
to that the superb Müller organ and you can sit back and
enjoy an hour of wonderful music. The players are brothers
and they have spent their lives playing and arranging duets;
even publishing many of them. They have a huge repertoire
of duets from the 16th–20th centuries, including their own
compositions.
They have recorded several CDs of duets and this is their
second CD of music from Bach’s cantatas.
The booklet contains extensive notes on the composer, the
fortepiano used and the organ. Notes on each sonata are
included as well as a CV of the player. It is a shame that the
few pictures are extremely small and no online information
is provided for iTunes.
The booklet contains details about each work and how it
has been arranged. These notes are in English, German
and Dutch. Only a short paragraph is provided about each
player but both players have extensive websites for more
information. The specification of the organ is provided
as are all the registrations used throughout the recording.
Unfortunately there are no photos other than one B & W
photo of the organ’s case.
This CD was recently the ABC ‘CD of the week’ and after
hearing only a few minutes, it is obvious why. The music
The playing is clean and rhythmical throughout with
registrations which bring the music to life as if it had been
Page 41
originally conceived for the organ. Listeners will recognise
many of the tunes as familiar chorales or snippets from works
such as the B minor Mass where the material has also been
used in various cantatas.
This CD was recorded in July last year. It is a pity that it only
lasts 57 minutes but more CDs are planned in this series!
Richard Popplewell’s name is not as well-known here as in
his native England where he has held various distinguished
positions – Organ Scholar of King’s College Cambridge
during the transition from Boris Ord to David Willcocks,
Assistant Organist at St. Paul’s Cathedral, Director of
Music at St Michael’s Cornhill and Organist, Choirmaster
and Composer to the Chapels Royal St James’ Palace from
1979 to 2000.
but that her playing, for its accuracy and musicality, would
shame some organists decades her junior. The longest item
is the Bach ‘St Anne’ fugue (BWV 552) and the remainder
of the 21tracks are small pieces such as would be used for
voluntaries – Jeremiah Clarke’s Trumpet Voluntary, Bach’s
Jesu Joy, Schubert’s In Memoriam, trumpet pieces and airs by
Telemann and a couple of Handel arrangements etc. It is all
easy listening and is recorded with clarity and detail.
Though having several published organ works, this is his
first venture into orchestral writing, and indeed Priory’s
first involvement with a large symphony orchestra. These
two Concerti are major works indeed, and to my mind at
least of far more substance than some examples of the genre
to which regular visitors to AGO Conventions have been
subjected over the years!
As a tribute to a remarkable lady and to support a good cause,
get hold of this memento CD.
A most enjoyable CD.
Historic Organs of
Mallorca
Played by Arnau Reynés
I Florit and Michael
Novenko
Priory PRCD865
Reviewed by Peter Jewkes
Just to demonstrate the
variety is indeed the spice of
life, Priory is now following
on its earlier successful recording of the Bosch organ at
Santanyí (reviewed in these columns) with another – this time
of eight historic 18th and 19th century organs (including the
Santanyí one making a welcome re-appearance). For those
more familiar with Mallorca than I, the organs visited are at
Banyalbufar, Sa Pobla, Palma, Muro, Santanyí, Campos,
Artà, and Sóller.
Composers represented include the obligatory Cabanilles
and de Cabazon, with others less familiar (to me anyway).
The last 3 pieces are in fact from the 20th Century, and
come off very well indeed (albeit on the somewhat larger
and modernised instrument at Sóller).
The playing is engrossing and always appropriate for the
particular instruments, acoustics and repertoire. The organs
never fail to entertain, with all the hallmarks of their kind,
such as uneven temperaments, truly flexible wind (!), various
noises issuing from their action, and of course those reeds ! My
only complaint would be the changing pitches and tuning of
each organ come as something of a shock for the first few
bars of each piece.
From the special thankyou to the Czech organbuilder
Richard Stehlik, it appears that he accompanied the recording
expedition, and a jolly good idea it obviously was too. One
should never travel without a tuner in tow! Seriously though,
I doubt there would be one of these 20 pieces which fail to
interest.
Richard Popplewell: Organ
Concertos 1 and 2
Jane Watts, organ
Ulster Orchestra conducted
by Sir David Willcocks
Priory PRCD 874
Organ Concerto No. 1 in D
major; Organ Concerto No. 2 in
F major; Elegy (1980); Suite
for Organ (1974)
Page 42
Describing these works deserves an entire article in its
own right, not just a brief review. The writing is incredibly
varied, with hints of such unlikely elements of Hindemith,
Walton, Britten, Widor, Rachmaninov and one or two of
the better Hollywood composers! Strangely these disparate
elements somehow ‘hang together’ and the integrity quota
always seems to be reasonably high, though one of two
of the enharmonic changes in the homophonic sections
somehow seemed to ‘flop’. The canonic and fugal writing
seems especially clever, and the excitement factor is always
high, bolstered by the huge orchestral resources employed.
A canon between the (real) bassoon and a pair of chorus
reeds on the organ (Concerto No. 2, 4th Movement) is an
impressive novelty, marred for the listener only by the organ
reeds’ tuning ‘fighting’ with each other on some notes.
Hopefully readers will forgive what may be considered too
much attention to the music and insufficient to the performance
– these are significant new works however and they deserve
it. Jane Watts’ performances (as the dedicatée of the first
concerto) are predictably excellent, the Ulster Orchestra is
clearly in the same good form which has been its trademark in
countless recordings over the years, and Sir David Willcocks
is clearly on top of his forces and the score. The famous 1861
Hill organ at Ulster Hall, restored and enlarged by Mander
in the 70s makes an ideal vehicle for the concerti, while the
supplementary Elegy and Suite are recorded on the 1989
Mander organ at Rochester Cathedral.
This is a very significant disc, and beautifully recorded. It
deserves a wide audience and the pieces deserve an airing
on these shores at some stage….
T h e O r ga n o f C h r i s t
Church, Mount Gambier
Kath Watts, Organ
21 tracks; 68’25”
Privately recorded. Cost $25
(including postage).
Reviewed by Bruce Steele
For the background to this
recording, see the article on
p. 7. The remarkable thing
about this CD is not just that the performer is 90 years old,
Post cheques with return address to:
Kath’s CD
C/- Rick Fisher
Christ Church, Anglican Church
PO Box 1357, Mount Gambier SA 5290
Proceeds invested for future maintenance of the organ.
DVD Review
T h e G r a n d O r ga n o f
Liverpool Cathedral
Ian Tracey, Organ
Overture to the Occasional
Oratorio - Handel arr. GossCustard; Chaconne in D Minor
- Bach arr. Goss-Custard; Four
Sketches (Op 58) - Schumann;
Grand March ‘Aida’ - Verdi
arr. Wells; Solemn Melody –
Walford Davies; Noël – Mulet;
Toccata ‘Tu Es Petra’ – Mulet;
From ‘The Nutcracker Suite’
– Tchaikowsky arr.Tracey;
Bolero De Concert – Wély; Will
O’ the Wisp – Nevin; Lied to the Flowers and Lied to the Sun
(Lied Symphony Op 66) – Peeters; Melody – Dawes; Toccata ‘Von
Himmel Hoch’ – Edmundson
Priory PRDVD 1
The Nutcracker Suite (already quite well-known) would raise
a smile on the face of any listener.
The DVD however elevates all this to a new level. Having
already listened carefully to the CD, I initially found it a
little irrelevant, as it is of course the same sound recording
– the obvious solution to which is not to listen to the CD
and watch the DVD in quick succession. Partly because
of Ian Tracey’s splendid console technique there isn’t a lot
of ‘colour and movement’ at the actual console (though no
student would fail to learn from a viewing).
Interest starts to grow however as the cameras travel around
the famous Gilbert Scott cathedral, often dwelling on certain
aspects (e.g. windows or memorials) while a relevant piece
is being played. Particularly moving was the juxtaposing
of pictures of the laying of the massive foundation stone
in 1902 with Mulet’s Tu Es Petrus, and similarly thoughtful
touches abound.
Interest levels grow even further with the ‘bonus tracks’ on the
DVD, including a charming interview with Ian Tracey and
an absolutely fascinating visual/musical tour of the organ,
illustrated in that wonderful multi-national ‘doodling’ style
beloved of English organists. Needless to say, the ‘big’ reeds
receive good coverage, especially the new Corona division,
with its brass Trompette Militaire (voiced on 50” pressure).
For production, playing, repertoire and visual interest, it would
be hard to go past this latest offering from Priory. Full marks
to all concerned and essential viewing/listening for all!
There is something for everyone in this CD/DVD set, which
evidently heralds Priory’s entry into the visual as well as
the aural. Heard on its own, the CD is more than splendid
enough to justify the whole exercise. Professor Ian Tracey
will be well-known to many readers, both from his fame as the
titulaire of Liverpool, and from his concert performances in
Melbourne c.1999. As one of the longest-serving Cathedral
organists in the UK (though still a youthful 52 years old!) his
work here is of a consummate musician, utterly at ease with
an instrument, of which he knows every foible, and exploits
every glory. (His console poise and seemingly effortless
technique are reminiscent of the late Michael Dudman ‘at
home’ on the console at Newcastle).
The repertoire is a good mix of ‘lollipops’ and more serious
repertoire, and should therefore appeal to a wide audience.
The two little-known Lieds by Peeters are particularly
effective, and the rather tongue-in-cheek arrangements of
Page 43
From the Organ Builders
South Island Organ Company
from John Hargraves
Winthrop Hall UWA, Perth
Update: Installation of the rebuilt 3/55 1965 Walker organ
has been in progress since 7 January and will be completed
in March. The organ platform has been deepened to
facilitate maintenance access and some additional pipework,
necessitating a lot of construction changes to the interior of the
instrument to create a much needed walkway instead of the
previous crawlway. The original expressive Choir division is
being reinstated with its original Orchestral Flute 8 and addition
of Vox Humana 8 and Vox Angelica 8 stops. The Positive
division is being made independent of the Choir with the
addition of Chimney Flute 8 and Nason Flute 4 foundations.
A Clarion 4 is being added to the Great and a Bourdon 16 to
the Swell to complete the choruses. A new Trompeta Real
pipe display with spun copper flares will enhance the organ’s
appearance and sound. A full length Pedal Contra Trombone
32 and Echo Bourdon 16 are being added to the Pedal, to
complete the organ in the original neo-classical style.
St Mary’s Catholic Cathedral Perth, WA
Now that the Winthrop Hall organ has left the factory we have
started rebuilding St Mary’s 3/67 Dodd-Gunstar organ for a
new west gallery position and also rebuilding and transplanting
a 1905 redundant 2/18 Hobday organ from New Zealand
for the east-end chapel of the Blessed Sacrament. The two
organs will be integrated with a Peterson ICS-4000 ethernet
transmission system enabling them to be played separately
or together from either console. Completion is planned for
2009 when the Cathedral (at present undergoing major
reconstruction) is reopened.
St Patrick’s Basilica Fremantle, WA
The 1997 SIOC grand organ is playable again after a year’s
silence while the Basilica’s internal stonework conservation
programme has been in progress. The limestone walls
have been stripped of paint and sealer and replastered with
traditional lime render. The visual and acoustic effect is
stunning; however the organ has suffered some water damage
and dirt as a result of the work and will be cleaned and repaired
properly after Easter.
Auckland Town Hall
In January 2008 we assisted with dismantling the Auckland
Town Hall organ (New Zealand’s largest instrument) as
supporting contractors to Klais Orgelbau of Bonn who are the
principals for the new organ project. The organ is to be built in
the style and spirit of the original 1910 Norman & Beard grand
concert organ, which lost 80% of its pipework in a 1970 rebuild
that attempted to make it into a Baroque style instrument.
Although the rebuilt organ was quite well balanced and had
more pipes than the original it no longer had sufficient power
or weight of tone for concerto use with orchestra or large choir
and was therefore unsuited to many of the requirements of a
Town Hall organ. The new organ will retain the original case
and remaining pipes and some of the internal parts, but will
have a new layout and specification. We have assisted Klais
Page 44
to find and document or recover surviving original pipework
from around the country, and with information from our
recent documentation of the Wellington Town Hall 1906
Norman & Beard organ. Completion of the new organ is
planned for early 2009.
Peter DG Jewkes Pty Ltd
The firm has been busy with the ongoing restoration of the
splendid 1881 Brindley and Foster instrument at St John’s
Mudgee, now nearing completion.
St John’s, Mudgee
Meanwhile a number of smaller but interesting projects have
been undertaken, including:
St Matthew’s, Albury
This fine Blacket building dating from the 1850s was virtually
destroyed by fire in 1991, which claimed most of the interior,
including the Fincham/Laurie organ in the North transept.
An impressive restoration followed, including completion of
the spire and provision of a fine new instrument by Orgues
Létourneau Limitée, of Quebec.
Among the 32 stops was an unusual Voix Humaine 8’ stop
(heard to great effect in David Drury’s ‘Masterworks at St
Matthew’s’ CD) said to be based on an example at Poitiers
Cathedral. As time progressed and the organ became a vital
part of the parish’s very active music programme, it was
felt that an Oboe would be more versatile however, both for
repertoire and for choral accompaniment.
Photograph courtesy of St Matthew’s, Albury
Page 45
The Jewkes firm was therefore commissioned to provide a
new stop, dubbed Hautbois in deference to the organ’s French
leanings, scaled and voiced to blend well with the existing
framework, as well as providing a distinctive solo voice.
The pipes were supplied and pre-voiced in Canada by the
organ’s builders, with final voicing and tonal finishing on
site by Peter Jewkes.
The Voix Humaine meanwhile has been safely archived,
pending consideration of its future.
Trinity Uniting Church, Strathfield
Work was completed last year on the Stage 3 of the restoration
of this splendid 1909 Norman and Beard organ. This last
round of restoration included the façade pipe actions,
concussion bellows and Tremulant. The fine oak console,
combination action and complex exhaust pneumatic couplers
were also restored. The project was assisted by a grant from
the Heritage Council of NSW, under the consultancy of Dr
Kelvin Hastie.
All Saints’, Kempsey
This charming Victorian church building was recently
declared unsafe and closed after developing major structural
problems as a result of subsidence in the river valley earth
beneath it. The organ inside was built in 1968 by HW Jarrott
of Brisbane, using pipes from the previous instrument. It was
cleaned and overhauled by the Jewkes firm in 1993, at which
time a new single-rise bellows was installed.
Happily work has now commenced on the church’s
restoration, meanwhile the organ has been dismantled and
stored by the Jewkes firm, pending reinstallation when the
building is once again safe.
Presbyterian Ladies College, Croydon
on determining balance between pipes/ranks/divisions in
a couple of weeks time. The console is connected to each
division and the new computer control system and memory
are installed. The full organ sound with all divisions is very
powerful indeed.
The Miller Organ Swell now accommodates two 16’ ranks.
The bass end of the Bourdon 16’ C# side can be seen here.
The largest pipes to the right are Geigen Diapason 8’. The
narrow pipes to the right are Salicional 8’ with Zinc bodies.
The Vox Angelica (from Tenor C) can be seen in front of the
Salicionals, The 4’ principal in front of these ranks are in
fact Gemshorns (Miller originals) with only the bass 5 pipes
not tapered. The Flute 4’ is seen in front of the Gemshorns
and is a narrow Hohlflute rather than Suabe Flute (as on
the stop head).The Flageolet 2’ is the highest pitched rank
in this division and has been returned to its original before
the Willis rebuild.
There was originally a Vox Humana on the front slider, but
this rank was jettisoned by Willis who re-arranged a great
deal of layout. We are placing the Sesquialtera on this slider
after being on HP at the very front of the box.
PLC, Croydon Photo: Pastór de Lasala
Work has commenced on a staged programme of cleaning
and renovation of the 1901 William Davidson organ in
the School Hall. The work will be carefully scheduled to
accommodate the relentless use of the hall for innumerable
activities, much of it being carried out during school
holidays.
Pipe Organs W.A. Pty Ltd
Graham Devenish, reports on progress of the J R Miller organ
bound for Haileybury College, Melbourne. The instrument
will be installed during the school holidays 2008/09. We are
now over half way through the whole project. Timber for the
casework will arrive this month and we will begin to create
the facade with the 72 display pipes.
ABO Organ, mid-air!
Page 46
All of the pipework has been thoroughly cleaned and
installed in their rightful places. This has taken about 3
months and has involved a lot of repair work, making new
pipes here and there as well.
The pre-voicing is mostly finished with a little tweaking still
to be done. Thomas Heywood and I will spend a few days
St Thomas, Claremont
After Easter we will be removing the console of the JE Dodd
organ at St Thomas’ for complete restoration including
traditional French Polishing of the Rimu cabinetry. The
organ will be out of action for up to nine weeks.
Allen Organ Studios
Ron Raymond reports that they have installed a new
instrument at the Bateman Catholic Church.
Stewart Organs
Patrick reports that work is currently underway on the
installation of the McGillivray organ in Winthrop Hall,
University of Western Australia by the South Island Organ
Company Limited of New Zealand.
A ‘Floating’ Division
Pictured below is the much travelled Australian Brandenburg
Orchestra’s Mander chamber organ, hoisted about a metre
from the floor of the Jewkes works, in the process of some
minor attention to its wind regulator (flippantly described
by the Orchestra’s Artistic Director Paul Dyer as its “20,000
kilometre service” !).
St Patrick’s Basilica
As I write the scaffolding is being removed from St Patrick’s
Basilica heralding the completion of stone restoration work
to the interior of the building. We were able to recommission
most of the organ for Christmas although the Tuba Mirabilis
and Trompette en Chamade stops have still not be reinstalled.
We will be completely cleaning and retuning the instrument
in April or May as it has got very dirty and incurred some
water damage during the building works.
Trinity College
We will be cleaning the 1984 Lynn Kirkham organ, which
I believe to be the finest organ in WA and one of the best in
Australia, later in the year. It is ten years since we commenced
caring for this instrument, starting with a large scale cleaning
and retuning.
Patrick Elms & Co
Trinity Uniting Church, Strathfield
This means the organ will have been out of action for only
11 months – quite incredible given the scope of the work.
We are thrilled to have been fully involved in this process
of restoration and enhancement of this important 1964 neo
classic organ and are grateful to SIOC for the opportunity to
learn many traditional skills through hands on involvement
– skills ranging from voicing both flue and reed pipes with
voicer John Gray, releathering bellows in the traditional
English manner with organ builder Gerald Green both men
learning their craft with the renowned firm Hill, Norman
and Beard of London. Watching the artistry of the joinery
of organ builder Neil Stocker has been a revelation too.
Christ Church, St Kilda
Ken Falconer reports that work on the restoration of the
three-manual Hill/Fincham/Meadway & Slatterie at Christ
Church Anglican, St Kilda, is progressing with the repair
of the pneumatic action components nearly complete. The
three soundboards and double rise reservoir have been restored by Peter D G Jewkes in Sydney; the manuals have
been recovered in ivory resin in UK by P&S Organ Supply
Co.; the pipes for the reinstated Gt Twelfth have been made
by Tim Gilley, matching the Hill principals; the rank of
Trombone/Trumpet pipes to be added to the Pedal (with
tubular Pneumatic action) have been made by Terry Shires
and voiced by David Frostick (an expert in Hill reeds) in UK.
Now that the structural repairs to the arch over the organ
chamber are complete, re-erection has started, with completion scheduled for mid year. The instrument will feature in
the OHTA Melbourne conference in late September.
The organ is really taking shape: all the restored slider
windchests are in position on their respective building
frames, the repaired zinc wind trunking is connected to
the chests and various ranks of large pedal pipes are being
installed. The wooden staying for the frontal display of
Open Diapason pipes of 32’, 16’, 8’ and 4’ pitches has been
altered to accommodate the slightly enhanced internal layout
which will allow much more freedom of access to properly
maintain the instrument.
There is a team of four organ builders from New Zealand and
two of us from Perth making a total of six at any one time
involved in the installation; in all seven of the SIOC staff will
have been involved throughout the nine-week installation,
which is bang on target to be finished by 7 March and will be
in use for the University Graduations at the end of March.
[Restored Pedal Bourdon unit chest]
Page 47
The 1876 Willis organ at St Peter’s Anglican Church, East Maitland, NSW Photo: David Evans
Page 48

Exciting Organs - Organ Australia

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