For a long time an image has been stuck to my brain - an image of a very brave organ design. Crooked pipes that are placed in an almost random manner around the console. Of course, I can see it now - Mickey Mouse playing the organ, dashing around on the bench with his enormous feet (and short legs) going wild in the pipe jungle. The organ of Walt Disney Concert Hall, ladies and gentlemen, built by Glatter-Götz Orgelbau GmbH. Amazing, isn't it?
This site lets you simulate Lissajous patterns. This is only fun if you are skilled in maths or electronic engineering (like myself). Otherwise it is completely uninteresting.
Jarle turned 16 years 4 days ago. Congratulations! If I had been more alert I would have written this on his day, but I got this blog only 5 days ago so I am perhaps excused. I admire Jarle for his many talents, playing the organ being one of them. He also likes to play with reeds on swell if he can find any. Norwegian organists usually have a very twisted view when it comes to reeds, and most Norwegian organs don't have a trumpet (or the like) in the swell box, but Jarle is my brother in opinion when it comes to what we'd like for breakfast on a Sunday morning - and that's not eggs and sausages...
One can get an inferiority complex by far less than reading Jarle's website, listening to his recordings, and read his posts on Det Norske Kirkemusikkforum - he is only 16 years old, for crying out loud! I am 32 years old and a complete idiot. Such is life, I am afraid. Have also a look at http://www.organsandorganistsonline.com/. He has several recordings there.
OK, no more! This is no good for my self-confidence. I wish I could say that Jarle sucks, by then I would have to lie.
It is not easy to get information on Edington Priory Church, Wiltshire, but I think this is the church that is referred to. The service of choral evensong this Wednesday was very choral, indeed. Only the final hymn could be sung by the congregation, and everything except this hymn and the voluntary were a capella (choir only). The introit, the office hymn and the anthem had Latin words, which can be too much considering the spirit of the Anglican Church. I did not quite catch the words of the very contemporary magnificat and nunc dimittis, so they might have been latin too. Maybe the narrow bandwidth on the internet broadcast made the diction so poor that I could not hear what they were singing. Being a part of the Festival of Music within the Liturgy, I presume they made a point of presenting diverse and less known music, and also using music as much as possible throughout the service. Unfortunately this evensong put a too large of a barrier between the word of God and the congregation due to the Latin language that nobody understands. In my opinion there should only be one piece of music with Latin words in a service, if anything at all. The musical content may just as well please our senses of hearing while we are gathered in church, but the choralevensong is, and has always been, a service of God.
If someone wants to get rid of a copy of "The Art of Training Choir Boys" by George Clement Martin (1844-1916), please let me know. That book is no fun to read, and old books tend to pile up, collect dust and have a scruffy appearance. In the end, old books like that are potensially hazardous to the environment. You'd better save yourself and your local community from a disaster by giving this book to me, and I'll make sure to keep it from making nuisance.
Just thought I should share a recent discovery on the world wide web:
St Peter's Church, Nottingham with all Saints
They seem to have choral evensong every Sunday, and the choir has a good and varied selection of music. Several recordings are available on the web page. This is a church that makes an effort to keep the anglican musical heritage in use. This is just an example among many churches in Britain that honour the Anglican traditions. It is not true that only cathedrals have "advanced" music - they might have a higher frequency and more resources, but also the parish churches keep the music alive.
Church life in Norway stinks, and music stinks even more. England, my friend, that's where you want to live!
As I live in Norway, far away from heavenly Britain (to capture both England and Scotland) and the even more heavenly Evensongs in cathedrals and churches, I was happy to find out that I could listen to the Choral Evensong programme on BBC radio 3 which is scheduled at 4pm each Wednesday via the internet - anytime within a week after the braodcast. Last Wednesday was from Edinburgh, St. Mary's Scottish Episcopal Cathedral, where I experienced my first evensong ever 7 years ago. It was truly an emontional moment for me, because it has been 5 years since last time I heard those warm and rich sounding reeds of the Father Willis organ. Something special that is (tears are about to burst out of my eyes). One of the hymns was "Lord, Enthroned in Heavenly Splendour" (St. Helen), which I am also very fond of - English romantisism at it's best. Good old (or young) Simon Nieminski never fails, and now that he is in charge after many years as the assistant organist, St. Mary's choir should have a bright and prosperous time ahead. I dig you, Nieminski!
