Today I went to a lunchtime organ recital at the parish church of St Andrew in Chippenham Wiltshire, where I live.

It was interesting - very very interesting indeed.

The recital was the last in a series of lunchtime recitals at the church, that started back in April and included Piano, Viol de gamba and Singing recitals.
They normally last about 35-40 mins. I know because I played an organ recital as part of the series back in may.

Here is the specification of the organ used - http://npor.emma.cam.ac.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=A00731

I arrived and payed the £3.50 entrance fee (I know, its a lot) and got my free drink. Unfortunately it was only a soft drink so I couldnt drown my sorrows after the recital.
I was then given the program on a bit of paper. Each piece and composer was explained in so much detail that this piece of paper looked like it had come from the grove dictionary.

15 minutes into the recital, the organist was still introducing the first four pieces!!! The way he was going on made it seem more like a university lecture more than an organ recital. After the 15 minute 'talk' about the pieces and how they and the composers were linked he started playing. By the way, we were instructed to not clap until the end of the whole recital rather than after each piece.

The first four pieces where as followed....

John Blow - Voluntary in G for Double organ.
Froberger - Toccata No2 in D
Strungk - Capriccio in F
Bach - Fantasia and Fugue in G minor BWV 542

The Blow suited the organ well even though the semiquavers sounded very smudgy and he slipped while playing which meant he hit the wrong notes. The acoustics in the church are poor so the smudyness of the notes could not be blamed on the acoustics.
The Froberger and the Strungk had a similar registraition, if not the same, as the Blow and had some wrong notes in it.
The Bach - well, its the worst interpretation of the piece Ive heard ever. The fantasia had a mistake in it apparently - I didnt notice it but at the end of the recital he said sorry to me for making the mistake. Again it was smudgy. The fugue started OK but was played so fast that it became quess what? SMUDGY. There where wrong notes in it and the best part was when for the first time in this piece he seperated the chords in true Baroque style. He wasnt playing any of the pieces legato - they just sounded unclear.

Then he introduced the next piece. He gavea 5 minute talk discussing it. It was....

Messiaen - Communion, Les oiseaux et les sources from his messe de la pentecote.

Played really really well and a good registration, but I dont like the piece. Blink and you'll miss it because it features very fast short sections.

Then we had another talk on the last piece - Prelude and Fugue in C minor by Vaughan Williams. By now we were 50 minutes into the recital I think and running late. It was played fast and once again smudgy. I couldnt make out the notes at all. It was like a cat was walking on the keys.

So who was this organist playing I hear you ask?

Well I wont name names but he is the assiatant at St Andrews church, went to Manchester University then taught at Reading university music department. His teachers included Gusthav Leonhardt and Susi Jeans and he is a DR of music with an FRCO and is also an examiner for the ABRSM. However perhaps most astonishing is that for the last 6 years he has been my organ tutor and has got me up to grade 8 organ for which I got a distinction.

Hows that for an organ recital!!

Well after a review like that I can only suppose that some long-festering resentment has at last been lanced!

Was any fruit flung from your direction?

Mel

I'm not sure what kind of responses the OP is expecting - this seems a rather personal attack. Whatever the quality of the playing, the organist had clearly put a lot of thought and effort into this recital. It would not be difficult to find out who is being disparaged so thoroughly and that person would presumably be able to identify the OP.

What is the point of this thread, please?

My thoughts exactly. Whatever the purpose of this thread, the OP clearly wasn't showing off his or her skills as a reviewer - or lack thereof.

Oh - the penny has just dropped. The OP is feeling smug that his teacher made a mess of his recital, whereas his own went much better (in his opinion). Get a life!!

This is not a personal attack against the organist playing. I am voicing my views. I could have made out I liked it but then I would have been lying.
My ex tutor is a wonderfull tutor and organist so perhaps he just had an off day? His CD recording of the organ at bowood chapel is fault free.
I am not saying that he constantly makes mistakes because he does'nt. I was quite suprised that it wasnt as good as I expected, playing wise. Thats all.
Yes he put a lot of thought and effort into the program its just than when you go to hear a really good recitalist (lets say John Scott or Ian Tracy) you expect them to play fautless. If they have an off day then thats it.
All im saying is that the recitalist had an off day and I wish I hadnt spent the £3.50 entrance fee.

If I wasnt going to university and wanted to continue having organ lessons I would pick him because he is a wonderfull teacher and a great musician.

Im sorry for any offence I may have caused to the recitalist and anyone else.

Well your review was at worst insulting and hurtful (what if your tutor were to read it?) and at best unsympathetic, thoughtless and clumsy. Sorry, but there it is.

Maybe when I go to future recitals I will learn to keep my mouth firmly shut.
Im going BACH downstairs to watch some TV because all this posting is to much to HANDEL.

Once again I am sorry. I am not a professional reviewer and shouldnt have tried to act or indeed write like one


EXIT

I wanted to go to the concert, but i couldnt, because i was in science I don't think my teacher would have been chuffed if i ran down the road to the church!

I've never heard the organist play before, but i do understand that the acoustics are poor in there, having been to many concerts there, and the organ has always been a problem due to it's position in the corner of the church behind two large pillars! I went to go and see saint-saens organ symphony there with the NWO, and it sounds very muffled!

I was going to have organ lessons with this person, but because i've been made one of the organists at st. James's church in southbroom, devizes (lovely church, which is very special to my family, as my grandad was vicar there for many years, my parents were married there, as were all my aunties and uncles, and i was christened there, and my Gran is one of the organists there!), and because i go to West Lavington for piano lessons on saturdays, and have orchestras and choirs all week, i really can't find the time.

Czerny, that really was very rude. Think before you type. You've upset other people today already!

Jacob.

You read more biting criticism in the pages of the broadsheets - if the OP didn't enjoy the recital he is quite right in voicing his opinion. At least the criticism is, to some extent, 'informed'. I don't have any problem with this thread. Perhaps the OP might change the last paragraph where he identifies the organist involved, and perhaps the part where he identifies the church, just to be on the safe side.

I think you're right here and that it was a hasty post on your part which, with the benefit of hindsight, you might not have posted, and would agree with Confutatis that the identification of the organist and the church should be removed. Incidentally, your (former?) teacher is not a Doctor of Music, but has a PhD.



I suspect that there was a certain amount of exaggeration in the initial post! Do you really think that the talk went on as long as that or that the programme notes were as lengthy as described? If they're the programme notes published online, they certainly aren't! Also, would you accept that the playing was that bad and that "the best part was when for the first time in this piece he seperated the chords in true Baroque style" ?!?

As someone who does review as one of my jobs, I can see where this man/boy (sorry, not sure about your age!) is coming from and I hope the following may help.

It seems like he has been genuinely disappointed by the experience, for three reasons. (1)the playing didn't seem to be as professional as the cv suggested (2)the large amount of talking led him to feel frustrated that he didn't hear enough of the organ, especially as the programme notes already give a fair amount of background to the music, and (3)he had to pay for it.

In response to each of these:
(1)I think he has been naive in his choice of language. For instance, smudging and slipping can be better phrased as '..some of the semiquaver passages lacked a little clarity and there were places where the pulse lacked definition...' and the registration problem with '..the registration lacked imagination at times and the audience didn't feel as if they heard the range of colours the organ can produce...', etc.

(2)I think I would feel a bit cheated with this as well!

(3)It's more the norm now that lunchtime recitals are free with a retiring collection. Having organised a series, and played in many series where this is the case, I think it is a better way of doing it. There are plenty of people who will put in a fiver or tenner in the hat if they have had a good experience, and then those who haven't enjoyed it need not place anything in it.

The recitalist concerned is someone who has publicly criticised me in a national organ magazine, and refused to retract it, and I know he has been involved in a number of other public disagreements in his role with one of the organ organisations, so he is no stranger to controversy. If he has read this, I very much doubt he will take offence.

Is it me, or is this recital programme a bit of a mess? The exoticism of the Messiaen followed by this turgid piece by RVW? Uneasy bedfellows?....

Yup, but, there again, can one person speak for the entire audience? Perhaps, in those items, such a wide range of colours is inappropriate?



If there was really that much talking then, yes, so would I. There's nothing worse than organists talking excessively when introducing a programme, especially with programme notes.



Oo-er...

I think I can guess what it was about!



Yes, that was my initial thought about the programme too, and one I still retain! But, sometimes, a programme which looks odd on paper can work. I wonder if this one did!

Points taken, I wasn't implying that the playing was like that (it might have been), but that if it was, that's how he might phrase it.

If you keep back issues of the publication, I think I could almost guide you to which issue!

As for the programme, well having looked up the spec on npor, I'm a little surprised the programme didn't refelct the strengths of the instrument a little more.


PS Good to see the 'organ' forum being used more!

A very English spec.. Would have been nice to hear some Whitlock on it perhaps - no Tuba though. Percy did like the old Tuba! Perhaps an hour of Howells might have been worthwhile as an alternative?

(Diverse spellings corrected and apostrophes added)

Welcome to the joy of live performance, organistno1. Sometimes things do go wrong in live performance which would be edited out in a recording. Remember too that good teachers and good performers aren't necessarily the same people.

Whilst there might have been wrong notes and a bit of waffle, giving enough clues for anyone to be able to name the person against whom you appear to have a bit of a grudge seems harsh. I readily acknowledge that you may not have such a grudge, but that's how your original post came across.


confutatis, I can't help but be amazed by your knowledge of organ repertoire, which is far in excess of any long-standing choral singer I know. I could almost think you had an organ diploma or nine

Deborah, when you've stood in the choir stalls as long as I have, you tend to pick up this kind of thing. I enjoyed your appearance on BBC1 on Saturday night btw giving us a lusty rendition of The National Anthem...

Good use of the word "lusty" there, confutatis

I know a great many choir members and choristers who have sung with various groups for as many years who would hardly know one end of a flute from another, let alone names of organ stops. It looks as if you might be taking over from a former but now unregistered member as a resident organ expert.
Have you ever played the organ in a service Confutatis?

I feel it depends on their age and on the choirmaster - I was very young when I was first introduced to some aspects of the organ by a benevolent choirmaster - I think I still remember some of that stuff now. In my day many choristers were interested in how the instrument made different kinds of sounds and he would pick a selection of pipes off of the soundboard and bring them down for us to (gently) play with.

As for playing, he did let me play a hymn tune once or twice but I had trouble reaching the pedals at that age. When my legs grew long enough, I was no longer a treble and he had left that particular parish.

Yes, indeed.



No, I don't actually....but I think I can guess! I think I shall avoid commenting on his "interesting" views about things.



Hear, hear!

How about us being constructive here, and putting a 45 minute programme together we would present knowing the organ spec (have now noticed no clarinet on the choir, looks more like a positive with those 1965 mutations and I'm not sure what I would make of a pedal oboe?), and the fact that some members of the audience seem to be quite discerning!

Here's my rather hasty offering.

Prelude on Siyhamba (Benke)
Prelude and Fugue in G (JS Bach)
Chant de Paix & Chant Heroique (Langlais)
Rhapsody No.1 OR 2 (Howells)
Overture to 'Die Fledermaus) (Strauss arr. me)

Encore (assuming audience want more for £3.50) Hornpipe Humoresque (Rawsthorne)

Rationale; reasonable mix, plenty of opportunity for colour, real music/transcriptions/, familiar/unfamiliar, has Bach (some people think they are being short changed if there's no Bach in a recital!) Comes to about 40 minutes, plus chit chat and encore. (PS Can only use pieces already in repertoire.)

Now ready to be shot down....

As a CHORAL SINGER FOR 30 YEARS, I can't say I know the Benke. Which P+F is that by Bach? 550?

May I hazard the following from my small knowledge of the repertoire:

Buxtehude: G minor Praeludium (8)

Grainger: The Immovable Do (4)

JSB: Two (contrasting) Chorale Preludes from "The Eighteen" (12)

Whitlock: Plymouth Suite (20)

(Encore: Scherzo sur << la vieille jument grise ce qui d'être elle avait l'habitude>> A.Groseille-Maquereau)

A not-very-taxing recital I agree but I would pay three pounds and fifty pence for that - if it was played well.

Oooh, I like this one. The lack of pleasant reed on the choir prevented me from any Whitlock, and I play the Plymouth Suite, but you're right, it might work. Which Bux did you have in mind. I prefer the one that starts with the stylus phantasticus manual parts over the short ground bass. The Grainger is an excellent book of Grainger transcrptions by Schott.

I went to the previous lunchtime concert at this church - viola da gamba and harpsichord, and thoroughly enjoyed it. The same person played the harpsichord as the organ in the more recent concert. I have never really taken to the sound of viols, as the ones I have heard have sounded a bit wishy-washy, but her concert converted me. The sound was beautiful - clear and defined. I found out later that the performer had been worried about strings breaking as she had had two dud strings from the supplers (metal unwinding on them) and they had not been able to replace them in time. Also, she had had to really pack in the practice as she hadn't played the viola da gamba seriously since music college and said that she felt like a beginner again when she picked it up. How do I know all this? She's my cello teacher. It was only chance that we heard her as we happened to be en route to a short stay in Bath at the time.

Not if Whitlock took all of 20 mins. Didn't he total it as something like 16.5? But, at Whitlock's tempi, Plymouth Suite takes quite nifty playing in places!

I was assuming 2 minutes of spiel beforehand and a 90 second standing ovation at the end

Before we start designing recital programmes to play on this organ I need to let you know that the NPOR have got it slighty wrong.

The Double Dulciana in the choir is actually an 8ft trumpet which is more like a solo trumpet because its so lound. Ditto, the 16ft Dulciana in the pedal is an 8ft Trumpet from the choir so its again very loud.
There used to be a clarinet on the choir but it was moved to the swell

Ah. Percy will be delighted! Makes my programme look even better. I trust you will be emailing NPOR with your corrections?

Another example of 60's meddling. Far less versatile on the swell.

Yes, mostly agreed, apart from the fact that it becomes "under expression" when moved to the Swell box. I see the Choir organ is unenclosed in this spec.

I wonder what Percy Daniels's 1965 mutations sounded like on the choir?!

...stop it...I'm having bouts of tinitis just thinking about it!!!

I always thought organ recitals were such peaceful and retiring events!

Ooops, yes, indeed! Sorry!

I wonder why so many organ builders of that era so mis-judged mutations and mixtures when trying to build a "classical" scheme.

Although such things are now becoming rather out of favour, one of "my" instruments has a "Positif" by Willis IV of 1967. Despite the misnaming, it is a gorgeous division, and shows Willis IV to have been rather a master of his art, with understanding and skill way above most of his contemporaries.....