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Messages - chris13

#1
Miscellaneous & Suggestions / Re: J.B.Dalby FRCO
March 12, 2017, 09:00:40 PM
Turned on the telly this evening and caught the end of Songs of Praise. The last hymn was from St Machar's and there were some scenes of the organist at the console.
#2
Miscellaneous & Suggestions / Re: J.B.Dalby FRCO
March 02, 2017, 08:00:52 AM
It appears that Silverdale was not the birthplace of J.B Dalby as stated in the St Machar's website. Another website gives Shipley in Yorkshire as his birthplace along with the fact that he attended Salt's School which is probably in nearby Saltaire. He retired to Silverdale. His dates I believe are 1910-1987.

The Beethoven score turns out not to be a school prize but the Harding Prize awarded by the Royal College of Organists. Although the front covers contains a slip of paper saying that it is the Harding prize in the hand of John Dalby it always bothered me why there wasn't an official certificate giving details of where the prize came from and I made the wrong assumption it came from a school.
#3
Miscellaneous & Suggestions / Re: J.B.Dalby FRCO
March 01, 2017, 08:26:42 PM
Thank you David for your reply.

Yes I have confirmed that Martin Dalby was the son.

J.B Dalby came from Silverdale in north Lancashire and finally retired there, thus explaining how the score ended up in a Carnforth secondhand bookshop. JR was organist at St Machars Cathedral (hope I have spelled it correctly) between 1938-54.

He did not teach at Lancaster University as I had hypothesised.
#4
Miscellaneous & Suggestions / J.B.Dalby FRCO
March 01, 2017, 12:08:01 PM
A few years ago I purchased two miniature scores of Beethoven's symphonies, one of symphony nos 7 and one of nos 9 from a secondhand book shop in north Lancashire. The hardback copy of the 9th symphony had been given as a school prize in 1935 to J.B Dalby.

Yesterday evening some friends of ours visited and we started to discuss a performance of the Ode to Joy broadcast during the opening concert of the Elbphilharmonie and so I opened the copy of the score. To my delight our friend said that her mother had known a Mrs Dalby (possibly the wife of J B Dalby) when she lived close to the secondhand bookshop.

This morning I have started to search for any details of J B Dalby on the internet and found one of his publications whilst he was organiser of music for the city of Aberdeen Education Authority. I know this is the same J B Dalby because inside one of the scores I found a subscription concert programme for 1960-61 season at the Music Hall Aberdeen. I also know that by 1966 he had achieved a BMus and FRCO.

I would very much like to know how these scores migrated to north Lancashire and wonder if anybody on this forum could help. Our friend said last night that they thought he became Professor Dalby which implies he took a post in the music department at Lancaster University and this is something I could fairly easily explore. However any other information in the meantime would be most helpful.

Thank you
Chris
#5
Dear Forum members,
I am attempting to locate an acquaintance from many years ago named Leo Raymond Hart.

Leo and I lived in the same hostel at the Atomic Energy Research Establishment, Harwell between 1972 and 1975. It was 1975 that I left and I guess Leo went on living there for number of years thereafter.

Leo was building his own pipe organ in a worksop on the AERE site outside the security fence in a workshop loaned by the staff social club. He collected pipes from churches either closing down or installing electronic organs. He had built from scratch his own three manual/ radial pedal board console and either built new wind chests or refurbished the originals. He used electrical valve actuation. We built up a friendship perhaps because I took some interest in what he was doing and he didn't mind my attempts at playing hymns and carols on his organ.

The last I heard of Leo was that he had left Harwell in the mid 1980s and trained in nursing somewhere on the south coast, perhaps Portsmouth but I'm not sure, and I don't know what happened to the organ. The organ, albeit somewhat large, was reasonably transportable.

This note is just a long shot to ask if any forum member had ever come across Leo and therefore give me a clues as to where to start looking. I guess that he would be aged between 75 to 80 by now. My reason for trying to contact him is merely to renew our acquaintanceship and discuss our musical interests.