Organ matters - Organs matter!

I have been heavily involved with the parish by way of helping them to understand that they have an historical instrument.  While small, it has a lot to say for itself and is a fabulous organ to play, especially for the liturgy.  While it is very much a work in progress, I have put together a website which is currently being updated in time for a recital I am giving there in July.  The website has an English page which contains much history about the church, organ and area.  The audio page contains complete pieces taken from a recital I gave there in 2008.  The playing is not of the highest order, and the organ was suffering due to the high heat, and these factors combined with the fact that the Anches Appel pedal kept springing off, rather conspired against a smoothly played recital.  However, you can hear the quality of the unrestored organ.  It is very difficult to realise that the sound comes from just nine stops!  It is hoped that Bartholemy Formintelli of Verona will do the restoration in the near future.  The website address is:

www.meursaultorgue.com

Formintelli has produced an excellent report and intends to affect an historic restoration.  As you can see from the many photos on the website, the organ really looks shabby, but still sounds pretty good too!

My wife and I own a house and apartment not far from Meursault (I play there on Sundays when we are on holiday).  Should anyone wish to come and see and try the organ, you would be most welcome. PM me privately and I will let you have further details.  Equally so, you would be welcome to rent the house or apartment - again for further details PC me privately.

Hector

I am having great trouble sending you a PM in response to yours and your security lettering does not show and the letters in the recording to not indicate upper or lower case.  Can you please advise?

P

My wife and I paid a visit to Taize today to do the Taize experience, and more importantly to try their new organ out. For me it has always been somewhat irksome that the organ (Gonzales catalogue job) was never played in all the times we visited. It was explained to us that the organ was not that good, and had also reacted badly to the fast-blow heating system, fast becoming unreliable. I also understand that it's tonal side was less than pleasant, and at complete variance with the Taize-style of music. The decision to have the new organ was made when the heating system was replaced with a new under-floor system, and the new instrument was built by Grenzing of Spain. I think that it was with some trepidation that the Brothers made the decision to replace the organ. Finding something to fulfill a constantly changing role was never going to be easy, especially as they had made do with guitars, keyboards etc for some years, so finding a niche for the use of the organ is still something they are coming to terms with, after all - some people view Taize music as an 'organ free zone'.

What of the organ? Firstly, you can visit the builder's website for details - spec etc. I loved it, epecially as you can register horizontally with increasing warmth as you pile on the modest number of foundations. The Sub coupler also adds a lot of depth without loss of clarity. There is an either/or system with the stops which allows all the stops with the exception of the Fourniture and the Montre to be assigned to either manual I or II. This system, used in conjunction with the sub coupler, and the rather natty II/I treble and II/I bass allows a large number of interesting combinations. The Pedal Basson (the website it says Bombarde douce) is more of a modest Posaune and fits well under the plenum.

I have assumed that the console appointments have rather been dictated by the available space for the organist (not much!). All the stops are above the console (similar to the Dutch style) - and I was somewhat glum when I saw these. However, nothing has been missed, and they are all within easy reach and move up and down (three positions I/Off/II). Quick stop changes are easily made and I quite liked the arrangement.

I enjoyed playing the organ very much indeed, and having seen the stoplist prior, it rather screamed to me that it was limiting with it's mutations and classical bent. However, it is truly a cunning little instrument with huge presence. It has a big sound when everything is going as I has a vast space to fill - and the vast scale of the pedal Soubasse is testament to the need for the organ to cut the mustard.

It is really pleasing to see that Taize hasn't completely eschewed the organ. I think they are trying to work out how it is going to be used, and I can certainly understand their caution. It is also heartening to learn that three of the community play the organ (two Dutch one English) and really appreciate it's presence.

If anyone is in the Taize/Cluny area, drop them an email - they are really friendly and happy for the organ to be played.

I do hope that I haven't dropped any clangers with our esteemed moderators in this post.

Hector

Very pleased to join up and await interesting posts.  I'm constantly on the lookout for redundant organs (pipe and electronic).  I am trying to keep a list on my personal website and have recently successfully re-homed two instruments to France (James Davis - in a horrible condition) and a 1904 Browne.  If anyone wants an organ publicised, please let me have details (spec the lot) and I'll turn it into a PDF and put it on my site.  I'm including electronics as well, simply as there are people prepared to give them away to a good home - and in my case, they could be impoverished organ pupils, or churches looking for temporary instruments.  I'm also interested in obtaining secondhand music as well - for personal and student use.  PM me privately if you are able to assist on any of the items in this post.

Hector