Thank you for your replies.
Young Thomas Mellan certainly enjoys himself at the console, exploring all the different sections. It's wonderful to see young people getting enthused by such versatile and extraordinary instruments. Only a pipe organ has such a stunning range, and very few of us ever get a chance to play the big ones, and even then, how often do we get a chance to explore the breadth of every stop? I'm not sure I get the comment on making a pipe organ sound like an electronic one. Maybe it's the fact we don't often hear individual pipes at the extremes - unless we have a diet of Messiaen?
I'll look out for Peter Williams' book on the history of the organ, but my question wasn't so much about the historical angle so much as why did the organ get into church at all? My proposal is that the organ is not only the best instrument at supporting the rituals of our worship but also it is the best at enhancing our experience. Sometimes sympathetically to how we were feeling, and sometimes by challenging. Of course this does depend on the organist and on the organ. Both of which are on the endangered list. But then there are some dreadful pipe organs out there that really should be retired, and if a church doesn't have an organist then what's the point of having an organ? Then we get to the chicken and egg question and whether people want to go to church in the first place. Too big a subject for this topic I think. So I'll go back to the experience of hearing the organ.
Thank you for the story of people listening to an organist rehearse. It's always encouraging that some people enjoy listening and certainly in my experience people do often sit for longer than they might have done. I'm sure some people are driven away mind you, especially those set in their ways who weren't expecting to find company, let alone live music, in the church.
I've been told off by churchwardens for making too much noise while they are trying to tidy up (but you have to practise for Easter morning some time during Lent!) and a member of the congregation shouted at me to stop after a service for playing the Devil's music. Is Langlais really that bad? Poor chap had realised it was Roman Catholic music and the daft church I belonged to at the time had taught its people that only C of E was right and nothing else was to be tolerated. Still, not much fun trying to get those notes right when someone's standing beside you shouting at you. Apparently I needed to let the Holy Spirit choose the music - so obviously the Holy Ghost is not French. Bach didn't offend, curiously enough.
People may not listen to a closing voluntary (it's the signal that says "start talking loudly") but usually in my experience people do stop and listen at other times of day. People have thanked me for playing "for them" and have asked for more. An American tourist was ecstatic about the new Klais organ in Bath Abbey after I played something loud. A lady in a Sussex church was very moved by Master Tallis' Testament on a weekday lunchtime following a terrorist attack in London.
Church cleaners and flower ladies usually love to have music while they work. I do tend to apologise before I start if I'm about to practise something noisy or difficult, but, just as in a service, people seem to prefer contrast and a varied selection. And then of course a quiet Bach choral doesn't always win against the hoover!
I remember playing in a tiny church in Devon. A single manual instrument. I was practising for a wedding that afternoon and a retired priest came and sat. He asked me to play Appleford's tune for the hymn "Lord Jesus Christ". He wanted all the verses and then thanked me very much. It was one of the hymns for his wife's funeral the day before. I felt very privileged to have been there.
The organ mechanism then jammed on the penultimate chord of the Trumpet Tune I played for the Bride's entrance. Irritating to have an F blasting out for the final chord of C major. So, hands off and quickly shove in the 5 or 6 stops. Music whisked to the organ stool and the front panel of the organ/music desk hurriedly removed and handed to wife/page turner. Hands inside the organ untangling the mechanism and straightening the rods so they wouldn't get stuck again. The priest hadn't noticed a thing and carried on with his VERY SHORT welcome and his invitation to sing the first hymn. The best man had noticed what I was doing and looked very pale. Organ panel back in place, music up, stops out and away with the hymn. Nobody else realised there had been any problem.
Now, you couldn't do that with an electronic!!
All the best,
Max
Young Thomas Mellan certainly enjoys himself at the console, exploring all the different sections. It's wonderful to see young people getting enthused by such versatile and extraordinary instruments. Only a pipe organ has such a stunning range, and very few of us ever get a chance to play the big ones, and even then, how often do we get a chance to explore the breadth of every stop? I'm not sure I get the comment on making a pipe organ sound like an electronic one. Maybe it's the fact we don't often hear individual pipes at the extremes - unless we have a diet of Messiaen?
I'll look out for Peter Williams' book on the history of the organ, but my question wasn't so much about the historical angle so much as why did the organ get into church at all? My proposal is that the organ is not only the best instrument at supporting the rituals of our worship but also it is the best at enhancing our experience. Sometimes sympathetically to how we were feeling, and sometimes by challenging. Of course this does depend on the organist and on the organ. Both of which are on the endangered list. But then there are some dreadful pipe organs out there that really should be retired, and if a church doesn't have an organist then what's the point of having an organ? Then we get to the chicken and egg question and whether people want to go to church in the first place. Too big a subject for this topic I think. So I'll go back to the experience of hearing the organ.
Thank you for the story of people listening to an organist rehearse. It's always encouraging that some people enjoy listening and certainly in my experience people do often sit for longer than they might have done. I'm sure some people are driven away mind you, especially those set in their ways who weren't expecting to find company, let alone live music, in the church.
I've been told off by churchwardens for making too much noise while they are trying to tidy up (but you have to practise for Easter morning some time during Lent!) and a member of the congregation shouted at me to stop after a service for playing the Devil's music. Is Langlais really that bad? Poor chap had realised it was Roman Catholic music and the daft church I belonged to at the time had taught its people that only C of E was right and nothing else was to be tolerated. Still, not much fun trying to get those notes right when someone's standing beside you shouting at you. Apparently I needed to let the Holy Spirit choose the music - so obviously the Holy Ghost is not French. Bach didn't offend, curiously enough.
People may not listen to a closing voluntary (it's the signal that says "start talking loudly") but usually in my experience people do stop and listen at other times of day. People have thanked me for playing "for them" and have asked for more. An American tourist was ecstatic about the new Klais organ in Bath Abbey after I played something loud. A lady in a Sussex church was very moved by Master Tallis' Testament on a weekday lunchtime following a terrorist attack in London.
Church cleaners and flower ladies usually love to have music while they work. I do tend to apologise before I start if I'm about to practise something noisy or difficult, but, just as in a service, people seem to prefer contrast and a varied selection. And then of course a quiet Bach choral doesn't always win against the hoover!
I remember playing in a tiny church in Devon. A single manual instrument. I was practising for a wedding that afternoon and a retired priest came and sat. He asked me to play Appleford's tune for the hymn "Lord Jesus Christ". He wanted all the verses and then thanked me very much. It was one of the hymns for his wife's funeral the day before. I felt very privileged to have been there.
The organ mechanism then jammed on the penultimate chord of the Trumpet Tune I played for the Bride's entrance. Irritating to have an F blasting out for the final chord of C major. So, hands off and quickly shove in the 5 or 6 stops. Music whisked to the organ stool and the front panel of the organ/music desk hurriedly removed and handed to wife/page turner. Hands inside the organ untangling the mechanism and straightening the rods so they wouldn't get stuck again. The priest hadn't noticed a thing and carried on with his VERY SHORT welcome and his invitation to sing the first hymn. The best man had noticed what I was doing and looked very pale. Organ panel back in place, music up, stops out and away with the hymn. Nobody else realised there had been any problem.
Now, you couldn't do that with an electronic!!
All the best,
Max