Organist's signature - or why priests are wary of organs and their players. . .

[David Pinnegar]

Hi!

This afternoon I was in communication with a great organist about the possibility of doing a recital. His email was very jolly but at the bottom read the following:

"The Church knew what the psalmist knew: Music praises God. Music is well or better able to praise him than the building of the church and all its decoration; it is the Church's greatest ornament." Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)

. . . !!!

Best wishes

David P

[AnOrganCornucopia]

And what is wrong with that? A church without music is all but useless...

[revtonynewnham]

And what is wrong with that? A church without music is all but useless...

Hi

Try telling that to the Quakers and a handful of other smaller Christian denominations that ban either musical instruments or music altogether!

Every Blessing

Tony

[Barrie Davis]

Hi

Thank you for your reply Tony.

Silence in Worship is needed many times, as is quiet with a very restrained background of music. We must remember that the organ is there to enhance Worship and not take it over.

I adore Taize' Worship which rarely uses the organ and relies on the human voice with simple instrumental enhancents.

In answer to the question why are priests wary of organists thats a very hard question to answer, but I feel the answer is so easy, many organists are not Christians (a generalisation for which I apologise), in my area they are good recitalists from a  Music College who blast out voluntaries before and after the service regardless about the theme of the worship. My own church likes a quiet time before any act of worship and complain if that is overlooked. One person when he plays gets applause at the end of the concluding voluntary, that is not a way to conclude an act of worship.
The applause should be after the Blessing to thank God for the Blessings He has given us.

Best wishes

Barrie

[David Drinkell]

I get applause at the end of the concluding voluntary from those who stay to listen - which often includes the Dean.  On the whole, I'd rather they didn't do it, but I don't want to make a big thing of it.

I know quite a few organists who are very, very good at their job, sensitive accompanists, gifted choir-trainers, knowledgeable about liturgy and repertoire, but are not believers.  Similarly, the composers of much truly great and inspirational church music have not had the gift of belief - Britten, Tippett, Howells, Rutter, Parry, Vaughan Williams, Sumsion, etc.  I believe that a person who is good at his/her job will be more valuable to a church than someone who believes but is not so gifted.

Conversely, there's a vast amount of tripe composed by those who are believers!

[KB7DQH]

And to steer this in a different discussion...

Read the following:http://www.gazette.net/article/20120111/NEWS/701119613/1007/bethesda-organist-strives-to-make-impact-with-music&template=gazette

Bethesda organist strives to make impact with music
Church music director, musician hosts concerts for a cause
by Alex Ruoff, Staff Writer


Throughout his life, Kyle Babin always has been a regular church goer and an enjoyer of liturgical music. But not always at the same time.

"When I was young, the music at church was...not very good," he said. "But I was learning piano and hearing good music, so had enjoyed both."

Today, Babin is the organist and director of music at Bradley Hills Presbyterian Church in Bethesda. He hopes to keep the two together with a resurgent concert series at the church.

"This has long been a kind of coveted space for recordings and concerts and we started raising some money to start the series," he said, referring to the size and acoustic quality of the church.

Babin himself played a recital of organ music at Bradley Hills on Nov. 19 to benefit Bethesda Cares, a homeless outreach program. In February, the church will host Donald Sutherland, coordinator of the organ department at the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University, who will play with his students to raise money for the church.

This year's concert for Bethesda Cares raised more than $1,000 for the non-profit, on par with what it raised the previous two years it was held.

Future concerts — where the church generally asked for donations of $10 or $15 — go to benefit the church's mission and outreach work as well as local charities.

David Gray, a reverend at Bradley Hills and head of the staff, said both Babin's hard work for and participation in the concert series has helped it flourish. This year the concert will feature such artists as Fred Hersch, a two-time Grammy nominee for his performances as a solo jazz pianist.

"Kyle brings incredible gifts...unique gifts to the church," Gray said.

Babin, 31, of Washington, D.C., recently earned recognition at the International Organ Festival at St. Albans in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom this summer, where he earned the Douglas May Award, given to the best single performance. Babin, a Texas-native, is a graduate of Yale University's School of Music and earned a doctorate of musical arts from the Manhattan School of Music.

Babin said his music education began with playing the piano, but his involvement in the church led him to explore the organ, an instrument similar to the piano that requires more use of foot pedals. He said the organ, which is featured in many churches, gave him more opportunities to play professionally than the piano, which is more commonly played.

Although he said he's not concerned about accolades, Babin has made a name for himself among organists. He has played at some of the oldest churches in the area — Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and Washington National Cathedral, both in Washington, D.C., said Chris Miller, dean of the D.C. chapter of the American Guild of Organists. Both are well known for the organ concerts they hold, Miller said.

The area has a long tradition of organ music, Miller said, because some of its earliest tenants were large cathedrals which needed a loud instrument, like an organ with its massive pipes, to pay for big audiences.

"The pipe organ has been in [Washington,] D.C. for hundreds of years," he said. "Literally since the city was founded."

aruoff@gazette.net

Eric
KB7DQH

[David Pinnegar]

knowledgeable about liturgy and repertoire, but are not believers.
[et seq]

Dear David

This is why I have been trying to create an interface between organists and what they are doing, belief and non belief, and in this way not to spread belief but understanding, an understanding of common denominators between the two. Starting from "The Idea" of "The Strange force that creates Order against the Natural Law of Increasing Entropy" possibly one can understand even evolution, normally a stronghold of atheism, as something arising from something magical rather more preordained and arising from something very fundamental that others might call "That in Which We Believe". Other things might flow or have flowed from there but that's a matter of discovery . . .

Have any of these efforts brought or started any of the intended flow of ideas?

In pursuing the thought of the "atheist god" as merely "The Idea", the whole of the book that we read being merely symbolic, on Radio 3 last week's Choral Evensong, the lesson was that of the Transfiguration. Such supernatural events might well arise through some manipulation or manifestation of physically explicable (one day) hidden dimensions, but I wondered how many other truly supernatural manifestations are described in the bible? Walking on the water is another . . .

Best wishes

David P