CE Christ Church Cathedral Oxford 5th November, 2014

[DracoM]

CE Christ Church Cathedral Oxford
Archive: first transmitted in 1974



Order of Service:



Responses: Byrd
Psalms: 32, 33, 34 (Wood; Camidge; Parratt)
First Lesson: Genesis 41: 46-57
Canticles: Sancti Johannis Cantabrigiense (Tippett)
Second Lesson: Revelation 4
Anthem: Laudibus in Sanctis (Byrd)



Organ Voluntary: Rhapsody in C sharp minor (Howells)



Assistant Organist: Nicholas Cleobury
Organist: Simon Preston

[mercia]

6 November 1974

http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/radio3/1974-11-06#at-17.00

did they used to cut out the voluntary in those days ?

[DracoM]

Yes, for the most part, it was faded, BUT IIRC, CE was 45 mins long then.

[ardcarp]

6 November 1974

http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/radio3/1974-11-06#at-17.00

did they used to cut out the voluntary in those days ?

...off topic, but on that same page appears The Academy of the BBC. For those who have forgotten it was an orchestra of young musicians paid for and run by the Beeb. Sadly there is nothing of that sort now, i.e. no bridge between the (excellent) orchestras of the colleges, or indeed the NYO, and the professional world of the full-time orchestral player.

...even more off-topic, what a lovely place R3 was in those days!

[Vox Humana]

...off topic, but on that same page appears The Academy of the BBC. For those who have forgotten it was an orchestra of young musicians paid for and run by the Beeb. Sadly there is nothing of that sort now, i.e. no bridge between the (excellent) orchestras of the colleges, or indeed the NYO, and the professional world of the full-time orchestral player.

...even more off-topic, what a lovely place R3 was in those days!

Those were, indeed, the days.

[ardcarp]

Glad you popped up, Vox, because (sort of on topic again) wasn't 1974 before the Rieger organ was installed at CCCO? If so, it'll be quite nice to hear the old one.

[mercia]

wasn't 1974 before the Rieger organ was installed at CCCO?

five years before I believe

[Vox Humana]

Ah yes, I had forgotten that. It will be nice to hear the old Harrison and Harrison again. I have memories of doing two or three weeks there for visiting choirs when I was young. I thought the old organ a bit lumbering, but I'm not sure there was much wrong with it that a new console wouldn't have sorted out.

[DracoM]

Presumably, Simon Preston oversaw and had input into the kind of organ CCCO put in?
Why would they choose a Rieger for the place? What qualities do you associate with such?

[Vox Humana]

Presumably, Simon Preston oversaw and had input into the kind of organ CCCO put in?
Why would they choose a Rieger for the place? What qualities do you associate with such?

I think those questions really need to be answered by an Oxonian. I do not know what prompted Christ Church to get a Rieger, but the choice fits into what seems to be a long-standing policy at Oxford of providing a variety of different styles of organ, presumably to give organ scholars a good breadth of experience. I don't have a vast experience of modern German organs, but I have some and they do seem to be of a type. The fluework is transparent, clear and "vertically" conceived, with singing Principal choruses, bright Mixtures and beautifully liquid flutes, but few string stops (which are quite likely to be confined to a pair of celestes and maybe a 4' Fugara on the Schwellwerk). The reeds, on the other hand, tend to be what I would call the "wrong side of French", the chorus reeds tending towards being thin, strident and loud. Their chamades can be very exciting, but otherwise is can all be a bit much and the resulting brittleness of tone imparted by the reeds isn't to my taste at all. Again in my limited experience, Rieger's reeds are more offensive than most. All that said, however, there are those who love the Christ Church organ.

[teamsaint]

...off topic, but on that same page appears The Academy of the BBC. For those who have forgotten it was an orchestra of young musicians paid for and run by the Beeb. Sadly there is nothing of that sort now, i.e. no bridge between the (excellent) orchestras of the colleges, or indeed the NYO, and the professional world of the full-time orchestral player.

...even more off-topic, what a lovely place R3 was in those days!

Nothing at all, or nothing BBC funded, Ards?

http://www.orionorchestra.org.uk/orion.html

This lot provide that sort of opportunity. I don't know if there are others.

(sorry, off topic, but worth further discussion, I think.)

[ardcarp]

Why would they choose a Rieger for the place? What qualities do you associate with such?

In general terms there has been an ongoing debate about what is a 'suitable' organ for an Anglican choral establishment. I was lucky enough to have my eyes opened (in the 1960s) by playing [mainly] Bach on a big Klais and a smaller Janke in Gottingen. Everything fell into place. It was a Eureka moment. I also had to accompany a visiting choir which had chosen to sing RVW, Finzi and Howells. This was not easy (from a West gallery) but mainly it was difficult to find the right sounds. One ends up coupling a load of 8' stops together and hoping they sound vaguely like a Harrison/Willis diapason. They don't.

In other words, organs are horses for courses. A mainstream Anglican cathedral really needs an instrument suitable for leading big congregations and accompanying an Anglican choir in its [current] repertoire. Many Oxbridge colleges have chosen instruments which give their organ scholars experience in the classical repertoire...and they just have to do their best with Psalms, Hymns and Howells.*
There was disquiet in some quarters when the Rieger arrived at CCCO. Likewise the Grant Degens and Bradbeer at NCO...it had to be revoiced to make it less spiky, I gather.

There are 'eclectic' organs that make a brave attempt to be all things to all men. They are seldom ideal. The preferred option is to have at least two organs, one to accompany the choir and another to play whatever is the preferred solo organ repertory, be it 19th/20th century French or 18th century German.

*The recent copy of Choir and Organ describes a small new one-manual instrument in Sidney Sussex Chapel. It is tuned in fifth-comma meantone and said to be ideal for Byrd/Tomkins verse anthem accompaniment. This is a very rarified luxury. It would sound ridiculous accompanying the psalms...but it doesn't have to.

[ardcarp]

Nothing at all, or nothing BBC funded, Ards?

http://www.orionorchestra.org.uk/orion.html

This lot provide that sort of opportunity. I don't know if there are others.

Yes indeed. This sounds a great venture. However the BBC Training Orchestra (or Academy of the BBC as it became) offered proper contracts, as I understand it, so that members were not just doing one-off concerts, but meeting and rehearsing on a daily basis just as regular orchestral players do.

[Keraulophone]

Presumably, Simon Preston oversaw and had input into the kind of organ CCCO put in?
Why would they choose a Rieger for the place? What qualities do you associate with such?

Simon Preston and the college/cathedral actually chose the American organ builder Lawrence Phelps (husband of Gillian Weir) to provide a replacement for the old Willis/Harrison instrument. However, having dismantled the organ and removed the pipework to their workshop, Lawrence Phelps Associates became insolvent. The pipework was effectively lost to the college/cathedral with the result that they had no option but to commission a new organ, while a gaping hole remained on the screen for much of 1978.

At that time, one could marvel at how much SP was able to cajole from the small II/P pipe organ temporarily located north-east of the choir stalls, especially the transformation that occurred as he slid along the organ bench, seamlessly taking over the organ scholar's relatively meagre improvisation and creating something to wonder at.

[vinteuil]

I think those questions really need to be answered by an Oxonian. I do not know what prompted Christ Church to get a Rieger, but the choice fits into what seems to be a long-standing policy at Oxford of providing a variety of different styles of organ, presumably to give organ scholars a good breadth of experience. .

... as, for example, Exeter and its choice of a French style -

http://www.exeter.ox.ac.uk/node/178