*My favourite bit is when John has to shout "Swell" over the sound of the organ at **6:30** (it gives you a clue as to how loud it is) and then the sound of the Plenum at **6:50** which blows your ears off!* 👊
Audiences are welcome to sit in the chancel for recitals. Great for watching the organist and also to experience the full stereophonic impact of this magnificent instrument!
Lord Richard, Thank you for this aural romp at Blackburn. I have this perception that the position of the organ has much to do with its apparent loudness.
don't you plan from the part 10:18 - 10:46 make youtube shorts? It's the perfect epic camera + sound, if you need help, I can make it and send it for you
Bravo John and Richard for such an amazing demonstration of our fine Cathedral organ at Blackburn! Spectacular improvisation at the end too John! Congratulations!
Absolutely fantastic recording by Richard of this wonderful demo by John. My initial playback had two very minor instances of distortion but then four replays on different audio reproduction systems including the original revealed zero distortion so the first instance apparently involved neither Richard's terrific recording nor my reproduction equipment. Richard's showing printed lists of organ stops used by illuminating the stop names as they were pulled is genius. Many thanks to both for this presentation!
With excellence like this, I some how knew that you (Richard) had to be involved. This guy's a genius, on more levels than I can name. I hope he is teaching... around the entire world... via the internet. Thank you, Dear Richard, for opening 'doors' for him. And thank you again....... for sharing some of the treasures you've found along the way... with all of us. Blessings John and Richard and the entire production crew... and family. Yea!!!! on all of you.
The audio quality and stereo separation are pristine…even through TH-cam compression! Thanks for taking the time to get such amazing representation of this organ!
Thank you! I made the stereo field really clear in this demonstration, as this is exactly as it’s heard in the building. The sound mix for tonight’s Organ Recital on the same organ is varied, depending upon registration, tempo and dynamic. Don’t miss it!
Congratulations to all involved, and really looking forward to to this Blackburn special weekend. What an amazing organ, and what a fantastic guide is John Hosking - the technicality of recording an instrument like this in such a big space - with such an absurdly wide dynamic range (gentle strings to imperial trumpet) - it's all mind-blowing. Bravo!!!!!
So delighted that you .have discovered the joys which are Blackburn. I first knew this organ in the days of John Bertalot and have tried to follow its progress and rebuilding ever since.
After last Sunday's excellent Advent Carol service, John played his own Advent Fantasy, weaving together several familiar Advent hymn tunes in varying styles, and demonstrating the different colours and combinations. It was very well received, getting a round of applause at the end.
Wow thank you @John Hosking and @Richard McVeigh for producing such a comprehensive demonstration! Liked the improvisation a lot, @John Hosking, the organ sounds so rich in the acoustic, with such impressive harmonies. @Richard McVeigh your expression at the last chord was a picture!
A very fine organ, completely new to me. Very nicely demonstrated. I especially was surprised by how beautiful the flutes sounded, quite diverse. If an organ has good flutes, that says a lot about the entire organ.
Such an amazing demonstration!! Blackburn Cathedral's Organ sounds amazing! I'm really looking forward to the content this weekend! Thank you Richard and John!
What an amazing neo-classical style organ! A fabulous demonstration of all the color possibilities by John Hosking who shows off his incredible improvising skills at the end.
Richard I love Blackburn cathedral that organ is amazing and I am fond of Blackburn because of our friend Ian garden affiliation with it thank you Richard for always bringing us the best music out there you're the best xxoo
Thank you for the mention Carmen! The Diocese of Blackburn is a Church of England diocese, covering much of Lancashire, created on 12 November 1926 from part of the Diocese of Manchester. The diocese includes the towns of Blackburn, Blackpool and Burnley, the cities of Lancaster and Preston, as well as a large part of the Ribble Valley ... only 4 years to our Centenary Year (that must mean a party or two). The cathedral itself (the former parish church) is as awesome as the organ ... with an astonishing acoustic!
Ian I am so disappointed I missed the live organ recital I was running errands and I arrived late but I will watch the playback and share my thoughts with Richard
Wow... I've always been a huge fan of this instrument, admittedly due to the reeds. However this demonstration blew my mind as the beauty that you showed us in the softer registrations, the gorgeous strings, the flutes everything is just beautiful. That pedal division is so monstrous but just so gorgeous! Thank you so much for this video!
Wow. That organ really is quite different. As John says, you really have to think outbox the box, clearly. I was a bit surprised around 18:50 as so much of the pedal division was pulled, yet it wasn’t as overpowering as I’d expect.
The only pedal note I've realised you have to watch after listening back to the edit of the concert is bottom G - no matter how few stops you have drawn, it seems to dominate everything further back in the Nave. Other than that, the flue work is quite punchy but not overbearing.
What an incredible organ, thank you Richard for filming this and thank you John for the demonstration! This organ should be made to Hauptwerk sample set! :)
@@tuomashautamaki2258 No problem! I'm really excited for the release. There'll be a two-week demo available for 5 pounds so you can try the sample set without shelling out that 500 pounds for the full license.
hard to tell with the photo, but the placement of the pipes are great. Most churches don't use the 'arms' of the church ,, but just the naves can act like a speakers in itself as well
Thank you so much, John and Richard!. Wonderful demonstration of one of my favorite organs, a rather unusual instrument for England. I have several recordings of this fascinating Walker now plus Wood example, from both prior to and after the Wood rebuild/modification. This demonstration aids greatly in understanding the design and function of this fantastic organ. Interesting to compare this with another wonderful Walker instrument in Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral, both of which perhaps daringly add new dimensions to traditional English design and hence sound. In this demonstration I had some distortion at a couple of times which apparently was from the recording, as I have no distortion on either the vinyl or CD recordings in my collection.
Thanks for that. It’s an astonishingly exciting and colourful organ. I can guarantee and promise that any distortion is happening at your end, and is not in the recording itself. I’m very aware of this sort of thing. Try some different headphones or speakers.
@@beautyinsound Thank you for your response and also again for your recording the demonstration. The distortion I experienced was only with a couple of combinations of organ stops. It was not in what one would expect, for example at the demonstration of the 32' serpent. Using the same listening equipment(s) I have had no distortion with any of the recordings I have of this wonderful organ.
This is just a guess, but it probably sounds like a serpent! A serpent is an old musical instrument which is shaped like a letter "S" and a question mark combined.
The quote from John Bertalot to Francis Jackson goes something like 'you have a Sackbut at York, so we'll have a Serpent at Blackburn' - both early music instruments and forerunners to the modern day Trombone.
@@T0NYD1CK if you look at the bottom octave in the south transept (next to the transept swell box) they are double mitred, looking like a striking cobra (albeit a little bigger)
@@JohnHoskingGreatOrganSounds Well, I have heard the term "Sag-butt" at York XD...Now, that Serpent looks like an "Imperial Cobra" with its 45-degree bends in the pipes...
@@JohnHoskingGreatOrganSounds It was sort of a JWW "trademark" at the time to call the 32' reed after old musical instruments if the client permitted it. Hence why the Met doesn't have one.
Interesting. A 4 manual organ with no 16' diapasons, no 8' Diapasons on the swell or choir. But lots of Mixtures. Oh, yes, gotta have those Mixtures. I cheap way o making the organ loud without much foundation or fundamental stops to back it up. Nice Vox H. Oboe = more a muted trumpet (Small scale) Yes the reeds will make up for the lack of proper flue pipes. In that acoustical environment almost anything would sound good. This instrument has a nice pitch range but lacks, severely, the guts that make an organ powerful as well as loud.
I have to admit this is not my favorite style of organbuilding and found my ears getting very fatigued quickly. To my senses, this organ yells at you. I much prefer the Nicholson organ at Llandaff which sings to you.
From a liturgical point of view I feel that there is far too much emphasis on making Cathedral organs loud and tonally comprehensive for the performance of recitals etc. As with any other Church organ their principle role is for choral accompaniment and congregational hymn singing. I am an organist and also give organ recitals but really feel that owning to the costly exercise of organ maintenance and if needed, restoration of instruments, the additional cost of making tonal changes or desirable improvements for the sake of concert and recital purposes which creates a further financial burden on a church or Cathedral, should be more seriously considered. It has only been in the past 50 or so years that the trend of such changes or improvements has been requested by the younger generation of organists who wish to display their musicianship by making somewhat of a louder output of organ tone. The church or Cathedral is the house of God and for the worship of his holy name. Not a concert hall. Glory should be made to God and not to the performance of the organist and the large repertoire of non liturgical organ music.
Of course, we are very fortunate that the Blackburn organ is extremely colourful for accompaniment of the choir and just holds its own when the building is packed with hearty congregational hymn singing on Diocesan occasions. Do tune into Radio 3 and BBC1 over Christmas to see how effective this instrument is in a liturgical role.
@@johnhosking6193 Thank you for your response to my comments on the organ. I should point out that these comments were purely my personal opinion and given with all due respect. I have absolutely no reason to doubt that the instrument completely fulfills its role from a liturgical angle. The point I was making was that in the past I have heard of incidents where Church authorities have spent thousands of pounds on perfectly adequate organs on the whim of mainly younger organists , to enhance the instrument for purely the performance of recitals. For example, expensive pedal reeds . Fund raising in ordinary parish churches can be difficult enough, to pay for necessary maintenance or restoration work of organs, but I think it slightly inconsiderate of organist to further burden the church funds by spending extra money to fulfill their desires, when from a liturgical angle, such proposals are totally unnecessary.
Then you're watching the wrong video. This series is just as much about hearing the organist's description and interpretation of the uses and character of the stops. If you wanted a recital there are plenty of other places for that.
Altogether a poorely designed organ that brags about having only one diapason on four manuals in an organ that size. Another insult is a Quintadon on the Great substituting for the 16' Diapason which need be there. A blockflute to cap the diapason chorus??? Is someone gone crazy?? At least the strings sound very nice. That oboe sounds as much like an oboe as a car horn. K'horn sounds much like an open Vox H. H ave heard better farts. They are exciting as well. Bother - this thing will play the notes, as will any instrument. As an example of good tonal design - Nah. It has a bunch of weird stop sounds. The serpent is but a rattle. Making excuses for the tonal design of the organ. Design to act. Why wasn't the Swell Diapason in the first place. Even smaller organs have this stop. Waste of money. another experiemantal instrument that maked up for quality with novelties. Digital stops - Oh, well, If you want digital stops, why don't you just by a digital organ. They are a fraction of the cost and will last only 20 years or so before going obsolete without repair parts. A real pipe organ, one that doesn't need new additions, can last 300 years. Stuff you electronic voices. Cheap imitations recorded from a real organ somewhere.
I'm not sure how you can possibly describe an organ as poorly designed when it works extremely well in the building, plays a wide array of repertoire extremely convincingly and also accompanies with a great deal of versatility. There is a choice of either a 2' flute or 2' Fifteenth on the Great to cap the principal chorus; the Quintaton is designed to underpin the chorus in the nave which it does extremely well - and with the generous 7 second acoustic, further foundation stops aren't really missed as the 8' stops it has are more than sufficient. Come to Blackburn and hear it for yourself!
There are 4 tonal groups in any well designed organ, I think five is a better number to provide a category for Mixtures. Each of these is distinct in the tones produced and the method of production. Thus - A diapason chorus can not be underpinned by a flute such as Quintaton nor can it be topped by a 2' flute. Two different sounds, different voicing, different mouths and scales. There is no question that the acoustic setting is ideal, as are most cathedral scale buildings. With such reverb it is essential that you slow things down a bit. Foundation stops are just that - Foundation. The 8' stops can not substitute for that group. A Quintaton is a flute and produces a peculiar sound with the third harmonic equal in volume as the first. . Principal tone has a second harmonic present, though not dominant. the 3rd is carefully tucked away and the 4th is in a closet somewhere behind the upper lip.@@JohnHoskingGreatOrganSounds Substituting one tonal group for another is just a cheap trick, similar to unification and borrowing. Any organ of reasonable size can reproduce enough tonal variants to play most music. Without the balance of tonal groups, you can not properly create the dynamics and tonal variation the composer envisioned. This organ, as acceptable as it might sound, is a product of the baroque fad that led to the destruction of so many organs. You can't play French symphonic pieces in a Schnitger organ and you can not render Bach on a Wurlitzer. You can play the notes but not the music. Therein lies the weakness of your instrument - impressive though it may sound in that building. I don't want to get into a contest of wills here. I give my opinion and facts to support it. A difference of opinion is what horse racing is all about. I don't own any horses.
*My favourite bit is when John has to shout "Swell" over the sound of the organ at **6:30** (it gives you a clue as to how loud it is) and then the sound of the Plenum at **6:50** which blows your ears off!* 👊
Audiences are welcome to sit in the chancel for recitals. Great for watching the organist and also to experience the full stereophonic impact of this magnificent instrument!
Lord Richard, Thank you for this aural romp at Blackburn. I have this perception that the position of the organ has much to do with its apparent loudness.
don't you plan from the part 10:18 - 10:46 make youtube shorts? It's the perfect epic camera + sound, if you need help, I can make it and send it for you
Bravo John and Richard for such an amazing demonstration of our fine Cathedral organ at Blackburn! Spectacular improvisation at the end too John! Congratulations!
John really is a master at improvising. What a fantastic organ and organist.
Absolutely fantastic recording by Richard of this wonderful demo by John. My initial playback had two very minor instances of distortion but then four replays on different audio reproduction systems including the original revealed zero distortion so the first instance apparently involved neither Richard's terrific recording nor my reproduction equipment. Richard's showing printed lists of organ stops used by illuminating the stop names as they were pulled is genius. Many thanks to both for this presentation!
With excellence like this, I some how knew that you (Richard) had to be involved. This guy's a genius, on more levels than I can name. I hope he is teaching... around the entire world... via the internet. Thank you, Dear Richard, for opening 'doors' for him. And thank you again....... for sharing some of the treasures you've found along the way... with all of us. Blessings John and Richard and the entire production crew... and family. Yea!!!! on all of you.
The audio quality and stereo separation are pristine…even through TH-cam compression! Thanks for taking the time to get such amazing representation of this organ!
Thank you! I made the stereo field really clear in this demonstration, as this is exactly as it’s heard in the building. The sound mix for tonight’s Organ Recital on the same organ is varied, depending upon registration, tempo and dynamic. Don’t miss it!
We are so blessed to have this superb organ in Blackburn and are blessed by having the two incredible Johns - Robinson & Hosking - to drive it!
.. and not forgetting John Bertalot too!
You don't drive an organ like that - you just wrestle with it !
Congratulations to all involved, and really looking forward to to this Blackburn special weekend. What an amazing organ, and what a fantastic guide is John Hosking - the technicality of recording an instrument like this in such a big space - with such an absurdly wide dynamic range (gentle strings to imperial trumpet) - it's all mind-blowing. Bravo!!!!!
So delighted that you .have discovered the joys which are Blackburn. I first knew this organ in the days of John Bertalot and have tried to follow its progress and rebuilding ever since.
Beautiful full organ sound ! Without a single Reed
After last Sunday's excellent Advent Carol service, John played his own Advent Fantasy, weaving together several familiar Advent hymn tunes in varying styles, and demonstrating the different colours and combinations. It was very well received, getting a round of applause at the end.
Wow! That is one powerful instrument! Thank you Richard, for bringing this to your audience!
Marvellous! Your face at the end, Richard! Like a child in a sweet shop!
Wow thank you @John Hosking and @Richard McVeigh for producing such a comprehensive demonstration! Liked the improvisation a lot, @John Hosking, the organ sounds so rich in the acoustic, with such impressive harmonies. @Richard McVeigh your expression at the last chord was a picture!
A very fine organ, completely new to me. Very nicely demonstrated. I especially was surprised by how beautiful the flutes sounded, quite diverse. If an organ has good flutes, that says a lot about the entire organ.
Such an amazing demonstration!! Blackburn Cathedral's Organ sounds amazing! I'm really looking forward to the content this weekend! Thank you Richard and John!
Thanks Richard! I’m considering getting this sample set when it comes out so I’m glad there’s a full organ demonstration.
What an amazing neo-classical style organ! A fabulous demonstration of all the color possibilities by John Hosking who shows off his incredible improvising skills at the end.
Hardly... I'm pretty sure there are rather a few combination possibilities available through coupling manuals and manuals-pedal.
What a fascination instrument with a fabulous demonstration of its capabilities from John and fantastic videography by Richard: bravo one and all!
Richard I love Blackburn cathedral that organ is amazing and I am fond of Blackburn because of our friend Ian garden affiliation with it thank you Richard for always bringing us the best music out there you're the best xxoo
Thank you for the mention Carmen! The Diocese of Blackburn is a Church of England diocese, covering much of Lancashire, created on 12 November 1926 from part of the Diocese of Manchester. The diocese includes the towns of Blackburn, Blackpool and Burnley, the cities of Lancaster and Preston, as well as a large part of the Ribble Valley ... only 4 years to our Centenary Year (that must mean a party or two). The cathedral itself (the former parish church) is as awesome as the organ ... with an astonishing acoustic!
Ian I am so disappointed I missed the live organ recital I was running errands and I arrived late but I will watch the playback and share my thoughts with Richard
I love that 32' pedal reed! ❤️
Authoritative, to say the least. Thanks for the exciting and informative video.
Wow... I've always been a huge fan of this instrument, admittedly due to the reeds. However this demonstration blew my mind as the beauty that you showed us in the softer registrations, the gorgeous strings, the flutes everything is just beautiful. That pedal division is so monstrous but just so gorgeous! Thank you so much for this video!
My phrase of the day, 1 December is:
JUPITERIAN LARGESSE!
This organ does the day grandly! Thank u!🎵❤️
Thank you for the demo...I often attend the lunchtime recitals, in fact I was there for Michael Pain's recital yesterday, which was excellent!
Wow, what a fantastic organ, and a pristine recording by Richard.
Enjoyed this John and Richard!
Amazing video, amazing organist, amazing organ, as usual, Richard, thanks a lot !!
Wow. That organ really is quite different. As John says, you really have to think outbox the box, clearly. I was a bit surprised around 18:50 as so much of the pedal division was pulled, yet it wasn’t as overpowering as I’d expect.
The only pedal note I've realised you have to watch after listening back to the edit of the concert is bottom G - no matter how few stops you have drawn, it seems to dominate everything further back in the Nave. Other than that, the flue work is quite punchy but not overbearing.
That just made my day! Thanks so much to you both!
I will examine carefully the disposition of this organ. Greetings from a Brazilian organist.
This was wonderful!!
Swell 8', 4' flutes plus Gamba sounds beautiful. I can see how effective this would be for accompaniment.
My Goodness What an Organ and Organist! - Listening through my Bose Q15's WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I had to put on my AKG K701s and re-start the video!
@@T0NYD1CK Nice! :)
What a fantastic sound.
awesome as always
Blackburn and Liverpool Anglican Cathedral organs are in my opinion the best in the land, and I played on both in the 80's. Stunning instruments.
Have you heard or played in York Minster?
Coventry is outstanding too.
My God, what will the neighbors think?!?! Just kidding. 😁
It may not be a "nice" organ, but it's certainly an impressive one!
Excellent demonstration.Wow…..
This is what I think an organ should be big and loud the louder the better
The original heavy metal
Yes-a wonderful instrument. I was lucky enough recently to play the mighty organ at R.H.S. Holbrook(Suffolk)-that`s quite loud too!
Great Video !!
Nice, thorough demonstration of a great organ Thanks, Mr. Hosking.
from 00:19:00 tremendous magnificent part
What an incredible organ, thank you Richard for filming this and thank you John for the demonstration! This organ should be made to Hauptwerk sample set! :)
It is being made into a sample set and it’s going to be released this weekend.
@@Michael_VG That's nice! Thanks for the information Michael
a friend of mine personally worked on this sampleset and it definitely does sound awesome ;)
@@tuomashautamaki2258 No problem! I'm really excited for the release. There'll be a two-week demo available for 5 pounds so you can try the sample set without shelling out that 500 pounds for the full license.
hard to tell with the photo, but the placement of the pipes are great. Most churches don't use the 'arms' of the church ,, but just the naves can act like a speakers in itself as well
A great demonstration!
great video! 🎹
Thank you so much, John and Richard!. Wonderful demonstration of one of my favorite organs, a rather unusual instrument for England. I have several recordings of this fascinating Walker now plus Wood example, from both prior to and after the Wood rebuild/modification. This demonstration aids greatly in understanding the design and function of this fantastic organ. Interesting to compare this with another wonderful Walker instrument in Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral, both of which perhaps daringly add new dimensions to traditional English design and hence sound. In this demonstration I had some distortion at a couple of times which apparently was from the recording, as I have no distortion on either the vinyl or CD recordings in my collection.
Thanks for that. It’s an astonishingly exciting and colourful organ. I can guarantee and promise that any distortion is happening at your end, and is not in the recording itself. I’m very aware of this sort of thing. Try some different headphones or speakers.
@@beautyinsound Thank you for your response and also again for your recording the demonstration. The distortion I experienced was only with a couple of combinations of organ stops. It was not in what one would expect, for example at the demonstration of the 32' serpent. Using the same listening equipment(s) I have had no distortion with any of the recordings I have of this wonderful organ.
@@beautyinsound Further to my response about distortion, perhaps what I experienced was due to the TH-cam playback system?
14:27 Brewer in D :-)
Beautiful organ in a beautiful space. Is there a sample set available?
Yes, actually! It’s being released over the coming days 🎉
Wow so beautiful!!! Does anyone now why the 32’ reed has been called “the serpent”
This is just a guess, but it probably sounds like a serpent! A serpent is an old musical instrument which is shaped like a letter "S" and a question mark combined.
The quote from John Bertalot to Francis Jackson goes something like 'you have a Sackbut at York, so we'll have a Serpent at Blackburn' - both early music instruments and forerunners to the modern day Trombone.
@@T0NYD1CK if you look at the bottom octave in the south transept (next to the transept swell box) they are double mitred, looking like a striking cobra (albeit a little bigger)
@@JohnHoskingGreatOrganSounds Well, I have heard the term "Sag-butt" at York XD...Now, that Serpent looks like an "Imperial Cobra" with its 45-degree bends in the pipes...
@@JohnHoskingGreatOrganSounds It was sort of a JWW "trademark" at the time to call the 32' reed after old musical instruments if the client permitted it. Hence why the Met doesn't have one.
Excellent. Very impressive. However, I think it would be fair to include the name of the organist (John Hosking?) clearly in the title!
Marvellous
The last improve was interesting and impressive. The organ does have a nice crescendo. Performer is good, not quite happy with the organ.
Interesting. A 4 manual organ with no 16' diapasons, no 8' Diapasons on the swell or choir. But lots of Mixtures. Oh, yes, gotta have those Mixtures. I cheap way o making the organ loud without much foundation or fundamental stops to back it up. Nice Vox H. Oboe = more a muted trumpet (Small scale) Yes the reeds will make up for the lack of proper flue pipes.
In that acoustical environment almost anything would sound good. This instrument has a nice pitch range but lacks, severely, the guts that make an organ powerful as well as loud.
I have to admit this is not my favorite style of organbuilding and found my ears getting very fatigued quickly. To my senses, this organ yells at you.
I much prefer the Nicholson organ at Llandaff which sings to you.
From a liturgical point of view I feel that there is far too much emphasis on making Cathedral organs loud and tonally comprehensive for the performance of recitals etc. As with any other Church organ their principle role is for choral accompaniment and congregational hymn singing. I am an organist and also give organ recitals but really feel that owning to the costly exercise of organ maintenance and if needed, restoration of instruments, the additional cost of making tonal changes or desirable improvements for the sake of concert and recital purposes which creates a further financial burden on a church or Cathedral, should be more seriously considered.
It has only been in the past 50 or so years that the trend of such changes or improvements has been requested by the younger generation of organists who wish to display their musicianship by making somewhat of a louder output of organ tone.
The church or Cathedral is the house of God and for the worship of his holy name. Not a concert hall. Glory should be made to God and not to the performance of the organist and the large repertoire of non liturgical organ music.
Of course, we are very fortunate that the Blackburn organ is extremely colourful for accompaniment of the choir and just holds its own when the building is packed with hearty congregational hymn singing on Diocesan occasions. Do tune into Radio 3 and BBC1 over Christmas to see how effective this instrument is in a liturgical role.
@@johnhosking6193 Thank you for your response to my comments on the organ. I should point out that these comments were purely my personal opinion and given with all due respect.
I have absolutely no reason to doubt that the instrument completely fulfills its role from a liturgical angle. The point I was making was that in the past I have heard of incidents where Church authorities have spent thousands of pounds on perfectly adequate organs on the whim of mainly younger organists , to enhance the instrument for purely the performance of recitals. For example, expensive pedal reeds . Fund raising in ordinary parish churches can be difficult enough, to pay for necessary maintenance or restoration work of organs, but I think it slightly inconsiderate of organist to further burden the church funds by spending extra money to fulfill their desires, when from a liturgical angle, such proposals are totally unnecessary.
Too much talking not enough playing sorry.
Then you're watching the wrong video. This series is just as much about hearing the organist's description and interpretation of the uses and character of the stops. If you wanted a recital there are plenty of other places for that.
Altogether a poorely designed organ that brags about having only one diapason on four manuals in an organ that size. Another insult is a Quintadon on the Great substituting for the 16' Diapason which need be there. A blockflute to cap the diapason chorus??? Is someone gone crazy?? At least the strings sound very nice. That oboe sounds as much like an oboe as a car horn. K'horn sounds much like an open Vox H. H ave heard better farts. They are exciting as well. Bother - this thing will play the notes, as will any instrument. As an example of good tonal design - Nah. It has a bunch of weird stop sounds. The serpent is but a rattle. Making excuses for the tonal design of the organ. Design to act. Why wasn't the Swell Diapason in the first place. Even smaller organs have this stop. Waste of money. another experiemantal instrument that maked up for quality with novelties. Digital stops - Oh, well, If you want digital stops, why don't you just by a digital organ. They are a fraction of the cost and will last only 20 years or so before going obsolete without repair parts. A real pipe organ, one that doesn't need new additions, can last 300 years. Stuff you electronic voices. Cheap imitations recorded from a real organ somewhere.
I'm not sure how you can possibly describe an organ as poorly designed when it works extremely well in the building, plays a wide array of repertoire extremely convincingly and also accompanies with a great deal of versatility. There is a choice of either a 2' flute or 2' Fifteenth on the Great to cap the principal chorus; the Quintaton is designed to underpin the chorus in the nave which it does extremely well - and with the generous 7 second acoustic, further foundation stops aren't really missed as the 8' stops it has are more than sufficient. Come to Blackburn and hear it for yourself!
And breathe…
There are 4 tonal groups in any well designed organ, I think five is a better number to provide a category for Mixtures. Each of these is distinct in the tones produced and the method of production. Thus - A diapason chorus can not be underpinned by a flute such as Quintaton nor can it be topped by a 2' flute. Two different sounds, different voicing, different mouths and scales. There is no question that the acoustic setting is ideal, as are most cathedral scale buildings. With such reverb it is essential that you slow things down a bit. Foundation stops are just that - Foundation. The 8' stops can not substitute for that group. A Quintaton is a flute and produces a peculiar sound with the third harmonic equal in volume as the first. . Principal tone has a second harmonic present, though not dominant. the 3rd is carefully tucked away and the 4th is in a closet somewhere behind the upper lip.@@JohnHoskingGreatOrganSounds Substituting one tonal group for another is just a cheap trick, similar to unification and borrowing.
Any organ of reasonable size can reproduce enough tonal variants to play most music. Without the balance of tonal groups, you can not properly create the dynamics and tonal variation the composer envisioned. This organ, as acceptable as it might sound, is a product of the baroque fad that led to the destruction of so many organs. You can't play French symphonic pieces in a Schnitger organ and you can not render Bach on a Wurlitzer. You can play the notes but not the music. Therein lies the weakness of your instrument - impressive though it may sound in that building. I don't want to get into a contest of wills here. I give my opinion and facts to support it. A difference of opinion is what horse racing is all about. I don't own any horses.