Trials and Tribulations

When a church pays an organist a fee this is what they are getting. Trials and Tribulations occur when a church does not realise how long the list is.

• Many years of practice (ongoing)
  
• Years of experience
• Aural skills
• Alertness
• Sensitivity
  
• Investment in sheet music (or PDFs on an iPad, these days)
• Travel (vehicle maintnance)
  
• Time (A 9:30 service requires me ot leave home at 8:45 and get home at about 11:30
• Skill to deal with problems. So if an organ develops a fault - as happened to me last weekend, I made sure I could play the Wednesday funeral hymns in keys which avoided the intermittently sticking note. Unfortunately, another note was also apt to stick and so I had to revert to the keys in the hymn book or avoid both notes.
  
• The ability to lead a congregation by rhythmical playing
• Improvisation skills
• Sight-reading skills
• Advice (church wardens seem unaware that an organ need tuning or faults attending to. Tuning contracts are becoming a thing of the past so mosr visits are arranged by phone or email adn not by the tuner sending in and "I'm coming on..." card

I daresay I could think of more.

Nicotine

Earlier this month I played at a service where there was evidence that someone I know - who smokes - has played there a great deal (in fact I know he has; this is just confirmation)

Even though my mobile camera is useless at close up shots (or the operator is useless) I think the brown stains on the stop tabs make the point.

Taken too early

Organists give their lives to their craft and some live to a ripe old age. Sadly some are taken far too early. That was so with one of my organ teachers who died aged 50. In my youth I had the great privilege of turning pages for him most days at Evensong. He played several pieces which I now play but I have never aspired to his level of excellence.

I came across this video today which reminded me of Andrew. I remember at least one occasion when I turned pages as he played this. R. I. P. dear man.

When organists die

Organists acquire a great deal of sheet music during their carreers. [This is changing as more music is issued as PDFs and people use iPads to read scores]

When an organist passes on the task of disposing of his or her music falls to the bereaved. Clearly a lot of money has been invested over time and simply to recycle it (i.e. throw it away) is a difficult pill to swallow. There is a website which will buy old music.

In my association, one member has been handed the music from a past member and - gradually - it is being sold. There must come a time when nobody will want the remainder, I feel.

Seeing the organist

If a church has an organist, it will fall into one of two kinds of church. 1 - where you can see the organist and 2- where the organist is hidden away, possibly in an organ loft. The latter is very often the case in cathedrals (except when they use a detatched console).

Now the job of an organist is to accompany the singing. I also feel the pre-service music is to add atmosphere (although I have known heard players destroy it). The post-service voluntary is not a concert. One goes to organ recitals to hear the organ alone although good manners dictate that one would listen and not chatter near the console.

Even at a recital one does not see the organist although more and more places are using large screens onto which they project what happens at the console.

I was extremely lucky as a young chap to go to Evensong every day and turn pages for my teacher. He controlled the organ well in the days when playing aids were few and far between (and with my help to pull out some stops!). These days instruments have banks of generals and sequencer buttons. I was always in awe of my teacher's playing and I aspired to be like him. However, there are some players today whose powers are superhuman, both in terms of playing from memory and technique.

Once such man is Nathan Laube. I recommend this video you. I am blogging about it because we ought to be glad that our cathedrals are looking after their organs and having them rebuilt if necessary. This recital is one to watch as well as to listen to. In fact watching gives me as much pleasure and as many goosebumps as listening. How does he do what he does?

The missing hymn book

I played for two services yesterday: the last time I shall do so in the benefice.

When I arrived at church #2, I found that the organ copy of the hymn book was not there. A cupboard was located with spares and so this was not a disaster.

Later, I emailed a contact in the choir (the choir had not been at the cafe service) to say that the actual organ copy was missing. I was stunned by the reply which was:

"I think they all got swept up together and put back into the case after the wedding last week"

Hold on!

Who played the organ for the wedding? Not me: I had not even been offered it. As yet I have not had a reply to my query to this effect. I suppose the couple could have supplied their own organist. As I am not the officially appointed organist I suppose I was not due the 'bench fee' in lieu. If, however, the vicar had engaged someone else I do feel this is unfair.

I have been playing at that church for several months, for both the monthly services and they pay a fee which I have accepted but which is small in the grand scheme of things: £20 each service, on which I pay tax. Many organists would not get out of bed for that sum.

The cafe service yesterday was particulaly tedious and dragged on for a whole hour because it was taken by somebody different: the norm has been 45 minutes.

So, to have me turn up - reliably - and play for the run of the mill services and then not to offer me the perk of a wedding fee is rather unfair I feel.

Martin How

News has reached me via Facebook that Martin How has passed away at a good age. He was described as the best cathedral organist we never had.

I met him a couple of times. He came to Peterborough to take a course for the Organists' Association and to Wellingborough to take an RSCM course on his chorister training scheme.

Here he is in action.

Big ones and small ones

What attracted me to the organ was the glorious sound of the Peterborough Cathedral organ. It is still the one I like best although several others have nearly replaced it as 'top dog'.

In the main, parish church organs (to make some sweeping generalisations)

• are small
• are old
• lack brightness
• are dirty (inside)
  
• have untidy (dusty) consoles
• have pedal boards of various kinds
• are not positioned in the best place

It is small wonder that fewer people are taking up the organ. Those who do aspire - as I did - to play the most difficult/impressive repertoire and preside over large instruments. There are also many more ladies taking up the organ (I may have blogged on this; I forget).

There is nothing as good as hearing a huge organ being played well but the reality is that most organists will find themselves in charge of a modest example. Therein is a skill which I feel I have always had. To make the best of limited resources.

Many organs only have a pedal Bourdon 16'. My first organ teacher once said that he used to draw it as little as possible so that, when it came on, it was a real event.

Size isn't everything.

Female Organists

When I was starting my career as an organist there were few female organists. Jennifer Bate and Jane Parker Smith were the only two I recall.

In the late 1970s I tried for an organ scholarship at Cambridge and there were several female organists at the trials (I failed and went elsewhere as an organ scholar).

These days there are many ladies who play just as the church seems full on women priests (the men seem to have abandoned ship). Anna Lapwood is one and Sarah MacDonald is another - to name but two. I've also just recalled the lovely Rachel Mahon whose website seems to be down.