SOUNDBOARD a Newsletter for Church Musicians
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SOUNDBOARD A Newsletter for Church Musicians Number 4 January 2003 Editorial Comment WHAT’S IN THIS ISSUE? It was encouraging in November — when SOUNDBOARD should have been published but wasn’t — that there were a number of enquiries as to why not! So here it is, • Editorial Comment and Letters admittedly two months later than was intended. A new item of content in this issue • The Organ at St Thomas, Mount is a list of suggested anthems for Lent and Easter. While these few offerings have Merrion - Adrian Somerfield come from just a handful of organists, there must be many others who use, and can describes this instrument and recommend, other suitable good music. So, for the May issue, we intend running an some of its history article “Some Suggestions for Harvest, Advent and Christmas Music” We hope that • What’s Inside a Pipe Organ - many of you will let us know of your favourites. Stephen Adams writes about Website something all organists should Have you yet had a look at the CMC Website — launched last year: know www.churchmusicdublin.org. We would welcome suggestions for items that might • An Organist’s Crossword be put on the site. • The RSCM Summer School - New Organ Society Raymond Russell describes his An inaugural meeting of a number of persons interested in setting up an Organ week there last August Society met in Dublin on Friday 31 January. The convener was Dr Norbert Kelvin, who • Some Suggested Music for Lent professionally is an engineer but as well, an organist of no mean ability. Dr Kelvin is and Easter - from a selection of Australian but his work and his home are in Ireland. It was agreed that there was a organists need for such a society and the name chosen was the Pipe Organ Society of Ireland. • Hymns Not Listed in Sing to the An interim committee was decided on, to take the project a stage further. This Word -•Adrian Somerfield committee comprises: Norbert Kelvin, Gerard Gifien, Stephen Adams, Alister provides a very useful list McCartney and Gerard Murphy. Next Issue The Church Music Committee The next issue is scheduled for early June, and the deadline for material is 20 May. As supports and resources music and before, comments about, and suggestions for articles for SOUNDBOARD will be musicians in the local church. The welcome. And if you want to air your views on other matters, the Letters to the Committee is appointed by the Editor page will never be full! Church of Ireland Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough. Secretary: Mrs Ruth Maybury, Letters to the Editor Congregation appreciation of organ music Dear Editor, SOUNDBOARD is published by the I think in one of your early issues you raised the difficulty of heightening Church Music Committee. Views congregational appreciation of the organist and the music played by him/her. expressed in signed articles and letters are not necessarily those of Might I suggest that one of the ways might be that for one or two morning services a the Editor or of the Committee. year, two organists “guest” in each other’s parishes (assuming they are comfortable in this.) This would give the priest an opportunity to announce the “guest” appearance Editor: Randal Henly and tacitly persuade the congregation to perhaps stay and listen to the voluntary. The organist would perhaps receive more appreciative comment as a “guest” than as a resident. Maybe the organists concerned would work on a special piece for the occasion. The organist may also get some benefit/satisfaction from playing a different organ and accompanying a different choir/congregation and some words of congregational encouragement. Regards, Mervyn Cooper. Letters continued over For the smaller number of readers who What’s Inside a Pipe Organ? are interested in the technicalities, the letters of the sketch refer to the following: In the first few issues of Soundboard, Stephen Adams has explained some of the issues regarding the workings of pipe organs. We had received requests A feeder for some explanation of why organs cipher. With a view to more B backfall beam or stock explanations in further articles, this detailed drawing from J. W. Hintort’s C square book “Organ Construction” (3rd edition 1910) is reproduced. Reference will D bayleaf be made to it in later articles. E boot F conveyance The cross-•sectional view (from front to back) of a typical tracker organ is G groove board shown, and also the general appearance and location of the pipes belonging H slots to the different stops. I stickers J backfalls All organists should have some knowledge of just what is behind what can K purse board be seen — which is generally only the console and the front display pipes. L tracker M pull down Referring to the diagram, the 3-• manual keyboard is at the bottom left-• hand N pallet corner. Directly behind this is the bellows or wind reservoir. Above the 0 bellows ribs reservoir arid behind the front display pipes is the Great Organ — the P imposts various ranks of pipes standing on the Great soundboard. Behind the Great Q wind bar are two Passage Boards (walkways) at different heights, to provide access R face board to the Choir Organ (at the same level as the Great) and the Swell Organ (at S table the higher level) — the Swell Organ being enclosed inside a box with T slide louvred openings. Notice the bottom pipes of the 16 foot Swell stops are U upper or cover board “doubled up” so that they will fit inside the box. At the very back, behind V register the Choir Organ, is the Pedal Organ. W rack pillar X rack board Note that while the diagram shows the key action (how depressing a key Y swell louvres allows wind into the pipe), it does not show the stop action, nor the Z pedal tracker AB bellows BC roller board CD tuning clips DE tuning slide Letters to the Editor (Continued) With this, having put the chant onto the score, I can then repeat for as many verses as are necessary, and then insert “Naughty” tips article words between the staves, moving bar lines to Dear Editor, accommodate the number of words on any one chord. Following on from Adrian Somerfield’s “naughty” article in Only drawback is if they decide to change the psalm on the issue #3 of Soundboard and in particular his section on day of the services, bet eventually I will jhave built up “pitch”, Adrian referred to a book “Hymns Ancient and enough psalms to draw on them all at will. Modern Transposed”. May I suggest a similarly useful Regards, Mervyn Cooper. publication which contains 193 hymns (some with two transpositions) most of which appear in the current hymnal. The title is “Down a Tone” and is published by Kevin Hymn 207 Mayhew, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk. It is also obtained from Dear Editor, Opus 2, South Great George’s Street, Dublin 2. Here is a snippet in which readers of Soundboard might be Cheers, Graham Walsh interested. It is a ploy of Joseph Groocock’s that we use at St Thomas’s. During the season of Lent, most churches will use Hymn 207 Another solution to too-•‐high music – Forty days and forty nights, and the tune normally used is Dear Editor, Heinlein. If one reads the words (!), it is clear that the mood Congratulations on another excellent edition. O thought of the first four verses is quite different from that of the last Derek Verso’s article was most thought-provoking, as was two, and it is effective to change the mood of the tune too, that by Adrian Somerfield. as Dr. Groocock suggested, at the end of verse 4 (due Regarding his solution to Chants and Psalms, I solved it by warning having been given of course) and sing the last two buying a cheap (under £60 sterling) computer program for verses to Buckland (hymn 655). At least it will make the writing scores – not one of these all singing and dancing ones congregation aware of the words! at £500 plus. Adrian Somerfield ,- ot. _,, j I ,r cc - ---- - • . ..... 1-., cc ":"'f"- ,c 7 - ..... -·· I _ , 4 I I - =6-->- ,,, IJ,I.t Ml,1,0, - R ,· i s.- ..,.. JI ac l =- .. The Organ at St Thomas, Mount Merrion, Dublin Adrian Somerfield, Organist St Thomas’ Church is a goes above D, and try to well-known landmark in get the congregation South Dublin — at the singing. But it is a very junction of the Bray odd instrument! Road and Fosters Avenue. The neo-Gothic There is also a piano in church was built as a the church and some- Chapel-of-Ease to Taney times we have a "duet", parish, Dundrum, in where Ken Wilson plays the piano while I play 1874. The district was then one of large estates the organ. This is quite effective for some of the surround-ing the village of Glenomena. more evangelical "songs" Population in the area such as "Give me oil in increased greatly before my lamp" (570) or and after the Second "Freely, Freely" (480). World War, and in 1956 Whether we can do it depends on how well in Mount Merrion became a separate parish with St tune the two instru- ments are at the time. Thomas as its parish church. The church was Since the organ goes roughly doubled in size sharp and the piano flat in 1965, and can now as the temperature seat about 150. In 1995 rises, and there are big changes of temperature the parish was as between Sundays amalgamated with that of St Philip and St James, (heat on) and the rest of the week (heat off), it is sometimes Booterstown.