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The Diapason's Resource Directory Makes Its Debut

The Diapason

The Diapason has published its first annual Resource Directory, which was mailed with the January issue of The Diapason. Unique in the organ and church music field, the Resource Directory provides listings of companies, individuals, products and services, and includes providers’ web and e-mail addresses. A listing of associations is also included. The directory is free to all subscribers of The Diapason; additional copies are available for $5.00 postpaid. For information: 847/391-1045;
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From the classified advertising archives—the whimsy file

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Do you long for the days of the Orgelbewegung? Are you nostalgic for the poofy sound of chiff? If it’s missing from the pipe organ you play, then you need Chiff in a Jif! This amazing new kit uses ultra high-tech, black box technology to provide authentic-sounding attack where previously there was only sludge. This top secret new technology developed by the CIA takes digital sampling to the next level, and will turn the fattest Diapason into a spitting, svelte Prinzipal, and transform Doppelflutes into Quintadenas. Use at your discretion by means of its inconspicuous remote control (batteries not included). Black boxes attach to the bottom board of each windchest. Easy-to-use kit installs in just an afternoon or two using ordinary sacristy tools. Even better than the ever-popular Wind Emitting Diodes! Order yours today! Box CHIFF-CON, THE DIAPASON.

ATTENTION ORGANISTS! Not every congregation is blessed with great preaching. And even the best sermons can be too long, especially on a Sunday when you’ve got a pressing engagement after the last service. What to do? Install our new Sermon Override Toestud! This handy accessory uses ultra-high-tech black box technology to induce feedback into the sound system. When sermons stretch on a bit too long, a subtle tap on the Sermon Override Toestud will provoke enough speaker squawk to get even the most long-winded homilist to wrap it up quickly. Can be turned on and off when you wish, so that you won’t accidentally use it during an important recital! Easily installed using ordinary sacristy tools. Box Mitchell-Con, THE DIAPASON, [email protected].

Attention Church Organists! New service—Mission Statement Writing. These days, it’s not enough to be a superb player and decent human being. Sooner or later you will be required to produce a mission statement. Your mission, of course, is not to be a skillful musician and effective, personable choir leader who produces quality music—it is to be a Spirit-filled team player, problem solver, and consensus builder who knows what’s on the radar screen and who can reach for the low-hanging fruit on the faith journey. Our exclusive new service will create a mission statement for you that will keep the committee members off your back for a long time. Let us describe how you can light the fire of excellence, develop your tool kit and core competencies, and alleviate fallout to empower the paradigm shifts. Bonus: With every mission statement, receive our free booklet, “Talk Like a Pro,” an easy-to-use guide showing you how to pepper your speech with phrases that let ‘em know you can think outside the box. A snazzy mission statement and the right verbal buzzwords let the praise band supporters think you’re one of them, thereby freeing you up to actually do your job. Order yours today! Box Buzz, [email protected].

NEW! Society for Historical Toasters. Join the newest association for the “organ” devoted to the preservation of non-pipe instruments. Now you can be among like-minded individuals, instead of being scorned by elitist pipe-biased colleagues. This new organization will defend your right to prefer virtual organ sound instead of that old-fashioned, Neanderthal, wind-produced pipe sound. You can freely enjoy the perfect tuning and inexpensive, low-maintenance lifestyle you desire. And you can nominate historic tube-type toasters for the society’s “Historic Certificate,” bestowed upon deserving examples of the electronic art. Join now and receive a free t-shirt, plus a subscription to the official journal, TOASTER NEWS. Reply to Box SHT, THE DIAPASON, [email protected].

ATTENTION ORGANISTS! Do you ever play an instrument with a healthy en chamade trumpet? And do you ever get carried away?—perhaps using it on too many hymn stanzas, and the postlude, or on too many pieces in your recitals. If self-control is not your strong suit, you need our latest accessory: the Non-Chamade Control System. This ingenious device uses the latest ultra-high-tech black box technology to calculate how long you’ve already used the trumpet (will also work with other high-pressure reeds), and when you’ve reached your limit, will engage another stop (of your choosing) instead. Simple-to-use dial lets you set the amount of minutes, just like using a kitchen timer! Easily installed with ordinary sacristy tools. So stop tormenting those little old ladies (who, admittedly, sit right where the organ is loudest), and end Chamade abuse the easy way. Box Non-Chamade, THE DIAPASON, [email protected].

ATTENTION ORGANISTS! New historically informed pedal technique instruction method: “Stomp Your Way to Pedal Virtuosity.” Learn the secrets of Baroque all-toe pedaling. No more fussy toe-and-heel fannying about. Get down and stomp on those pedals! Also available: BarockMeister OrgelShoes, with heels already removed—ideal for use with this new pedal method book! Choose from your favorite liturgical colors. Order yours today! Box Pedal-Con, THE DIAPASON, [email protected].

ATTENTION ORGANISTS! Are you concerned about historically correct performance? The proper temperament gives the right flavor to a particular style. Make the dream of the right temperament a reality with our new HyperTUNE temperament system! Using ultra-high-tech black-box technology along with artificial intelligence, HyperTUNE automatically selects the correct temperament based on the style of the music you’re playing. Causes little or no damage to pipe cutups. Box Hyper-Con, THE DIAPASON, [email protected].

Wind-Emitting Diodes now supersede all other organ actions. Eliminate bulky windchests—glue a tiny WED in each toehole and run two tiny wires to a 12-volt source (24 volts for high pressure pipework). No experience and little equipment necessary to become a high-profit organbuilder. Reply to BOX HIGH TECH, c/o THE DIAPASON.

Midwinter Pipe Organ Conclave

Host Facility
La Grange, Illinois
Location
First Presbyterian Church, St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, Emmanuel Episcopal Church
Event Month & Year

Midwinter Pipe Organ Conclave

January 18–19, 2015

La Grange, Illinois

Conveniently located near Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway airports and many Interstate highways

Co-sponsored by The Diapason, Chicago and Fox Valley Chapters of the American Guild of Organists, and Chicago-Midwest Chapter of the Organ Historical Society

Sunday, January 18—David Schrader in recital

The World of the Organ on the Internet

James B. Hartman

James B. Hartman is Associate Professor, Continuing Education Division, The University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada, where he is Senior Academic Editor for publications of the Distance Education Program. He is a frequent contributor of book reviews and articles to The Diapason.

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Organ enthusiasts who wish to learn about organs far outside their immediate vicinity have at their disposal a number of search engines to survey the Internet, such as Alta Vista, Google, InfoSeek, Lycos, WebCrawler, and Yahoo; however, these are neither easy nor efficient for this purpose. A particularly effective source is offered by the Dutch magazine, het ORGEL (the ORGAN), a publication of Koninklijke Nederlandse Organistenvereniging (KNOV, i.e., Royal Dutch Organists Association); this is Europe’s oldest magazine on organ art: <www.hetorgel.nl&gt;.

The organ links of het ORGEL are in three categories: Countries, Related Instruments (Carillons, Barrel Organs, Harmoniums, Theater Organs, Harpsichords), and General Information (General, Composers, Liturgies, Music Software, Organists Societies, Organ Music).

There are links to organ sites in 65 countries throughout the world: Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Barbados, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Isle of Man, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Moldavia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Ukraine, Uruguay, U.S.A., and Zambia.

The relevant information in each country is classified under six headings: General, Organ Builders, Persons, Churches and Concert Rooms, Conservatories/Music Schools/Universities, and CDs/Books. The form of the entries in the different countries remains largely the same throughout but with local content appropriate to the particular country. Many sites include photographs of organ pipe façades and consoles.

An overview of the Web sites of several selected countries follows (some locations have more than one Web site).

U.S.A. The General category, with 147 entries, includes the Web sites of the chapters of the American Guild of Organists, along with a listing of other miscellaneous organizations, societies, topics, and publishers (including The Diapason). It also contains a Web site devoted to the largest pipe organs in the world, but this matter is not easily resolved due to some debatable technical distinctions.1

In the Organ Builders category there are 175 Web sites, including those of such well-known manufacturers as Aeolian-Skinner, Fisk, Holtkamp, Keates-Geisler, Möller, Reuter, Schlicker, and Wicks.

Under Persons the 187 Web sites include familiar names of many organists and concert artists: E. Power Biggs (1906-1977)2, Virgil Fox (1912-1980)3, Edwin H. Lemare (1865-1934)4, Rosalyn Tureck (1914-2003)5, and others. A typical site in this category includes a biography, a résumé, church appointments, compositions, repertoire, concerts, tours, recordings, a discography, testimonials, reviews, writings, links to related sources, and sometimes audio clips.

The Churches and Concert Rooms category consists of an alphabetical list of 614 locations throughout the country. New York City has 23 sites, including Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center, as well as Riverside, St. John the Divine, and St. Thomas churches, among many others.

There are 94 Universities and Music Schools, including Indiana University School of Music, New England Conservatory of Music, Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Peabody Conservatory, and schools at many state universities.

In the CDs and Notes category there are 98 Web sites of music publishers, bookstores, catalogs, record companies, and music societies.

A small category, Music Programs, consists of nine sites, including a software distributor and other sources.

Canada. The General category, with 33 entries, consists of the Web sites of 13 local chapters of the Royal Canadian College of Organists, two branches of the Royal School of Church Music, and the sites of other organizations, societies, publishers, festivals, and miscellaneous topics. A particularly ambitious Web site, Organs of the United States and Canada Database, is intended to provide a single, consistent, accessible, historical source of the organs constructed or installed in the United States and Canada since the arrival of the first imported instrument in the colonies; this listing of about 90,000 instruments and 1,800 builders is accessible only by inquiry to the site originator in Seattle, Washington.

In the Organ Builders category there are 26 sites, including Canada’s leading builder, Casavant (three sites), along with other prominent firms like Guilbault-Thérien, Keates-Geissler, Létourneau, Wilhelm, and Wolff.

Under Persons 29 organists have Web sites; there is a historic entry for the Lynnwood Farnam (1885-1930) Society. A separate listing of Organists in Québec is also provided.

The Churches and Music Rooms category includes information on 70 locations in major cities across the country. A relatively new organ is the Davis Concert Organ, four manuals, 96 stops, in the Francis Winspear Music Centre in Edmonton, Alberta, installed in 2002 by Orgues Létourneau, Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec.

In the category of Universities/Music Schools six are identified, all in eastern provinces.

Under CDs and Books there are seven publishers or distributors.

England. The General category, with 58 entries, includes the Web sites of organizations such as the Guild of Church Musicians, Royal College of Organists, Royal Society of British Organists, along with associations and societies in various cities, and other specialized organizations. Several magazines or other publications devoted to the organ or organists are also listed here.

In the Organ Builders category there are 39 names, including the Incorporated Society of Organ Builders, Harrison & Harrison, N. P. Mander, and Henry Willis & Sons.

Under Persons 68 organists are listed, including such notable players as David Briggs, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Christopher Herrick, John Stainer (1840-1901), Gillian Weir, Carol Williams, and Arthur Wills.

The Churches and Concert Rooms category consists of 290 locations in major centers throughout the country, some in universities such as Cambridge, and others in cathedrals such as Coventry, Durham, Exeter, Gloucester, Leicester, and Liverpool. Royal Festival Hall, St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle, and Westminster Abbey are also found here.

In the category of Music Schools there are 12 sites, including the Royal Academy of Music, Royal College of Music, Royal School of Church Music, and similar academies connected with educational institutions.

Under CDs and Books there are 43 Web sites of music publishers, bookstores, catalogs, record companies, and music societies.

France. The General category, with 79 entries, includes the Web sites of associations and societies--”Les Amis de l’Orgue”--in various cities, reports of organ festivals and seminars, and miscellaneous topics, such as French Organ Music and pages devoted to organ magazines.

In the Organ Builders category there are 49 sites, a few with historical significance: Jean-André [Johann-Andreas] Silbermann (1678-1734), Aristide Cavaillé-Coll (1811-99), and Dom Bédos de Celles, L’Art du Facteur d’Orgues, in addition to present-day firms and the comprehensive Groupement Professionnel des Facteurs d’Orgues.

Under Persons 48 names are listed, including such familiar figures as Pierre Cochereau (1924-1984), Jean Guillou, Naji Hakim, Jean Langlais (1907-1991), André Marchal, Daniel Roth, and René Saorgin; there is a separate site for Parisian Organists that lists the organists who served at churches in Paris from the 13th to the 21st centuries.

The Churches category covers 414 establishments in the major cities. Paris includes Notre Dame, Sacré-Coeur, St. Eustache, St. Sulpice, St. Clotilde, St. Gervais, and Madeleine, all familiar on account of their associations with famous organists of the past; there is a separate site for organs of Paris. In the category of Schools, there are only three, led by the Conservatoire de Paris.

Under CDs, Books, and Sheet Music, there are 25 Web sites of music publishers, suppliers of music publications, and record companies.

 

Germany. In the Organ Builders category there are 234 names, some of which may be familiar to North Americans: von Beckerath, Gabler (1700-1771), Glatter-Götz, Klais, Laukhuff, Schnitger, Silbermann, and Walcker. Here, as in some other countries, there is a comprehensive Web site devoted to organ building; a number of entries are related to historic builders of the 18th and 19th centuries.

Entries in other categories--General, Persons, Churches, Conservatories, CDs and Books--are appropriate to Germany.

Australia. The General category has 10 Web sites that include several societies, including a branch of the Royal School of Church Music, England.

There are only two Organ Builders in the country; both are small firms that construct small organs and provide restoration and maintenance services.

In the Churches/Concert Halls category there are 51 Web sites. These reveal that several town halls have organs: Adelaide, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney. The activity of external makers is evident in the case of Melbourne, where the five-manual Hill, Norman & Beard instrument, acquired in 1929, was rebuilt by Schantz, U.S.A., commencing in 1999. A special Web site, Second Wind, reports that elegant furniture was made from timbers taken from the Melbourne Town Hall organ when it was renovated in 2001. A monastery library in Arcadia also has an English organ by T. Atterton: two manuals, 11 stops, 1893, later restored in Melbourne.

In the Schools category there are six sites, one for the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, the others connected with the music faculties of the major universities.

South Africa. The General category has five Web sites, including one of the Johannesburg Organ Society, which promotes all aspects of the organ, including recitals, workshops, concerts, and visits to significant instruments.

There are only two firms listed in the Organ Builders category, specializing chiefly in the restoration, rebuilding, and maintenance of existing instruments.

In the Churches category there are eight entries. One of these, St. George’s Cathedral in Cape Town, has an organ that originally was in St. Margaret’s Church in London, England (next to Westminster Abbey). In 1909 a later four-manual, 61-stop organ was donated to St. George’s by a London businessman who had connections in South Africa. The largest organ in the country is in Feather Market Hall, Port Elizabeth, with 5,508 pipes.

The two Universities/Music Schools are University of South Africa, and University of Cape Town where the Baxter Concert Hall has a three-manual, 49-stop von Beckerath instrument, inaugurated in September 1977 (von Beckerath died on 20 November 1976 before the installation was completed).

This survey will conclude with a few miscellaneous items concerning organs in several selected countries.

In Denmark the Frobenius firm has completed slightly more than 1,000 organs since it was founded in 1909; of these, five are in England, two in U.S.A., and five in Japan.

Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China, has one organ in the Hong Kong Cultural Center.

In Ireland the Pipe Organ Site, in addition to providing information on organists, organ specifications, organ builders, and recordings, contains a section on organ jokes.6  

The Isle of Man Organists Association held an Organ Festival in 2002 that included recitals by Gillian Weir and others, workshops, and a gala dinner (£12 including wine!).

The independent state of Malta, consisting of three islands south of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea, has seven organ builders and restorers; a recent project was the restoration of the ‘Platania’ organ, originally built in Sicily in 1726.

In The Netherlands two famous organ builders are found among the 42 firms listed: Schnitger (1648-1719) and Flentrop (since 1903). Stinkens, organ pipe makers (since 1914), is also active there.

The Philippines has two old organs, two organ builders, and two churches; it recently held its 29th International Bamboo Organ Festival.

In Zambia, an independent country (formerly called Northern Rhodesia) in east central Africa, the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Lusaka has a two-manual, 25-stop organ (builder not identified). In addition to containing information on the organ, the church’s Web page contains sermons, anniversaries, church news, prayer requests, and other information of interest to the parishioners.

The immense amount of organ information contained in the worldwide Web sites defies even a summary description. Given the diversity of languages among the different countries, not all of this information is easily available to English-only readers for that reason, although some sites provide an English version in addition to the language of the country of origin. On the other hand, it is possible to recognize the stop names of organs in most cases on account of their widespread similarity throughout the world. The curious reader can only speculate on the vast number of organs in these countries that do not have Web sites! Visiting the various Web sites, with their colorful and attractive home pages, also provides aesthetic experiences of diverse organ designs. The reader will discover that some Web sites are unavailable or have moved; many are church pages, where the organ is included but is secondary in importance.

KNOV’s assembly of Web sites provides a valuable cultural resource that will be useful for a variety of purposes: recreational exploration of the world of the organ on the Internet, comparative research on organ specifications and the historical backgrounds of the instruments, and perhaps for planning future journeys to the countries where existing organs can be found, inspected, and perhaps played.              

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