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Tourism Pipe Organs in england

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Matova

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Tourism Pipe Organs in england

PostTue Mar 25, 2014 11:06 am

HI everyone , my name is Manuel Torregrosa and I´m a teacher of Piano , Organ and Music Technology at Professional Conservatory of Murcia Spain.
I´m planning to visit England this summer and I would be very grateful if anyone could give me some information about organs to visit or play and other types of information like lodging or things lke that.
Thanks in advance.
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clement703

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Re: Tourism Pipe Organs in england

PostSat Mar 29, 2014 9:07 am

You might be interested in joining an annual Tour of English Organs where the participants get to play the organs visited. See details at organtours.com
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kaspencer

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Re: Tourism Pipe Organs in england

PostThu Apr 03, 2014 11:51 am

Hello Matova ...

I have noticed that you haven't had many replies to your question, so I thought I'd try to give you a few pointers. I apologise in advance if I am telling you things which you already know.

First, there are Organists' Associations in all the counties in England (and also Scoltanld and Wales I think too). There are detail;s here:
http://iao.org.uk/associations/
I am sure that the secretaries of these associations would welcome you to their meetings if you happen to be in their areas at the right time. They will also be willing I'm sure, to advise you on organs to see in their areas. At most meetings members get a chance to play the organs in the places visited.

Secondly: you will know that there are about six times as many pipe organs across the UK as there are in the US, with a population that is actually only a sixth of the US! I mention this because it means that you are always near a pipe organ in the UK! If you want large organs (e.g. by Willis, Harrison & Harrison, Hill Norman & Beard), you just need to visit the Cathedral Cities (Salisbury and Hereford you'll know about, but Lincoln, Wells, Gloucester, Ely, Bath, Liverpool, etc etc) plus the London Abbeys and Cathedrals) - there are a great many more of these, as I'm sure you know. There are organ recitals, mostly free-of-charge (leave a donation) every week in all of them. But there are also many large and small parish churches with organs - thousands, I'd say! They mostly have websites, and the telephone numbers of the Churchwardens are usually published - they will usually be able to contact their organists for you - surely most organists are delighted to show off their instruments!

Then, there are concert organs in many cities - the Royal Festival Hall organ has just been refurbished (as you'll know from the forum thread), and the Royal Albert Hall has recitals too. Birmingham has two large concert organs (Symphony Hall and Town Hall), Manchester has a notable recent organ in the Bridgewater Hall. I could go on! But I'll stop there!

I hope that you enjoy your tour!

Best wishes

Ken.
Kenneth Spencer
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Organorak

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Re: Tourism Pipe Organs in england

PostSun Apr 06, 2014 1:25 pm

For recitals there is a national website that lists many recitals by location, date and performer:
http://www.organrecitals.com

And there is an excellent national database of pipe organs, searchable in many ways e.g. specific building, town, organbuilder, which will give you a flavour of what to expect where you are staying:
http://www.npor.org.uk/

There are even a few hotels which welcome organists and which have organs themselves you can play.

Highest density of organs per square mile are probably to be found in Oxford, Cambridge and London, though access especially to the more celebrated instruments can't be guaranteed and you would need to write to people at the venues/churches in advance to find out if you could play the organ as opposed to hear it at a service. Worth mentioning that quite a lot of town (council) halls have large Victorian warhorse organs which are often underused and they may appreciate you showing interest. Be prepared to offer a small donation per hour of playing and you may get further too. If you have £500 to spare you can even spend two hours playing the largest organ in the country, the magnificent Willis III at Liverpool (Anglican) cathedral. (It's about a third of the size of the largest organ in the US, the Wanamaker organ, and they now let you play that too, but for three times the Liverpool asking price.)
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pat17

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Re: Tourism Pipe Organs in england

PostMon Apr 07, 2014 12:34 am

Organorak wrote:Highest density of organs per square mile are probably to be found in Oxford, Cambridge and London,


I came last August to Oxford to attend a wedding. I took the opportunity to have a quick look at this beautiful city. 32 organs for a 160,000-inhabitant city was quite amazing to me. All styles, most of them of medium size, all located within walking distance from each other. Indeed I could see 5 or 6 of them only, given the very short time I had available. Oxford is just 90 minutes away from London with a lot of connections.

I guess Cambridge must be pretty much the same. :wink:
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PeterD

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Re: Tourism Pipe Organs in england

PostMon Apr 07, 2014 5:35 am

If you are going to Ludlow ( lovely town to visit) there is a Snetzler Organ of 1764 in the Parish Church- if you write to the PCC you can play it for a couple of hours for a modest sum.

http://www.stlaurences.org.uk/worship-and-music/organ

Image

And of course the Non Virtual Version of Hereford is only a short distance away

Image

Interesting Concets after Easter

http://www.herefordcathedral.org/music/ ... n-concerts

And all in one of the nicest parts of England
Be careful what you set your heart on......you may achieve it.
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John Murdoch

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Re: Tourism Pipe Organs in england

PostSun Apr 20, 2014 7:52 pm

kaspencer wrote:Secondly: you will know that there are about six times as many pipe organs across the UK as there are in the US, with a population that is actually only a sixth of the US! I mention this because it means that you are always near a pipe organ in the UK!


Didn't we figure out, a while back, that the ratio was even worse? That the number of pipe organs in the U.S. is a much smaller fraction? I remember there was some discussion of whether any single database had anything like as comprehensive a list as the Brits, but I think we were pretty much thinking that the U.S. had--at the peak of pipe organ usage--something like a tenth as many as the U.K.
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Cooky

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Re: Tourism Pipe Organs in england

PostSun Apr 20, 2014 11:35 pm

If the comparison is done on a persons per organ pipe - rather than pipe organ - basis, our friends in the USA will be much better off.
Someone once told me of a small pipe organ somewhere in America, but I have forgotten where it was.

Cooky
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Organorak

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Re: Tourism Pipe Organs in england

PostMon Apr 21, 2014 2:20 pm

Cooky wrote:If the comparison is done on a persons per organ pipe - rather than pipe organ - basis, our friends in the USA will be much better off.
Someone once told me of a small pipe organ somewhere in America, but I have forgotten where it was.

Cooky


You weren't thinking of this one perhaps were you?

http://www.milandigitalaudio.com/instru ... nstruments

Only 3 manuals 52 stops.

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