Wednesday, 29 June 2016
| Entrance | Fight the good fight |
| Kyrie | Mass for John Carroll (Michael Joncas) |
| Gloria | Mass for John Carroll |
| Psalm | Ps 33 (mcb) |
| Gospel Acclamation | Mass for John Carroll |
| Preparation of the Gifts | Dear Lord and Father of Mankind |
| Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen | Simple Sanctus (mcb) |
| Agnus Dei | Mass for John Carroll |
| Communion | Taste and See (Richard Proulx) |
| Postcommunion | Tu Es Petrus (Jacob Clemens non Papa, c. 1510-1556) |
| Recessional | For all the saints |
Slightly random and off topic...but am I right in thinking the old organ was located on the other side of the nave, towards the south transcept? Where did the choir used to be? I have very vague (and young!) memories of the sound, was it as powerful as the current instrument?
ReplyDeleteSorry for the slow reply! The 1950 Jardine organ, which was removed in 2002, had its pipes above the main entrance (the 'west' end, which actually faces south), and its console where you remember it, at the corner of the nave and the 'south' transept. Before the reorderings of the 1970s and 80s, I think the console was up in the gallery with the pipes. And even longer ago, before 1939, the organ was in the north transept. I expect it hasn't moved for the last time!
ReplyDeleteAs for the loudness of the sound, the 1950 organ was indeed too loud for the building. It was a rebuild of an organ designed (strangely!) to have its sound relayed into the cathedral by microphones, from the room that used to be the children's chapel and is now the choir music library. That experimental organ only lasted from 1939 to 1950, but moving the pipes back in to the cathedral wasn't a complete success.
ReplyDeleteMy very vague memories of the Jardine are of an organ that sounded loud and intrusive even when played at a 'normal' temperament. Would you say the current instrument improves on the predecessor? I know some people have a thing about digital organs replacing pipe organs but I'm very impressed with the huge variety of stops and sounds from the current organ, helped of course by an excellent organist.
ReplyDeleteVery happy with the current instrument, which solved so many problems with the old pipe organ, not least the issues of balance and power. I had a hand in the design of the current instrument, which was custom-built for our cathedral. Anthony was responsible for the stop-list, and I had some say over where the sound was going to come from. I like the way the sound is (or can be) distributed to support the liturgy: sound in the nave to support the congregation, in the crossing (i.e. over the altar) for celebrants at the altar and cantors at the ambo, and in the east end for the rare occasions when it's full of people. Plus the separate choir division on the floor behind where the choir sings. Of course it can all be pulled together into one sound source, which is what happens for voluntaries etc., but the flexibility inherent in the instrument is far greater than any but the most lavish and expensive of pipe organs.
ReplyDelete