Howells Psalm Prelude Set 1 No. 1 at the organ of Chester Cathedral

[organ444]

Very nice playing and a lovely organ too! I watched Carlo Curley's videos from Chester Cathedral not so long ago (quite different to your video)! This organ is probably similar to the one in St. Patrick's Cathedral, is it not?

[doshea3]

@organ444 Thank you Matthew! It was lovely to meet you on Sunday last, and no doubt I will see you at some more Dun Leary recitals. St Patrick's Cathedral is an unashamedly Romantic English organ, and so the voicing tends to be bottom-heavy (with lots of big-scale 8-foots—there are four great Open Diapasons...!). That's great for the English cathedral repertoire up as far as stuff like Howells, and some of the French Romantic repertoire, but it's pretty useless for Bach and before............

[doshea3]

@doshea3 Chester, on the other hand, has been rebuilt many times by different builders in different eras over the last 140 years or so, so it's a bit more of a mixed bag when it comes to the voicing, selection of stops and so on. (St Patrick's was only rebuilt by Walker's in the 1960s, and most of the tonal alterations were reversed in the restoration by Harrison's in the 1990s.)

[organ444]

@doshea3 Yes, St. Patrick's is a fine example of a large romantic organ that sounds the way it would have in 1902 ( I think it's one of the largest of it's kind). You missed Róisín O'Grady and Malcom Proud last Sunday, but depending on your tastes in music that could be a good or bad thing. It was all Bach and before. Will you be there this coming Sunday? (David Connelly is playing)

[doshea3]

@organ444 Hi again Matthew. I sent a reply to this the other day but it appears not to have posted. I'm sorry I missed Malcolm, as I am very fond of his playing (and very fond of early music in general), but I was away in the UK. Alas I can't make it this Sunday either, which I am very disappointed about. However, no doubt I'll see you the following week.

[doshea3]

@organ444 Also, re St Patrick's, it sounds roughly as it might have done in 1902, but a better example of a Willis organ is to be found in St Patrick's Church, Dundalk, which is virtually unaltered. Yesterday I was in St George's Hall in Liverpool, which houses the third largest organ in the UK, the second largest being the Royal Albert Hall and the largest being Liverpool Cathedral, all Willises. Alas I didn't hear it played though, as it's in need of a lot of restoration.

[Silverdaddy101]

Very nice, doshea. Not sure the Howells requires tons of brilliance. I think you have the right organ for the piece. LQQks like you were having fun with it.

[doshea3]

@Silverdaddy101 Thank you sir! I agree about the brilliance remark...I have to say I cheated with some of the registration as I didn't have time to set it up properly (and neither did I have someone to help me with it in the more awkward bits) and so used the crescendo pedal in the middle section which I pushed a little too far I think. But still, I was happy enough with it, apart from that and the odd mistake. I appreciate your comment. :)

[doshea3]

@HHDougyT O well...congratulations on the Cambridge scholarship, and best of luck!

[dagisa123]

Not so bad, good experience :]

[doshea3]

@dagisa123 Thanks...good experience indeed! :)

[doshea3]

@HHDougyT Thanks for the comment. :) Good luck—it's a pretty cool organ!

[flamey1]

WOW! I want an organ for Christmas