The Organ Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Episode 20 - Donald MacKenzie plays the 5 manual Compton at the Odeon Leicester Square - Gordon Stewart looks back on his 50 year career Nov 15, 2024

Show notes

Donald MacKenzie showcases the historic Compton organ at the Odeon cinema in London's Leicester Square. As one of Europe's leading theatre organists and accompanist of silent films, Donald demonstrates the art of film improvisation and brings to life the history and rich tradition of the cinema organ.
Donald MacKenzie
Odeon Organ Specification - NPOR
The Musical Museum Brentford
Gordon Stewart looks back on his long career as an international recitalist, conductor, broadcaster, town hall performer, teacher, and his continuing fascination with the music of Bach.
Gordon Stewart

https://www.rco.org.uk/

Episode 19 - Completing Bach's Orgelbüchlein with William Whitehead & Rediscovering Victorian organs with Tom Bell Nov 01, 2024

Show notes

William Whitehead talks about his major international project aimed at completing Bach's Orgelbüchlein (Little Organ Book) - The Orgelbüchlein Project. With 118 missing chorale preludes, where only the chorale titles have been penned by Bach, William plays examples of the newly finished compositions which he has commissioned from leading composers all over the world.
Orgelbüchlein Volumes & Scores
William Whitehead
Tom Bells reveals his passion for English Victorian organs as he demonstrates the art of registering 19th century repertoire on the historic 1864 Henry Willis organ at Reading Town Hall.
Henry Willis Organ at Reading Town Hall
Organ specification (NPOR)
Tom Bell
Get in touch with the Organ Podcast theorganpodcast@rco.org.uk

https://www.rco.org.uk/

Episode 18 - The Organ Reform Movement - what was it all about? Ben Bloor reflects on the pros and cons of using social media to promote the organ and engage with audiences Oct 15, 2024

Show notes

William McVicker talks about the impact and legacy of one of the most significant revolutions in organ design - the Organ Reform Movement. Explaining the historical context out of which the movement grew (lead by German polymath and organist, Albert Schweitzer), William demonstrates the musical results at the console of a 1968 German-inspired reform organ at the church of Our Lady of Dolours, in London.
William McVicker
Organ of Our Lady of Dolours (NPOR)
Ben Bloor, Organist at the London Oratory, shares his experience of using social media platforms to engage with audiences and promote organ music. With over 350 videos on YouTube, an organ podcast, and a variety of short-form videos, Ben reflects on how the growing trend of organists uploading their content to social media platforms can have a wider cultural impact in changing attitudes towards performers and repertoire.
Ben Bloor
Ben's YouTube channel
Get in touch with the Organ Podcast theorganpodcast@rco.org.uk

https://www.rco.org.uk/

Episode 17 - Liverpool Cathedral's new Echo division with Ian Tracey - St Paul's Cathedral's Organ Education Lead Jeremiah Stephenson on how to encourage children to engage with the organ Oct 01, 2024

Show notes

In this episode Ian Tracey, Organist of Liverpool Cathedral, demonstrates the newly installed Echo organ and showcases the extraordinary sounds and power of the UK's largest pipe organ. With a total of ten divisions, located in organ cases around the cathedral, this new echo organ completes the tonal design of the organ, which began in 1923 under the craftsmanship of Henry Willis III, and the cathedral's first organist, Harry Goss-Custard.
Liverpool Cathedral Organ
Specification
Jeremiah Stephenson, Organ Education Lead at St Paul's Cathedral, talks about his work devising events and workshops designed to introduce children to the organ. Challenging traditionally held attitudes, he explains how he presents the organ as a gateway to engage children in the wider appreciation of classical music and performance.
Jeremiahstephenson.com
Get in touch with the Organ Podcast theorganpodcast@rco.org.uk

https://www.rco.org.uk/

Episode 16 - Manchester Cathedral’s Tickell Organ - New discoveries in Cesar Franck’s music Sep 15, 2024

Show notes

In this episode, Richard Brasier talks about some of the startling discoveries he made whilst researching for his new edition of the organ and harmonium works of Cesar Franck. He also plays an unpublished work by Franck for the first time. After five years' work, having studied previously lost manuscripts, Richard explains the approach to registration and performance based on historic evidence and the organs Franck played.
https://richardbrasier.com/education/cesar-franck/
Christopher Stokes, Organist and Master of the Choristers at Manchester Cathedral, talks about his design and planning of the Tickell organ that was installed in the cathedral in 2016. Demonstrating some of the sounds and colours of the new instrument, Chris explains how a cathedral organ designed principally for repertoire will then naturally be able to excel in accompanying the choir.
https://manchestercathedral.org/worship/cathedral-organs
https://npor.org.uk/survey/H01013
Get in touch! theorganpodcast@rco.org.uk

https://www.rco.org.uk/

Episode 15 - A tour of Harrison & Harrison's workshop with Head Voicer Andy Scott - Katelyn Emerson talks about her concert career and musical approach to the organ Sep 01, 2024

Show notes

In this episode, Harrison & Harrison Head Voicer and Managing Director, Andy Scott, takes Mark O'Brien on a tour round the workshop in Durham to highlight the importance of apprenticeships in sustaining the skill and craft of organ building. Andy also talks about his experience at Harrison's, having started as an apprentice himself, aged 16, before becoming London Tuner, Head Voicer and Managing Director.
Harrison & Harrison
International concert organist, Katelyn Emerson, talks about her rise to success on the concert platform and how she often looks to the cultural and geographical backgrounds of pipe organs to inform her interpretation. Currently dividing her time between performing and taking a PhD at Cambridge University, she explains how her analytical approach to music and performance informs her playing and teaching.
Katelyn Emerson
Email the Organ Podcast: theorganpodcast@rco.uk.org

https://www.rco.org.uk/

Episode 14 - Music therapy and the pipe organ - The organ at the West London Synagogue Aug 15, 2024

Show notes

In this episode, Mark O'Brien visits the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London, where the recent restoration of a 1938 Robert Spurden Rutt pipe organ has opened the door to the instrument being used for therapeutic purposes and wellbeing. Mark talks to a Consultant Neurologist about the therapeutic qualities of music and the possible use of the hospital pipe organ - and hears the organ being used by Christopher Batchelor, a former managing director of Harrison and Harrison, who is an out-patient at the National Hospital being treated for Parkinson's.
https://www.nationalbrainappeal.org/giving-back-through-music/

https://npor.org.uk/survey/N18315

Richard Hills, Director of Music at the West London Synagogue, demonstrates the synagogue's four manual Harrison and Harrison organ, and explains its role in accompanying the liturgy for the Shabbat services. He talks about how this organ has played an important role in assimilating and creating a British musical and choral sound-world that is distinctive to the West London Synagogue.

Music at the West London Synagogue
https://npor.org.uk/survey/A01141
Email the Organ Podcast: theorganpodcast@rco.org.uk

https://www.rco.org.uk/

Episode 13 - Pipe Organ Rescue with Martin Renshaw and Pipe-up - Katherine Dienes Williams on pressures facing cathedral organists Aug 01, 2024

Show notes

In this Episode, Mark O'Brien joins Martin Renshaw, from the organ charity, Pipe-up for Pipe Organs, as he and a team of volunteers remove an organ from a closed-down Baptist chapel in Hertfordshire. Mark also has a look around Martin's warehouse, where several historic organs are lying in storage, waiting for a new home in the UK - or about to be transported to Europe.
Pipe Up for Pipe Organs
Katherine Dienes Williams talks about her role as President of the Cathedral Organists' Association and reveals some of the concerns expressed by cathedral organists to the increasing demands of their job. She also shares her experience of being the first female Organist and Master of the Choristers in a Church of England Cathedral.
Katherine Dienes Williams
Email the Organ Podcast: theorganpodcast@rco.org.uk

https://www.rco.org.uk/

Episode 12 - BBC Radio 3's Choral Evensong at King's College Cambridge - Gordon Stewart demonstrates the J J Binns organ at Rochdale Town Hall Jul 14, 2024

Show notes

In this episode, we go behind the scenes of a live broadcast of BBC Radio 3's Choral Evensong from the chapel of King's College, Cambridge. We hear from the programme's Producer and Sound Supervisor, as well as from the Director of Music at King's - Daniel Hyde.
The Choir of King's College, Cambridge
BBC Sounds - Choral Evensong
Gordon Stewart demonstrates the famous J J Binns (1855 - 1928) organ at Rochdale Town Hall. Showcasing the distinctive Binns sound and tonal design, Gordon explains the background to the great town hall organ tradition in the North of England.
Gordon Stewart - Concert Organist
Rochdale Town Hall
Organ Specification - NPOR
Email the Organ Podcast: theorganpodcast@rco.org.uk

https://www.rco.org.uk/

Episode 11 - York Minster's Organ - RCO in State Schools - Wayne Marshall's Musical Life Jun 30, 2024

Show notes

In this episode, Robert Sharpe, Director of Music at York Minster, gives a tour of the sounds and colours of the organ at York Minster. Following the major restoration undertaken by Harrison & Harrison from 2018 - 2021, Robert explains why they looked back to the golden era of Arthur Harrison and Sir Edward Bairstow for their tonal inspiration, and demonstrates the astonishing results that have been achieved.
York Minster Organ Specification
York Minster Summer Organ Recitals 2024
We hear how school children are benefiting from an RCO initiative of loaning Viscount digital organs to state schools, with the aim of allowing children of all backgrounds to see, hear and play an organ.
RCO Organs in Schools
Wayne Marshall OBE, organ virtuoso, pianist and conductor, talks about his path to the organ and his extraordinary musical life that sees him celebrated all over the world for his interpretations of Gershwin, Bernstein and other 20th Century composers.
Wayne Marshall
Email the Organ Podcast: theorganpodcast@rco.org.uk

https://www.rco.org.uk/

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