9.29.19 - Opening Hymn: For the Beauty of the Earth (DIX)

SHUSH!! It's quiet Sunday and today because of two or more ladies complaining about the organ being 'loud', I decided to play the hymns and the Doxology (where the congregation sings) with the boxes completely closed and NO REEDS with exception to the postlude where I can open it up since no one is singing.
Typically, I always play the service with the boxes a quarter open, but apparently that's not good enough for the old biddies who live to and certainly LOVE to complain anyway, and they also love to tell me how to play, and inappropriately compare me to their last organist "well such and such didn't do that, and he did it differently" yada, yada, yada...
As it is due to the lack of a choir to carry the congregation through hymns, I don't reharmonise the hymns at all which makes for in my humble opinion, a fairly dull service musically as demonstrated in this video as I felt restricted to adding colour to the hymns.
Yawn, I wanted to go to sleep Zzzzzzzzzz......
1997 Rodgers 835B organ

[@dabuya]

No love, or harmony, from the congregation. Let's face reality, Mark; those of us appreciating sacred music and organists trained to lead - and accompany - congregational singing are fading faster than the number of people sitting in the pews.

[@bhigdaddymark]

TRUE...

[@arthurjdale8684]

Lovely...

[@alanclarke1360]

Hmmm - if they like boring. When I started at the Church I've been at for almost 11 years I had 2 people comment that I was too loud, another couple that I was too fast - and at least 10 times that number who said "great, it's good to hear it at a decent speed and volume". I now play at 2 different Churches, and have the same reaction at both. Pour more coals on the fire, I reckon - or at least reeds.

[@bhigdaddymark]

Thanks for your comment! We all go through it...

[@jonathancapece3839]

Screw em! Play your heart out! If they have a problem, they can worship elsewhere.

[@bhigdaddymark]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@elliot_sander]

It doesn’t really sound like a “hymn of grateful praise” (more like “grateful DEAD”). Open up the swell boxes and throw on the 32’s and let ‘er rip! I want to hear that Rodgers SING!

[@bhigdaddymark]

😂🤣😂🤣Elliot if you only knew buddy, since there wasn't a choir if they got 50 people attending the service, we were lucky so I only opened it up on the postlude. During the service I barely had the boxes opened as not to drown out the congregation and get complaints. I learned restraint subbing at that church...thanks!

[@orgelkraft]

You can't please everybody, and some people can't be pleased. That's a terrible way to have to play.

[@bhigdaddymark]

True, so true.

[@raymondbassford6134]

I think it’s rude to refer to elderly congregants as “old biddies.” If your church or its members were to see that I would think they’d have grounds to terminate you. I’ve been a church organist for forty years. I’ve watched several of your videos and the organ can be overpowering on the hymns.

[@bhigdaddymark]

When I'm playing the IV/88 pipe organ, the console is up in the gallery approximately 12-15 ft from the facade so naturally, the organ sounds overpowering because my camera is CLOSER to the actual pipes. On this particular organ, the speakers are behind a what appears to be a cloth screen about the same distance from the console. I usually play the hymns with the boxes either closed or 1/4 open. I had some KZbin arm chair critic once tell me that I "should never overpower the choir and congregation blah, blah, blah." I told him how close to the organ my camcorder was, the size of the room, the acoustics of the room and that down on the nave floor it's NOT loud nor overpowering at all, but that it's just right. So he's going to lecture me as to how I should play and not know a damn thing about the space that he's lecturing me on. There's nothing more annoying than some know it all who doesn't know what the hell they're talking about. I'll tell you what's rude, non-musicians and particularly non-organists telling you and I how to play the organ that you've been playing forty years and that I've been playing fifty-one years as THAT'S rude and I don't know about you, but I'm done with that nonsense from people because they're so arrogant that they expect you or me to be perfectly fine with their arrogance and rudeness, well I'm NOT. I can, have, and will continue to say what I want and no church nor anyone else will tell me otherwise. Perhaps you put up with nonsense, but I don't and I have not nor will not have any organisation hold a job over my head and tell me what I can or cannot say or how high to jump as I'd no sooner tell them to drop dead. I called them biddies, not BITCHES so I WAS being polite. Almost every organist I know is scared to death of the pastor, rector or whoever's in charge at the church they play in like little schoolgirls as they neither have a set or a spine and that's why they're abused, disrespected and taken advantage of by their boss as they won't stand up to them. NOT fight with them, but stand up for themselves. I'm not having anyone say what they want to and expect me to take it as though I enjoy their BS, as that nonsense doesn't fly with me.

[@wendellopenshaw3848]

I have to say that when I grew up in New Jersey in the 50s and 60s in an American Baptist church, we had an organist named Frances Cornelsen who thrilled me and the choir and congregation with her red blooded, fearlessly loud and soft, appropriately modulated hymns such as Stand Up For Jesus and He Leadeth Me. Everybody sang along! When my congregation moved from the center city because of demographics and crime to a suburb away from our family, we joined a Methodist church which completely bored me with an overly theatrical preacher and a dull organist who used constant soft flutes, constant prayer times and very little to inspire a young man. Now it appears that the shrinking congregations consist mostly of older people who are way too dull for me, because the mainline churches have driven away the more interesting people and/or their scandals have been exposed. "Old biddies" may be rude but it is not inaccurate. I love hearing strong, powerful music in support of our Lord Jesus Christ wherever I find it and these days, it is often on the Internet listening to strong players like Mark Ferguson. Thank you Mark!

[@bhigdaddymark]

@@wendellopenshaw3848 Thank you ever so much Sir, your comment is greatly appreciated indeed! I really don't care if Mr. Bassford thinks that my referring to old complaining miserable women who are neither musicians and definitely not organists as being rude especially when I could've used far stronger language. Too many organists take abuse from their bosses and the parishioners and I'm simply not one of those weakling scared of everyone types that those guys are. That certainly doesn't mean that one should be constantly fighting with others, but I firmly believe in self-defence and standing up for myself and I can do so diplomatically if allowed to, or in a VERY not so diplomatic way. In every church in America you'll find these types of miserable individuals who should just stay home and leave others alone and especially the organist. I get it though and you were on point in that in this case the previous organist was dull and could put a sloth to sleep and apparently that's what some there used to. Thanks again.