A NICE 'FORSTER & ANDREWS' (…and Lewis Carroll)

The childhood church of Lewis Carroll - St Peter's Church, Croft-On-Tees
2 Manual 'Tracker Action' Organ built by Forster & Andrews of Hull.
Full organ specification at: www.npor.org.u...
Croft Church Wikipedia Page: en.wikipedia.o...
PLEASE SUBSCRIBE, LIKE AND COMMENT - MANY MORE "ORGANIC VISITATIONS" TO COME!

[@user-wq1zl3jz2m]

Very nice young man. Good job

[@Jensleeps]

Great Video! 😊

[@louisglen1653]

A very nice organ for the size of the church!

[@OrganicVisitations]

Agreed! There is a huge distance between the congregation and the organ and so I suspect they struggle with delay. Thanks for watching :-)

[@ollyflynn5885]

Great Video Paul ! Keep the videos coming 👍

[@OrganicVisitations]

More to come!

[@ollyflynn5885]

@@OrganicVisitations Great. Where are you going next ?

[@amicus1766]

The organ was beautifully restored - including the original Victorian façade pipework by J. Adrian Cook (now doing organ work in Louisiana, USA) in 1986. Had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Cook years ago, a fine organ builder and gentleman.

[@sydneyorgans3250]

Thanks, as always, for this great video. What a lovely church and delightful organ. We've only recorded one F & A so far, but have two more on our list. They are wonderful organs, and it's good to see and hear this example.

[@OrganicVisitations]

Thanks for watching. Unfortunately, on the day I recorded this video, I wasn’t very well and so I probably didn’t come across as enthusiastically as I would have liked, but a nice organ nonetheless! F&A are good, solid and reliable organs and have several more to demonstrate, if only I can shake off this bug! Thanks again for watching - please share etc as I do with your enjoyable videos 😊

[@sydneyorgans3250]

@@OrganicVisitations Hope you feel better soon: and more than happy to share these!

[@richardsmith8094]

I've recently taken a post at a church in Leeds with an F&A of almost the exact same specification (Corno Di Bassetto on the Great instead of the 2', it's got a Cornopean on the Swell, and Sw Sub-oct coupler). Very beautiful pipework and voicing and I'm finding that it needs a very subtle and oftentimes unconventional approach to registration - sparing use of manuals coupled to avoid tuning and winding issues.

[@OrganicVisitations]

Not a million miles away from me! Sounds like a lovely instrument indeed. Email me if you think it would be possible to visit and make a video?! Thanks for watching and hope you’re subscribed 😊

[@richardsmith8094]

@@OrganicVisitations It is lovely and - unlike a lot of these smaller organs - speaks clearly into the pleasantly resonant nave from a west gallery. It's also got a Grade 1 BIOS listing. It's currently in poor condition and we are currently commissioning reports for a proper restoration. I'll drop you a line about a video once I've settled in.

[@davidcraggs3770]

I personally favour a 2 foot stop to complete the Great chorus rather than the Corno Di Bassetto which contributes nothing to the accompaniment of hymn singing.

[@richardsmith8094]

@@davidcraggs3770 Yes, I'd also prefer a 2' on the Great. But registering hymns on this instrument is an absolute delight and a steep learning curve. Uncoupled manuals, and a lot of soloing out the melody works well, and gives a wide range of colours & a strong lead. So in that respect, every stop - even the C di B - has a function in hymn accompaniment.

[@ianbrowne8871]

You showcase some delightful and unsung instruments. I also appreciate the voluntary at the end which allows the organ and organist to shine. I would second the comment about not using the quiet stops when attempting ‘full organ’. Nothing is added to the sound and I suspect it robs the proper chorus stops of wind and muddies the sound. 18th century practice allowed the Stopped Diapason to be drawn to cover irregularities in the Open but I suspect by the time this organ was build, the Open Diapason needs no such support. While it is useful to hear stops individually, hearing the build up of the proper choruses would give the listeners more. For example, OD alone, then OD + Pr 4’ and finally add the 15 2’. The SD8’ could be combined with the Dulciana, or with the HF4’ or Pr4’ shows some of the colours available on the Gt. The Swell chorus would seem to be the Geigen + Gemshorn and topped by the Piccolo. You demonstrated the strings well, and the oboe.was powerful. You could then compare the Gt and Sw 8,4,2 choruses and see how they differ or complement each other. The only value of hearing the 2’ on their own is really to assess if any have a flute tone as opposed to Diapason character. Hearing how the stops perform though the range of bass through to treble. Other things which help might be to look at the case and setting. Often a pipe rack is unremarkable but in this case the decorated pipes are worth a comment. The Achilles heal of most Victorian village organ is being poorly sited in the chancel which does nothing to support congregational singing in the nave. This came with the fashion of robed choirs in chancels, following the fashion of a cathedral. They thought a choir in another ‘room’ with the organ would lead the congregation, and this rarely worked. When these organs are relocated in the nave they often speak so much better and the congregation appreciate them. Few village churches have choirs these days and both services I took this morning the congregation sat in the chancel and for once the organ helped the singing! Having said that, the second instrument by T C Lewis 1870 and finally completed by H&H a in 2016 (!) could be clearly heard anywhere in the church as it is not cramped in a tine chamber.

[@OrganicVisitations]

Very helpful comments indeed! I am relatively new to this ‘KZbin’ malarkey and so comments like this are very helpful and welcome. I will certainly bare this in mind for future videos I make. I hope you’re subscribed (etc) and I look forward to further comments of this of this quality. Best wishes and, again, many thanks 😊

[@davidcraggs3770]

One Forster and Andrew’s gems. Although, going on my knowledge of F&A organs of that period, I have a suspicion that the Swell “Piccolo” could have originally been a “Flute 4 foot” which at some time been moved up or transposed to add brightness to the department. If the stop head appears to have been re-engraved or is in a different font then what I suggest may be the case. However, a lovely small organ, ideal for its function to accompany sung worship, but capable of a certain amount of organ repertoire. I would be quite happy to play a recital on It.

[@OrganicVisitations]

Yes, I wondered about the Piccolo, although I wasn't sure enough to mention it in the commentary. I'm sure they would be delighted if you offered to do a recital for them. Thanks for watching :-)

[@paulh5293]

On balance I think it's likely the Piccolo is original. Elvin's history of F&A gives a number of specifications taken directly from the company's order books (it predates NPOR by quite a few years!) and nearly all, including the smaller organs, feature a "Piccolo" or "Flautino" on either Swell or Choir - they never really went along with the "all you need is a rich 8ft" school of thought. It's another delightful little organ, a bit of tuning would transform it.

[@benjamindaniel8467]

Brilliant video. This appears to be a solid "village" organ. The Dulciana has a nice tone - not too feeble - which should accompany some of the Swell stops as a solo register. You may know this, but when you play "full organ" it's usual not to draw the quietest stops, i.e. Dulciana, Voix Celestes, as these aren't going to add anything to the sound and are potentially wasting wind. The balanced swell pedal does look as though it could get in the way of the middle C#, D# pedals... I believe the piece you play at the end is the "little" e-minor fugue, formerly attributed to J. S. Bach. My suggestion would be to take it a fraction slower, especially when dealing with a heavy coupled tracker action like this 🙂

[@OrganicVisitations]

Thanks for your comments and suggestions - all very helpful. Thanks for watching :-)

[@davidcraggs3770]

The little E-Minor fugue together with all the other little preludes and fugues are typically Bach and if I ever include one if them in my Recitals, I attribute them to Bach . Full Stop!!!

[@davidcraggs3770]

I do agree that that fugue should be taken slower, this seems to be an issue whenever organ works by Bach are performed or recorded. In order to achieve an authentic performance, the pace at which some organists take the Bach repertoire should be somewhat slower. The organs in Bach’s day would have had a reasonably heavy mechanical action so their performance would be in accordance with that limitation. Apart from the fact that in cavernous acoustics if they are played too fast they come across as blur and one cannot hear the notation clearly.

[@benjamindaniel8467]

@@davidcraggs3770 there's nothing too controversial about that, given they no doubt come from a book that says Bach on the front. Here is a quote from the sleeve notes to a CD, regarding the D minor Prelude and Fugue, BWV 554: "Some doubt surrounds their authorship, although this one is definitely by J S Bach as an original manuscript is extant." Either way they're all nice pieces and very useful.

[@benjamindaniel8467]

@@davidcraggs3770 some organists will wish to display their virtuosity by playing as quickly as possible. I know that I have a propensity to allow the notes to run away, especially when there are multiple runs of semi-quavers, but I’ve been trying to discipline myself not to rush too much. As a listener I find an unhurried performance is often the most enjoyable.

[@drjmansplace5174]

The pipes on the organ look amazing. Reed pipes indeed need tuning. Otherwise sounds good.

[@OrganicVisitations]

Thanks for watching 😊

[@ringerpaul3118]

I like the piece you played at the end. This is one of those organs that doesn't have any stops that you'd like to 'swap'! Thankfully no 16' stops on the manuals and two bright 2' stops. It's powerful enough to lead the hymn singing and has some lovely stops for the quieter verses and for 'covering the action' (when the organist improvisers, like at the end of communion when the hymn finishes too soon). Would you consider in your next video (when playing full organ) only using the principal stops and leaving the flutes and string stops out? I know that you noted the oboe was out of tune; I was wondering if using the Voix céleste at the end made it sound worse? I loved when you use it with the other stop (they sounded great together!). I enjoyed seeing the grinning cat on the sedilla which is believed to have inspired the Cheshire Cat.

[@OrganicVisitations]

Thanks for your comments and suggestions - very helpful indeed. The only problem I found with this organ, other than the fact it is lacking features such as combinations pedals, is that it is 'miles' away from the congregation and the person leading the service. I suspect that they struggle with delay problems and an unavoidable 'dragging' congregation. Other than that, a nice organ and very pleased to have visited it. Thanks for watching :-)

[@ringerpaul3118]

@@OrganicVisitations In the parish church at Great Yarmouth (one of the largest parish churches in England) the organ is in the north transept. When I played for services there you had to play and NOT listen to the congregation - if you did, then the hymn would grind to a halt! The building had a great echo which was lovely for the choir when singing unaccompanied. I'll put together a recording of choir and organ for you to listen to.

[@TB76Returns]

So they use the 4ft Principal to tune organs? Wow didn't know that!

[@OrganicVisitations]

Yes, the 4' Principle is tuned on it's own and all the other stops are tuned to that. Thanks as ever for watching :-)

[@TB76Returns]

@@OrganicVisitations Thanks, and one organ I can suggest you visit if you are up for a train trip or a good drive is St Mary's Church, Long Preston. It is a 3 manual organ with beautiful 18th century casework, reputedly from St Alban's Abbey, rebuilt in 1891 after coming to Long Preston in 1868. I have played this organ a couple of times

[@OrganicVisitations]

@@TB76Returns Slightly out of my patch, but I will make a note of your suggestion and who knows 🙂

[@davidcraggs3770]

When an organ is tuned it nearly always the Great Principal 4ft. Which is tuned first in order to tune the other ranks on the instrument, particularly the reeds

[@ringerpaul3118]

I didn't know that either!