BACH from BISHOPSTONE: Hymns and Histories at St. John's

My fourth road trip takes me to the 13th century church of St John the Baptist in Bishopstone.
If you enjoy please consider donating via the ‘Super Thanks’ button, so I can continue to film these trips.
You can also purchase my CD recording, Mighty Hymns at St Martin’s: benmaton-thesa...

[@garyadams5038]

As an American Anglophile, Episcopalian, and lover of church music, I’m reveling in your videos, Ben. I was privileged to study for one year at university in York, one of the best years of my life, which motivated me to return to England many times. Your musicianship, appreciation for the country side, and reverence for church, touches me and brings back some of the happiest of memories, now that I’m 73. Keep these videos coming and thank you!

[@barbararussell9757]

I second that sentiment. These videos bring back happy years in the Anglican Catholic Church; my priest and I had a mutual fantasy that our unspectacular church building was actually an ancient stone church in a little English village.

[@giuliakhawaja7929]

You must have been one of the first students at York university. I was born in York and I am five years older than you and remember visiting Heslington Hall which became the nucleus of the the York university. I went round it with York Archaeology Society when I was a child and it was an empty Manor House, 16th century with 19th century additions.

[@robertabel8391]

Gary, I was at Univ of York in 1973 studying for a PGCE. I sang in the Chapter House Choir, the small building inside the Minster, and rowed in Univ 8! Lovely memories. My father Dr Abel moved the family from Edinburgh-Norwich for his work & I remember wends on chilly walks around Norfolk coast, but later visiting another village church. Dad described to us teenagers a new wooden screen, old font or Norman arches and flint towers... and yes, he often played the organ! At one time 650 churches were listed in Norfolk...we saw a few unusual ones - Blakeney, Ranworth, Salthouse, Cley, Letheringset... Robert Abel

[@richardband5213]

What a surprise! My ninth great-grandfather, William Harford, was born in this very parish in 1620. I never expected to see, from three thousand miles away, what the church looked like inside, much less to hear its organ played. Many thanks, Ben.

[@SalisburyOrganist]

Delighted to read this!

[@michaelpfaff6009]

It makes me so happy to see such a young person so in love with these ancient churches and old organs. Thank you for these videos.

[@trishmurphy1941]

When one travels, tours often take the group to the big cathedrals. They are stunning of course, but these little churches seem to have an air of greater faith and community. Thank you for finding them and sharing them.

[@PortsladeBySea]

Many people overlook small churches and chapels. Many of them are stunningly beautiful but struggling to survive financially. We must utilise these amazing community resources before they are sold off to become residential, or commercial, facilities.

[@fredericklucies8440]

I'm 76 was an organist for over 50 years. I can't stop listening to your wonderful videos. Unfortunately, I am no longer a believer. Your presentations are fabulous and your attitude toward the churches and the music are fabulous.

[@annenewton5403]

Thank you for taking us on your Church journeys. We love to hear you play the organ and tell us the history of the Church. Hauntingly beautiful music.

[@lodikaodendaal6155]

please never stop playing these old organs .. I learn so much and just love the music

[@michaelparker719]

Another fascinating video. History, artistry, and faith combined. If only the people of Great Britain (and other countries) realised what they have in their midst. This young man is doing great work.

[@JonathanWhitney-kn4ox]

Thanks for getting me through surgery recovery. loved church crawls when younger, many memories. Cheers from the US

[@flyingtigerline]

Your music and commentary are superb. Your choice of subject matter couldn't be better. Thanks for sharing your talent.

[@martinstachnik509]

Thanks! I watch one video per day of yours. They're a way of vicariously traveling for me!

[@susiecredeur6969]

Touching my Anglican soul ☺️

[@rd3ster]

The English parish churches are such a treasure, to speak the obvious. Thanks for this clip.

[@user-di2jv9ki5w]

A Super Thanks to you Ben for yet another great road trip. It’s great to see these old churches and hear you play these magnificent organs which some of us would probably never have the opportunity to see or hear otherwise. Your explanation of how these organs work is just wonderful, and gives a greater understanding of them.

[@johannesreckel9036]

Love the paintings of the angels at the organ. And yes, Bach sounds really perfect when you play it on this organ.

[@stefanocontiflutechannel6812]

"Ich ruf zu dir" what a masterpiece. Bravo and thanks...

[@amber40494]

Yes, so wonderful, thank you for playing it so beautifully and bringing out the best of the organ!

[@user-zz8ds8or3k]

How lovely that thanks to Ben, even the most commonplace and insignificant Englisch village organs are saved from oblivion ...

[@neilanyon4792]

Until the church's closure a year ago I used to play occasionally (during summer holidays) on a very similar Conacher organ at Underhill Methodist Church on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. A bit newer (1900) and slightly larger but strikingly similar in both tone and appearance. It was always a joy to play and was remarkably resilient despite being little used in recent years due to lack of available organists. Its future is now very uncertain and I can't thank you enough for keeping such instruments in public view and just possibly helping them to live a little longer.

[@jimneilson9809]

Thanks…such a breath of fresh air at the end of a day to listen to this music and appreciate the history of so many hidden places. You have a real gift … not just playing the organ…but in the editing and expression of these great you tube videos……..

[@saltburner2]

Wiltshire certainly has some marvellous old churches. Even without your music, your videos would be an education.

[@jeffm3045]

See my comment on your Bach to Basics post. THIS was a very moving post. More of this please. These old instruments deserve to sing hymns and Bach's Chorale preludes once again so they can be appreciated anew.

[@vk2nf]

…and of all chorales the beautiful plaintiff ‘Ich ruf zu dir herr Jesu…👌

[@hughbryant1326]

What a beautiful sound you produced from the old organ. The Church too was charming Thank you.

[@dmbgothicart]

Slendid balance of history music and tech. You are following in Albert Schweitzers foot steps. Carry on.

[@Feathe3642]

Thankyou Ben for this beautiful music. Angel voices ever singing - so blessed by your playing! 😊

[@davidbamford4721]

I cannot play a note, and know nothing of the technicalities of music, but I really enjoy your vlogs, and your presentation of the churches and their instruments. We are immensely fortunate to be able to receive your presentations. I regret that my finances preclude donations to your channel, which is compounded by the low rate of exchange between the Australian dollar and your pound. Thank you for your work.

[@williamcalfee7571]

Ich Ruf Zu Dir, Herr Jesus Christ. One of my favorite Bach Organ works.

[@TorchwoodPandP]

Watching this in honour of Alexei Navalny, who has sadly died for his country. Bach is always pure beauty. May Russia find a way forward to Peace.

[@Nonsense-On-Stilts]

Hello Ben from the USA. My American mother married the Bishop of Sherborne, and they retired to Bishopstone. It is wonderful to see the Bishopstone Church. One of my favorite churches is St Nicholas' Church is Moreton, Dorset. I do not know about the organ there but the church is known for its stipple engraved glass windows with beautiful views of the countryside. Would you consider doing a video there? Merry Christmas and thank you for your lovely videos

[@gabs32100]

I so enjoy these videos, love seeing inside of these churches

[@tylerminks9715]

So glad I found this channel! Thanks for the work 👏

[@twitchbiddy6880]

You are so talented. You make the organ such a thing of beauty and worship. Crack a wee smile more often Ben😉

[@willg1604]

Excellent! These older organs can teach us a lot! Beautiful church!

[@billlee536]

Ben, I could listen to you play all day !!❤

[@stephenburns3678]

Thank you

[@davidwilliams8405]

These past two years I've taken walking/hiking tours of England and Scotland, apart from the beautiful countryside, one of the most awesome part of these hikes are all the wonderful villages I went through! And I always made it a point to visit these beautiful, local parish churches. Those that come immediately to mind are the ones in Grasmere, Schap, Orton (Cumbria), Reeth, Inglesbury, Glasmere (Yorkshire), and Blair Atholl, Portre, Fort William and Spean Bridge (Scotland). Watching your videos brings back so many great memories! My next trip in the planning stages is the Hadrian's Wall hike, either September or October. ❤😅

[@jonathandoyle3481]

Magnificent video in every respect! I can’t wait to visit more of these churches in person, but will wish you could conduct the tour! I can almost smell the dampness in this ancient place! What history!!!

[@ventusborealis2414]

Thanks again. Nice to know about those stops and functions of the pipeorgan. Blessings from Finland. ⚜️✝️⚜️🇫🇮♥️🇬🇧

[@jodiknight2820]

Thanks!

[@dogsbody49]

That is one of my favourite hymns. Beautifully played. The Bach was sublime. Thank you.

[@richardholappajr.6184]

Thank you, Ben! Great presentation, as usual!

[@jodiknight2820]

One of my very favourite hymns and a double pleasure hearing Bach as well.

[@colinnaylor7915]

Wonderful Video Ben thank you

[@user-tp4bg1xm9c]

Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge, talent, and experience. You are enriching the lives of many. From a fan in New Mexico, U.S.A.

[@11sesquialtera]

another warming video, thx, Rob

[@emorel48]

Simply beautiful!

[@epincion]

Thanks Ben for this slice of history and the beautiful music

[@T-41]

Thanks for this fine documenary program. I appreciate your high level of skills teaching church and organ history, your knowledge of hymns and ability to play them. On top of that thanks for the very professional video construction work.

[@antiv]

You play Bach beautifully ❤

[@John-hr5bj]

Thanks for another of your road trips to towns and villages near Salisbury. Agree that organs here were built for leading hymn singing and praises to God. Thanks😅, too, for the short PIP of the pedal board and our favorite loafers! Your videos speed of panning the building and gardens is a perfect speed. Other amateur videographers pan so fast the viewer becomes dizzy. Appreciate 😮you for many aspects of your channel, especially 😅😅showcasing the smaller parish churches and their organs.

[@mattleach958]

Thank you again, Ben, for all of your excellent road trip videos.

[@gerhardrohne2261]

this is a perfect video ! and you are so serious, so accomplished, so right on with church and organ. not only your music is beautiful...

[@lizwilliams14]

I agree. I won’t go into all the 38 below weather and cars freezing. But I got up and drove my granddaughter to work in my PJs. I asked about getting a new battery for her car. She got annoyed. Didn’t seem grateful that I had done her a favour. She is probsbly about Ben’s age. He is a beautiful person. I watch him play the organ and listen to his stories and that helps me put things in perspective. ❤ My granddaughter is also a beautiful person. ❤. Everything is absolutely fine again between us. She lets things get her down sometimes, but fortunately I’m old enough to realize that getting mad just makes things worse.

[@davidcraggs3770]

Ben, you really have true hymn playing in the bag. Legato touch and tempo. I am impressed with this organ as it has full choruses on both manuals and if the church perhaps spends a small sum on correcting the minor faults including the tuning of the Cornopean, it will continue to be a gem.

[@Austin8thGenTexan]

Thank you for a very well edited and beautiful video. Learning about various aspects of the organ's mechanism and various sounds was the most I've ever been exposed to. 🎹🎹🎹 🎼🎶🎵

[@MusicaAngela]

And the Bach you played was heavenly. My favorite composer.

[@SalisburyOrganist]

Thank you so much, glad you enjoyed it! 😀

[@matthewbbenton]

Keep up the great work! I have a feeling this channel is destined for growth.

[@apierrechartrand2359]

Thanks for sharing your passion with us, lovely man !

[@2Hearts3]

Will have to come back and continue this later when more time. You fill your videos with so much-- history, organ appreciation and purpose, scenery-- you love all this, so do i, and i love your channel and beautiful content. Thank you, Ben 🏆👏🎹🎶⛪♥️

[@barendtobe6059]

so many memories, it touches me thank you, greetings from Utrecht Netherlands

[@user-qt5oq9fj7f]

Very much enjoyed remembering the past times when I used to visit many of the old country churchs and especially the organs,

[@amber40494]

I hope i can visit some of these churches in person soon! I visited an area of France , charente-Maritime, where every little village has a 12th century stone church. But none of them even had an organ. In Saintes, there are several churches , much larger, where i heard one small organ.

[@billymeyer99]

beautiful

[@WhiteCatMomma]

Good stuff! Merry Christmas!

[@michaeltreadwell777]

What a beautiful Church and Organ. Thanks for taking us there Ben. Take care.

[@benjamindaniel8467]

Another great video, *and* featuring my favourite hymn! The Bach was lovely too. I was at Downton the other day and noticed the kneeboard had been removed. It worries me that someone will put their foot through the trackers...

[@ExAnimoPortugal]

We have a Conacher organ in a church here in Porto. They always sound so sweet and rounded!

[@robertmuncaster3510]

You seem to get through to the soul of Bach’s music, like Albert Schweitzer, not many do.

[@MusicaAngela]

Your videos are so interesting and valuable. I hope you can make many more!

[@ulrichhentze4854]

Thank you for the music!

[@barbaraives4962]

Thanks for this lovely video - beautifully filmed and played

[@GHutchOrgan]

Beautiful. Thanks Ben.

[@adriancressy8363]

Like another of your videos the audio pick up is excellent. To hear those majestic low bass notes

[@alexkarimloo9813]

A wonderful video of Ben's excellent demo of this organ and its church. Angel Voices very suitable Saint Michael and all angels yesterday festival

[@Quince828]

The Bach is lovely on that instrument. Britain is so fortunate to have so many village churches with organs that are still playable. In this area it’s all electronic instruments if they can afford an organ at all. Your opening sequence of the church immediately made me think it could have been in Midsommer Murders 😉

[@philiphumphrey1548]

It's just really the march of technology. Pipe organs largely replaced church bands in the 19th century. And Mr Hammond designed the the first relatively cheap electric organ in the 20th century because many churches in the USA couldn't afford pipe organs. The partly mechanical Hammond organ is now obsolete, replaced by electronic organs. Interestingly, the pipe organ in our parish church is all electric/electronic except for the pipes, there are no mechanical linkages at all.

[@Quince828]

@@philiphumphrey1548 I think you mean the action is electric, ie either electro-pneumatic or electromagnetic rather than mechanical. Although there are some electronic organs (simulators) that can control some pipework. The newest thing of course is digital sampling which gets eerily close to sounding like the acoustic instrument that was sampled.

[@silviosaditesche1556]

Essa melodia bucólica soa incrível no ambiente bucólico da própria igreja. Parabenizo-o pela escolha desta peça de Bach!

[@robinnicholson4009]

A very good,reflective film. I knew a Richard Seal once.

[@louisglen1653]

Thanks for a very nice video!

[@st.michaelthearchangelorth1055]

very English sound indeed. Thank you for reminding the viewer that the organ was not meant to play the Beatles, Cohen or other silly tunes, but to lead people singing God's glory.

[@Dobj319]

It may be old and out of sorts but it still sounds beautiful.

[@jsc5492]

A nice series of church tours. Bach Orgelbüchlein. The preludes are written with fermata signs to signify the end of each line in the sung verse. Congregations would breah at these points, unless the sense of the text demanded that there would be continuity between lines. Shouldn't the RH "breathe"? (Marcel Dupré famously said not because "the organ's a machine with a blower that doesn't have to take breath like a singer or clarinettist". But only very few play Bach nowadays in the style of MD. Since they are hymn preludes, have you thought of how they prepare a congregation to sing the first verse which comes straight after the prelude? Tempo. Atmosphere, Articulation, Nuance.

[@noelbolingbroke-kent3009]

A Super Thanks, as you request,

[@orcharddweller1109]

What is that gorgeous lute or guitar music at the beginning of the video please.

[@philipsmith0752]

Ben you play the organ lovely. What church are the the organists?

[@8000Christopher]

I think the organists that played that instrument were all cigarette smokers. Guess that a bit of an hypogenous, no not that, maybe an obliqueness, I have it, just a guess. Very difficult to prove. Carry on Mr. Maton. Lovely series.

[@glorisyoung9696]

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏❤️🎵🎶🎵🎶

[@jonathanleonard1152]

Where is your music available to purchase, not stream? In particular do you accompany any recorded choirs or small groups?

[@gustavs9]

Absolutely fantastic church...It USED to be Catholic

[@henrybeenh7076]

For myself: 7:31 🙂

[@Oldman808]

It would have originally been a Catholic Church.

[@juanjvvuuren1110]

Marry me. 💙

[@giovanniserafino1731]

Yes, history is literally looking you in the face, but it is Catholic history. These churches were built by Catholics, for Catholic Mass and worship, not for the questionable protestant worship of the 16th century. Most of these churches are now empty, the sad result of a wife murderer, and adulterous king who had the audacity to declare himself” head of the church in England.”

[@susiecredeur6969]

Thanks!

[@dandiffee5773]

Thanks!

[@wardbauman3453]

Thanks!

[@amber40494]

Thanks!

[@MusicaAngela]

Thanks!

[@andrewstrathdee1469]

Thanks!

[@SalisburyOrganist]

Thank you! 😀