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The PipeLine Journal of the YDOA
January 2020
Patron Francis Jackson
President John Scott Whiteley 01430 861563
Vice President John Morley 01904 412274
Secretary Nigel Holdsworth 01904 640520
Treasurer Cynthia Wood 01904 795204
Membership Maximillian Elliott 01904 427301
Editor of Alistair Timmis 01977 342615
‘The PipeLine’
www.ydoa.co.uk
The York & District Organists’ Association is affiliated to the Incorporated Association of
Organists (IAO) and serves all who are interested in the organ and its music.
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Featured this Month...
1. Words from the Editor Happy New Year! Page 3
2. Association Programme 2019-2020 Page 4
3. Previous Events Open Console Page 5
4. Next Event Presentation at Bootham Page 6
5. Upcoming Recitals York & North Yorkshire Page 7
Leeds & West Yorkshire Page 8
Hull & East Yorkshire Page 9
Sheffield & South Yorkshire Page 9
6. Beyond the Bars St Mary’s Priory, Old Malton Page 10
7. The Minster Grand Organ Robert Writes Page 11
8. Member News Ads & Vacancies Page 16
9. The Trivia Section Caption Competition! Page 17
NEWSFLASH!
The YDOA Annual Dinner will be held on Friday 13th March at Bedern Hall. It will
be at the usual time of 7pm but please note the change of location. The nearest
car park is the usual pay and display affair on Monkgate. If you have a blue badge,
there is on-street parking nearby.
This being a superb venue, Bedern Hall has all the facilities needed for our Annual
Dinner. It is both intimate and welcoming with modern facilities in an historic
setting.
Look out for the circular from Nigel Holdsworth, Secretary, with menu choices
and further detail, which will be sent out at the beginning of February.
In the meantime, do put the date in your diary!
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1. Happy New Year!
Welcome to the January Edition of The PipeLine, and a very Happy New Year. Here’s to
a prosperous and musically fulfilling start to the new decade, with many YDOA events
and future opportunities that seem to make that prospect even more likely.
My first job of the new year for the association, which I have thankfully completed
with aplomb, was to change the year to 2020 on the front cover in addition to the
habitual moving on of the month. I had nightmares about sending the edition out
reading ‘January 2019’ - so that fear is now entirely allayed!
The publication is slightly later in the month than usual, but this was to allow for the
‘Open Console’ event on Saturday 25th to take place in order that a brief write up
could be included. Do please see the following page for details of other events that will
follow in 2020.
We are fortunate in this issue that Robert Sharpe has once again been generous in
writing a fascinating article on the Minster organ project, this time with a focus on the
decorated pipes that adorn the case and the work going on around this aspect of the
restoration. Our grateful thanks are owing for such an extensive contribution.
A new PipeLine feature entitled ‘Beyond the Bars’ will be launched during this year. In
spite of being potentially mistaken for a leaflet about being released from prison, it is
in fact a mini-series intended to examine more closely the musical life of churches
beyond the immediate city—and certainly outside of the city centre (hence the nod to
the bar walls!). We open this time with St Mary’s Priory Church, Old Malton.
Finally, do feel free to contact me with articles or news that you would like to be
included. The deadline is the 12th of the month, at ‘[email protected]’.
Alistair Timmis
Editor of ‘The PipeLine’
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2. YDOA Programme
2019-20
November Saturday 9th at 18:30 ‘Welcome Party’, hosted by the President. See page 5.
December Saturday 14th at 14:00 ‘Wine and Wassail’ - Carol Singing, St Columba’s URC, York.
January Saturday 25th at 14:00 Open Console at St Helen’s Church, Stonegate, York.
February Saturday 22nd at 14:00 ‘The Early Seventeenth Century Organ’ - Presentation by Jo
Wainwright at Bootham School Recital Room, York.
March Friday 13th at 18:30 Annual Dinner at Bedern Hall, York.
Speaker: Alan Thurlow
April Saturday 18th at 14:00
‘Couperin, Clérambault and the French Golden Age’.
Masterclass with Graham Cummings at St Paul’s Hall, within the
University of Huddersfield .
May Wednesday 27th—Friday 29th
‘Trip to Gouda in the Netherlands’
Itinerary to include the Thursday cheese market, a tour of
Kramphuisen Stroopwafel factory and churches!
June Saturday 13th at 19:30 ‘Andrew Carter at 80’ - St Olave’s Church, Marygate, York.
July Saturday 11th at 11:00 ‘Touring the Howardian Hills’ - trip to churches and their organs
in Whitwell-on-the-Hill, Welburn and Terrington.
August Wednesday 19th at 18:30 Recital of Bach’s organ music on the violin—at the Coffee
House, Everingham, East Yorkshire.
September Saturday 19th at 14:00 ‘How to Compose for the Organ’ - a Seminar with Philip Moore
at All Saints’ Church, North Street, York.
October Saturday 17th at 14:00 Recital by Keith Wright and AGM—St Deny’s Church, York.
Subscriptions 2019-20
If you haven’t already renewed your subscription for 2019-20, please could you send a cheque for £16 to
our Membership Secretary Max Elliott (contact him at [email protected]).
The deadline for renewing your membership was the 30th of November.
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3. Previous Events
Open Console at St Helen’s, Stonegate
Tim Jones writes...
The January meeting was our Open Console at St Helen’s Church in the centre of York and as we have found previously the central location meant that we had frequent visitors, many of whom were persuaded to have a go on the organ and ask questions. The event commenced with a brief introduction and welcome by our President John Scott Whiteley although prior to the start one young person had already begun to explore the organ. We were grateful to Max Elliott who supervised, offering advice and guidance to the participants. Although we had a wide range of ages wishing to take part it was really pleasing that a good number of young people, including some Minster Choristers, were in attendance with most playing more than once. One particular highlight was one of the young players playing a three movement Stanley voluntary. In addition Max and other YDOA members played pieces on the organ which acted as a good way to demonstrate the instrument. It was also pleasing that a number of our members came to support the event. It was appreciated that the church provided some refreshments.
In addition the organs at St Denys’ and Central Methodist were played throughout the day as part of York Resident’s Day which also served to promote the organs of York. We are most grateful the church officers for allowing us use of the church and special thanks to Max for supplying guidance to the participants.
Images provided with grateful thanks to David Norman.
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4. Next Event
‘The Early Seventeenth Century Organ’
Presentation by Jo Wainwright
Saturday 22nd February 2020
14:00
Recital Room
Bootham School
Bootham
York
Y030 7BU
Come along and enjoy what promises to be a fascinating presentation. See you there!
TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS
Parking is available in nearby Bootham Row and
Marygate car parks. These are operated by the city
council, thus pay and display conditions apply. It is also
within walking distance of York Railway Station,
following Queen Street to the north, and turning left to
cross Lendal Bridge, dropping down to the south side of
the river adjacent to the city walls entrance, walking
west and crossing the pedestrian part of the
Scarborough Railway Bridge and turning right to meet
Marygate (walking north past St Olave’s Church)
towards Bootham. Bus services 1, 5, 6, 19, 30 and 40
stop at nearby Exhibition Square, likewise Rawcliffe Bar
(A19) Park & Ride service 2 stops at Museum Street.
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5. Upcoming Recitals
York & North Yorkshire
Stated times are correct at the time of publication.
Further details can be found on organrecitals.com
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5. Upcoming Recitals
Leeds & West Yorkshire
Stated times are correct at the time of publication.
Further details can be found on organrecitals.com
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5. Upcoming Recitals
Hull & East Yorkshire
Sheffield & South Yorkshire
Stated times are correct at the time of publication.
Further details can be found on organrecitals.com
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6. Beyond the Bars!
St Mary’s Priory Church, Old Malton
Phillip Sangwine writes...
I am currently Interim Director of Music at the church and have been in post since the 1st
August 2019. Old Malton used to have a good musical tradition but it had gone to seed
over a period of a number of years due to the choir ageing and only practicing midweek
during the morning. The time of the rehearsal stopped any new and younger members
joining. By the time I had arrived the choir had retired and had only been singing for one
Sunday service for the previous year; the congregation having to sing without support.
Since arriving I have restarted the choir
and we are singing twice a month for the
evening services of Evensong and Sung Eu-
charist, the result of this is one previous
member has returned to sing who had
stopped previously as she could not make
the midweek daytime rehearsals. Unison
singing by the small choir is currently the
order of the day as it is better to sing well
in unison than badly in a number of parts.
At Evensong we sing the Magnificat and
Nunc Dimittis to settings that were com-
posed for trebles voices as well as an an-
them, and at Sung Eucharist the same type
of settings but for the Sanctus and Angus
Dei. In addition to the choral music we
have added two extra hymns at both ser-
vices taking it to five hymns. This approach
has gone down well with the parishioners
and we are seeing the signs of new growth
at the church.
Could your church be included here? Contact the Editor at [email protected]
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7. The Minster Grand Organ Project
Robert Writes...
The case and front pipes of the Minster organ date from the early 1830s when a new organ was built fol-lowing the disastrous fire of 1829 when the previous instrument and its elegant case were destroyed by the efforts of Jonathan Martin who had decided the organ “shalt buzz no more”. The case is unusual for English cathedral organs placed on a screen because it has façade pipes on all four fronts. Originally, these were “bronzed” which is a term for a finish which is a cross between a dark green and gold. Evidence of this is still to be seen round the backs of some of the pipes. The elaborate decora-tion dates from 1859 when the pipes were painted in situ: Yorkshire Gazette, 12 November 1859 5b “In addition to being rendered a perfect instrument as regards its musical capabilities, the organ has been considerably improved in its external appearance, having undergone embellishment at the hands of a competent decorative artist, Mr. Blackmore, of London, to whom much credit is due for his successful treatment of a most difficult work. Under his skill and care the whole of the pipes exposed to view in the east and west organ cases have been illuminated in gold and colours in lieu of the disagreeable looking and faded bronze which disfigured the pipes before, and offended the eye of the spectator. The style of decoration adopted consists of arabesques intermixed with mediæval flowering, the prevailing colours on the east side being green, white, and gold, touched here and there with vermillion, whilst the predomi-nating colour of the west front pipes is vermillion filled in with flowerings of gold, green, and drab. The pipes for the north and south sides of the instrument have also been decorated in a similar style, varying slightly in some of the details. The patterns are very beautiful, and present an agreeable diversity in colour and style, whilst they harmonise well together as a whole. The general arrangement is artistic, and the producing of a pleasing effect has been carefully studied by Mr. Blackmore. The horizontal pipes of the tuba organ have been embellished in a corresponding manner, and the cornice of the swell-box has been gilded and decorated with the happiest result as regards its appearance.”
The last sentence refers to the Hill Tubas 16ft and 8ft whose pipes projected horizontally from the screen:
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The case pipes number nearly one hundred in total, and until 1903, the majority of these spoke. As part of the current work, it was felt desirable that as well as having their appearance conserved and restored, they should once again speak. As well as being aesthetically pleasing this plan also allows the considerable space taken up inside the case by the Walker 1903 internal bass pipes to be freed up both to allow clearer egress of tone and safer tuning and maintenance access. There are several reasons why Walker may have chosen not to reuse the Hill case pipes. First, he turned the internal distribution of the organ round with the console to the south and the soundboards of the Swell and Great running east-west rather than north-south (although Hill’s Swell soundboards also ran east-west above his north-south Great). Secondly, the case pipes have a very high lead content and are therefore quite soft (see below) and were voiced on a lower pressure of wind than the new organ of 1903. Thirdly, Walker may have felt more comfortable providing new basses for the “rolling Diapason” tone for which he was justly renowned and which was a key feature of the 1903 organ. Earlier 20th century restorations of the organ continued to leave the case pipes as dummies and by 2018, many were in a very bad state because their high lead content and age had resulted in some with collaps-ing feet and buckled backs. Some stabilising efforts had been made over the years, but this had been done based on the pipes no longer needing to speak. Early on in the planning work, the Fabric Advisory Committee agreed that the north and south fronts (which were of inferior quality to the main east and west ones) would be either lengthened or replaced with new, longer pipes decorated as before to allow the removal of the flimsy panelling beneath the origi-nal pipes and bring the north and south into line with the east and west - a stronger architectural result. This move also has the advantage of allow more egress of sound for the Great division from the south front.
Before: After:
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Because the original north and south case pipes were a very mixed bag and not well-spaced in the fronts, it was decided a year ago that the north and south fronts would be new and these pipes are now in the north transept compound and will be decorated by Robert Woodland and Debra Miller in a month’s time. They have already made new sten-cils based on the originals. The original pipes have been successfully auctioned and the proceeds from this has helped to cover the cost of decorative res-toration and renewal. The south front contains the lowest notes of the Great Open Diapasons II, III and IV. The north front contains the lowest notes of the Pedal Principal and the lowest tenor notes of the Violone. The majority of the east and west pipes now once again speak, and this has required a great deal of restoration and renewal to the backs of the pipes with the worst ones being entirely new at the back. The pipes have also had their feet lined with zinc to prevent collapse in the future. Initial experiments to determine whether this plan would work proved very successful and you can see in the photographs how the work was done. The windows in the backs of the pipes are to allow the pipe to speak a much higher note than its necessary architectural length. These pipes have all been revoiced on the higher wind pressure introduced in 1903 (around 4 inches) and the cut-ups raised. Remarkably, the notes they produce are a little superior in quality to the 1903 pipes they are replacing which is a very happy result. The twelve tower pipes (three in each corner of the east and west fronts) were extremely dilapidated and not restorable with any degree of confidence for their future stability. They have been replaced with new zinc pipes which will also be painted to match the original work. The east front tower pipes are the bottom six notes of the Pedal Violone with the main front being the bottom of the Choir Open Diapason (pictured). The west front tower pipes are the bottom six notes of the Great Double Open Diapason with the main front be-ing the tenor register of the same stop.
East pipes from behind
And turned round (the much shorter pipes on the right are those inside the case on the soundboard
which continue up from the case pipes):
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FAC were keen that the restoration of the decoration should be as the organ would have looked when it was first done. This has been achieved through a combination of cleaning and some new painting. This work is almost complete and can be seen in St John’s Chapel off the north transept where the pipes are stored and where Robert and Debra have carried out the work. It is remarkable how much more vivid the original colours were (as you would expect of the Victorian era) with the vermillion and blue and golds looking particularly stunning. When viewed from the floor of the Minster (some considerable distance away in fact), the organ will look like a jewel box. Robert Sharpe Director of Music York Minster
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8. Member News
Calling Sixth Form Organists! This snippet is to draw your attention to the Sixth Form Fee Assistance at Pocklington School.
The school actively promotes applications from those who may benefit from studying at Pock-
lington and I encourage all pupils considering further education to take a look, including those
who may never have considered attending an independent school. Up to 100% assistance is
available and further details can be found on the school website.
www.pocklingtonschool.com/Scholarships-and-Bursaries
Last year, our grades at Music A-Level were A* and A. We use the AQA board and teach harmo-
ny and Bach chorales, which may schools no longer do. Furthermore, one of our set composers
is Olivier Messiaen and we have studied organ works such as La Nativite and Les Corps Glorieux.
There are also opportunities to play the organ in our weekly church service at Pocklington Par-
ish Church and for assemblies in school. If any members or friends are interested in attending
Pocklington School, I encourage them to make contact with the school in the first instance and I
am more than happy to be contacted to discuss music and the Music Department with potential
applicants.
Samuel Auston BMus(Hons), PGDipRNCM, PGCE, ARCO.
Director of Music, Pocklington School.
Know of a vacant organist or choirmaster position?
Contact the Editor for inclusion here at [email protected].
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9. The Trivia Section
The Caption Competition!
What on earth has happened here? A model railway?
Captions to the Editor at [email protected] for inclusion
next month!
Winning Quote for December:
“Philip Paul finally finds a
vehicle worthy to transport his
new 32’ reeds back to Central
Methodist…”
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List of YDOA Presidents
1980s
1980-1 Robert Hall
1981-2 Michael Latham
1982-3 Richard Crosby
1983-4 Peter Maw
1984-5 Eric Grewer
1985-7 David Templeman
1987-8 Lloyd D Smith
1988-9 Geoffrey Coffin
1989-91 George Pilling
1990s
1991-3 Douglas Heath
1993-4 Nicholas Page
1994-5 David Simpson
1995-6 Alan Aspinal
1996-7 Peter Whitehead
1997-8 Maureen Murfitt-Swindells
1998-9 Jean Pilling
1999-2000 Edmund Cooke
2000s
2000-1 Alfred Boddison
2001-2 Cynthia Wood
2002-3 Edmund Cooke
2003-4 David Simpson
2004-5 Philip Paul
2005-7 Phillip Sangwine
2007-9 Andrew Roberts
2009-11 Adrian Crawford
2010s
2011-13 Raymond Sturdy
2013-15 Nigel Holdsworth
2015-17 Joan Johnson
2017-19 Maximillian Elliott
2019- John Scott Whiteley
Founded in 1945
1945-6 Edward Cuthbert Bairstow
1946-7 Reginald Shephard Rose
1947-8 Archie W Sargent
1948-9 Francis Alan Jackson
1949-50 H Reginald Mason
1950s
1950-1 Frederick Waine
1951-2 Reginald Shephard Rose
1952-3 Edmund Stanley Walton
1953-4 Benjamin Dawson
1954-5 Benjamin Summerton
1955-6 W Allen Bean
1956-7 George James Stacey
1957-8 Joseph Samuel McElheran
1958-9 Walter Hartley
1959-60 Benjamin Dawson
1960s
1960-1 Bernard J Porter
1961-2 Ronald Perrin
1962-3 William Addamson
1963-4 Alec C Cooper
1964-5 Evelyne G Bowmer
1965-6 George L Baggaley
1966-7 Tom Ward
1967-8 Alec Brodie
1968-9 Michael Minns
1969-70 Avena Helen Norfor
1970s
1970-1 Lloyd D Smith
1971-2 Colin McGarritty
1972-3 Michael Phipps
1973-4 Jack Judson
1974-5 Alfred Alcock
1975-6 A Austin Winterbottom
1976-7 Peter Whitehead
1977-8 Ruth Smith
1978-9 Maureen Murfitt-Swindells
1979-80 Geoffrey Hunter
