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THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL ORGAN: A VIEW FROM THE CONSOLEAmid much pomp and rejoicing, the return of the RAH organ after its £1.7m restoration by Mander Organs was a major feature of this summer's musical scene in London. On the whole, it seems Mander's concept in revitalising the Harrison design of 1934 has been a huge success, the concerts well-attended, and organists delighted. For not only has the beast been tamed so as to work reliably, it has also been re-ordered to make more repertoire playable. Here's my own brief experience. It was possible to find six clear stops on which to play an early English organ piece from the Mulliner book in a July Proms concert programme. The prompt response of the new action meant a certain degree of appropriate articulation and ornamentation was also possible. No chance of this happening on the wheezy and laborious instrument of five years ago. On the day, it was decided (for the Peter Maxwell Davies orchestral work based on my piece) that the organ should also intone the plainchant theme originally allocated to the oboe: I reached for the Swell Hautboy and somewhere high up, near the Gallery, a wistful reed plaintively did the business. The full gamut of newly-accessible repertoire could only be glimpsed, however, in the scant half hour allocated to me for practice. But after five minutes registering for the concert's needs, it was with the delight of a child in a sweet shop that the other sounds were savoured, all 146 stops over four manuals. There are some beautiful quiet stops, some gorgeous celestes,lovely choruses both loud and soft; plenty of soothing sounds, plenty of energising ones, suitable to respond to the cry of conductor Kurt Masur, when hearing David Goode's solo from Janacek's Glagolitic Mass, of: "Angry! More angry please!" He obliged. The jury is still out as to which area of solo organ music the instrument does best. From the comfort of the well-ordered console, it feels as if much is possible: from the auditorium, changes in dynamics appear clumsier, and so I would welcome more time for a final assessment. No doubt about the orchestral repertoire, though - the "Voice of Jupiter" thundered out in Janacek's Taras Bulba, and you could have heard that C major chord in the Saint-Saëns Organ Concerto all over London. Stirring stuff, and we welcome the return to our midst of the UK's largest concert organ. Catherine Ennis |
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