All organs are different as are all organists. Add to this the fact that tastes change over the years and this will help you put what I am about to type into some kind of perspective.
I have felt, for a long time, that organists use the swell oboe stop far too much - SO THERE. In gentle accompaniments (such as for psalms) there is plenty of scope for soft registration without resorting to the swell oboe too soon; save it for effect! Andrew Newberry managed to accompany psalms at Peterborough Cathedral with pleasing variety. Yes, he had certain formulae but he did not resort to using reeds at every opportunity. When I visited the console there (of the organ as restored in 1981) a few years before the fire and the most recent changes to the organ, I found that the Oboe came on with Swell piston 3! There were 8 pistons but Andrew only had 6 [non-adjustable] pistons in his day; he had the 8' and 16' Oboes coming on for piston 5 as a mini full-swell effect. Other than that he used the choir soft stops, effects on the Solo and occasionally the Great to achieve variety. He was also able to re-space the chords whilst playing as well leave the choir by themselves, save for an ethereal descant on a clarinet or flute.
I have to admit that I have not heard a great deal of psalm singing in cathedrals recently, other than when I have been conducting or singing; I do need to get around more to see if I have just been unlucky. However, I do feel that young organists today reach for the reed stops far too soon.
I recently turned pages for a cathedral Evensong and noticed that the Swell 16' (flue) made many appearances. {Andrew never used the 16' flue [mind you it was a Keraulophon] and I used not to like the effect but was slightly 'converted' in 1980 when I did my degree recital.} At the same cathedral all 3 organists I heard made rather too much use of the solo celestes for my liking but, as I say, it is all a matter of taste.
I have felt, for a long time, that organists use the swell oboe stop far too much - SO THERE. In gentle accompaniments (such as for psalms) there is plenty of scope for soft registration without resorting to the swell oboe too soon; save it for effect! Andrew Newberry managed to accompany psalms at Peterborough Cathedral with pleasing variety. Yes, he had certain formulae but he did not resort to using reeds at every opportunity. When I visited the console there (of the organ as restored in 1981) a few years before the fire and the most recent changes to the organ, I found that the Oboe came on with Swell piston 3! There were 8 pistons but Andrew only had 6 [non-adjustable] pistons in his day; he had the 8' and 16' Oboes coming on for piston 5 as a mini full-swell effect. Other than that he used the choir soft stops, effects on the Solo and occasionally the Great to achieve variety. He was also able to re-space the chords whilst playing as well leave the choir by themselves, save for an ethereal descant on a clarinet or flute.
I have to admit that I have not heard a great deal of psalm singing in cathedrals recently, other than when I have been conducting or singing; I do need to get around more to see if I have just been unlucky. However, I do feel that young organists today reach for the reed stops far too soon.
I recently turned pages for a cathedral Evensong and noticed that the Swell 16' (flue) made many appearances. {Andrew never used the 16' flue [mind you it was a Keraulophon] and I used not to like the effect but was slightly 'converted' in 1980 when I did my degree recital.} At the same cathedral all 3 organists I heard made rather too much use of the solo celestes for my liking but, as I say, it is all a matter of taste.
2 comments:
I find that I use the Oboe quite a lot as a colouring stop, but very rarely as a solo. The same goes for the Vox Humana (every organ should have one!). With five pistons, I usually have Swell to Mixture on 3, add Oboe on 4 and Full Swell on 5. I have noticed, particularly on Willis organs, that the Oboe sometimes comes on before the Mixture, or as an alternative to it. It's all about colour - not so much how often you use the Oboe, but what you have with it. I think North American organs are better 'blenders' than British ones. With the latter, the build-up and diminuendo tends to fairly standardised, whereas here you can take a number of different routes.
Thanks for the comment. (I moved it from the Cleaners post where you'd put it). I think you are right about colour and I like the piston settings you mention.
My grouse is with people who have the oboe on too early!
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