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Newsletter May 2018

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The progress from Christchurch

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Beginning of a new beginning

Christchurch Town Hall update visit 2018

Four years ago fans of the beloved pipe organ in the Christchurch Town Hall said au revoir to the instrument. The mighty Rieger organ, known world-wide despite its relatively youthful life of 13 years, was entombed in a solid cocoon of metal and timber so that it would come to no harm while major restoration work was undertaken on the auditorium. In recent weeks as the massive project is drawing to a close, scaffolding was erected so that the temporary casework could be removed safely without harming the organ.
Organ curator Martin Setchell and I were there to witness this joyful re-birth, and it was an emotional moment to see and touch the organ once again (although it can't be turned on and played just yet). Everything is in extremely good condition, although inevitably there is enough dust to keep an army of vacuum cleaners cheerfully sucking for days. As Rieger Orgelbau noted in their first inspections after the earthquakes, there is nothing that they can't fix on site. And we also have the added thrill of hearing for the first time the 12 new ranks that were being installed when the 6.3 quake hit on February 22nd, 2011. The organ builders will be returning to Christchurch in October this year to begin their work, and the re-opening of the hall and the organ is expected to be early in 2019.
Martin comments: "Next year, 2019, will see the opening of what is virtually a new organ, even bigger and better than before. Given the horrific damage to, and destruction of so many pipe organs in the city, including both our Cathedral instruments, our world-class civic organ, in what Ian Lockhead affectionately described as 'our city's living room' is now even more significant than ever.

You can still view the webcam of work in the auditorium, which is updated every 15 minutes, here

ABOVE: (From top, left to right) Looking down façade pipes to the organist's bench and the console; the pedal cover is removed; Jenny photographing in the auditorium looking towards the stage and organ; Martin checking the façade pipes; scaffolding with organ behind and gallery seating in distance; the front of the town hall - a work in progress.

This is your last chance to make sure that you get our future emails, thanks to law changes for subscribers in the EU which come into force tomorrow. You should have got my emails yesterday from nzorgan.com or pipelinepress.com encouraging you to click the button to update your profile. Thanks to all who want to continue receiving these emails. If you haven't updated your profile yet, click on the Update Subscription preferences at the bottom of this newsletter, and follow instructions. *Sigh* Life used to be so much simpler....

Having just returned from a concert attended by 800 people in the Adelaide Town Hall, Martin is off again; this time for concerts in Germany, the UK, and France. I'll be trundling along to turn pages, pull stops etc and give a talk to an organ fraternity near Exeter. We'll post a few pictures of organs, music-making, and the world at large in the Pipeline Press blog. As always, we love to see friends while on the road, so check Martin's schedule to see if there is a concert near you in the coming months. We'll return with renewed vigour, keen to see further progress in the Town Hall. And cuddle the cats, of course.

From the Swellbox

A few minor snipplets, only peripherally to do with organs:

Pure, simple fun music-making on (one of ) the largest organs in the world, by the man with an enviable technique: David Gray. (How dare he make it look so easy??)
This will be my next Christmas present, okay, family? Start building now... Pipe Organ desk
How fast should it go? Widor Toccata arouses heated debates about this subject, but here is the composer to play it for you. At the speed he intended ... and if you need some help, the Chicago International Organ Academy has some advice on how to tackle this all-time favourite.
I have to admit I watched the Royal Wedding from go-to-whoa and loved it. Dignity, good taste, terrific photography, inspiring, fascinating fashions - all of that. So let's spoil it with a wonderful spoof from the Bad Lip Reading people who have rendered the great occasion with some interpretations of their own.

Kate: Hey Bobby - I think they're leaving us again.
Bobby: Well, I'm staying here then. How long this time?
Kate: Until August.
Bobby: That's alright then. Only a couple of days. Enough time to torment the baby-sitters. Heh-heh-heh.
Kate: Giggle-Giggle-Giggle....

+++++++

Jenny - off to discover just how many cameras she thinks she's going to take this time...

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