RCO Conferment 2019 at Southwark Cathedral
March 12, 2019
Once again Southwark Cathedral was the setting for The Royal College of Organists' Conferment Ceremony. On Saturday 9th March, the College presented Diplomas and Certificates to 55 members of the College. The formal event concluded with a recital by Steven Grahl, followed by tea in the Cathedral Library - here's a gallery of photos summing up the day.
Read MorePractice in Art Deco splendour, courtesy of the United Grand Lodge of England
February 27, 2019
Even in a big city like London, it can be difficult to find organ practice facilities. The United Grand Lodge of England have recently restored and enlarged the 1933 Henry Willis organ in the Grand Temple at Freemasons' Hall, and also installed a new three-manual and pedal Viscount Classic digital organ one of their meeting rooms there. They are generously offering practice time on these organs free of charge to RCO Members.
Read MoreSummer School 2019 – for all organists, at all levels
February 12, 2019
The RCO’s big Summer Course really does cater for all levels of playing – everyone gets an individual tailored timetable to suit their needs and abilities, and many people come back year after year as their playing progresses. Booking has opened for the 2019 Course. Read the experiences of three students in previous years, all at very different levels of ability.
Read MoreChildren build an organ – the Orgelkids project
January 30, 2019
A project to engage young children with the pipe organ heritage of the Netherlands has created a global network of organisations allowing children to build and play a two-octave mechanical action organ. The original organ design by Wim Janssens is now being reproduced by professional organ builders in the Netherlands, the USA, Canada, Sweden, and now the UK, as part of the Orgelkids project world-wide.
Read MoreNew Year, new repertoire
January 20, 2019
One of the more pleasurable of New Year resolutions is to decide to expand our repertoire and learn new pieces, and there's help here on iRCO, with no fewer than ten short videos on organ repertoire, presented by experts in their field. Each one provides inspiration on a different century, or a different musical culture, with advice on appropriate registration, style and performance.
Read MoreLessons on the road to ARCO
January 13, 2019
Jonathan Davies regards achieving the ARCO qualification as his greatest personal achievement, though it was a long road from just wanting to play flashy pieces on the organ to acquiring the musicianship needed to qualify. He describes some of the techniques which led to final success, for the benefit of anyone else contemplating this examination.
Read MoreFilm improvisation explained at the 2019 East of England Organ Day
January 2, 2019
The 2019 East of England Organ Day celebrates the world of film in May, with concerts of cinematic repertoire for the organ, and improvisations, featuring the majestic 1933 Grand Organ in the Chapel of the Royal Hospital School, Holbrook, in Suffolk. School organist David Pickthall will create live, spontaneous soundtracks at the piano to two short Harold Lloyd films - here he explains the techniques that both pianists and organists can use to improvise to live films.
Read MoreWednesdays at 5.55 – organ recitals at the Royal Festival Hall
December 6, 2018
Go with organist colleagues to an organ recital at the Royal Festival Hall, and sooner or later someone will strike up a nostalgic lament for Wednesdays at 5.55. Harry Hoyle has just published a history of this extraordinary series of weekly organ recitals on the RFH organ, which lasted for 34 years. His engaging account will interest both organists and anyone fascinated by the social history of classical music performance in the second half of the twentieth century.
Read MoreKing’s College, Cambridge, and an English singing style
November 24, 2018
The sound of the Choir of King's College, Cambridge has become fixed in the public consciousness as the quintessence of English cathedral singing: epitomised by The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols each December. However the assumption that this singing style continues a tradition inherited from the Middle Ages could hardly be further from the truth. It took a revolution in social and musical attitudes in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, for the "terrible roughness" of cathedral singing up to then to be transformed, as Timothy Day shows in his book I Saw Eternity the Other Night - King's College Cambridge and an English Singing Style, just published by Allen Lane.
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