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Well this is certainly one of the most interesting CDs to come across my desk in what has already been an interesting year. Organs from ships, instruments from the 14th, 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st centuries, but nothing quite like this extraordinary dual purpose Compton concert organ.
Boasting two four-manual consoles (one “serious” with illuminated push-buttons in the Compton style, and the other a horseshoe stop-key console for theatre organ music) this spectacular instrument has “about 50 ranks”, goodness knows how many stops (only the ranks are listed) and – with its original switching systems in place – probably the world’s largest collection of electric action relays!
I was particularly interested in what sort of sounds this behemoth might produce, having recently read of partial restoration work being carried out on it, after years of being well-nigh unplayable. A wise teacher once remarked to me that the cinema organ was the final evolutionary point of the organ – where it stopped developing as it were, with everything from that time referring back stylistically to other periods.
This comment was all the wiser given that it was made at the height of both his and the organ’s Neo Classical periods! Be that as it may, what would I make of an organ that encapsulated Compton’s almost singular ability to work in “straight” and cinema genres, all in one instrument?
The sounds are truly remarkable – forthright un-tremmed choruses, an apparently unending array of soft colours and solo stops, all at the command of an extraordinarily “snappy” and responsive action, clearly exploited to full by Richard Hills.
My first hearing of a Compton Melotone (electrically generated through amplifiers and loudspeaker) was far more interesting and enjoyable than anticipated.
Comprehensive details of the organ and its restoration may be seen at http://www.guildhall-compton.org.uk. Robert Rowley gets a line of credit for tuning and regulation, and well-deserved it is, for both are virtually faultless. The recording is also mercifully free of the “Niagara Falls” wind noise which spoils so many high pressure instruments – either that or it’s been cunningly removed by digital chicanery! [No it wasn’t - The producer]
The repertoire is all-but perfect for the instrument, starting off with a jaunty rendition of the famous Hollins Overture, then by contrast changing moods (and consoles) to present perhaps the jauntiest of all the lighter numbers, Parade of the Sunbeams by legendary theatre organist Quentin Maclean – high camp at its best and guaranteed to get the feet of even the most resistant early music aficionado tapping with pleasure!
Many of the composers chosen (on either side of the artistic/console divide) have associations with the organ – e.g. Australia’s George Thalben-Ball, who opened it. One slight niggle at the programming might be the absence of anything by that champion of all that was Compton, Percy Whitlock; who visited and loved the organ in early in 1937 - though writing a list of potential improvements to his friend Leslie Barnard, quoted in Malcolm Riley’s must-read compilation of Whitlock correspondence in The Percy Whitlock Companion.
But I digress..! A truly splendid and unusual organ in good playing order and apposite repertoire. But what of the playing..? Any local readers unfamiliar with the 32 year old legend Richard Hills (or his famous YouTube performance of Tiger Rag) should visit http://www.cinema-organs.org.uk/artists/hills.html before reading further.
Here in Richard Hills is one of the greatest of the fierce new generation of keyboard maestri to emerge in recent years, and seemingly unchallenged in his dual-prowess on either side of the artistic divide. Would that we “straight” organists could imbibe some of his flair at the theatre organ, and that theatre organists could do the same with his utterly impeccable technique and flawless rhythmic control (cf. that YouTube clip). Syrup and sparkle are lavished on the theatre pieces, with restraint and good taste abounding in the more serious ones.
As Organist of the well-known Anglo-Catholic “shrine church” of St Mary’s Bourne St London, one wonders if he ever crosses that divide during High Mass – as I type these final lines at my computer, I am listening again to the Knightsbridge March and wondering what the facial expressions of my own congregation at Christ Church St Laurence Sydney might be were I to slip this in as a Gospel procession!
One of the most interesting CDs yes… But actually also the most enjoyable and expertly performed I have had the pleasure of reviewing for a long time. All power to Mr Hills’ sword and compulsory listening for all.
Peter Jewkes
5th May 2012
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