The Hill organ at Selby Abbey in Yorkshire is currently under restoration by Principal Pipe Organs of York. Viscount Organs were proud to have been chosen to provide a temporary instrument for two years or so, and saw the opportunity to make some recordings, both to show off the Regent 356 instrument in a cathedral acoustic, and also to raise money for the Hill restoration. John Scott Whiteley, Organist Emeritus of York Minster, and D’Arcy Trinkwon were the two recitalists, playing music to their own particular strengths. D’Arcy designed his programme to show off the colour and personality of the organ in music with a wide appeal – including Festing, Liszt, Saint-Saens and Guilmant, Bossi, the Litianies of Alain, and ending with Cochereau’s Boston Toccata. John demonstrates the Baroque voicing available on the instrument in the music of JS Bach, his sons and pupils, and the accompanying booklet includes his own informative notes on how organ builders and composers interacted with the new ideas about temperament that emerged through the seventeenth century.
David Mason of Viscount Organs has written an entertaining account of the two days spent making the two DVDs here. The mass of distracting equipment around the players included 3 tripod cameras, one on tracks for smooth changes of camera angle, and 4 mini-cams, the size of matchboxes, for close-ups of hand and pedal work. David comments:
Having a building of this scale and history to oneself is a great privilege and Selby did not disappoint. As you would imagine the acoustic matches the scale and it was a delight to hear the music rumbling off into the distance long after the organ had ceased to play.
Both DVDs are available from Viscount Organs for £15 + postage
Contact David Mason by email enquiries@viscountorgans.net or phone 01869 247 333
or buy from the Selby Abbey shop
