The organ suffered from poor installation at the school from day one, both due to the fact it was just “chucked” in as found in the cinema without any thought given to restoration. His recordings, as an organist and choirmaster, are published by Priory Records,[5] Herald AV Productions, and Cantoris Records. Sadly the original sides were lost as mentioned earlier, so the organ is to remain a plain console painted steinway black, as is rather popular with some organ consoles. On the other hand, more Romantic or eclectic organs, typifying the English cathedral sound, had their staunch defenders.
Before taking up her first post at Coventry, Mahon had been the first female organ scholar of St Paul's Cathedral in London, England, assuming the post in September 2014, and then Assistant Organist at Chester Cathedral. In 1984 he wrote Organ for the Yehudi Menuhin Music Guide series, and in 2006 penned his own memoir, Full With Wills, an enormously detailed account of his Fenland career mixed with occasionally sharp observations on later developments in Church music and liturgy. Arthur William Wills was born in Coventry on September 19 1926. It seems straightforward enough but, if one looks into the historical relationship between Canada and Coventry, a much deeper and meaningful relationship is quickly uncovered … In 1974, for example, he wrote 16 new works.

That's a good thing because hers is …

Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. She has been the Assistant Director of Music at Coventry Cathedral since 2018 and, it was announced in February 2020, will become the new Director of Music in September, succeeding Kerry Beaumont. Other locally inspired works included The Vikings, Wicked Fens and the City of Ely March. 1 by Rachel Laurin are handled with light virtuosity before the work ends with a blazing toccata". Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Even the famously curmudgeonly Sir Edward Bairstow at York Minster allowed him on to the console. The organ was built in 1934 by the Peter Conacher firm of Huddersfield. The Forum Cinema, on Walsgrave Road, closed and was demolished in 1962. However the important thing was that the organ itself was safe. Originally it had a wooden art deco surround and piano attachment that was playable from the organ console. [3] She sang with the Girls' Choir of Grace Church on-the-Hill and later the Oratory Children's Choir. Site by Dan Christie Designs. The action is mechanical. Over the next two weeks I went to view the instrument and decided although in a bad way, it was very important to save it.” This was due to the fact that of the original 9 instruments built by the Conacher firm, this was one of only three that were left intact. With our fabulous organ’s vast range of sounds and a wider musical repertoire than ever there is truly something for everybody. It was built by Torkildsen Brothers and designed by Ole Rasmus Krag. Lunchtime Organ Music series. Find out more, Arthur Wills was at Ely Cathedral for 41 years, John Fraser, prolific film actor of 1950s and 1960s once dubbed most handsome man in Britain – obituary, Mary Hartline, television presenter adored by American youngsters of the 1950s – obituary, Ken Hensley, creative linchpin of rock band Uriah Heep who wrote hits including Easy Livin’ – obituary, Lord Sacks, Chief Rabbi who steered a careful path to preserve tradition in a changing world – obituary, Sir Peter Badge, magistrate and world authority on coracles – obituary, Sylvia Morris, singer who performed for Hitler, befriended Prince Philip and joined MI5 – obituary.

He left St John’s School, Coventry, at 14 and began working in a piano workshop while still singing in the church choir and gaining occasional experience on the organ. It is now in the care of the East Midlands Cinema Organ Association. Fortunately, the chap who tipped them off as to the Gaumont, had also heard that the Forum was to close and wanted to get rid of the Conacher, so over they went, found the organ to be a very fine example by a lesser known builder, made an offer and within a few weeks, were in removing the instrument in between film shows. He was much helped by both the cathedral’s Edwardian instrument and its generous acoustic, and Ely soon became a popular venue for the BBC’s Choral Evensong and other broadcast services. In a lighter vein the Etheldreda Rag from 1979 was written in the Scott Joplin idiom. British by birth, his family emigrated to Canada in 1970. Weak eyesight exempted him from war service and gradually Wills began to tackle his academic deficit, which he once said “tortured” him. The 1908 Ely organ, by Arthur Harrison, was substantially rebuilt in 1975 to add neo-Baroque voices to its rich Edwardian sound. On that occasion the producer asked him to come up with a “choirmasterly tantrum” with one of the boys. More than most organists of his generation he was a musician in the kapellmeister style of, say, J S Bach, writing music for special occasions – and the forces available – often with little expectation of it being heard again.
Messrs Harrison & Harrison were appointed in 1952 and a provisional specification was drawn up. The parlous state of church music vexed Wills throughout his career, and in 1976 he used a lecture to complain that the Church of England was either not ready, or unwilling, to pay the market rate for its music. However, this was not popular with students, and at least one pair contrived to ensure that one of their number was ill on alternate weeks. In 1987 the Royal Maundy Service was held in Ely and, after the event, Wills found himself sitting next to the Duke of Edinburgh, who asked what his most important task was as a cathedral organist.

[4] She initially began studying piano, but switched to organ in 2005 after hearing the Toccata from Symphony for Organ No. ONE of the top church organists in the country has become a teacher of music at Nuneaton’s King Edward VI College. Coventry and Warwickshire Organists Association information and activity programme Carl says “Knowing my interest in cinema organs, Roger told me of the Conacher. Amazingly most of the organ has survived, despite a fairly rocky progression through the years. The organ has three manuals, comprising of 8 ranks of pipes. Organists available in Coventry, West Midlands Hire an organist for a wedding, christening, funeral or event in Coventry, West Midlands. Mahon, recently appointed the next director of music at Coventry, is a superb performer with a keen ability to craft a satisfying program, and her debut recording is highly recommended", "Vibrant music making, brilliantly performed and recorded, and with some magnificent annotations by Giles Bryant thrown in for good measure. [7][8], "Meet the new director of music at England's Coventry Cathedral", "Canadian musician Rachel Mahon named first female organ scholar at St Paul's Cathedral in London", "Toronto musician to become first female organist at iconic cathedral", "A Cathedral first as new organ scholar is appointed to St Paul's", "Truro Cathedral organist takes up St Paul's post as first woman", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rachel_Mahon&oldid=975925843, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 31 August 2020, at 05:47. Seemingly all the smaller cinemas went for off menu options! Wills, a staunch High Church Anglican, was the first organist of Ely since Basil Harwood in the late 1880s to be active as a composer, and he placed the Fenland cathedral firmly on the map for disciples of church music. After a singing part in a school play he joined his local church choir and took piano lessons. Arthur Wills, who has died aged 94, was essentially a self-taught musician whose career at Ely Cathedral, from 1949 to 1990, was one of the most significant in the annals of late 20th-century church music. The precentor of the new Coventry Cathedral at the opening service was Joseph Poole. Arthur Wills, composer, organist and an acclaimed figure in contemporary church music – obituary ... Arthur William Wills was born in Coventry on September 19 1926. Eight or nine meetings are held per year, visiting and playing interesting local instruments, attending recitals and having talks on various aspects of organ music, organ operation, construction and history. This unusually was a standard practice at the time. We rely on advertising to help fund our award-winning journalism. He also enjoyed setting erotic poetry to music, notably a set of Elizabethan love songs that were performed at the Wigmore Hall in 1980 by the countertenor James Bowman, a former Ely chorister. As a member of SOCAN (the Society of Canadian Composers, Authors and Publishers) he has published several hundred recorded compositions through the programme music libraries of Omnimusic[7] and the Parry Music Library. There was also the Missa Passionis Christi from 1961, a setting for Passiontide that is now enjoyed the world over and which evolved from music he wrote for a school production. It was a custom model as opposed to their four “Standard” instruments that a cinema chain could buy. The organ… However, he remained active as a composer, a performer on many overseas tours, and as an examiner for the Associated Board. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. ( Log Out /  Click here for the website of the Coventry & Warwickshire Organists’ Association. Mahon has performed with a number of choirs: the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, the Larkin Singers, and the Tallis Choir, among others.

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