Hello.

Last year I took my grade 8 exam on the new Beckerath Organ at Marlborough College Chapel. It had been installed at the end of 2007.

Unfortunately when I took my exam parts of the organ cyiphered on me. I believe I posted a comment explaining my annoyance and possibly over exaggerating things a bit too much.

Well. Through the powers of the internet, The chapel director of music who let me use the organ (despite the fact that I am not a student at the college) found the post.

He was not happy. He wants my organ tutors e-mail or address to contact him.

I understand that at the time, the organ not working seemed like a bad thing. However, I dismissed it claiming that there are more important things to worry about. Unfortunately I had already posted the comment and it never occured to me to delete it.

I would like to publicly apologise to anyone who may have been offended by the post. I over exaggerated things beyond what they where.

The organ is one of the best organ around and the builder is reputable. I also understand that has the organ is new, it takes time to settle in and problems can occur.

I will be e-mailing the director of music to apologise but, has I posted the comment on here, I thought I'd post this reply here as well.

Thank you for your support in this matter

I have just read that thread and really cannot see anything there for you to apologise for. If it happened, it happened!
Don't worry any more about it.

Oh dear!

We like think that we remain anonymous on internet forums, and so can speak freely. But once in a while our sins find us out!

I only hope for your sake, and for the sake of the wider organ playing community, that your apology is accepted. Forum members have discussed the difficulties of finding organs to practice on on over the past few weeks, and open criticism of any instrument, offered willingly, does little to improve the situation.

Criticisms of individuals, organisations or specific instruments can be especially dangerous, so I hope this matter, and your open apology will serve as a reminder to all of us that 'we are not alone on the internet! '

Swell Box

Oops.

Hope this blows over soon. I can understand how frustrated you must have been for the thing to choose that occasion to misbehave, and this will have coloured your remarks. This shows it obviously happens with the best instruments as well as the old bags of spanners.

My sympathies.

I'm at a bit of a loss as to why someone would take a throwaway comment on the internet so seriously?

Fair play for apologising but it's understandable if you were a bit miffed at the time. We all get bouts of bad luck?

I've just read the original post and, assuming it hasn't been edited retrospectively, I fail to see what all the fuss is about. So the organ cyphered during an important exam, you were - understandably - unsettled by this and consequently wrote a post in which you said that it had cyphered - is that a terrible condemnation of the organ builder? I don't know, but, unless you made the whole thing up, your report of the experience seems a fairly objective description of events.

It's probably not a direct parallel, but it seems to me a bit like a reed maker getting uppity if somebody complained that one of their reeds squeaked.

Absolutely. Whether or not the comments were strictly accurate, they can be googled up all over the world for many individuals to see and probably for many years to come!

However, Organisto, you can edit your original post. If it is quoted further down the thread (I didn't personally check), I imagine the Mods would be pretty sympathetic in the circumstances if you contacted them and asked for those quotes to be removed, or even for the whole thread to be deleted.

Isn't this all just a bit of a storm in a teacup, really?
Sounds to me as if you're being bullied by the establishment a bit...
even if someone does a search and finds your comments, as long as there aren't hundreds of other negative comments out there, it will not mean so very much in the scheme of things...and if there are hundreds of others, surely they'd be needing to do something about it anyway?

I suspect that the problem may be that, as the OP said, matters were somewhat exaggerated.

All new organs are prone to ciphering, by the way. It takes a while for them to 'settle down'.

Consider it not so deeply!

The organ forum seems to be spied on by a few people of high authority...

Yes, it does!



BOOOOOOOO!

I saw you a mile off!

Sorry to go off topic : but I know nothing about organs, when an organ cyphers, what does that mean? ...

When an organ ciphers, it means that a note is sounding which isn't wanted.

I think somebody has said somewhere, that it's a note that sounds when you don't ask it to..and then won't stop.

HG beat me to it!

Nothing new there, then, DC!

aah, I see, thanks (and thanks for the spelling correction!)

The thread makes a lot more sense to me now!

Go play with your.....Bach!

You're welcome!

Children...

He started it!

Yup! 'orrible things....

And not just new organs either.

SB

'tis true....

I have played the Marlborough organ a couple of times and it is indeed a very nice machine. On both occasions I also had a crawl around inside. The quality of the work is just gobsmacking. Everything is beautifully finished; there is no skimping on the bits that are hidden from the public eye. There is nothing shoddy about this organ.

I can understand how infuriating it must have been that the thing chose to cipher in your exam, but, as pointed out, it does take time for a new organ to settle down. At least you can console yourself with the fact that you are in good company. Apparently it also ciphered during Simon Preston's inaugural recital!

I have read the original post (the one that gave rise to the complaint) with great care. In my opinion there is nothing there that would cause offence, though some might feel upset that you reported how a new and favourite organ ciphered at a crucial moment - lots of organs do that anyway.

The reaction provoked seems, on the face of it, to be disproportional. Possibly there is another agenda here or facts that are not reported.

However, this forum, in common with others, is read by many more people than those who subscribe to it. For that reason everyone should exercise some care with the words used. You appear to have taken care. Your original report is quite factual. I am very sorry that the situation has arisen.

As someone else has pointed out, it is worthwhile contacting the moderator and asking that the original post is removed; possibly the whole thread should be deleted.

There are folk around who have powerful search engines that seek out references to unusual words or names. It may be that this is how your original post was found.

Barry Williams

Well, that's organists for you!

Possibly.

Musicians tend to be rather sensitive, but organists work, by and large, in churches and these are notorious for back-biting, gossip and thorough unpleasantness. The usual laws of defamation apply to posts as to anything else. There is no immunity or anonymity on these Fora.

I have suffered only one unpleasant experience over postings. A member of another Board deliberately and dishonestly misquoted me in the apparent hope of making life difficult in my post as Organs Adviser on the Oxford DAC. It back-fired very badly indeed on the other person, but I immediately withdrew my membership of that Board. Since then others have also had nasty experiences. This place seems much happier and, if I may say so, rather more intellectual. It is certainly more musical.

I hope that my reply to Organist No 1' s post of 12th June does not appear too pompous. I intended it to carry full legal weight. I am happy for my remarks to be quoted - provided they are quoted in full, of course. The original posting that caused the offence is of no particular moment, but is now best removed and the whole matter put down to experience.

Barry Williams