I have not long returned from hearing our own Holz Gedeckt give a recital on the organ of Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral .This massive instrument is the largest in the UK. Skylark made it also.
And what a pleasure it was. He played music by Bach, Bonnet, Gordon Young, Fredrik Sixten and Mendelssohn. The programme seemed well constructed to show off the various facets of the instrument. Holz only travelled up from the South West yesterday, and had not previously played this monster.
I cannot imagine how he managed to sort out the registration of the six pieces in one practice the previous evening. So I say again Holz, well done !
The pleasure was further enhanced by the opportunity to have a couple of drinks together afterwards in the Philharmonic Pub. For all I know Skylark and he might still be there !

Glad you both had a good afternoon!

Well done, HG!

Hear hear! What impressed me the most (apart from his playing!) was the number of people who came up to him afterwards to say how much they'd enjoyed it and to *ask for his autograph* and to take a photograph of him! There was one piece which was particularly beautiful and HG has promised to come and play it at my, er, funeral...

Anyway it was a very impressive recital - congratulations HG, and very enjoyable to meet you!



It's not every day I get escorted by two such fine gentlemen - thanks for your company both! I managed to drag him out eventually

Kicking and screaming, I hope, if he's worth his salt

Actually I could have stayed there all evening It's the most excellent pub - great atmosphere, fascinating building, brilliant real ales, oh and the company wasn't bad either

Wow! The organist at our church is a personal friend of Ian Tracey (resident at Liverpool) and often visits, and has in the past paid to play on that organ. We also have an interesting CD of Ian giving a musical tour of the organ. You are obviously a fine musician HG to have mastered the beast!

Skylark makes organs???
I never knew that...


EDIT: Congratulations HG!

You got to play the Liverpool Cathedral Organ!!?!? I am extremely jealous!

I hope you enjoyed playing it, you'll have to tell us what it's like! I could go and play it if I like, according to the website, but it costs £500 to do the whole thing, and i'm not a very good organist anyway! Plus, you only get half an hour to play it, which isn't very long.

You should come and play at St. Mary's in Calne, Wiltshire, they have a very nice organ, and it's near to me, so i'll come and hear you play!

I played it back in '97 for free. I still smile just to think about it

This is the mobile console for anyone who's interested...






HG was sitting right at the bottom of this picture which shows the traditional organ loft...




this is a view looking down on the point where HG was playing...





and this is more or less the view which fsharpminor and I had, although we were much closer to the front... (so that we could wave to HG )





OK that's probably enough of the holiday photos There are loads more pictures of pipes and reeds and organny things at this link...

http://livcathorgan.homestead.com/lcopicgallery.html

I too was permitted to play it for free - and for a very long time. My overwhelming impression was of its great beauty rather than its size. A very special and pleasing sound was of all the five Great Organ eight feet diapasons drawn together. Unexpectedly a most musical effect. It ranks, in my opinion, as one of the finest instruments ever.

Barry Williams

Nevermind the organ, the bells there are fantastic!
Heaviest in the world.

Glad it was all a success. We'll make an organist of Skylark yet!

Thank you everybody for your kind words.

It was lovely playing at Liverpool, and it was my first visit to the city. It won't be my last! As a teenager, Liverpool Cathedral was very much an organ buff's dream being the largest organ in the country, having such a lavish specification (all those 32' stops, tubas, et al! ) and I remember the joy I used to get from the first recording I ever bought of the instrument. This all came back to me with a sudden delightful thrill of anticipation when I arrived at the hotel and turned around to see the magnificent edifice of the Cathedral up on the hill behind me - exactly the same view as on the cover of that recording.

I very much enjoyed my practice session on the instrument, even though it would take weeks to get to know it properly, and the performance itself went well. I'll look forward to a return visit sometime.

It was lovely to meet Skylark and fsharpminor too. This was the icing on the cake. Thank you both for coming along - it was good to spend time getting to know you both, and I'll look forward to meeting you both again.


Hmmm. You dragging me out? That's not quite the way I remember it!

I played there for evensong on my 40th birthday way back in ermm....humm...and 2

A VERY scary experience

Never was a post service G & T (double!!!) more welcome

Hey, well done HG, sounds like a job well done. Good crowd? What did you play?