Greetings!

** OrganFocus News:

* Fully restored organ returned to St Botolph's Church Aldgate

A rarity indeed - arguably the oldest church organ in the UK (.doc)
http://www.organfocus.com/features/events/stbotolphs.doc

Link to St. Botolph's organ project pages:
http://www.stbotolphs.org.uk/organintro.php

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** New Links:

* Lamlein, Scott
http://www.scottlamlein.com

* Ferran, Dominique
http://dominique.ferran.free.fr

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** Opinion: baby notes

As a new parent, I am discovering the sad state of music in the toys
that tout themselves as an introduction to classical music for babies.
Take the crib mobile, for example.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0007A2H1S/organfocuscom/

It has tinny electronic renditions of Bach, Mozart and Beethoven.
Because of research that shows babies respond better to high
frequencies (that's if you want to stimulate them), the creators of
the mobile attempted to get rid of lower frequencies. Thus, when the
melody takes a leap of an octave downwards in the original, in the
TIny Love version it's played as a repetition of the same note. But my
biggest gripe is the Beethoven piece. In the music loop, it ends on a
dominant septachord. Then it's on to the next composer. Bugs me to no
end.

Then there is the all-popular Baby Einstein Activity Center.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0002U1SFE/organfocuscom/

It has a module that plays pieces by Mozart, Bach and Beethoven too.
Poor long-suffering Beethoven: in the piece, played on an electronic
piano, the ending is clearly botched up. I mean, the player skips an
octave and hits a wrong note, and then crumples up the ending
completely. And they shipped this. Hey, who cares--nobody can tell the
difference, right?

The creators of Baby Smart System,
http://www.babysleepsystem.com/babysmart/index.htm , claim that they
have a "better than Mozart" way to teach young babies about music, and
that Mozart's pieces are "too complex to be understood by a baby's
brain". Classical music has such a wealth of levels of understanding
and appreciation, from a regular listener to a professional musician,
that this argument is moot. Just because babies don't know about
musical terms and idioms, doesn't mean they can't enjoy full
renditions of wonderful masterpieces. And as they grow up and learn
about music, they will appreciate them even more. And perhaps being
familiar with music from an early age will contribute to better
understanding of it later. What did poor Johann Sebastian's and
Wolfgang Amadeus's parents ever do without this "scientifically
engineered" piece of hoopla?

Here are some pieces on my "goodnight" playlist for baby, and my
speaker has bass turned on to the max:

From J.S. Bach Gamba Sonatas played by Pieter Wispelwey:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00001NTJN/organfocuscom/
Largo (from BWV 1056)

From Piet Kee plays Bach and Buxtehude:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000000A46/organfocuscom/
O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig BWV618
Christe, du Lamm Gottes BWV619a
Christe, du Lamm Gottes BWV619b
Wir danken dir, Herr Jesu Christ BWV623
Hilf, Gott, saß mir's gelinge BWV624
Jesus Christus, unser Heiland, der den Tod ¨berwand BWV626

From Bach Edition Organ Works Vol. 2 played by Hans Fagius:
Allein Gott in der Hoeh, BWV662

Baby's sleep music needs to have certain characteristics, such as
moderate tempo and consistent volume throughout the piece. Many Bach
chorales are thus perfect for this.

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** Web News:

* Organ on Podcast: Keith Toth broadcasts from The Brick Church, NYC.

Thanks to Keith Toth who jumped on the new media wagon and brings us
music by distingushed organists on the church's new Guilbault-Thérien
organ and 118 rank Casavant Frères organ:
http://web.mac.com/keithstoth/iWeb/Site/Podcast/Podcast.html

* RIP Lucius Weathersby

I was saddened to learn about the untimely death of Dr. Weathersby in
March 2006. An organ activist and musician beloved by many, Lucius
Weathersby most recently recorded a CD on Hey Orgelbau organs to
benefit the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
To read more about Dr. Weathersby:
http://www.africanchorus.org/Artists/LRW.htm
To read about the Benefit CD:
http://www.organ-builders.com/benefit-cd.htm

* Virtuoso organ recital at the Tonbridge School, Tonbridge, UK on 2006-05-13

Robert Houssart performs. "This will be an exciting virtuoso concert
in a remarkable building and on a fine instrument. The concert is at
7.30 preceded by a drinks reception at the school at 6.30 which is
included in the ticket price of £12.50".
http://www.organfocus.com/search.php3?eventID=8411

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Today's Organ Stop is:
Grand Viol
http://www.organstops.org/g/GrandViol.html

Cheers,
Lana