Am I too loud?

The first music autobiography I bought was by the acclaimed accompanist Gerald Moore (1899-1987) and was entitled Am I Too Loud. I found it to be a fascinating read and gave insights into working with singers that turned out (when I started to be a choir master) to be relevant to groups of singers. Incidentally Moore was a young organist at St. Thomas Church, Toronto, Canada which had a mid-sized Casavant organ at the time.

The title of the book came to mind when very unusually last Sunday I was sitting with the congregation in my local church with another member of the team playing the organ. Without going into architectural detail it is very difficult to balance the congregation and the organ, and in effect the organist is flying blind. Despite the skill and experience of my colleague I was immediately struck by the extent of the imbalance between the pedal and manual divisions. A while back I’d checked on the balance but in an empty church. The congregation, standing and many with coats on, changed the acoustic significantly.

I learned the organ on a largely 1865 Father Willis organ in St. Mary’s Church, Horsham. In 1955 Willis installed a console that sat in the choir stalls separate from the organ case. This enabled the organist to gain some sense of the balance of the organ, choir and congregation, not helped by the manual divisions speaking across the choir and the pedals (with a trademark Ophicleide!) sounding down the church.

When the organ was rebuilt by Walkers in 1992 it was restored to its original condition with the console reburied inside the casing and hidden behind the men of the choir when they stood to sing. You can always tell there is a visiting organist at work as they always over-pedal the registration as it sounds too underpowered from the depths of the casing and the acoustic shield of the choir.

I’ve played for services in a number of cathedrals over the years. Sorting out the console layout is nothing compared to understanding the effect from the nave, and the choir when singing alone. Fortunately, my choirmaster colleague was also an excellent organist and I could trust him completely in identifying which combination pistons to rely on. Guildford Cathedral is a particular nightmare because the organ is in the North Transept and speaks across the chancel step to the South Transept!

My most vivid balance experience was inviting the late and brilliant Martin How to an evening service at Cranleigh Parish Church in the 1980s to assess the performance of the choir and organist. He was very complementary about the choir but less so about my skills as an organist as I tended to play far too loudly for the hymns. I can still remember him saying (with a broad smile)  “It may come as a surprise to you but the congregation know the tunes”.

Rarely do we get the chance I had on Sunday to use my ears from among the congregation, Finding an organist who is free on a Sunday to come along and advise is very challenging given how few there are of us. It almost makes me wonder if I should start a career as a freelance Organ Balance Assessor.

How about you? Have you listened to your organ from the congregation? Are you too loud? You play and I’ll listen!