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We are very pleased to announce that the Masterclass on Saturday, September 17th will be held by Stephen Cleobury, Director of Music, Choir of King's College, Cambridge. Alongside the Masterclass, Cleobury will be playing the organ.

Written by William Porter

It was my privilege and pleasure to participate in the Internationale Orgeltagung 1999 der Gesellschaft der Orgelfreunde by playing a concert on the restored Willis organ of 1871, now located in the north transept gallery of the Örgryte Nya kyrka in Göteborg. Although I had heard and played this instrument a number of times since its arrival in Göteborg, this was my first opportunity to spend intensive time with it and to learn how to manage its tonal resources. Earlier hearings had impressed me in varying degrees, and it was clear that the instrument responded in differing ways to different approaches to registration and playing style. As a result of working with this instrument first-hand, I have gained an immense admiration for the skill of Willis in developing what I believe to be a highly sophisticated yet simple concept of tonal relationships that allows a remarkable spectrum of registrational effects with an instrument of moderate size. With this organ it is possible to realize a wide range of dynamic changes very simply and efficiently with minimal assistance from a registrant. What follows are merely personal observations about registrational practice and about how the dynamic relationships among registers seem to have been conceived.

By Paul Peeters

In 1851, the first world’s fair took place in London, officially entitled “The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations,” but better known as the “Great Exhibition.” It was opened on May 1 by Queen Victoria and after the ‘Hallelujah’ chorus had been sung, the Queen walked through the building while the exhibited “organs played marches, each one taking up the music as the Queen approached.”