A swell experience
I enjoyed Tom Service’s article on the joys of the pipe organ (Christmas). As a (very) amateur organist for 60 years, the instrument has been a constant pleasure. I started in a village church with a two-manual that was still pumped by hand and moved on to a three-manual with a secondary swell pedal that slowly opened the whole organ, producing a volume that seemed to shake the building. Others followed, each an example of the organ builder’s craft – a one-manual specially built to accompany Gregorian chant and a small chamber instrument, lovingly built by an expert as his last work prior to retirement, stand out. No two are alike which makes hearing them in situ so important. Having struggled with Messiaen on disc, what a difference it made to hear him for the first time in the soaring heights of St Eustache in Paris. How it enhanced the CDS afterwards!
S Edwards, Morecambe