Klarinet Archive - Posting 000101.txt from 2003/02

From: "Patricia A. Smith" <patricia@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] OT: pipe organs, church music and rodents; was, Affect of Hall Acoustics
Date: Tue, 4 Feb 2003 11:08:52 -0500

LeliaLoban@-----.com wrote:

> That organ (an Aeolian-Skinner rebuild of something older, with additional
> recent work) is one of the largest in the USA. It's got something like 200
> independent ranks plus electronic simulacrae.

It was magnificent instruments like these that tempted me to desert the
clarinet for study of organ. Alas, I had already commenced down the
dark path of clarinetistry, and it has forever dominated my destiny.

> At one point when my uncle was playing for a church where the organ was a
> worn-out old wreck, he got so fed up with begging, begging, begging for a
> visit from the technician outside the precious *schedule* that he went on
> strike in the middle of the offertory. The organ loft was in the apse, where
> the congregation could see him. In the middle of his solo, he stopped
> playing, stood up, dramatically plunked a key connected to a pipe that
> produced nothing but a wheezing noise, turned and bowed low to the
> butt-headedly stingy chairman of the church building committee sitting in the
> front pew, and walked out.

Good for him. It is too bad that more church musicians (the real ones)
don't do that more often. Unfortunately, in this insane day and time,
the congregation is more likely to sell the organ parts to some silly
faux-antique shop like some of the junk places we have in
Fredericksburg, then set up a bunch of unpaid pop Christian artists to
serenade the people during services with their more "people friendly
style" aided by taped or CD's recordings "that is much more encouraging
of the participation of the people in the service" or whatever other
propaganda they've bought into to justify that crap. oops...off-topic
here... Sorry for the rant, it's a personal thing, I'll take it to my
shrink. :p

...a few days later, the tech set up scaffolding, climbed up to the
bat roosts,
pulled the offending pipe,turned it over and dumped out a dead mouse.
(I'm using that story in the
> novel _Passacaglia and Fugue_, except I changed the 8 ft. diapason rank into
> a 32 ft. contra-bombarde rank, and the mouse into a great big rat.) Just in
> case anybody's feeling seriously inconvenienced by the need to clean gunk out
> of the clarinet register tube once in a while.... ;-)

he he he...don't you think some people are grossed out enough by a dead
ant? I love this idea, and want to read this book when it comes out.
Hurry up! btw, is it a mystery or a straight novel?

Patricia Smith

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