The Organ in Stuart and Georgian England:
Its Role through change to the Handel Commemoration

Plans for this second conference of four are now well-underway. Papers are expected on subjects relating to English organs, organ literature, construction, the role of organ in the church and in the home, design, related technology, and performance practice up to the end of the eighteenth century.

Participants include: John Caldwell, Alan Chapman, Terence Charlston, Dominic Gwynn, John Harper, Peter Holman, Harry Johnstone, Calvert Johnson , Christopher Kent, John Norman, Peter Williams, and many others.

There will be an evening concert in the Holywell Room featuring four 18th century organ concertos. (The Holywell Music Room is the oldest concert hall in Europe, built in 1742; Handel is among the many famous composers and musicians to have appeared here.) Performers include Anne Page, Peter Williams, David Ponsford, and Stephen Farr. On the second evening, there will be a concert of 18th century verse anthems and organ voluntaries in Jesus College chapel (Drake organ, 1993), featuring organist John Wellingham, and soprano Emily vanEvera, counter-tenor James Bowman, and others. We hope to have a third event of seventeenth-century music for organ and viols.

There will be 3 further associated events:

1. London Organ Tour - Wednesday 9 April 2008: visiting 4 important rebuilt and/or restored 18th century instruments and a new organ closely based on 18th century principles (SEE BELOW FOR DETAILS)

2. Bate Collection -Thursday morning, 10 April: it is hoped to arrange for some organised groups to visit the collection of historic harpsichords and clavichords housed in the Faculty of Music buildings. The Bate Collection can be visited on the web at: www.bate.ox.ac.uk. A list of keyboard instruments in the collection, which includes a 1720 William Smith harpsichord, possibly belonging to Handel, can be downloaded from the site.

This tour will be on a first come, first served basis. There is no cost for the tour. Bookings and enquiries should be made direct to:

Melvin Hughes, OOC 2008 (Bate Collection Visit)
e-mail: biosmeetings@hotmail.co.uk

3. On Sunday afternoon following the conference, there will be an organ tour to some of the Oxford College Chapels. There will be an opportunity to sign up for this t the Conference. There will be no charge.

PLEASE NOTE:

1) En suite accommodation is limited, so you are advised to book early if you prefer this option.

2) The deadline for registration is 28 March. After this date, daytime registration will most likely be possible, but it may not be possible to reserve rooms or meals.

PRE-CONFERENCE LONDON ORGAN TOUR

Wednesday 9 April 2008

As an event associated with the Oxford Organ Conference 2008 there will be a London Organ Tour on Wednesday 9 April 2008 visiting three important rebuilt and/or restored 18th century instruments, and a new organ closely based on 18th century principles:

• St Botolph Aldgate - Renatus Harris, 1702-4, restored Goetze & Gwynn, 2006.

• St Giles-in-the-Fields, Holborn - Anon 17thC; Gerard Smith 1734; Gray and Davison 1856; reconstructed William Drake, 2007

• St Mary's, Rotherhithe - John Byfield 1765, Hugh Russell 1828, Gray & Davison 1882, Noel Mander 1959 and Goetze & Gwynn, 1991

• St Paul's, Deptford - new organ by William Drake, 2004, with existing casework and façade pipes by Griffin, c.1745

Please note that registration and payment for this event is separate from the main Conference.
The cost of the Tour is £30, which includes coach travel to and from Oxford, buffet lunch and refreshments.
The coach will leave Oxford at 8am, visiting in order: Deptford, Rotherhithe (lunch at Aldgate), St Botolph and St Giles. It will return to Oxford by 6.30pm.

It will be possible to join the coach in London (in Marylebone Road), or at Deptford etc., and return on it to Oxford for the rest of the Conference. The cost (£30) will remain the same as a place on the coach will need to be reserved for the whole day.

Bookings and enquiries should be made direct to:

John Brennan, London Organ Tour - 9 April 2008
E-mail: jb@positifpress.co.uk

Please click here for a BOOKING FORM (PDF) for the London Organ Tour.

Please click here for a BOOKING FORM (PDF) for the 2008 conference.

Please click here for the LATEST (March 08) DRAFT SCHEDULE (PDF) for the 2008 conference.

For more information:
Dr. Katharine Pardee, Betts Scholar in Organ Studies
University of Oxford
kfpardee@yahoo.com

or visit the contacts page.

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See details of other conferences:
I. The Organ in England to the death of Elizabeth I (2007).
III. The Organ in Nineteenth Century England (2009).
IV. The Organ in England: The 20th Century and into the Future (2010).

Website created by Alex Walmsley