Its spring again


Its spring again

Dear friends

What a wonderful time of the year it is, and just in case you’re wondering, it’s my 109th spring.  And there’s renewed spring in my pedals because I know that all my wingeing and complaining and moaning has clearly worked, and Mr Gary’s work has sprung (sic!) into action

What does spring mean to me?  Well, although I am here in this wonderful building, I can see the beautiful sun streaming in through Mr John’s clerestory windows, I can hear (and occasionally see!) birds singing and in previous years, I know all my friends have had an extra spring in their step as summer is definitely on its way.  This year I know it’s different, but I’m hopeful we will start to get back to normal before long

Spring is also a good time musically.  This lovely building shakes off the winter’s cold and as it’s ancient stonework warms up, so the acoustics change and I begin to sound even better in the more resonant, warmer atmosphere. And then there is music specially written for organ and other music my friends adapt for manuals and pedals, which shows everyone that spring is in the air

Now nearby I’m told there are some lovely hills and on those lovely hills sky larks can be heard again.  My organ playing friends delight in often playing music by modern French composers, and in one of those offerings by M. Messiaen (actually meant for Whitsun) there is some birdsong, allegedly sky larks.  Now if that’s what sky larks actually sound like, then I think I’ll just stay where I am and not bother to visit the hills.  Of course my favourite Sir Edward would have made a much better fist of it, and Mr Ralph too

Perhaps there should be a new rule, once the work on me is finished.  “Birdsong only permitted by order of Hillie!”       




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Summer madness

Image
Summer madness Well I thought I'd heard it all, but obviously I haven't One of my lovely organists today is going to start a two week cycle ride, the length of the whole country, to raise money for my renovation and new pipes.  Wow! I'm told he's going from South to North  -  not sure why, but then I've never been on a bike  -  and will play 4 organs on the way.  He's playing my keys here in the Abbey next Thursday evening All my followers can easily check on his progress.  He's obviously seen how modern I can be and is going to keep a Blog  -  just like I do  -  and put photographs on something called Instagram How good is that!  And I do hope he will be able to raise lots of money for the work that I need to be done Now, Dear Follower, what are you going to do to raise £££s for me?
Read more

Wind (not a repeat!)

Image
Wind (not a repeat!)   I have already told you about wind, the sort that is used by my lovely pipes to make music   And I have told you about the massive reservoirs used to store wind before it flows through to my pipes.   These huge heavy chests, with hinged sides and floating tops, were carefully built by Mr William in 1911 and have survived all these years, just getting dirtier every year that’s past, and with their leather hinges increasingly having to be patched up   Three of the reservoirs are huge, and the fourth more of a baby size.   They have all been lifted down, and all four have gone for restoration.   This took a lot of heaving, and Mr Gary was fortunate to have such strong henchpeople on hand   Two of the reservoirs went with Mr Edward to his workshop, and the other two have gone to Mr Dave in East London.   Great progress is being made and soon these reservoirs will come back to my Abbey, to be hoisted high up into new positions, and the trunks from the
Read more

What a bargain!

Image
What a bargain! Fame! This grand old lady is now a national TV star! You might have heard of a TV programme called Bargain Hunt, in which people dressed in blue or red go hunting for bargains, and then sell them at auction for more (or less) than they have paid No, Hillie didn’t take part in the hunting/auctioning part of the show, and I didn’t have to dress in either blue or red, but instead I starred in the middle section of the programme Have a look!  You can see some of my lovely pipes, see how proudly I sit in this beautiful ancient building and hear how impressive I can sound when playing some of Bach’s organ music Give the programme a go A nd of course I am a real bargain - and such good value for money.  In 1911 I cost the sum of £1,100 (and OK it cost just a bit more than that to complete me 110 years later) but I’ve no idea what price an auctioneer would get for me now! Editor:  Bargain Hunt series 61, Shrewsbury 9, first broadcast Friday 4 March 2022 Click
Read more