Organ Society

harmony showed the amount of work which must have been put into the practices.

Hunt gave a lively performance of a couple of movements from the Hindemith Horn Sonata. In contrast to this there followed a violin solo by Handel, which was played by Brishy.

Probably the most popular feature of the evening was the trumpet solo, "Take a Pair of Sparkling Eyes" from "The Gondoliers", which was played by Foy.

Light amusement was provided by the Toy Symphony by Haydn, and the concert finished with a rousing interpretation of the March from "Carmen" played by the orchestra.

The standard of each item showed that a great deal had been put into the preparing of the concert by Mr. Waine and the participants, and the evening was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

I.K.

THE ORGAN SOCIETY

President: MR. F. WAINE. Chairman: I. T. HUNTER. Secretary: R. A. SPENCER. Treasurer: P. F. JOHNSON.

At the first meeting of the term R. A. Spencer was unanimously elected Secretary to fill the post vacated by I. Bell. Mr. F. Waine then spoke on the maintenance of organs, describing how different forms of heating in churches can affect the wood, leather and glue of organs. He then described the tuning and composition of mixtures, the different opinions on "Harmonics 17.19.21.22", and smooth and harsh reeds.

The outside visit this term was to St. Bartholomew's Church, Armley, to see the world-famous Schulze organ. Mr. Watkins very kindly gave up his Sunday afternoon to demonstrate the various aspects of the instrument and to give an outline of its history. One or two members were allowed to try the instrument for themselves.

An open meeting was held at half-term, when Mr. A. Perrin gave a lecture on "Extemporisation on a Submitted Theme". There are two sorts of extemporisation, the first is the "sweet nothings" that an organist plays for the clergy to reach their places, the second a definite, spontaneous piece of music, fugal or otherwise. Mr. Perrin concluded by giving a brilliant demonstration on the School organ, ending with a double fugue on two themes submitted five minutes earlier.

The last meeting was to the Presbyterian Church, Priory Street, where Mr. Sargant showed us the organ. Mr. Waine demonstrated and then left us to try it for ourselves. It was agreed that the diapason and flutes were the best anyone had ever heard.

The Society has now been in existence one year and a regular pattern of meetings is beginning to evolve.