BIOS Reporter

The quotation turned up in a recent concert programme, almost simultaneously with the news that a major academic publication for music students had eschewed music examples in order to spare the blushes of students who could not read music. Yet again, there is a cause for great concern… read more

The European Union is never far from controversy; two recent moves demonstrate the incredible capacity of that leviathan to threaten the very existence of the pipe organ while, at the same time, proclaiming a commitment to preserving the status and place of the instrument in European culture… read more

As BIOS enters into its thirtieth year, it is worth reflecting on the present condition of the Institute and its Aims. Like any lively organisation, BIOS has grown and matured, suffered setbacks, overcome obstacles, and enjoyed true achievement. Its members have produced much admirable scholarship, exhibiting a catholicity of viewpoint, which has undoubtedly shaped attitudes towards the organ and its… read more

The preservation of records relating to organs and organ-building is fundamental to the role of BIOS. Similarly, every organ-builder of repute and business common sense understands the importance of records relating to the company, even work undertaken by the firm perhaps a century or more ago. An organ which has been out of a company’s remit for decades may suddenly… read more

The preservation of historic organs ought to be a simple affair, requiring no great feats of imagination or administration to ensure that important material is not destroyed; in particular, ecclesiastical exemption in planning matters, involving dedicated experts, is the obvious vehicle to deliver the necessary safeguards to protect valuable instruments and artefacts, in conjunction with the many organbuilders who recognise… read more

The Pontificate of John Paul II marked a period of profound political change in Europe, affecting many aspects of society in different degrees, including those who study the organ and its music… read more

A chance remark, made over three fine harpsichords, on a topic much researched in the past three decades as equal temperament has been called to account. The consensus that equal temperament became the dominant tuning as the nineteenth century progressed may have ignored something peculiar to the organ and the harp. Of all instruments in general use after 1800, they… read more

…The Bermondsey organ will do much to clarify this debate. It has been subjected to a rigorous restoration; an internal inspection of the organ reveals immediately the difference between original and replacement material, the latter the subject of detailed study of the organ before restoration. The result is a coherent, working organ on which services and a great deal of… read more

Ailred’s complaint from the twelfth century resonates in unexpected ways in the early years of the twenty-first century. We no longer have to endure ‘the noise of the cymbals’ (the irreverent might suspect that Ailred may have possessed prescience of some neo-baroque organs); ‘the sound of the bellows’ rarely troubles the modem organist, although the benign bump from the bellows… read more

The work to be undertaken at the Royal Festival Hall (described on pp. 8-13) brings back memories of the flush of enthusiasm which surrounded the Downes organ and organ-building in general during the 1950s and 60s… read more