Organ Scholar
Each year, the Charles Wood Summer School and the Royal College of Organists offer a scholarship for a young organist / choral conductor to attend the Summer School.
In 2010, the scholarship was awarded to Liam Crangle. He writes here about an action packed week:
Upon learning that I had been awarded the organ scholarship at the Charles Wood Summer School 2010 I was very pleasantly surprised, but didn’t quite know what to expect. I arrived early on the Sunday and, though full of expectation, I initially stood around awkwardly. Soon enough however, the pace picked up. I quickly made lots of new friends and the week went by in a blur.
Throughout the week I attended most of the rehearsals, observing how David Hill and Daniel Hyde expertly dealt with the choir. I played piano during many of these intensive rehearsals, accompanying and giving notes or chords here and there. It was good to be kept on my toes. I learned a lot from the experience of watching and participating. In assisting Daniel at the organ for a number of services, I gained many tips and tricks regarding organ playing and accompanying as well. It all proved very useful when I attended the organ trials competition in Cambridge a few weeks later where I was pre-elected to an organ scholarship at Gonville and Caius College for entry in 2012.
At evensong on 25th August I accompanied a hymn and Victoria’s Magnificat; after the mass on 28th August I played Vierne’s Toccata in Bb minor; and before evensong on 29th August I played the great Prelude and Fugue in A minor by J S Bach. I also played the Bach as the last item in the “Bach at Twilight” programme on 24th August. The best part of the week for me was the choir’s performance of Victoria’s Requiem in the Roman Catholic Cathedral on 25th August, which was very moving and has awakened within me a great interest in polyphony of this type.
Also, throughout the week, I was greatly impressed by how quickly the choir got to grips with the music, particularly the men. The standard of musicianship was extremely high and there were rarely any real problems, meaning David was able to concentrate mainly on interpretation. The number of services (including two broadcasts on BBC radio), concerts and rehearsals was almost overwhelming, but the choir coped excellently and did not flag in enthusiasm (though I’m sure they’ll be glad of a rest).
I got on well with everyone during the week and was sad to see them all go at the end. There were lots of really nice people and we all had a good laugh while not rehearsing.
I am greatly indebted to the RCO and CWSS for granting me the scholarship, and to David Hill and Daniel Hyde for being so helpful and giving me such insight into the world of sacred choral music.