Organists and Organ Playing

All we need to do …

Concert at Christchurch Cathedral
Concert at Christchurch Cathedral
Christchurch Cathedral, Dublin
Christchurch Cathedral, Dublin

“All we need to do is have someone buy this building, then take it apart, brick by brick, then move it to Honolulu. Hey, they did that to the London Bridge!”

So proclaimed director Tim Carney, when he heard the sound of the Hawaii Masterworks Chorus in the magnificent acoustical space of Christchurch Cathedral, Dublin.

imageIt was, in fact, the perfect acoustics for a choir, lots of reverberation and ambiance to smooth out the tone of any singing ensemble. Tim had decided not to use the organ for this program, so I had the luxury of sitting and listening. But I found two organs in the building, and took pictures.

Dublin Castle
Dublin Castle

In the morning we toured Dublin Castle, which was until 1922 the fortified seat of British rule in Ireland, and is now a major Irish government complex. Most of it dates from the 18th century, though a castle has stood on the site since the days of King John, the first Lord of Ireland.

After our concert we took the bus to Trinity College where they had an exhibition about the Book of Kells. But to tell you the truth, I was more impressed by the Long Room in the college, which was the inspiration for the Harry Potter set. Supposedly there are more than 200,000 medieval books in there.

The Long Room was inspiration for the Harry Potter movies
The Long Room was inspiration for the Harry Potter movies