This morning we attended a lecture by Paul Hale, the consultant on the new organ at Gloucester Cathedral. Over 95% of the pipes are new, replacing a 1971 installation. At the beginning of his talk, he said we would be having a contest for anyone to win a free copy of his latest book, “The Organs of Gloucester Cathedral” if he or she could correctly guess the number of pipes in the new organ.

So what did I do during the lecture? Why, I Googled the question, “How many pipes are there in the Gloucester Cathedral organ?” And the answer I received was 3,338 pipes. At the end of the lecture, mine was the only hand to shoot up when Paul Hale asked if anyone had a guess on the number of pipes. And I won the book!

Later, when we were sitting in the Cathedral for the organ concert, Bill Potter surmised it was the same Nicholson & Co. organbuilders which we had visited in Worcester two years ago. And so, I went to my blog to see if that was indeed true. To my surprise, I found these two pictures on my blog: I wonder if Norman is back in the organ case? (You’ll have to go back and read my blog post to find out who Norman is!)

I knew writing this blog was good for something!

We then thoroughly enjoyed the Celebrity Organ Concert by Thomas Ospital who played Marcel Dupré’s “Symphonie-Passion,” and a transcription of Maurice Ravel’s “Le Tombeau de Couperin.” Then he was given a theme on which to improvise—it was the Star-Spangled Banner! And what a magnificent improvisation, much better than the tune itself!

Bill Potter found an article, “US national athem’s surprising connection to England,” which says, “It may come as a surprise to some that the tune of the Star-Spangled Banner was written this side of the pond and has deep connections to Gloucester. John Stafford Smith originally wrote the tune as a drinking song, with words written during a war between Britain and the US later paired with it. Baptised in Gloucester on March 1730, John Stafford Smith was the son of Gloucester Cathedral’s director of music at the time.”

After the concert, Rich Arenschieldt, president of the American Friends of the Three Choirs, ran into some buddies.

Tonight we’ll attend the Monteverdi Vespers and the Chichester Psalms which I will write about in a separate post.