Colin's Hagbourne Church Organ Recital 6/7/2025
Hagbourne Church has a fine pipe organ and since the Autumn of 2024 there have been monthly organ recitals on the first Sunday of each month at 5.00pm. Many have been of a very high standard. Colin rashly agreed to participate in the series.
Programme for the organ recital Sunday 6th July 2025 at 5.00 pm East Hagbourne Church
Bach 1685-1750:
Prelude XXIII from Preludes and Fugues: Book 1
Colin Windsor 1938 -
1980: Tunes for the toys #3 "My Bike" to Liz, #8 "My Cars" to Jon, #10 "My Crib" to Jane
1981: "Magdalen Bells" Written to a poem by Sir John Betjeman, sung by Jane
1982: Anthem for Goring Church "Listen to Him" sung by Liz, Jane and Colin
1984: Alternative Service Book Communion Service: "Agnus Dei", sung by Jane, "Kyrie" sung by Liz, "Christ has died" sung by Jon, "Blessing and honour" sung by the family
1989: Alternative Service Book: Introductory Sentence "The Lord is Gracious" sung by Mo
1990: Carol: "Love came down at Christmas" sung by family
1991: Music for Goring Panto: "Clear and Cool" sung by Mo
2004: Streatley Mattins Service "Lord have mercy upon us" sung by Colin and Mo, "Our Father" sung by Jon, "Venite" sung by Mo "Try to be perfect" sung by Jon
"Amen" for all to sing along
Colin's spoken script will be shown in
blue italic. Snippets of the
recorded sound may be found by clicking on the blue words following the red circles:
oooooooooooooooooo Press the left arrow at the top left of the screen to return.
It’s Science Sunday here at Hagbourne and today you have a working scientist to play to you. Its a good life being a scientist. God's universe is so huge, so complex, so beautiful, and so full of apparent miracles. There is always more to discover. Our sun and billions of stars show the miracle of nuclear fusion. I'll be cycling in tomorrow to Tokamak Energy at Milton Park. There we are trying to save the planet and bring fusion down to earth. Its a bit like a giant crossword puzzle with many uncertain answers. Wish us luck.
You will soon realise that I’m no organist. I'm just a grade 5 pianist who was phoned up by a singing friend 17 years ago: "Would I like to play the organ at Whitchurch"? It’s a delightful church by the Thames with a thunderous old organ. I ended up playing there happily for 11 years before retiring at 80.
A year or so later I started at Upton, just a 20 min cycle ride away for me. It has a gorgeous old chamber organ. Its keyboard dates from 1833 along with many of its pipes. It’s sweet sounds hit your ears instantly. As Mo said in her recital, all organ recitals need Bach. Here is part of Prelude 23 from the First book of Preludes and Fugues.
It is a splendid piece to demonstrate intervals. We all know the octave, doubling the pitch. Most will recognise a 2nd Here we have a 3rd, in fact a minor one, then a 4th, a 5th, a 6th, and a 7th, but then: It is a 9th. Alone is sounds discordant but in the context it is a gorgeous "scrunch". Please look for 9ths tonight. They are in almost every piece. (As marked by a red line in the music)
Our music is built on mathematics. Around 600 BC the mathematician Pythagorias turned his attention to music and invented "pure" scales that depended on simple pitch ratios. Its recorded that he listened to blacksmiths hammering and found that if two hammers gave pitches with the exact ratio 3/2 it was "pleasing to the ear".
He built a whole scale going up in 5ths defining F, C, G, D, A, E and B in their respective octaves. It made a good major scale. This series of notes crops up in the violin tuning G,D,A,E, and in the viola tuning a 5th down. It also defines the order we add sharps: I learnt "Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle. In reverse it gives the order of flats.
It's problem was that it only worked for the key to which it was tuned. Modulation was difficult.
In 1752 Bach simplified it all with his equal-tempered scale. He was no mathematician but he knew how to tune a clavichord. There are 12 semitones in an octave and he made each the same. Mathematically you just increase the pitch of each semitone by the 12th root of 2 or 1.05946. Fifths are no longer "pure" with a ratio 1.498 rather than 1.5. You need a good ear to tell these difference! His idea was rapidly taken up, and everyone now uses it. Our organ here uses it.
Tonight, I will play some of my own compositions. Well it makes a change, and they are mercifully easy to play. Most were written for the Church and include voices. I am so grateful to my dear family Jon, Liz, Jane and Mo for singing them.
I started composing for my children 45 years ago when they were about 7 and 9. They loved nursery rhymes, and they loved their toys, so I composed a set of 10 "Tunes for the toys". At the time they sang their rhymes to a cassette tape, which still lives as an MP3 in my phone.I hope technology will play Jon's song. Here is "My bike" for Liz (she still loves her bike):
I love my bike,
oooooooooooooooooo My Bike by Liz
When I'm home from school and my work is done,
oooooooooooooooooo My Cars sung by Jon from an old cassette recording from aroung 1980
Little baby in the manger,
oooooooooooooooooo My Crib sung by Jane
I have always had a soft spot for John Betjeman. He was at Magdalen College 20 years before me. In those days the "Botanical Gardens" opposite was a free haven of peace, beauty and science (plants are botanically labelled! I'm afraid its not free anymore). It lies in the shadow of Magdalen tower. He wrote the poem "Magdalen Bells" in 1960 while I was still at Magdalen starting my research. I set it to music in 1981 - also around 20 years later. I sent him a tape, and he replied: "I played your cassette and enjoyed it. I don’t mind a bit about the shortened length. Thank you very much for letting me hear it".
oooooooooooooooooo Magdalen Bells sung by Jane
"Magdalen Bells" had its successes. In 1984 I put it in for Wantage Music Festival Composition class. It was beautifully played by the adjudicator Richard Dearing, and won! Ten years on I entered it for a one-off Magdalen Arts Festival music section and again it won. On the Festival Day 17th June 30 years ago I got an engraved dish, a quite large cheque and it was sung by a quartet from the college choir.
My children grew up. They honed their singing at our Goring Sunday School. It was a very musical Sunday School with some excellent singers. Soon they were good enough to join the Goring Church Choir. I wrote the anthem, "Listen to Him".
In those days Goring Church sang the Marbeke Communion every week. I thought an occasional change might be good and started writing a Communion Setting. We will sing 4 pieces. First the "Agnus Dei" and "Kyrie" which the Upton congregation now sing so nicely. Then follow two short sentences we don't usually sing in the benefice: "Christ has died" and "Blessing and honour".
Lamb of God you take away the sins of the world: Have mercy on us.
oooooooooooooooooo
Agnus Dei sung by Jane.
oooooooooooooooooo Kyrie sung by Liz.
oooooooooooooooooo "Christ has died" sung by Jon
Video
Blessing and Honour
oooooooooooooooooo
Blessing and honour sung by Jane, Liz, Jon and Mo.
A nice innovation of the 1980 Alternative Service Book was "Introductory sentences" for each week of the Church year. This one was written for the 7th Sunday before Easter.
The Lord is Gracious and merciful
oooooooooooooooooo The Lord is Gracious, sung by Mo.
Video
Goring Church Carol Services the Sunday after Christmas were always a treasure. In 1990 I had on my bookshelf Christina Rossetti’s collected works. I found "Love came down at Christmas". Only coming to Hagbourne did I realise that another excellent version was in hymn books! Liz will sing the solo as in the first performance, accompanied by the old xylophone I made for my children.
Love came down at Christmas
oooooooooooooooooo Love came down at Christmas, sung by Jon, Liz, Jane and Mo.
Every January in those days Goring did a Panto skillfully produced by Mary Williams. In 1991 it was "The Water Babies" by Charles Kinglsey. Mo was asked to do the keyboards, and she asked me to write her music to the Kinglsey poem "Clear and Cool".
Around 2000 Mo became organist at Streatley Church. Most weeks we sang Mattins and one evening over dinner our rector Elias said he wanted to rejuvenate the Mattins service. I started writing a setting and by 21/5/2004 it had its first performance at a special service to celebrate Sreatley’s new Jennings organ lead by the Bishop of Oxford.
When Mo and I got married at Streatley Church in September 2005 we sang "Lord, have mercy upon us" exactly as we will sing it now.
oooooooooooo
Christ have mercy, sung by Mo and Colin
followed by The Lord's Prayer, sung by Jon
oooooooooooooooooo Venite, sung by Mo
Next is a little grace written long ago for a Harvest Supper sung by Jon.
Try to grow perfect,
To end let us all sing my "Amen". I will play it four times: first on the organ, then the family will sing it in harmony, then they will sing it in unison. Lastly I will pull out the stops and I want you all to stand up and sing out our thanks for God's gift of music.
oooooooooooooooooo
Amen (all)
The captions to the figures are shown in green.
Around the block no need to hike,
Away I go, where ever I like.
But I think I shall go to the end of the street,
For that is the place where I meet - my Dad.
Next I will try to play Jon's "My Cars" from my phone:"
First I have my drink then upstairs I run
To my very own room where my cars are kept
In their special place which must not be swept.
And I drive each one to the bedroom door,
On the special road right across the floor.
Do not weep our darling saviour
We have come to say we love you
And to ask for your love too.
Lamb of God you take away the sins of the world: Have mercy on us.
Lamb of God you take away the sins of the world: Grant us peace.
Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy,Lord have mercy,
Christ have mercy, Christ have mercy, Christ have mercy,
Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy,
Christ has died,
Christ has risen,
Christ will come again
And glory and Might
Be yours for ever and ever
Amen
and His compassion
is over all that He hath made"
Love all lovely, love divine
Love as born at Christmas
Star and angels gave the sign
Worship we the Godhead,
Love incarnate, love divine
Worship we our Jesus,
But wherewith for sacred sign?
Love shall be our token
Love be yours and love be mine,
Love to God and all men,
Love for plea and gift and sign.
Clear and cool, clear and cool
By laughing shallow and dreaming pool
Cool and clear, cool and clear,
By shining shingle and foaming weir.
Under the crag where the ousal sings,
And the ivied wall where the church bells ring
Undefiled for the undefiled
Play with me, bathe in me, mother and child
Lord have mercy upon us
Christ have mercy upon us
Lord have mercy upon us
It is followed in the service by the "Lord’s prayer" sung by Jon.
Streatley Church at that time sang the psalms well. Here the "Venite" is sung by Mo,
1. O come let us | sing unto · the | Lord:
Let us heartily rejoice in the | strength of | our sal|vation.
2. Let us come before his | presence with | thanksgiving:
And show ourselves | glad in | him with | psalms.
___________________________________________________
3. For the lord is a | great |God:
and a great | king a·bove | all |Gods.
4. In his hand are all the | corners · of the | earth:
and the strength of the | hills is | his | also.
___________________________________________________
5. The sea is his and he | made it:
And his hand pre|pared the | dry | land.
6. O come let us worshop and | fall | down:
And kneel be|fore the | Lord our | Maker.
Help one another,
Be United,
Live in peace.
oooooooooooooooooo
Try to grow perfect, sung by Jon
Copyright 2025 Colin Windsor : Last updated 30/7/2025