Reviews and Messages
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Christchurch Priory
24th November 2011
'I felt I had to congratulate you on your magnificent performance on
Thursday. The programme choice was excellent.....your organ management
was exemplary..... your technique appeared to be flawless... Once again
a very heartfelt thank you for a tremendous performance.' EG
Halifax Minster
13th October 2011
'I really must thank you for a truly splendid recital. It was certainly
one of the most memorable in recent years. We were particularly
impressed with the choice of programme, admirably suited to our fine
instrument, and with the very colourful registration...' PT
'Thank you very much for an enjoyable concert yesterday at Halifax.
Both my sister and I thought it was one of the best we have heard on the
organ...' GG
Westminster Cathedral, London
Grand Organ Recital
25th September 2011
'Blistering playing. Very well done indeed!' JW
Symphony Hall, Birmingham
Concert for Friends of THSH
10th July 2011
'It was a fantastic experience.... an excellent programme that
demonstrated the full capabilities
of this wonderful instrument...' TF
''What a brilliant experience for us - never to be
forgotten.' JA
Wellington Methodist Church, Telford
1st July 2011
'...Such a lovely programme of music beautifully played with terrific
sparkle and enthusiasm...' MD
Malvern Priory
27th November 2010
'I am writing on behalf of us all at the Priory to thank you for your
excellent and brilliantly played recital on Saturday. I appreciated the
range of interesting works in your recital, as I did at your Birmingham
recital, and this was the sentiment expressed by those I spoke to
afterwards. We hope you enjoyed your visit to Malvern and I look forward
to seeing you again soon'. GF
Thursday Live
St Paul's in the Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham
Thursday 4th November 2010
'Super recital yesterday - particularly enjoyed the Vierne and
the Bach (very stylish)' DG
'Lovely organ recital. The Bach was amazing, and of course the V.W. is a
favourite of mine' MR
'Just to say another big thank you for
yesterday. Folk at church were still enthusing about your recital after
today's morning service. As I said at the end of the evening, the organ
couldn't have wished for a better 20th birthday present'.
DAT (following anniversary recital at Broadway
United Reformed Church, Walsall – September 2010)
Lichfield Cathedral
31st May 2010
'Altogether a lively
and immaculately performed programme' Lichfield and District Organists' Association
Birmingham Town Hall
Lunchtime Organ Concert
Monday 22nd February 2010
'As a regular attender at both the TH/SH Monday recitals and the
Thursday Live recitals, can I say a big thank you for today. I hope that
you got as much pleasure from playing the splendid TH organ as we did
listening to you. You will be amused to know that the box office ticket
system could not cope with the number of tickets issued and broke down!
We were issued with hand written tickets!' JA
'Thanks once again for your excellent concert playing today.... I
thought your handling of the resources of the organ was outstanding, and
showed an understanding of the instrument. You also transmitted your
enthusiasm to the listener.' JS
'Congratulations on a wonderful debut performance at the Town Hall. The
programme was a clever mix of styles showing off the organ to full
advantage, not to mention your playing! I hope that this will be the
first of many.... I sensed an atmosphere of enjoyment and participation
in the gallery...' MR
'I felt I must repeat what I said earlier which is how wonderful was
your recital today at the Town Hall. You obviously put a huge amount of
work into this, especially the registering. I am so pleased that it was
greeted by great acclaim by the enthusiastic audience.' MS
'Many thanks for a superb recital at TH today. It was fine in all
regards and the programme was really a good Town Hall one.' MR
Kelvingrove Museum and Art
Gallery, Glasgow
Weekend of recitals
July 2009
'Thank you for a fantastic recital at
Kelvingrove and you certainly handled the organ excellently with
judicious hand registration. I take my hat off to you for your virtuoso
pedalling and crystal-clear fingerwork in the Bach; and I loved the
broad pacing and telling silences in the Vierne and Widor pieces - so
appropriate for the gallery's spacious acoustic. Hopefully you'll return
and play again in the near future.' CN
Birmingham Cathedral
June 2009
'What a magnificent
recital it was: varied, colourful and exciting. ... It was just a joy to
hear your superb performance - a real privilege, in fact; and to listen
to your commentary.' GEB
Thursday Live
St Paul's in the Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham
Thursday 6th November 2008
The Metro: Tuesday 4th November 2008
www.metro.co.uk
Lunch Break: Paul Carr
What:
Paul Carr gives the latest in his monthly series of organ recitals. It
lasts less than an hour and the programme is - as always with Carr -
colourful and entertaining. Standard organ classics by J.S. Bach, and
honorary Brummie, Felix Mendelssohn, jostle with the pure noisy fun of
Handel's Fireworks Music, as well as a rarely heard miniature by
Saint-Saëns.
Why: Carr's enthusiasm is infectious. This is a man who gave 100 organ
recitals in a ten-year period in the improbable setting of Cradley Heath
Methodist Church, and then, when the church closed in 2004, personally
arranged for the vintage organ to be dismantled, shipped halfway around
the world, and rebuilt in China. Carr's lunchtime recitals at St Paul's
(where he's now Director of Music) are a labour of love. And it shows:
His programmes are a mixture of the classic and the irreverent.
Richard Bratby
Victoria Hall Hanley
Saturday 11th October 2008
The Sentinel: Monday 13th October 2008
www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk
SATURDAY'S
excellent Organ Prom by Paul Carr was another feather in the cap for
Michael Rhodes, the organiser. Carr chose three military pieces to form
a framework to the whole. These were Schubert's Marche Militaire,
Lefébure-Wély's March in C and the encore, the Radetsky
March by Strauss, complete with audience clapping, all of a secular
flavour and evoking a fairground atmosphere with lots of candy floss.
Unusual was the Blues Chorale by Kiefer with lively pedal
passages and juicy jazz chords to finish. By contrast, the pièce de
résistance was the great organ virtuoso Guilmant's 'Sonata' in the
dramatic key of D minor. A piece of nobleness, heroism, gentleness and
many other worthy qualities, Carr highlighted the different moods with
expertise, saving the thrilling firework display with its intermittent
chorale for the Final.
Another Frenchman, Josef Bonnet's Elfes
in the form of a Scherzo for flutes, captured the skittishness of these
creatures. As Carr said himself, Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite, from
which we heard four movements, works well in its organ transcription and
In The Hall of the Mountain King was grandiose and threatening.
David Burrowes
'...You have a way of picking up what
was intended and taking it onto another plane...."
FT - 21st May 2009
'If you weren't there you must surely
have heard by now about the event. The church has been buzzing with the
chat about it. Paul Carr gave a stunning recital on our organ.....a
brilliant performance of the Prelude and Fugue in D by Bach to open the
recital'
The Moat (following the inaugural recital at St
Mary's Hobs Moat - April 2009)
‘I must immediately write to say how
excellent was your programme and playing today. The Guilmant 1 was
certainly a tour de force of the utmost virtuosity, - electrifying and
uplifting’
MS (following Organ Prom at Victoria Hall, Hanley
– 11th October 2008)
Cathédrale
Notre-Dame de Paris
Audition d'orgue
Sunday 17th August 2008
'Such a brilliant recital – just thrilling’ RM
‘What a wonderful concert! I really
think you made the most out of the organ!’ AM
‘What a wonderful experience our visit
to Paris proved to be, with your very exciting recital at Notre-Dame.
Such an attentive, large audience. Such expressive playing.
Congratulations Paul. All good wishes’ GR
‘My family and I attended the audition d’orgue at
Notre-Dame de Paris.
May I congratulate you on your performance, especially the Fugue sur
le Carillon des Heures ….. by Maurice Duruflé’ EJ
‘Thanks again to you and Michael for an
excellent concert last night... it was a pleasure for me to hear the two
instruments played together so expertly. I particularly enjoyed the
Dupré, but thought all of the pieces were worthy of hearing.... it's
good for all of us to have our horizons expanded by being introduced to
different repertoire… kind regards,
PB (following Organ and Piano Duets concert with Michael Jones at
Wylde Green URC – 18th November 2007)
50th
concert of Sunday Afternoon Organ Music at Holy Trinity Parish Church,
Wordsley
4th November 2007
The Express and Star, October 2007
ORGANIST PAUL REACHES GOLDEN MILESTONE
Midlands’ virtuoso organist Paul Carr will celebrate a musical milestone
on Sunday 4th November 2007, when he plays his 50th concert of Sunday
Afternoon Organ Music at Holy Trinity Parish Church, Wordsley.
Since 2003 Paul has thrilled audiences on the first Sunday of each month
with his 45-minute concerts of organ music ranging from well-known
orchestral transcriptions, such as the William Tell Overture, to
complete organ symphonies by Widor. A large video image is
projected showing Paul in action at the 3-keyboard, 44-stop console.
Paul, whose 2008 engagements include concerts at Blenheim Palace,
Rochdale Town Hall and Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, said “I was
delighted to be invited to start my series in Wordsley four years ago.
Playing the organ is the best thing in the world and it is fabulous to
be able to share this each month. Holy Trinity Church is blessed with a
fine instrument which is bracing itself for the next 50 concerts!”
The concert, entitled ‘Organ Fireworks’ kicks off at 3.00pm with the
American March by Widor and will include a jazzy Blues Chorale by Kiefer
and other pieces by Reger, Duruflé and Langlais. Admission is free.
Truro
Cathedral
17th August 2007
'Just
a short note to say how much we enjoyed your recital in Truro Cathedral
on the 17th August - highlight of the holiday! I had not heard the Organ Sonata in A Minor by William Harris before and
thought it was magnificent.
Thank you…… for providing us with such
enjoyment and memories of your performance on that wonderful Willis
organ.
It was good to hear that you will be at Truro again, hope to be there to
enjoy another spectacular performance.’ PE
Alexandra Palace, London
4th July 2007
www.allypallyorgan.org.uk/news.php
Paul Carr, Director of Music
at St. Paul’s Church in the Jewellery Quarter of Birmingham, paid his
first, and we hope not last, visit to the Palace to delight us with a
well-chosen programme of mainly American music on Independence Day, 4th
July. His programme also included a performance of Marcel Dupré's
Prelude & Fugue in G minor, in honour of the composer’s famous
association with the organ.
The organ appreciated the humid weather and it has seldom sounded
better. Perhaps the highlights of the first half of Paul's recital were
the Variations on America by Charles Ives, of course our
national anthem, the Trumpet Tune in F Major by David Johnson
and a stunning performance of John Philip Sousa’s march The Liberty
Bell. The second half started with another Sousa march, The
Stars & Stripes Forever and continued with another trumpet tune by
Johnson, this time in G. This was followed by The Star Spangled
Banner Concert Variations by Dudley Buck. A member of the Palace
staff was observed discreetly dancing at the back of the Great Hall to
Scott Joplin’s The Entertainer and the programme concluded with
Garth Edmundson’s Toccata on Vom Himmel Hoch.
Paul Carr played with great panache and used the organ, which he so
obviously enjoyed, across its full range of tonal expressions. He
introduced each half of the concert from the floor to a thoroughly
delighted and appreciative audience.
‘Paul, all the thanks must come from us
for coming over and playing so beautifully and making that little organ
sing and dance. Everyone is still talking about it. Perhaps when you
have time later in the year you would come back and play again? Thank
you so much, it was a wonderful evening.’
JH (following recital at All Saints’, Culmington, -
28th April 2007)
‘…I am so glad that I came tonight.
Thank you very much indeed for some very moving music.’
SW (following Gospel Improvisations, St Paul’s, Birmingham -
3rd April 2007)
Sunday Afternoon Organ Music at Holy
Trinity Parish Church, Wordsley
1st April 2007
Stourbridge News
'Another excellent programme on Sunday 1st April…... Paul Carr, as
always, was on top form with his performance of Vierne’s sublime fourth
symphony. Also included in the afternoon concert was the Fanfare in
D by Lemmens, expertly accomplished.'
‘…Many thanks for playing such an
excellent Organ Prom at Hanley. You certainly took the punters by storm
here and they loved your programme and very musical playing, with
admirable stop registrations. I do hope that you will come again’.
MR (following Organ Prom - 13th January 2007)
‘Thanks for Saturday Paul and
congratulations on your superb Organ Prom! Very best wishes to you and
Hannah, not forgetting Snoopie, of course.’
BH (following Organ Prom - 13th January 2007)
Victoria Hall, Hanley
Saturday 13th January 2007
The Sentinel: Monday 15th January 2007
TEACHER'S MASTERCLASS
Paul
Carr is a primary school teacher who also travels the world giving
concerts. And Carr, who played Saturday's Organ Prom in Hanley, made a
thoroughly good job of it.
He not only put the Victoria Hall's magnificent instrument - built in
1888 and enlarged by the formidable Henry Willis in 1922 - through its
paces, but he chose a most interesting programme and spoke just enough
about it to keep the recital interesting.
Carr's opener was strong and noisy as he caught and exploited all the
tunes and colours of Johann Strauss the Younger's Die Fledermaus
overture in an arrangement that Carr had made himself. Then three of the
numerous pieces for musical clocks composed by Haydn helped restore the
audience's adrenalin flow to more reasonable proportions. Another
arrangement, this time by WT Best of the Rakoczi Match from Berlioz's
cantata La Damnation de Faust, set the pulses running again and
curiously made an appropriate prelude to Five Short Pieces by the
British composer Percy Whitlock. These, especially Folk Tune, were
charming, and the concluding Paean showed off an electrifying Tuba
Mirabilis. Whitlock is an unjustly neglected composer; we should hear
more of his music.
Fantasie on two English Melodies - written by that doyen of Parisian
organists, Alexandre Guilmant - was pleasing to the ear, particularly
the part themed on Home Sweet Home. There followed another Paul Carr
arrangement, this one of Rachmaninov's Vocalise, a piece composed, as
the title implies, for voice without words. A sprightly performance of
Dvorak's Hungarian Dance No 1, in the David Briggs arrangement, rang
down the curtain save for the encore, which ushered out the recital as
it had been ushered in - by another bright sample of music from Vienna,
this time the Radetzky March.
Eric Snape
Sunday
Afternoon Organ Music at Holy Trinity Parish Church, Wordsley
3rd September 2006
Stourbridge News
'Paul’s skilled and masterly transcriptions for organ
bring absolute delight to all that are privileged to see and listen.'
‘Hello Paul, what a wonderful recital
you gave here last Tuesday; I thought your programme was superb…..your
choice was perfect and ideal. I came away from the cathedral feeling
quite uplifted……’
MS (audience member, Hereford Cathedral - 29th August
2006)
‘Thanks to everyone for last weekend - it was fabulous. The singing was superb and Paul Carr on the organ was magnificent. Even the weather conspired to give us an authentic temperature and humidity for the Jamaican Canticles!’ DJ (following weekend of services with Priory Voices at Hereford Cathedral – July 2006)
‘Hi Paul, just a note to thank you for
tonight's recital, which was by any standards magnificent. I appreciate
you taking time from your busy schedule to do this for us, and hopefully
I can persuade you to find a date in 2007 to return…’
PB (following recital at Wylde Green URC, Sutton Coldfield –
21st May 2006)
‘The rhythm and clarity of your playing
makes for rewarding listening…’
RL (following Midlands’ Organ Day in Worcester,
September 2005)
‘Paul, many congratulations on your
splendid recital last night...you kept me engrossed! Some very
interesting repertoire...You made me want to go and do some (more)
practice'
DG (following recital at Emmanuel Church, Wylde Green -
17th May 2005)
Wylde Green United Reformed Church
Saturday 5th March 2005
Sutton Coldfield News
CHURCH REALISES ITS PIPE DREAM
Historically,
the Christian Church has always been an important advocate and patron of
the arts, and here in Sutton, Wylde Green URC has had a long and
honourable history of music events for several decades now. It is
enjoying a new expansion of its activities, with its recent acquisition
of a Yamaha Concert Grand, and the concert on Saturday celebrated the
completion of a two year programme to refurbish the organ, with an organ
recital and anthems for choir and organ.
To mark the centenary of the original organ the pipes were taken to the
Willis factory in Liverpool and more than 200,000 individual parts were
refurbished and re-installed.
For the concert the 3 manual organ console was placed in the centre, and
CCTV projected onto a large screen, this gave everyone the best possible
view of soloist Paul Carr. Paul Carr is Organist and
Director of Music at St Paul's in the Jewellery Quarter, and a
remarkably active musician and recitalist. The programme was calculated
to the best effect to show off the many colours of the restored organ.
Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor was followed by the Badinerie from
his Suite no. 2, and then some pieces from the French tradition in which
Vierne’s Naïades from the Pièces de Fantaisie was especially impressive
in its unassuming yet constant virtuosity.
The choirs’ contributions were no less impressive. The main choir
started with Finzi’s God is gone up. From its opening fanfare to the
final chords, this was a magnificent piece suitable for such a grand
occasion. Other works by Elgar and Wesley were distinguished by their
lovely soft singing and purposeful phrasing. Bairstow’s demanding set of
choral variations Blessed city, heavenly Salem received an excellent
performance. The junior choir, some of whose members looked too young to
be out after dark, gave a committed performance including Malcolm
Archer’s adaptation of Pachelbel’s Canon It was good to see that the
continuity of the choral tradition is being looked after so well.
Paul Carr’s recital continued with several of his own arrangements,
including one of the Overture to Die Fledermaus. This was a splendidly
technicolour transcription, and it was startling to hear such well known
tunes emerge in flamboyant new clothes. Taken at a whirlwind tempo it
brought the house down. The whole evening was a heart-warming family
occasion, marked at the end by two encores, a round of applause for the
organ builder, (present in the audience) thanks to the organisers of the
organ appeal, the donators of funds, including Sutton Municipal
Charities and, of course, Widor’s Toccata as a grand finale.
The banner on the church wall reads “Thank God for music” This church is
doing that extremely well.
John Gough