Choir & Organ - June 2023

When fire swept through a basilica in Wroclaw, it took with it an exceptional organ by Michael Engler – the last of his lifetime. In the June issue of Choir & Organ, we explore how a trio of organ building firms has drawn on research to reconstruct the original instrument in Poland.

 Elsewhere, composer-conductor Bob Chilcott talks to David Hill about being inspired by David Willcocks and Philip Ledger, arranging music for Radio 2, and 12 years with The King’s Singers; we consider the enduring attraction of William Byrd’s liturgical works 400 years after his death; organist Thomas Allery introduces a new project to unearth and record organ works by forgotten composers over the past 300 years; for centuries most of the significant works in the choral canon have been instigated and premiered by amateur choirs and this issue offers an insight into how a number of contemporary choirs have set about the commissioning process and how composers have responded; we celebrate our sister title Gramophone's centenary by sharing a few articles from its archive; remembering Sir David Lumsden; inside the workshop of Mascioni Organs in Azzio, northern Italy; and Ben Bloor, organist at The London Oratory.