The National Pipe Organ Register (NPOR) at the Royal College of Music

© The British Institute of Organ Studies2005 (BIOS)

• Dec 2009 BOA index updated
• 2009 Composer anniversaries in HOSA music
• NPOR Installed at the Royal College of Music
• HOSA tribute to Noel Mander
• New features
• HOSA CD
• Sir John Smith
• The British Organ Library
• David Atkinson
• Notes for contributors
• Bugs which have been fixed

Dec 2009 BOA index updated

A new version of the BOA index prepared by Chris Kearl has been installed.

2009 Anniversaries celebrated in HOSA music

Click to see details of composer anniversaries celebrated in HOSA music.

The NPOR moves to The Royal College of Music (December 2008)

The NPOR server has moved to The Royal College of Music after spending all its life so far in Cambridge. Management of the content of the database is, however, unchanged and additions or corrections should continue to be notified to the NPOR Manager at Birmingham City University.

The public internet address for the NPOR is www.npor.org.uk.

HOSA tribute to Noel Mander

Recordings of music played on the organ of Adlington Hall in Cheshire have been added to the HOSA project in memory of Noel Mander who restored the organ in 1959.

HOSA CD

A CD of some of the music recorded as part of the HOSA project is now available. Read the details.

New Features

New version of BOA Index

A new version of the index to the documents in the British Organ Archive (BOA Index) prepared by Chris Kearl was installed on 25th November 2008

HOSA Soundfiles

Now that higher broadband speeds are generally available, the resolution and hence audio fidelity of the sound files has been increased. In order that the files should start to play without a significant delay on lower speed broadband connections, the playing method has been changed to stream the files using Adobe FlashPlayer. The previous method is still available for those who do not wish to install FlashPlayer. A photograph of the organ is displayed whilst the file is playing.

HOSA Scores

Images of scores are available for some of the musical items. They are identified in the mini descriptions by a "score-like" icon. A list is available as a menu item under the HOSA tab. (4th April 2008).

Maps

The location of organs can now be displayed on Google maps (4th April 2008).

Conversion of database

From the evening of the 7th December 2007, the NPOR database has been running on Microsoft SQLServer Express. It was converted from Oracle on which it had been running since it was started in 1992.

Format of department list

The format of the properties of departments has been changed to make it easier to read.

Change of Font

Having tried Times, Georgia and Arial and listened to comments, I have settled on Arial for its clean appearance but I have used Times for the roman numerals which were hard to read without serifs.

New menus

In response to a number of criticisms,the "hover" menus have been changed to "pulldowns".

The NPOR builder search has been enhanced to include constraints on work done between two given years.

Sir John Smith CH CBE

It is with regret that we record the death on 28th February 2007 of Sir John Smith who, through the Manifold Trust, was one of the earliest supporters of the NPOR. We extend our condolences to Lady Smith.

Bugs which have been fixed recently

There is a bug in Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE6) connected with absolute positioning which makes it impossible to select text from a window in the NPOR. A workaround has now been implemented which causes the select to work properly.

Notes for contributors

New notes are available to help those who would like to contribute information or corrections to the NPOR. Please read them before submitting contacting us.

The British Organ Library project in Birmingham

We understand that project to create a new headquarters for the Royal College of Organists in the former Curzon Street railway station building in Birmingham has been cancelled. How this affects the plan to co-locate the BIOS and RCO archives and the NPOR office in a new British Organ Library has yet to be determined. Meanwhile the BIOS archives are safe in their present home in the Birmingham Public Archive and the NPOR server is safe in Cambridge. The NPOR office materials have moved to the University of Central England Library in Birmingham. A new maintenance policy for the NPOR is being actively considered.

David Tempest Atkinson (31st August 1935 - 18th August 2005)

It is with very considerable sadness that we record the death of David Atkinson who was our most prolific and capable editor. David was organist and choirmaster of the parish church of St Mary, Hitchin until his stroke five years ago and even afterwards he amazed us all by giving public recitals using an assistant to play the right hand. His enthusiasm and committment are greatly missed. All those who knew him will wish to extend our sympathy to his wife Jean and to their family.