you?’ Isoldé took the interview forward into his early adult years.
‘Yes. I worked really hard and did well there. It was great fun, being in London, not just the music but the life-style too. London’s a great place to be a student, or it was when I was there. But on the music side, there’s so many organs to hear, and to play as well if the organist will let you, so many different types. I always used to love playing in St-Mary-le-Strand, although there are better organs, I suppose, but the place is magical.’
‘What are your most impressive memories of organs?’
‘Oh, that has to be Liverpool! You can walk about inside the thing there. It makes me feel like being inside the engine room on the Starship Enterprise.’
Isoldé quirked her eyebrows.
‘Star Trek.’ Mark grinned. ‘Beam me up, Scotty! The pipes and walkways between them are like being inside a starship. If ever you get the chance you should go and see it, it’s quite incredible.’
‘Your career took off soon after you left college, is that right?’
‘I was lucky. The dean of the Royal College of Organists had a friend over from Germany and he heard me. I was invited to the church at Lunenburg Heath, to play the Bach organ. Thesenior recording engineer from Deutche Gramophone was there, heard me and steered me to a recording contract with them. I was just twenty-two. Things have sort of gone on from there,’ Mark ended with a rueful grin.
Isoldé’s eyes twinkled back. ‘You spend quite a lot of your time abroad now, don’t you?’ she continued serenely, not telling him she’d been there, at Lunenburg Heath, heard him, fallen under the organ spell.
‘Yes.’ Mark rolled his eyes. ‘Good for the bank balance, but I miss being at home.’
‘Ah yes, home. You live in a very interesting house don’t you?
‘No!’ he put his hand over the mike and she obligingly hit pause. ‘I won’t talk about that on air. It’s my home. Private.’
‘Not even about Tristan Talorc?’
‘Nope!’
‘Not even to me, later?’
‘That’s different.’ He smiled.
She carried the interview deeper into his career and the music he loved, finishing on a good upbeat note advertising his next recitals, the latest CD which was out now in the shop in Cathedral Close. Mark was surprised, it had actually been fun, she was very good, had got him to talk about himself far more than he usually would.
He watched as she packed up the recording equipment.
‘Must be worth a few bob,’ he said, fingers running over the steel casing of the old tape machine.
‘Yup! It’s Jamie’s passion. He’s been collecting since he was a kid.’
‘I’ve never seen most of it before. You hear about it, from recording engineers, but the London studios don’t use any of this now. Nor the European or American ones.’
‘No, all digital, computerised, streaming. We do that too, for the radio output, and the computer radio, Exon’s got a YouTube page. But Jamie loves using the stuff, even editing by hand witha razor blade sometimes. He’s got the antique kit anyway and the radio station’s almost a one-man-band. And Paul loves it too.’
‘Exon Radio’s got a hell of a reputation though.’
‘He does get some good programmes, like the recording Paul got of you last night. That’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing and I dare say the Beeb will be on to him to hire it for Radio 3. The interviews are special too but they can be a bit hi-brow sometimes, boffin-stuff for artists. You’re relatively light relief.’
‘Nothing wrong with that!’
She finished putting things away.
‘Can I give you lunch?’ he asked.
‘Actually, Jamie’s given me the order to take you out,’ she said over her shoulder.
‘Thank you …’ Mark blinked internally. This woman took charge in a very subtle way, you didn’t notice until you were in up to your neck.
He waited while she locked up, then she led him back to the close and round to the Brasserie the precentor’s
‘Yes. I worked really hard and did well there. It was great fun, being in London, not just the music but the life-style too. London’s a great place to be a student, or it was when I was there. But on the music side, there’s so many organs to hear, and to play as well if the organist will let you, so many different types. I always used to love playing in St-Mary-le-Strand, although there are better organs, I suppose, but the place is magical.’
‘What are your most impressive memories of organs?’
‘Oh, that has to be Liverpool! You can walk about inside the thing there. It makes me feel like being inside the engine room on the Starship Enterprise.’
Isoldé quirked her eyebrows.
‘Star Trek.’ Mark grinned. ‘Beam me up, Scotty! The pipes and walkways between them are like being inside a starship. If ever you get the chance you should go and see it, it’s quite incredible.’
‘Your career took off soon after you left college, is that right?’
‘I was lucky. The dean of the Royal College of Organists had a friend over from Germany and he heard me. I was invited to the church at Lunenburg Heath, to play the Bach organ. Thesenior recording engineer from Deutche Gramophone was there, heard me and steered me to a recording contract with them. I was just twenty-two. Things have sort of gone on from there,’ Mark ended with a rueful grin.
Isoldé’s eyes twinkled back. ‘You spend quite a lot of your time abroad now, don’t you?’ she continued serenely, not telling him she’d been there, at Lunenburg Heath, heard him, fallen under the organ spell.
‘Yes.’ Mark rolled his eyes. ‘Good for the bank balance, but I miss being at home.’
‘Ah yes, home. You live in a very interesting house don’t you?
‘No!’ he put his hand over the mike and she obligingly hit pause. ‘I won’t talk about that on air. It’s my home. Private.’
‘Not even about Tristan Talorc?’
‘Nope!’
‘Not even to me, later?’
‘That’s different.’ He smiled.
She carried the interview deeper into his career and the music he loved, finishing on a good upbeat note advertising his next recitals, the latest CD which was out now in the shop in Cathedral Close. Mark was surprised, it had actually been fun, she was very good, had got him to talk about himself far more than he usually would.
He watched as she packed up the recording equipment.
‘Must be worth a few bob,’ he said, fingers running over the steel casing of the old tape machine.
‘Yup! It’s Jamie’s passion. He’s been collecting since he was a kid.’
‘I’ve never seen most of it before. You hear about it, from recording engineers, but the London studios don’t use any of this now. Nor the European or American ones.’
‘No, all digital, computerised, streaming. We do that too, for the radio output, and the computer radio, Exon’s got a YouTube page. But Jamie loves using the stuff, even editing by hand witha razor blade sometimes. He’s got the antique kit anyway and the radio station’s almost a one-man-band. And Paul loves it too.’
‘Exon Radio’s got a hell of a reputation though.’
‘He does get some good programmes, like the recording Paul got of you last night. That’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing and I dare say the Beeb will be on to him to hire it for Radio 3. The interviews are special too but they can be a bit hi-brow sometimes, boffin-stuff for artists. You’re relatively light relief.’
‘Nothing wrong with that!’
She finished putting things away.
‘Can I give you lunch?’ he asked.
‘Actually, Jamie’s given me the order to take you out,’ she said over her shoulder.
‘Thank you …’ Mark blinked internally. This woman took charge in a very subtle way, you didn’t notice until you were in up to your neck.
He waited while she locked up, then she led him back to the close and round to the Brasserie the precentor’s
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