Philip Rham meets up with David King, the organ soloist at our forthcoming concert at St. Gabriel’s Church

Philip Here I am with David King, organist at St. Gabriel’s, and you’ve been here for 28
years, is that correct?

David It will be 29 in March!

Philip Well I never did! And was it your first appointment?

David No, I was at All Hallows Gospel Oak before and various churches before that.

Philip Were you brought up in the church, in choirs?

David I was a chorister in a church in Yorkshire - I was born in Chester but brought up in Yorkshire. My grandfather was a self-taught organist - that’s how I got into playing the organ. I started with the piano and then had piano and organ lessons combined from the age of twelve and then I was organist at the church in Yorkshire from the age of thirteen.

Philip Really? Could you reach the pedals at thirteen?

David Yes, I could. That is the optimum age when you can. Basically you should have a
good keyboard understanding and then you can add the feet once you’ve got that.

Philip But also it’s more than piano co-ordination, you’ve got to coordinate the feet as well - there’s an added challenge there.

David It’s about balance. If you’re playing a high pedal note your foot has to go that way and the body has to go the other way, otherwise you fall off!!

Philip Actually, I’d never thought of that.

David You get used to it, your body goes with the flow. It’s amazing because so many people don’t see the organist performing because the console is tucked away somewhere but at St. Gabriel’s the console can be moved right to the centre of the nave.

Philip Yes, I was going to ask, was that the original configuration?

David The original console from 1893 was underneath the main case. In 1970 Walker brothers did a rebuild of the organ and detached the console. It went from being electro- pneumatic to just electric action.

Philip Is that a plus?

David It’s actually better for getting the balance with choirs. You can also hear the organ much better in solo playing - if you are underneath it the sound goes straight over your head and particularly at St. Gabriel’s, since part of the organ is around the corner from where you’re sitting. Since the rebuild, which we finished in 2023, we’ve made improvements.

Philip I did read that you formulated the recent rebuild yourself.

David Yes. The whole process also took so long because of Covid. We went to tender in 2018, we agreed the contract in 2019 and they eventually came back in November 2022.

Philip So how do you feel it’s changed?

David It’s a lot more user-friendly. For the small space the organ is in, we’ve utilised it much better than before. Most of the pipes are from the 1970’s organ but also some pipes from the very first organ of 1855. It’s got quite a bit of a history to it!

Philip So are you happy now?

David Oh I’m VERY happy now! When I arrived here in March 1995, the organ was sagging a lot - you pulled out too many stops and the whole thing went ‘uuuuuh’ and the electrics were becoming unreliable.

Philip So let me go back to your history. Your grandfather was a self-taught organist. Was your family musical in any other way?

David Not really, my dad used to play the piano and there’s an opera singer on my mother’s side so a bit of music going on all around.

Philip But was it a big step to go straight into organ playing?

David Yes, in a way. There was such a shortage of organists, especially outside of London

Philip And you trained at the Royal College of Music?

David Yes, I came down when I was 18. I was there with Nicholas Danby, piano with Ruth Gerald and harpsichord with Ruth Dyson. I was acutely aware that upon leaving college there wouldn’t be a full-time organ job. There are very few people that can have a professional career as a soloist.

Philip So you went to play for various churches.

David Yes, but I also worked at Wigmore Hall for almost 34 years.

Philip Oh heavens! As what, if I may ask?

David I started in 1985 as what they called Concert Assistant. In 1992 I became Head of Operations when they developed the basement area, and then Senior House Manager. So basically organ-playing was like a paid hobby. I did recitals on a regular basis but Wigmore Hall was my primary job until 2019.

Philip So, David, you are going to play with us at our concert at St. Gabriel’s and you’ve chosen Alexandre Guilmant’s Organ Symphony - why this piece in particular?

David He originally wrote it as a solo organ piece and then arranged it for orchestra. It’s a great piece!

Philip I have to admit I hadn’t heard of him and had to look him up. He was born in the early nineteenth century and died in 1911?

David Yes, that’s right. He wrote a lot of mainly organ pieces but that was the style of the day like Vierne and Widor.

Philip He took over from Widor at the Paris Conservatoire, didn’t he and he was at Ste Trinité, well known for its tradition of improvising.

David Absolutely - that was the French tradition, right up to Messiaen. Guilmant is a bit of the old school and he was friends with Vincent D’Indy. It’s all good stuff.

Philip Correct me if I’m wrong, but he was fascinated by pre-1750 French composers as well. You can tell that in the symphony, there are a lot of resonances from that period.

David He was also instrumental in the revival of Bach in France, in the same way that Mendelssohn was key to Bach’s revival in Germany.

Philip It’s a wonderful piece and we’re really looking forward to playing it with you. I’ve found a Youtube recording with the score posted. Looking at the score, there are registers
marked in by the composer. Are you given latitude to change those at all?

David Remember no two organs are the same. You have to adapt to what you have at your disposal. Also, French organs produced a very distinctive sound, nothing like the English sound.
In addition each church has its own acoustic so you’ve got to adapt firstly to the organ but also to the space it’s in. A lot of the time composers will include suggestions but you can’t be too literal. Sometimes you’ve got to create a type of sound that’s right for the space and that the instrument can cope with.

Philip Creating a tapestry of contrasts. And do you enjoy the power of the instrument?

David Oh yes of course!! The king of instruments! The organ has the potential to be very quiet and then again to wake people up. I’ve never done this piece with an orchestra before. The console will be close to the centre of the nave for the first half of the concert as we’re also playing a short Elgar piece “Sursum Corda” for orchestra and organ. There aren’t that many concertos for the organ apart from the classic Saint-Saëns and the Poulenc.

Philip We are looking forward to that immensely. Now moving away from all that, I want to ask you what you do when you’re not playing the organ. Do you have a hobby?

David I run a bridge club.

Philip Are you good? I know it gets very competitive.

David I play about four or five times a week and in fact I recently ran a tournament here at St Gabriel’s.

Philip I do know when you’re that good you’re a member of the English Bridge Union, earning points; so what rank are you?

David I’m a king at the moment. I used to play a lot when I was at school. I stopped when I came to London and then I got back in to it in my thirties. Now I run the club. I also run the
badminton club.

Philip Very active - wonderful! And do you like, say, cooking or crosswords?

David I cycle quite a lot, it’s the easiest way around London. I used to cycle to the Wigmore Hall from the flat I have here.

Philip And do you ever go back to Wigmore Hall?

David Actually, I’ve discovered that I’m now going to more orchestral concerts. When I was working three or four evenings a week, I didn’t want to go to a concert hall on off days. I’m now playing catch-up. I go to the Festival Hall and I sit right in the front of the choir seats so I’m almost immersed. I like the Albert Hall for BIG things.

Philip Did you go last summer?

David I went about eight times!

Philip Did you go to The Trojans?

David I did! It was great, wasn’t it? The choir and the orchestra were amazing. I was up in the Rausing circle where I thought the sound was the best.

Philip I was there too and I agree with you completely. Do you indulge in a kind of “trainspotting” for organs?

David Nooo, I’m not an organ bore! I’ve played quite a lot of the ones in London already so if there was a new organ that came along I’d go and listen to it.

Philip How about contemporary composers?

David At St. Gabriel’s, we are a Victorian church that specialises in Victorian music. I do play a lot of Bach, and I’ve played some Messiaen over the years. I give recitals but not so much contemporary music. I have given recitals at St. Gabriel’s, quite a lot at Southwark Cathedral and I was playing at St. John Smiths Square as well from about 1995 to 2005.

Philip I have to say the acoustics at St. Gabriel’s are wonderful.

David Yes, it supports the sound well and it’s not boomy. The big French things were written for huge cathedrals. It would be nice to have a little more resonance, but that wouldn’t work for other things.

Philip I think we’ve covered everything, David, but now my traditional last question is who would you invite to a fantasy dinner party, anybody from across history or from different walks of life, not necessarily music?

David Oh gosh! I mean it would be great to get Bach along even though I think he’d be a bit weird - and a bridge player …. Omar Sharif!

Philip Any more you’d invite?

David There are some lovely organists I’d like to have, like Gillian Weir and Nicholas Kynaston - after college I studied with Nick.

Philip And what would you serve this merry band?

David I like a nice big roast - you can’t go wrong with a Sunday roast.

Philip And on that mouthwatering note, I’ll thank you for your time, David. We look forward to playing with you at the concert on this marvellous new organ here at St. Gabriel’s.