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Set in the midst of unspoilt and truly
beautiful English countryside, The Plough Inn is unique in that it is
the home ofthe historic 1937 Compton three-manual theatre-organ that
once graced the
Gaumont Cinema in London's North Finchley and gave immense pleasure to
so many people when the silver screen was at its peak of popularity.
Rebuilt
in 1967 (complete with its Melotone) at The Plough, a "phantom" piano
originally produced by Marshall & Rose for the Ambassador Cinema in
Cosham near Portsmouth has been added so that there is great potential
for a memorable evening of music. And this has been exploited to the
full by organ-enthusiast Jeffrey MacKenzie who arranges an impressive
series of concerts each year with "mine hosts" Tom and Elaine Whitear. But it all goes a great deal further because, in addition to providing guests with a warm reception, Tom and Elaine plus their staff offer a three-course meal which is served in the beautifully laid out dining room in which the organ console is located and thereby adds colour to Jeff's evocative description that "the organ plays at twilight". Without doubt, it is in every sense an occasion to be remembered for all time but the seating capacity is limited so music-lovers who wish to attend need to make a reservation well in advance by telephoning The Plough (01920 438335) so that, on the night, guests are ushered to seats carefully allocated in advance. But, for Jeff, the evening has barely started at this stage because he then introduces artistes in so professional a way that many an organist would be delighted to have this most able of comperes at all their concerts! And the list of organists invited by Jeff to take part in the concerts reads rather like a Who's Who of the profession and includes, amongst many others, the famous Ena Baga whose illustrious and multi-faceted career involved standing in for the one and only Reginald Dixon when he was in the Royal Air Force during World War II.
Once again, I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to The Plough. But, sadly, I have to end with a note of caution by saying that intending visitors should ask Jeff or Tom for a location map because, by any standard, The Plough is cunningly tucked away. And this year, as on each of the previous occasions, I toured the area for some considerable time before I eventually found the venue and then, in truth, I have to admit I came upon it quite by chance! But it's a superb place and well worth a visit. |
This
year was the third occasion on which I have been privileged to
contribute to the series and I looked forward to the occasion with much
enthusiasm knowing that I would be playing to a warm and exceptionally
responsive audience. And, for me, it provided a superb opportunity to
exercise my "music without barriers" approach of blending theatre-organ
favourites and novelty numbers with classical organ gems plus an
occasional
tribute to Scott Joplin and to John Philip Sousa. Or, as Jeff put it
rather
aptly this year, it allows me to well and truly let my hair down! And a
sure-fire winner on such an occasion is Louis James Alfred
Lefebure-Wely's
inimitable Postlude in E flat major which symbolises the composers view
that congregations should be extremely happy and should "skip" out of
church after the Sunday morning service - and the church in question
was
St Sulpice in Paris where Lefebure-Wely was the organist immediately
before
Charles-Marie Widor of "wedding" toccata fame. Incidentally, Widor was
the
organist at this world-famous church for an almost unbelievable 63
years.