FAVE RAVE - Ben Maton - The Salisbury Organist.

I started watching the videos by Ben Maton earlier in the year. He travels around churches in the Salisbury diocese, the more out of the way or redundant the better. Playing whatever organ he finds. You get to see the often long walks across hills and fields to these often very isolated village churches, little bits of chit chat about their history, interesting aspects of organ playing techniques, as well as at the end of them some really lovely organ playing.

He's a young chap in his twenties, who has got a youthful and enthusiastic charm to him. He has visibly grown in confidence in what he is doing in recent months. This hour long video he made for advent covers three church he visited. In it he plays music by Bach and Franck, advent hymns, as well as a rather lovely Christmas Lullaby composed by Maton himself. 

The highlight is the last church, where he plays The Coventry Carol on a Victorian harmonium in a 19th century Gothic revival chapel. Its in the village of Wooland and was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott. The harmonium is so moodily dark in tone, a feeling of ancient melancholy suffuses it. Surrouned by its evocative gothic architecture. Its provoked bit of a musical buzz in me, it was strangely mesmerising. 

I recommend you watch the whole video, but if you want to just watch the Wooland Church section its about 42 minutes in. Its well worth watching either way..