Gigout’s “Grand Chœur dialogué”: Tribute to John Scott (1956-2015)

With the untimely death of John Scott in August 2015, the world of church music on both sides of the Atlantic lost one of its leading figures. This memorial tribute to John features him playing Eugène Gigout’s 1881 piece “Grand Chœur dialogué” at St Paul’s Cathedral in London, while he was in post there. The performance heard here involves the use of the Royal Trumpets (8’ and 4’) at the West End of the cathedral. These stops, together with five others, are part of the “West” section of the cathedral organ, which is situated in a gallery above the West Doors (just visible in the far distance on the accompanying graphic). Any organist playing the “West” section from the main organ console above the south side of the choir - as John does in this recording - must deal with a time delay of over a second.