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Town hall organs

Started by Barrie Davis, January 30, 2012, 01:53:29 PM

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Barrie Davis

Hi

I have just done a search on NPOR listing the Town Hall organs which has given me some thoughts;
1. How many of these instruments are used on a regular basis?
2. How many councils still employ the services of an organist or curator?
3. In view of the present economic state many councils are in how many will justify spending money on the instrument?
4. Why is it so difficult to gain access to play them? I do realise there are other events held in them but there are many times when the Hall is free.

I was prompted to do the search after seeing West Bromwich Town Hall organ in an advertisement for Channel 4.

Best wishes

Barrie

revtonynewnham

Hi

Very good questions.  I suspect that very few are really used regularly - the notable exceptions being Birmingham, Leeds, St George's Hall, Liverpool & West Bromwich - and probably a couple of others.  (These are ones I've seen recent mention of).

Not a Town Hall organ, but the closest we used to have in Bradford is St George's Hall - I gather the organ is long derelict and hasn#t been used for many years - and there's no hope, even before the current crisis, of a restoration and use.

Every Blessing

Tony

David Drinkell

Colchester has an exceptionally fine early 20th century Norman & Beard in the Moot Hall (itself probably the finest town hall of any provincial town in the country).  With less than thirty stops, it gives the impression of an instrument with twice those resources and it stands in a good acoustic in a fine case by the building's architect, John Belcher.  Approaches are being made for funds for a complete restoration.  For details see www.moothallorgan.co.uk.  The organ has been out of use for some years, but was in surprisingly good form when I visited a couple of summers ago.  Having not heard it for some thirty years, and having been  around a bit in that time, I was absolutely gob-smacked at its quality.

Ipswich has a relatively recent civic organ, installed in the Corn Exchange in 1975.  I've only been in the building to see performances of Gilbert & Sullivan by the excellent local society, and I've never seen so much as a glimpse of the organ!

dragonser

Hi,
this thread makes me remember that when I was taken to the Fairfields Halls in Croydon, many,many years ago, there was a Pipe organ there.
[ this was probably at a concert for children .... ].
I remember being interested but not being able to see the console.....
so couldn't see the person playing it.
from looking online it seems to be a Harrison and Harrison from 1964.

regards  Peter B

AnOrganCornucopia

It's still there and still playable. It's quite good, actually, a sort of mini-Coventry, but in a dreadful acoustic. What would be best would be if it was moved to the Parish Church a few streets away, erected (in a new case) at the West end, allowing the 1969 H&H rebuild of the 4m Hill there to be reversed in its entirety (which it badly needs to be!).

rh1306

Pitiful state of the Manchester Town Hall Cavaille-Coll:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGaSc0YosK8

dragonser

Hi,
I'm pleased to know that the Fairfield Hall Organ is playable.
But I'm not sure about the idea of it being moved to the Parish church ! I feel it is nice to have Pipe Organs in Secular locations as well as Sacred.

regards Peter B


Quote from: AnOrganCornucopia on January 31, 2012, 12:57:17 AM
It's still there and still playable. It's quite good, actually, a sort of mini-Coventry, but in a dreadful acoustic. What would be best would be if it was moved to the Parish Church a few streets away, erected (in a new case) at the West end, allowing the 1969 H&H rebuild of the 4m Hill there to be reversed in its entirety (which it badly needs to be!).


AnOrganCornucopia

Peter, the Fairfield organ really isn't suited to a dry modern town hall acoustic. It would, however, sound splendid in the church, where it would also allow its Hill companion to rediscover its Romantic heart.

Also, the Fairfield Hall doesn't actually have anywhere suitable to put an organ - where it is, elevated on the LHS of the hall, in front of the stage, it doesn't really work well and certainly is not much use for accompanying big choral+orchestral works. I have heard of instances where hired electronics have been used, parked on the platform by the choral risers, because the H&H is simply in the wrong place.

Having said that, Croydon could really do with a completely new concert hall - almost the whole town would delight fans of Le Corbusier. I am not one of them, quite the opposite. The new hall should then be equipped with a more typical TH organ.

Barrie Davis

Hi
Why has Manchester allowed the Town Hall organ to degenerate like this? I can only assume that it is rarely used being overshadowed by the Marcussen in the Bridgewater Hall.
I knew attempts were being made to get Dover Town Hall restored, I hope this happens. There were several posts on another Board about this organ from memory the console has been removed and placed into storage and the main cables were cut through by workmen. Good luck to them raising the £250,000+ needed to fund this project.

Best wishes

Barrie

rh1306

Hi,

Regrettably, Barrie, it is the same old story practically everywhere; heritage is not at the top of most Councils' list of priorities, all part of a deliberate policy to undermine, and ultimately destroy, our National identity and culture.  Enough said!

The set of frescoes by Ford Madox Brown which adorn the Grand Hall of the Manchester Town Hall are suffering very badly from damp and a white fungal growth, and the fine timber roof is imperilled by copious and widespread water penetration.  In my humble opinion the Cavaille-Coll is a vastly superior instrument to the Bridgewater Hall Marcussen.

Regards,

Richard

Barrie Davis

Hi Richard

I must agree with you, in the Midlands Symphony Hall does little to excite me but the Town Hall is magnificent.
I am afraid that many Town Hall organs will be silenced or neglected, Councils logic defeats me, not far grom me they knocked down a perfectly good Crematorium, which could have easily been refurbished and built a new one, the reason being COST. I fail to follow the logic there, at least they moved the toaster from the old building to the new but also introduced the Wesley system of prerecorded MP3 files >:(
I hate the way Wolverhampton Civic Hall has gone, the late Arnold Richardson would not be happy, BUT the important thing is the organ is in regular use and heard regularly.
I wish the same applied to the JJ Binns at Darlaston Town Hall, its only played once or twice a year the concealed by a curtain.
I must update NPOR Wednesbury Town Hall disappeared years ago.
Best wishes
Barrie

AnOrganCornucopia

Darlaston's Binns has been restored, or so I hear. I'm also in regular contact with former member of this forum "Barniclecompton", who is heavily involved with the Cannock Chase Organ Club, which looks after a multiplicity of instruments, including Wolverhampton Civic, which is certainly being looked after (and is soon to be releathered). NPOR is out of date on that one, too - the Tibia rank at the Civic is not the ex Empress Blackpool one but a vast-scaled Moller rank on 20" wind. Also, the ex-Empress console is in store pending the possible reinstatement of some/all of that organ to the Empress, and was never converted to play the Civic organ.

KB7DQH

An article about America's oldest municipal organ...http://www.journaltribune.com/articles/2012/02/06/news/doc4f300f532b07d850547128.txt

QuoteSharing a tune

John Sullivan, organ player and member of Friends of Kotzschmar Organ, demonstrates the finer points of the "Kotzschmar Jr.," a traveling organ, during an educational concert at the Dyer Library in Saco Friday evening. (JEFF LAGASSE/Journal Tribune)
Kotzschmar Organ friends visit Saco
By JEFF LAGASSE
Staff Writer
Published:
Monday, February 6, 2012 12:38 PM EST
SACO — When John Sullivan's fingers tapped out a Bach piece on the keys of his instrument, the sound issued was not the sober, cutting resonance of a grand piano. The notes, teased out of a traveling pipe organ, sounded almost whimsical, a happy affair in inviting tones that called to mind swinging hymns in a Southern revival choir, or the finger-snapping accompaniments to silent films.

On Friday night, the traveling pipe organ rambled its way into the Deering Room of the Dyer Library in Saco. As children, parents and the merely curious filed their way into the room, Sullivan's anticipation for the performance was evident, and his pleasure justified: He has been playing the organ now for about 50 years.

"I took piano lessons when I was in the fourth, fifth grade," said Sullivan. "My piano teacher was also an organist, and while she didn't teach me how to play, she sparked my interest."

That interest eventually led to Sullivan's involvement in the Friends of Kotzschmar Organ, a Portland-based group that is dedicated to the preservation of the oldest, working municipal pipe organ in the country: The Kotzschmar – which for years has resided in Portland's Merrill Auditorium.

"We're trying to bring an awareness of the organ to the greater Portland area, including Saco," said Sullivan.

*
That awareness includes not just a cursory knowledge of the organ and how it works, but a bit of the history behind the Kotzschmar itself.

In 1908, said Sullivan, Portland's City Hall burned to the ground, and when it was rebuilt in 1912, magazine magnate Cyrus H.K. Curtis commissioned the construction of the Kotzschmar, named after his father, Herman Kotzschmar.

The organ – electrified, and with about 6,800 pipes – turns 100 years old this August, but is in need of repairs. The City of Portland, said Sullivan, has agreed to pay half of the $2.5 million cost to restore the instrument, and the Friends of Kotzschmar Organ have already secured enough funding to cover the remaining half; Sullivan said the eventual establishment of an endowment fund will ensure that paying for future repairs will no longer be an issue.

In the meantime, Sullivan has been traveling to spread the word about the Kotzschmar and its importance, as well as to educate children and their families on the finer points of the decidedly unique instrument.

When Dyer Library Program and Education Manager Camille Smalley heard of the traveling organ, she leapt on the chance to bring it to Saco.

"One of our volunteers is also part of Friends of Kotzschmar Organ and mentioned something about it, and I just thought it sounded great," she said.

The traveling organ, while dubbed the "Kotzschmar Jr.," is not a scaled-down replica of its namesake. Built by Friends of Kotzschmar Organ specifically for educational purposes, the Kotzschmar Jr. has been constructed with exposed pipes and Plexiglass panels so that children and families can see the inner workings of the machine. There are only 149 pipes in the organ, and while the original Kotzschmar is fully electric, the pipes of the Kotzschmar Jr. must be manually filled with a hand pump; otherwise, pressing keys will result in silence rather than those warm, hymnal notes.

On Friday, after Sullivan played a few classical pieces and some jaunty tunes from Disney films, he invited children to the front of the room to try the instrument for themselves; a cluster of curious young minds lined up to try the manual pump, and experiment with the "stops," those buttons on the side of an organ that change the tonal quality of the notes.

But it wasn't just children who benefited from the Kotzschmar Jr. At least one woman felt a deeper connection.

"My grandmother lived within walking distance of City Hall (in Portland)," said Kitty Chadbourne, who listened to the concert with rapt attention. "Her grandfather was from Germany. When the Kotzschmar organ came to Portland, her grandfather would take her down to hear it on Sundays. She became enthralled with the music.

"She ended up becoming the first violinist for the Portland Symphony Orchestra, before the group was officially called the Portland Symphony Orchestra," she said, "and it was the Kotzschmar organ that did it."

— Staff Writer Jeff Lagasse can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 319 or jlagasse@journaltribune.com.

Eric
KB7DQH
The objective is to reach human immortality—that is, to create things which are necessary to mankind, necessary to the purpose of the existence of mankind, and which have become the fruit that drives the creation of a higher state of mankind than ever existed before."

KB7DQH

Latest news on the Kotzschmar...

QuoteOut & About: Portland Symphony celebrates Kotzschmar centennial


Quote
Darrell Scott  Photo: Scott Simontacchi
Darrell Scott is a Kentucky-born country singer-songwriter who will be holding a CD release party this Friday at One Longfellow Square in Portland.


As April morphs into May, an abundance of excellent concert choices beckons music aficionados. The biggest of these is the final program of the Portland Symphony Orchestra's 2011-2012 season, a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the mighty Kotzschmar organ. Maestro Robert Moody has picked a pair of major works that feature the King of Instruments. The concert will be presented twice, on May 6 and May 8.

The Greater Freeport Community Chorus presents a twin bill of concerts with a program that draws inspiration from two centuries of innovative American composers. Catch these in Freeport on May 5 and Yarmouth on May 6.

Two topnotch singer-songwriters are holding CD release parties on back-to-back dates at Portland's One Longfellow Square. Kentucky-born Darrell Scott appears on May 4, while Maine native Rachel Efron holds forth on May 5.

Portland Symphony Orchestra
Maine's cultural history is dotted with milestones, but none is greater than the epic event of 1912: A mammoth pipe organ was constructed in the newly finished Portland City Hall, the gift of publishing magnate Cyrus Curtis, who dedicated the mighty instrument to the memory of Hermann Kotzschmar, his childhood music teacher.

Kotzschmar, a native of Germany, emigrated to this country and settled in Portland in the mid-1800s, becoming Maine's leading musical figure – teacher, church organist, choral director, impresario and performer – for more than half a century. When Portland City Hall burned in 1908, Curtis decided to help the reconstruction effort by donating a massive organ for the concert hall that was incorporated into the new building.

When installation was completed in 1912, the Kotzschmar was the world's second largest organ, and size-wise it remains among the leaders. For the past three decades, the organ has been maintained by an independent nonprofit support group, Friends of the Kotzschmar Organ. The most recent enhancements and improvements, spearheaded by FOKO, were a new console in 2000 and additional pipes in 2003. FOKO also produces a year-round series of concerts.

The organ contains 6,857 pipes in 101 ranks in eight divisions. The longest pipe is 32 feet, while the smallest is under an inch. If laid end to end, the pipes would stretch 3.6 miles, the same distance as Portland's Back Cove Trail. Total weight is about 50 tons, with about 100 miles of electrical wiring.

The Kotzschmar forms the visual backdrop to all Portland Symphony Orchestra concerts, but its isn't played very often in the orchestral setting. But the organ will pipe up dramatically May 6 and 8, when the PSO will wrap up its season with a concert dedicated to the Kotzschmar centennial. Ray Cornils, who holds the title of Portland municipal organist – one of only two such positions in the U.S. – will preside at the keyboard.

The two biggest works are by European composers who were noted organists who understood the sonic horsepower of the instrument and its relationship with competing and complementary musical forces. Joseph Jongen was the leading Belgian composer of the early 20th century. His Symphonie Concertante for Organ and Orchestra was written in the 1920s and premiered in Brussels.

Jongen's four-movement masterpiece culminates in a memorable finale, according to PSO program annotator Mark Rohr: "Here the superhuman perpetual-motion organ part is matched by the power of the orchestra and the Symphonie Concertante goes out in a blaze of glory."

After intermission, the PSO will play the coda for 2011-2012 with Charles Camille Saint-Saens' Third Symphony, subtitled "Organ." Saint-Saens, who worked in Paris most of his life, was recognized as Europe's foremost organist and one of its top composers. His Third Symphony was written in 1886.

Rohr characterizes the four movements as "fury," "serenity," "propulsion" and "triumph." He adds the following commentary to the whole work: "Saint-Saens' Third is known as a sonic spectacular. A symphony orchestra and a pipe organ are each capable of shaking a room. Together they can make a glorious racket."

Catch the Portland Symphony Orchestra at Merrill Auditorium at Portland City Hall at 2:30 p.m. May 6 and 7:30 p.m. May 8. Call PortTix at 842-0800.


Eric

KB7DQH
The objective is to reach human immortality—that is, to create things which are necessary to mankind, necessary to the purpose of the existence of mankind, and which have become the fruit that drives the creation of a higher state of mankind than ever existed before."

morrisp

Hi! I've come to this rather late but there are regular organ recitals each month at Walsall Town Hall (4 manual Nicholson & Lord/Compton/Mander - now looked after by Nicholson's). Apart from difficulties with 32 flue and its derivatives everything else works well - Mander Tibias incuded! Wonderful reeds including Contra Trombone and Solo Tuba and, thanks to Walsall council thus far, nurtured and enjoyed by the audiences who see close up projection of the console and recitalist.
For details, see back copies of the Organ (last one 2008)
Peter Morris (Walsall Borough Organist).

David Drinkell

A piece of good news is that the Heritage Lottery has awarded a substantial grant towards the restoration of the superb Norman & Beard organ in Colchester Moot Hall.  Expressions of interest are being sought and it is hoped to have the work done next year.

JBR

Quote from: revtonynewnham on January 30, 2012, 05:07:46 PM
Hi

Very good questions.  I suspect that very few are really used regularly - the notable exceptions being Birmingham, Leeds, St George's Hall, Liverpool & West Bromwich - and probably a couple of others.  (These are ones I've seen recent mention of).

Not a Town Hall organ, but the closest we used to have in Bradford is St George's Hall - I gather the organ is long derelict and hasn#t been used for many years - and there's no hope, even before the current crisis, of a restoration and use.

Every Blessing

Tony

Yes, a crying shame.  The last time I heard it was at my school speech day, and that was a lifetime ago.  I'm afraid Bradford Council is not terribly forward-looking, at least with regard to organs.
A missionary from Yorkshire to the primitive people of Lancashire