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Organs in the Glasgow city area

Started by Holditch, January 09, 2012, 08:06:27 PM

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Holditch

Hello,

I will shortly be spending a couple of days in Glasgow and wondered if anyone could recommend visiting any organs/churches in the city ?

I do enjoy museums but pipe organs are much more interesting :)

Many thanks
Marc
Dubois is driving me mad! must practice practice practice

David Drinkell

The new 'Bach Organ' in the old Barony Kirk near St. Mungo's Cathedral may well be the most interesting at the moment.  St. Mungo's itself is worth seeing and the organ is big but not well known (possibly because the long-time organist John Turner wouldn't let anyone play it).  The Episcopal cathedral on Great Western Road is a big three-manual, Kelvingrove Hall a very notable Lewis with daily lunchtime concerts.  But you should really go to Paisley and visit the Abbey (organist George McPhee is very approachable) and the big old 4m Hill in Coats Memorial Baptist.

Holditch

Many thanks David

I will plan a mini tour!


Marc
Dubois is driving me mad! must practice practice practice

David Drinkell

I'm sure someone else would know a great deal more about the Glasgow organ scene than I do.

The Kelvingrove Hall recitals are at 1:00pm Monday to Saturday and 3:00pm on Sundays.

AnOrganCornucopia

I know something of Glasgow in that my father grew up there, near the Botanic Gardens. It is very richly equipped with fine organs, mostly English Romantic, but the odd German Romantic instrument and two notable German Baroque style organs.

Here's a run-down of some notable organs, by builder (deliberately avoiding repetition of the organs David Drinkell has mentioned):

Lewis:
http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=D07036
http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=D06915
http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=D06935
http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=N11991
http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=D07156
http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=N11995 (altered by HN&B)
http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=D07135 (tiny organ, reb.Willis III, in a big church best known for the Angelika Kluk murder case in 2005)

Father Willis:
http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=E01267
http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=D01225
http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=D06951
http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=D07069
http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=N12019
http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=D06908
http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=D07150

Willis II:
http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=D07102

Willis III:
http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=N12023
http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=N12009 - a superb instrument!
http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=E01098 - Kevin Bowyer is organist here

Brindley & Foster:
http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=D07122 (reb.Willis III/HN&B)
http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=D07065 (don't know if it's playable but the case alone is worth a look)
http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=D06783

Norman & Beard/HN&B:
http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=N00537
http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=D07053 (reb. Rushworth & Dreaper)
http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=D07161 (inc. Gern pipes)

H&H:
http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=D07067

Gern:
http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=D07071
http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=D03318 (I'm told it's unplayable)

Forster & Andrews:
http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=D06931
http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=N00517 (reb. R&D and Nicholson)
http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=D06899

Walcker (both substantial 3ms):
http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=N00927
http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=D07111

Sauer:
http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=D06765

Hradetzky:
http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=N08922

J. W. Walker & Sons of Brandon, Suffolk:
http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=N09182

Koegler (in the Barony Hall, Strathclyde University) - a prestigious new historically-informed North German Baroque-style instrument:
http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=E01662

Other:
http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=K00978

I hope that's not too exhausting a list! I do urge you to try to sample as many of them as possible, though you may find that, among some of the Lewises and Willises, they're not much different to the others by their respective builders.

organforumadmin

Quote from: AnOrganCornucopia on January 10, 2012, 06:04:13 PM
. . .  near the Botanic Gardens.  . . . I hope that's not too exhausting a list!


WOW - an encyclopaedic contribution - thanks so much. Does read like the plant list of Kew too . . . !


Best wishes


Forum Admin

AnOrganCornucopia

What's interesting is that certain builders, even amongst those who kept offices and even workshops in Glasgow, are almost entirely absent - there's only one Harrison in Glasgow, no noteworthy Hills or Abbott & Smiths, no Gray & Davisons (there used to be two, but one was much rebuilt by Lewis and is now in Derbyshire, the other went to Edinburgh and has since been replaced by a Frobenius).

http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=D07101 looks interesting, if only by virtue of its Zimmermann pipework.

Holditch

Quote
WOW - an encyclopaedic contribution - thanks so much. Does read like the plant list of Kew too . . . !

Yes, I think I need to go for a few weeks now.

Thanks for all the suggestions!
Dubois is driving me mad! must practice practice practice