Organ matters - Organs matter!

Indeed I am, David ! Videos would also be fine.

Willis III once said Casavant were right to use the Pitman chest, because of the canadian climate.
Himself and Harrison & Harrison still used slider-chests, and this may have been a reason for the
problems with their organs in Canada.
Eberhard Friedrich Walcker built also slider chests in the beginnings of his career (notably in his well-known
organ in the Pauluskirche in Frankfurt). The idea to go for the Kegellade, developped from several experiments
made by other builders before) came to his mind because of the problems he had with slider-chests in Russia,
exactly for the same reasons thus. Of course multiplex-wood, telescopic joints and the like did not exist then.

(P.S. If interest, I have the list of the H-J stops that were still in Worcester in 1979 (though indeed "revoiced") )

Best wishes,

Pierre

Where is your organ, David ?

Dear David, I can understand what you mean, but we shall nevertheless never agree; we are on differing planets !
An organ has nothing to do with "economics" -it is not a device like a wash machine- for me. But be sure of une thing:
had the old Worcester organ been 700 Miles east, it would have been sheltered by a strong Denkmalschütz that is
badly needed in Britain I fear...
Actually, whenever one begins to think an organ is "beyond repair" for whatever reason, this means it is time
to legally protect it against the human beings.

The W. organ had not only "some fine soft stops". It was crammed with character and historic value -much H-J material
was still there- and its problems were slight comparatively. You don't scrap a 1930 Rolls-Royce because its Lucas
"Queen of the darkness" Magneto sometimes plays games.

Best wishes,

Pierre

Interestingly, this Fifteenth is extended from a 16'-8' Salicional !
To note also the Rauschpfeife ("Rauschquint") but on the second manual.

Best wishes,

Pierre

Do we really ought to do that ? There were dozens of pages written elsewhere since 2006, and the results
were only negative; the organ went down and I could not even know were the pipes landed.
In Belgium as well, I did not succeed to avoid the destruction of a good handfull of important historic organs.
What is an organ historian in his deep Ardennes forest worth against the all-mighty fashions reigning
in the comme-il-faut circles in the towns ?
And do we want to annoy the people here ?

Best wishes,

Pierre

In Britain they even scrapped this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=IL&hl=en&v=OhXLZwtBwEk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P08bFAZN0_0&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

(The recording quality is quite below par. I went there first time shortly afterwards, in 1979)

With a better sound:

http://orguemirepoix.yellis.net/HS/Worcester/Let_Us_Lift_Up_Our_Heart_With_Our_Hands1.mp3

Best wishes,

Pierre

Just slightly off-topic: I am pleased to learn I am not alone here
to miss the previous Worcester Cathedral organ.
I have had the chance to visit a certain number of organs in Europe, and
that one was certainly one of the most "inspiring" -to quote another thread here-
I ever heard.

Best wishes,

Pierre

The Fifteenth is of course present, but not on the first manual, the loudest one; it is there that 8-4-2 was not possible. The Doublette was in the Fourniture.
At Görlitz it was in the....Rauschpfeife, with the Twelfth thus.
I resorted to the same idea here.
The 17th -the Tierce this in 1 3/5', but also at 4/5', or even 2/5' (the first Walcker organ in the Mulhouse evangelic church, 1866-70), and of course at 16' and 32' pitch, is very important in romantic design, but it is often included in Mixtures, without mention. Here we have the "17-19-22" after the Willis manner. Willis named it "Mixture", while such stops existed already in the 18th century under the name...Sesquialtera.
As they are indeed confronted to an aequal -or nearly aequal, because that matter is somewhat complex, even with 19th century organs-  temperament, those stops are better used with the reeds: in this design here, we have actually a "backbone" chorus 16-8-4-2 2/3'- 2' - 1 3/5'- 1 1/3'- ' plus
the reeds 16-8-4, split over Manuals I and II; alternatively, the tierce rank is softly voiced in soft Mixtures (Harmonia aetherea), to which they impart a "goldene" tone, very marked in Walcker organs, at Riga for example.

Best wishes,

Pierre

Dear David,

Thanks !

-The Klarinette and the Tuba indeed do not work togheter: actually, in the absence of a Solo Manual, the Tuba is placed on the third manual in order to respons to the first one, as it is customary in british organs.
(Here, rather I + II, as the Diapason Chorus is divided in two parts!)

The three manuals are ordered after the german romantic organ manner ("Abschwächungsprinzip"), that is, the first manual the loudest, the third the softest. Accordingly, the Voix celeste there is narrower, about "three pipes", i.e. three tones narrower than the one on the second manual.
The third manual is so essentially a "Fernwerk" intended for "celestial effects" and soft passages.

Quintatön+ Gamba = Hautbois: this was often done in german romantic organs. The 1907 Walcker organ in Namur (Belgium) had it.

This Specification is aimed at a normal church (in Belgium, so west-end position).

There is nothing that was not previously tried there (I am an historian). The lack of an independant Fifteenth goes back to...1700, with the Casparini organ of Görlitz. Isnard did the same later at St-Maximin-du-Var. The aim here is to empeach any 8-4-2 for hours on the first manual, as too many organists still do on such organs.

As I did imagine some scales and details I can answer some questions should it be desired.

Best wishes,

Pierre

Good morning to all,

Here is my last one -though not really minimal- aimed at much effect with a simple electro-pneumatic action:

MANUAL I

Bourdon 16'
Open Diapason I 8'(Phonon, heavy wind)
Open Diapason II 8'
Flûte harmonique 8' (treble ascendancy)
Gambe 8'
Doppelflöte 8'
Principal 4'
Rauschpfeife 2r 2 2/3'- 2'

MANUAL II enclosed

Viole de Gambe 8'
Voix céleste 8'
Quintatön 8'
Traversflöte 8' (wood, treble ascendancy)
Flûte octaviante 4' (treble ascendancy)
Octavin 2' (ditto)
Sesquialtera 3r 1 3/5'- 1 1/3'- 1' ( yes, the "17-19-22"...))
Bombarde 16'
Trompette 8'
Hautbois 8' (draws Gambe + Quintatön)
Clairon 4'

MANUAL III enclosed

Aeoline 8'
Voix céleste II 8' (3 pipes narrower than II)
Dulciana 8'
Lieblich Gedackt 8' (double mouths like Doppelflöte, but here a soft stop)
Dulciana 4'
Flauto Dolce 4'
Harmonia aetherea 3r 2 2/3'- 2'- 1 3/5'
Klarinette 8' (free reeds)
Tuba 8' (heavy wind)

PEDALE (2 actual stops)

Contrebasse 16'
Soubasse 16' (I)
Grossquintbass 10 2/3'
Octave 8' (ext)
Grosse Flûte 8' (Doppelflöte from I)
Violoncelle 8' (I)
Bombarde 16' (II)
Trompette 8' (II)