Organ matters - Organs matter!

I phoned the seller this morning and he told me the organ has been bought by someone in Italy, so at least we can hope it will have a good home.

I took photos of this organ a year or so ago, before the proprty  changed hands.

As I recall, the church was closed several years ago, but the organ was left intact. Prior to the building being resold, I gained access, but was unable to find anyone who wanted the organ.

The photos are at www.thatminidotcom.picturepush.com in the file 'Phipps Mountain Ash'

I heard that this organ is soon to be thrown out, along with its historic organ certificate...

Anyone care to rescue it?

The NPOR states that this organ was exported to Portugal  in 2009, however it is still in situ.

The church has been sold and the developer is ready to start work. Is any one interested in this 2m 1935 Osmond organ?

http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=G00527

I love Elgar's organ parts, and its a shame that people even THINK of leaving them out. They wouldn't do that with Richard Stauss's Sunrise, would they!

To return to the subject...

Has anyone mentioned the building in which this imaginary organ will be housed in? The acoustic can make such a difference :-)

By now it will have become clear that I'm just an old romantic. I love Truro Cathedral organ, or Westminster Chapel with their distinct lack of screaming mixtures and tinkly sounds (not to mention our good old N+B) and was averse to all things mutated. But there was a lovely little organ by Jardine at St Winifred's Hospital in Cardiff which was just delightful. It was small, being an extension organ, but very delicately voiced.

Thankfully it was saved from the bulldozers and is now in Nazareth House, Cardiff, although the NPOR hasn't yet been updated.

This is just for fun, right?

Well, Diane Bish. Anyone who has the guts to play the organ in their pyjamas, and on TV too, just has to be worth mentioning. Its for fun, right?

Outfits one and two :-

http://youtu.be/HQuVC1SeJ7Q

Outfit 3, with another rendition of Elgar's Nimrod, for comparison, on a different organ :-

http://youtu.be/WljqH_YvLzI

You may laugh, but the dear lady has kindly agreed to come and play at our opening recital on our glorious N+B, if ever we finish it before she dies.

Reminder - this is for fun, right?

Doesn't it sound fun?!

There is a MIDI file of it for the lazy at http://www.bardon-music.com/music.php?id=BE00301-3&lang=en&curr=eur

Am I infringing copyright by pasting this from another forum? :-

Janet replies,
He was my grandfather, born in 1875 in Dunstable, Bedfordshire. The only son of William and Maria (nee Potter), has father owned a thriving plumbing business in Dunstable. He was a student at the Royal Academy of Music where he recieved various medals for his playing and composition. He then became organist for the parish church of Monken Hadley, Hertfordshire, where he also undertook to tutor private students, conucted choirs as well as composing and performing concerts throughout the south of England. He was often accompanied by his cousin Frederick Gostelow.</P>


He married Kate Prior in 1908 and his eldest daughter was born in 1914.</P>


He died suddenly in 1922 from pneumonia, 6 months before my mother was born. The family went into shocked, prolonged mourning and all his music was put away until my aunt died in 1998. My mother inherited the boxes but did nothing with them. I have them now, they include a lot of parlour songs as well as, church music and some unfinished manuscripts.</P>


I had never heard any of his music until I found a recording by Jan Klaus Muller of his Toccata, and I have only just found some new pieces performed by Bardon Music. I would be really pleased to hear more of his compositions played, there do seem to be quite a few published scores out there as well as the onesI have. It is only down to the internet that I have been able to find out more about him, it is a shame that my mother did not live to hear his work but if more people played his pieces in public then his talents would become more well known. They may not all be great works but I think they deserve more promotion

I've never heard this organ, but the Klais rebuild in Leeds RC Cathedral is superb. But then they had Norman and Beard pipework, and the added mixtures or whatever were severly restrained from their usual.

Hi Mel

Colin Peacock at Renatus (01237 471045)  might be able to kit you out with pipetrays, although they are usually made of MDF so would not cope with getting wet on the voyage. Friends of mine had their entire possessions ruined when being containered over to USA. You can knock them up yourself, of course, and there are plans available on the internet.

May I suggest that you consider engaging the services of a professional to dismantle the organ though. You will almost certainly damage the upperwork simply by handling it, and this must be wrapped with the greatest of care if mouths, ears etc are not to be spoiled. The cost of repairs will almost certainly be greater than hiring someone to do this work.

Gary Owens looks after the organ in the Parish Church in Pontardawe. Why not consider hiring him for a day? You would then get all the specialist care necessary, leaving you (and me, if you need me) to hump all the other things around.

As regards space, much will depend on the spec of the organ. Even if it doesn't have a 16' Open Wood, the facade Diapasons may be 11 or 12' tall.  Ideally these should be crated up to avoid damage, otherwise any dents will need to be professionally removed to ensure a perfect finish.

The Swell Box is likely to be pretty hefty and only come apart as complete sides. This again means that it will take up space. The action to the Swell Pedal could be 15' long, it all depends on what you have there. Every item that you dispense with as being impractical to fit into the container must be replaced and so runs up costs the other end.

Then you must consider that the soundboards, reservoirs and any independent chests are very heavy, and to avoid the ends of the sliders getting snapped off, the topboards will need to be unscrewed and the sliders removed. These are then extremely fragile, being as long as the soundboards, but only a couple of inches wide, and maybe 1/8" thick.

All this means that you really need to do your homework and account for how every single part will be securely crated, down to the glass doors, lead conveyancing.

Finally, I would seriously urge you to consider that lovely as this organ is, judge with your head, rather than your heart if it is worth buying it for £10,000 when there are other organs available in equally as good condition where the church would gladly give the organ away in the knowledge that it will go to a good home. That is how we acquired our Norman and Beard, and there are others still available on a similar basis.

As I mentioned before, there is a delightful 2m tracker Peter Conacher, admittedly a little smaller, where the organ builder has removed it already, and can be rebuild it  in the UK for a cost of £14,000 plus VAT and accomodation etc.

Kind regards

Neil

Yes, I'm rather jealous  ::)

There are far superior organs awaiting the skip, and since the owner has this on eBay at a starting price of £10,000 ,unless you have a sentimental attachment to Conacher (fine though his instruments are) , I can't imagine who would part with that kind of money for it.

Within easy reach of Pontardawe, a fine 3m 1930's Hill, Norman and Beard lies rotting, not to mention a 2m Hill, a 3m Hill (totally original), a 3m Bevington, 3@ 2m Norman and Beards and that is only the start...

try http://www.youtube.com/user/btengraving#p/a/u/1/c6rcvO83TSE

Hi Mel - where is this organ? Happy to lend a hand if I'm able  ;D

A young organist in Australia who wants his music to be "a direct link for listeners, from the King of Instruments to the King of Kings".   :)

From the spec, I wish I could have played the HNB there- just my cup of tea  :D

Quote from: AnOrganCornucopia on March 04, 2012, 02:02:05 PM
  N&B Trombas are far more pleasant 

Our N+B only received its Gt Trumpet in 1965 (HNB) when both the Swell Horn and Oboe were revoiced. With the box open, there is hardly any difference between Horn and Trumpet, and I am toying with the idea of swapping the Trumpet for a period N+B Tromba, this being a cheaper option than having all the reeds revoiced back to their 1910 original.

Quote from: AnOrganCornucopia on February 29, 2012, 12:21:49 AM


Marine ply is an intriguing material - though I cannot comment on its suitability for use in organ pipes!

The 4 largest 32' pipes on Sydney Opera House are made of marine ply, and whilst people may cringe at it, it would be excellent for Trombone resonators.

I would love the Double Trumpet to complete the spec of our organ  ;D

Quote from: Barrie Davis on April 12, 2011, 01:26:48 PM
Hi

I have never been totally satisfied with the sound produced by Quinted 32s, often they Quint is derived from the Bourdon which is often far too loud. I recently played a small organ with a synoptic spec as follows; 16, 10.2/3, 8, 5 1/3, 4, all derived from the one Bourdon unit. The 10.2/3 was useless and certainly did not produce a realistic 32 sound.
I have heard of, but never some across, organs which have a 32 the lowest octave being quinted off a seperate octave of Quint pipes, these standing on their own chest and voiced quietly to provided the needed 5th. Does any member know of any places where this has been done?

Best wishes

Barrie

I am hoping that it will be possible in our project to have an independent 10 2/3 , made up of a second hand small scale Swell Bourdon. The proposed pedal department is a large scale Open Wood,  a solid Bourdon, Principal and fifteenth (metal) and a wooden Trombone.

I read somewhere the other day (maybe on here?) about the most convincing acoustic being produced by an organ where instead of using a fifth, a fourth was employed.

That reminded me of an old organ which had a 12' rank on the pedal.

Since we are using Solid State, electronically we can do anything, and it has been suggested that in addition to (or instead of, if the 10 2/3 rank doesn't materialise) that we quint off the Open Wood for a big ground shaker as one stop, then use another quint off the Bourdon for a soft one.

I have never met an resultant 32' that I have been happy with, and wondered if anyone has any experience of any of the above configurations, and especially if you know of an organ with  a 12' pedal stop.