JULIAN RHODES' DREAM ORGANS
Now, if we conventionally-minded folk had been responsible for the
enlargement of this little scheme, we should probably have made it look like this:-
GREAT: 16.8.8.8.8.4.4.2 2/3.2.III.8
(This pastiche scheme, and the following four, were given in full in the original,
complete with appropriate couplers, accessories and stop names - j.r.)
The more enlightened among us would call this late Victorian, and suggest instead an
up-to-date version:-
GREAT: 16.8.8.8.8.4.4.2 2/3.2
(This is a pastiche of Arthur Harrison stoplists - j.r.)
The French organ builder aims first and foremost at blend and ensemble, plus
a well-stocked pedal department. He would probably suggest:-
GRANDE: 16.8.8.8.8.4.2 2/3.2.1 3/5.II.8
The German builder thinks on somewhat similar lines, with, if anything, more
variety in the pedal 16ft. flues. His swell, however, is often a kind of
modern English enclosed choir, containing a large assortment of 8ft.
flue stops:-
MAN. I: 16.8.8.8.8.8 (reed).4.2 2/3.2.III
The average American organ builder would consider all these schemes very
small beer. He specialises in ear-tickling. Ensemble to him means nothing.
So he would hand out something after this kind:-
GREAT (encl.): 8.8.8.8.8 (celeste).4.4.2.8.Chimes
Mr. Arthur Harrison, however, has evolved quite a different type of scheme.
At least we may be sure he had a hand in it. Instead of adding stops to the
two original departments, he has left these departments intact, and added
two more, complete with separate manuals. The result is a baby four-manual:-
By skimming off the cream of the Continental and American ideas and
co-ordinatinmg it with Mr. Harrison's freshness of outlook, we ought to be
able to evolve some interesting small organ schemes.
We may tabulate the cream:-
The Frenchman likes (1) a complete great diapason family; (2) a pedal well
equipped with 8ft. and 4ft. flues, and always with reeds.
Now, it is clearly impossible adequately to design an organ without knowing the
purpose for which the instrument is to be used. The French organ is built for
improvisation, and for the performance of French organ music and Bach. The
German organ is built chiefly with an eye to congregational accompaniment, and
to the performance of the eminently solid German organ music. The American instrument
is used apparently as if it were a Jack-of-all-trades, though judging from the
majority of published stop-lists, it is good for one job only, and that job is
ear-tickling. And from all accounts it does it supremely well. The English
instrument is employed primarily for the acompaniment of voices, secondarily
for service voluntaries, and only occasionally for recitals. In its general
tonal design, it stands halfway betwen its American and Continental brethren, for
it contains sweetmeats for the women and children, and beef, beer and cheese
for the men; and everything plain and wholesome. Continental organs in
many instances certainly are its equals in all these comestibles.
They score heavily, of course, with their luxurious
pedals: but they invariably lack that essentially English effect
known as the full swell. America generally has still to be
introduced to ensemble effects of any kind. There are exceptions,
particularly in the work of Skinner and the French-Canadian
builder, Casavant. American organs, however, are
mechanically ahead of the lot of us; so that it seems as if
Continental ideas concerning the great and pedal, combined with
English voicing, the English full swell, and American
action, should produce the organ par excellence. On these lines
the tonal basis of the smallest church organ of more
than one manual should be:-
This provides a minimum of great ensemble, a full swell effect,
and an independent pedal, and it would be capable of
leading the congregational singing in a village church. And
in the rendering of many a big organ piece it could give a
better account of itself than scores of organs more than double
its size. To make it serviceable for lighter
accompaniments and soft voluntaries, it only needs the addition
of a few quiet stops. These should be distributed
amongst the two departments and placed, if possible,
in two swell boxes:-
The omission of all l6ft. and 8ft. flue stops from the combination known
as full swell is at all times desirable. A
(luxurious) l6ft. string stop in place of a l6ft. reed is the only
exception. After all, the core of a full swell combination is
emphatically neither diapason nor flute tone. It is trumpet tone at
l6ft., 8ft. and 4ft. pitches, together with a 2ft. and
mixture superstructure
of either bright diapason or keen string tone. These components
are not available on small organs: so we must content
ourselves with a makeshift:-
But not until we
reach the luxurious 16ft. reed stage will the five-octave full
swell emerge in all its glory. Add to it, however, 16ft. and
8ft. flue stops, and you will thicken and muddy it, and detract
appreciably from its clarity and sparkle. Besides, you
will consume unnecessary wind and so deprive (in inferior instruments)
some of the pipes of their fair share.
Apart from the full swell ingredients, the choice of the 16ft. and 8ft.
swell flue equipment is a matter of taste, expediency, and
money; and there is at least a good French precedent for the
choice of a string céleste and a flute 8ft. before that of a
diapason.
Here is a slightly larger scheme containing more colour:-
The introduction of a manual double and some enclosed pedal comes next:-
(Cocker reveals himself as a tonal sensualist, delighting in the interplay
of subtle colours and putting them above complete choruses in importance. This,
and the percussions, would have been regarded a frivolous by those like George
Dixon whose priority was a 'logical' and 'scientific' ensemble. Cocker's scheme
would certainly score points in high-church service accompaniment - j.r.)
When a department can boast a family of four stops, it is worthy of a separate
manual; so that if a wealthy parishoner could be persuaded to sign a cheque, the
enclosed section of the great could be made playable advantageously from a third
row of keys.
The introduction of a double reed will be preferable to most players to that of
percussions:-
Here is a comprehensive scheme in miniature, suitable for recital as well
as accompanimental work. It is quite a multim in parvo; and in fact, with
total enclosure, it would not disgrace itself in a small cinema.
And for a town church, the enclosed section of the great should be given a separate
manual of its own and labelled "choir organ". A slight recast of the scheme would
lessen the cost of this extra manual:-
There are many possible variations of this. Here is a still less expensive though
perhaps equally effective scheme in French dressing:-
The French nomenclature, introduced for variety's sake, seems to impart a new
flavour to the scheme, though the choir 8ft. flues (the viole d'orchestre is an
English stop) and the swell salicional are out of the picture. The choir is
the weak spot in the instrument; first, because without a soft neutral dulciana and
and octave coupler its possibilities as an accompaniment to solo stops are too
limited; and secondly, because the clarinet is not in a position to make its insertion
worth while except as a luxury. The principal object of two swell boxes is flexibility;
not only as regards ensemble, but also as regards expressive solo combinations and their
equally important expressive accompaniment. Enterprising organists do not confine themselves
only to the more usual solo stops, but in their constant search for variety they
find opportunities of using even the lowest octaves of 4fts. and 2 fts. and the upper
octaves of 16fts. for solo purposes. Continental players frequently employ solo
combinations containing mixtures. The adequate and varied accompaniment of solo
combinations is therefore important. On this scheme the choir contains no stop
suitable for the accompaniment of a solo on the swell 8ft. and 4ft. flue work. The
clarinet is in the way. Here is the solution:-
With an enterprising organist to handle it an effective organ could be built of this:-
(One thinks also of the organ's origins in Hellenistic Egypt, and
its migration to Byzantium; in both places it fulfilled a purely
secular role very successfuly - j.r.)
It is reasonable
to argue that the church organist would not know how, when and where
to use percussions. But there are many church
organists who do not appear to know how to use an open diapason.
Our schemes so far have not been lavishly
provided with great ensemble material. This needs explanation.
A great cannot be considered wholly complete
unless it be equipped with a diapason family consisting of 16ft.
8ft. 4ft. 2 2/3ft. 2ft. and mixture, topped by reeds 16ft. 8ft.
4ft.; and failing the necessary space and money with which to build
such a great, together with a swell of equal
completeness, we have to divide the honours between the two departments:-
Great. - Diapasons 16ft. 8ft. 4ft.
These departments combined will then reproduce precisely the
ensemble itself in miniature. If space and money even
for this be still lacking, we first subtract the swell mixture,
and secondly the great 16ft, obtaining the swell 16ft. 8ft. 4ft.
effect from a reed 8ft. and sub and super couplers:-
Great. - Diapasons 8ft. 4ft.
The result will not be ideal and its scope will be limited; but if
the stops be cunningly voiced by the builder and
intelligently used by the player, the result at any rate will be satisfying.
In this light we will examine the possibilities
of the re-scheming of an average two-manual of the type quoted at the
beginning of these remarks, - that containing
great diapasons l6ft. 8ft. 4ft. 2 2/3ft. 2ft. mixture,
and a chorus reed 8ft. on both swell and great. Now, if the reed
families were complete, or if they could be made synthetically
complete by means of sub and super couplers, the full
great would virtually become an unenclosed duplicate of the full
swell. In other words, the great would be
complementary to the swell in that it would superimpose upon it
further climactic tone of a similar nature.
But mere duplication of tone is not desirable. What is desirable
is variety of tone, consistent with blend. Accordingly, the
enterprising and artistic organ-builder studies varieties of family
ensemble treatment. First, diapason tone of which
Bonavia Hunt describes two main types: (1) the Schulze, and (2) the
archaic or foundational. The first is of that
brilliant quality (with an "edge" to it) produced by such men as
Schulze, Father Willis, Lewis, the modern Willis,
Rushworth & Dreaper, and others; while the second is more weighty
(with "cathedral roll") of the kind to be found in
the older organs by Hill, Gray & Davison, Walker, and in later
instruments by Harrison and others. Hope-Jones
carried the foundational type to its extremity. I prefer to call these types:-
1. The geigen, as pertaining more towards string tone.
But I dream of yet a third type, and that the most charming
(though not perhaps the most inspiring) of all. Is it the
Silbermann type? It is said that Silbermann diapasons are "silvery."
Anyhow, I can imagine a family of light-winded,
light-sounding diapasons which have neither edge nor weight, which
are bright without being brilliant, which sound
slender and clean, which are both placid and dainty, and which,
above all, have no trace of flutiness in their tonal make
up. "Silvery" seems to sum them up most aptly.
Where can such diapasons be heard?
(In 1928 'The Organ' did not yet include articles by Cecil Clutton and others
which would, in the forthcoming years, answer Cocker's
questions so thoroughly - j.r.)
These three types, then, could be apportioned on a large organ
to the three main manual departments:-
1. Swell: the home of fire, - the geigen.
It is necessary to understand their individual blending propensities:-
1. The geigens blend well.
According to the best modern practice, a compromise is made in regard to
the blending problems of the foundational by steering a middle course
between the geigen at the one extreme and the
Hope-Jones ultra-smooth diapason at the other. In other words,
a measure of brilliance and blend is sacrificed to
weight, and a small quantity of weight is sacrificed to brilliance.
The result is an ensemble which is inferior to that
of the geigen school (which has a great deal) and infinitely superior
to that of the Hope-Jones school (which has
scarcely any), but which at the same time is sufficiently effective
for all practical purposes.
Second, chorus reed tone. There are four main types, although the first
is not recognised by the best builders to-day:-
1. The old-fashioned, light pressure, thin type at its best,
in spite of weak trebles, - the Victorian.
It is, of course, possible to obtain an ultra-smooth ("close") reed - the
latest Willis French horn is a beautiful example,
and it is so fluty that it is difficult to believe that it is a reed
at all - and some of the new tubas and great reeds of to-day
are voiced in this manner. Their blending powers, however, are too limited
for purely chorus purposes. With effectiveness plus variety as the object
in view, we may now set to work upon the original two manual schemes, each
of which contains an odd twenty manual speaking stops, and re-scheme them
in the light of various types of diapason and reed tone, together with the
Harrison ideas in planning and the cream of the ideas of Continental and American
builders:-
Great. - This consists of a family of silvery diapasons, and a sweet,
old-world stopped diapason.
The conventionally-minded will no doubt consider such a scheme luxurious.
They will certainly contend that a complete two-manual is preferable to
a sketchy four-manual. The answer lies in the word flexibility ; but flexibility
incurs fewer pipes and more mechanism, and thereby less space in many cases is
required, though certainly more money. This applies to all the suggested
schemes, for when we buy an organ it is the machinery for which
we pay the most money, not the pipework.
With electrical assistance we could make use of extension and so
compress this scheme into a limited chamber with a negligible loss
in effectiveness. The choir tromba is already an
extension stop. For the harmonic flutes 8ft. and 4ft., instead of using
146 pipes we could use one rank of 85, the extra
dozen at the top being necessary for the super coupler.
The echo lieblichs could be given similarly one rank of 85
pipes instead of 146 ; and the whole of the echo might economically
be allowed to share the main swell box, thereby
making the swell and echo into one ordinary swell department, but
still playable from two rows of keys.
The swell geigens with their 295 pipes could (unscientifically)
become one rank of 85 pipes; and the oboe 16ft. and trumpet 8ft.,
with 146 pipes between them, could be altered to a single trumpet
rank of 85 pipes, playable at 16ft. 8ft. and 4ft.
pitches like the choir tromba, the swell super coupler being scrapped.
And given the right builder, I doubt whether there
are many who would notice any difference in the result.
The full swell would then be complete in itself, and would
read:-
Finally, here is a quaint tracker four-manual which I once tried when it stood in the
chancel of Ely Cathedral, and which now stands in St. John's College Chapel, Oxford.
It is a marvel of compactness, and it was originally built as a chamber organ:-
(The organ was built by Bishop & Son in 1883 for the residence of W.J. Birbeck, 221
Brompton Road, London. Two Snetzler
ranks from a bureau organ were later incorporated (Great Stopped Diapason and Choir Open
Diapason). After being moved to two more houses in London it went to
Eastchurch, Kent, then to Ely, then Oxford; it was in Booton Church,
Norfolk, for a while, and finally went to Paston's Grammar School, North Walsham, Norfolk.
Other stoplists show slight differences of detail; only the Swell division was
enclosed, and had a lever pedal- j.r.)
Norman Cocker contributed an article about the
design of small church instruments to the October 1928 issue of
'The Organ' quarterly. It is so well written, and so full of interesting
ideas, that it is reproduced here in its entirety.
SMALL CHURCH ORGAN DESIGN
by
NORMAN COCKER
GREAT
8 Open Diapason
8 Stopt Diapason
4 Principal
2 2/3 Twelfth
2 Fifteenth
III Sesquialtera
SWELL
8 Open Diapason
8 Stopt Diapason
4 Principal
4 Open Flute
(This interesting organ was given to the college in 1847 by
John Sutton. It was built by J.C.
Bishop to Sutton's stoplist incorporating his old-English tonal ideals.
Two Father Smith ranks were included. The
case was designed by A.W. Pugin.
Cocker's stoplist omits a 4ft. Stopt Flute on Great The
Sesquialtera was in fact a two rank stop (19.22), and there was
a separate 1 3/5ft. Tierce - j.r.)
SWELL: 16.8.8.8.8.4.4.III.8.8.
PEDAL: 16.16.8
SWELL: 16.8.8.8.4.4.III.16.8.8.
PEDAL: 16.16.8.8.16
RÉCIT: 8.8.8.8.4.4.V.8.8
PÉDALE: 16.8.8.4.16.8.4
MAN. II: 16.8.8.8.8.8.8 (reed).4.4.III
PEDAL: 16.16.16.8.8.8.16.8
SWELL: 16.8.8.8.8.4.2 2/3.2.8.8.8.Harp
PEDAL: 32.16.16.8.8
GREAT (new)
16 Double Salicional
8 Open Diapason
8 Hohl Flute
4 Octave
Swell to Great
Choir to Great
SWELL (new)
8 Viol di Gamba
8 Harmonic Flute
4 Concert Flute
8 Trumpet
Echo to Swell
CHOIR (old Great)
8 Open Diapason
8 Stopt Diapason
4 Principal
4 Stopt Flute
2 2/3 Twelfth
2 Fifteenth
1 3/5 Tierce
II Sesquialtera
ECHO (old Swell)
8 Open Diapason
8 Stopt Diapason
4 Principal
4 Open Flute
PEDAL
16 Open Wood
16 Sub Bass
4 pedal couplers
Apart from the unfortunate lack of couplers (Cocker has omitted the
Swell octave and Swell to Choir couplers - j.r.) and 8ft. pedal stops - owing
perhaps to lack of space and funds - the scheme is delightfully
unorthodox and suggestive of many possibilities. A month's holiday
in Cambridge with unlimited access to the instrument and a well-stocked
music library would be a boon to most of us. We should learn to think
organically in quite an unusual manner.
The German likes (1) a complete great diapason family; (2) a pedal
well equipped with 16ft. and 8ft. flues and reeds, and one largely independent
of manual to pedal couplers.
The American likes (1) more than one swell-box; (2) 73-note soundboards
for the sake of the super couplers; (3) percussions (chimes, harp, &c.)
The Englishman likes (1) a complete great (but he is content with, and usuallly
gets, far less); (2) a good full swell.
GREAT
8 Open Diapason
4 Principal
Swell to Great
SWELL (73-note soundboard)
8 Trumpet
Sub
Super
PEDAL
16 Bourdon
8 Flute
8 Octave (metal)
(Cocker is being deliberately provocative, particularly in the
Britain of 1928, by giving the Pedal as many registers as the two manuals
combined - j.r.)
GREAT (73-note soundboard)
8 Open Diapason
4 Octave
enclosed:
8 Dolce (stopped bass)
4 Stopped Flute
Sub )
Super ) playing through the Great to Swell coupler
Unison Off )
Tremulant
Swell to Great
SWELL (73-note soundboard)
8 Lieblich Gedackt
8 Salicional
4 Octave Viol
8 Trumpet
Sub )
Super ) playing through the Swell to Great coupler
Unison Off )
Tremulant
Enclosed Great to Swell
Unenclosed Great to Swell
PEDAL
16 Bourdon
8 Flute
8 Octave (metal)
4 Flute
Great. - The choice of a dolce (with its stopped bass) in place of a
dulciana enables us to keep the great box small.
Swell. - Thanks to the viol 4ft. and the octave couplers,
three miniature full swell effects are possible:-
l. Salicional l6ft. 8ft. 4ft.
and two "grand" ones:-
2. Salicional l6ft. 8ft., viol 8ft. 4ft.
3. Salicional l6ft. 8ft. 4ft., viol 8ft. 4ft. 2ft.
4. Trumpet l6ft. 8ft. 4ft.
(Cocker has passed in silence over the most unusual feature of his scheme, and
of those following: the partial enclosure of the Great division. This was practically
unknown in British church organs at the time. Cocker's schemes are considerably
more colourful and versatile than extant organs of a similar size, other commentators would
have pointed out that the second swell box and the complement of couplers make
for an expensive instrument; they would also have lamented the concentration on
variety of colour rather than strong choruses - j.r.)
5. Trumpet l6ft. 8ft. 4ft., viol 8ft. 4ft. 2ft.
Trumpet tone at 8ft. pitch,
Unfortunately, with tenor C as the downward limit of this combination,
the compass is only four octaves. With the
more usual 61-note soundboard, the range would only be a paltry
three octaves. Still, with only three octaves of good
full swell tone much can be done. Helped out with the pedal, they are
adequate for most practical purposes in simple
service accompaniment; while even for Bach himself our modern top
C to C octave is unnecessary.
Diapason or string tone at 4ft. pitch,
Sub and super couplers, and
A 73-note soundboard (the extra octave being at the top).
GREAT
enclosed (73-note soundboard):
8 Salicional
8 Flûte Harmonique
4 Salicet
Sub )
Super ) playing through the Enclosed Great to Swell coupler
Unison Off )
Tremulant
unenclosed (61-note soundboard):
8 Open Diapason
4 Principal
Swell to Great
SWELL (73-note soundboard)
8 Echo Gamba
8 Cor de Nuit
4 Flûte Douce
8 Trumpet
Sub )
Super ) playing through the Swell to Great coupler
Unison Off )
Tremulant
Enclosed Great to Swell
Unenclosed Great to Swell
PEDAL
16 Sub Bass
8 Flûte (sic - j.r.)
8 Principal (large)
4 Fifteenth
Great. - The enclosed section contains a potential 16ft., 8ft., 4ft.
and 2ft. salicional family, which would form an
attractive distant full swell-like background to the diapason.
With electric action and the right treatment, the
salicet could be a 12-note extension of the salicional. Note that on the
great the useful 4ft. flute can be had by means
of the super and unison off couplers, and so added to the diapason
by those who like it.
Swell. - This is not so rich in ensemble effects as No.1; but
there is more colour contrast in the flue work.
Pedal. - An unusual choice for an English organ. All these pedal
schemes are unusual: they have the great merit of independence, and to
Bach lovers they would be an especial joy. Such pedal departments are
long overdue in England.
GREAT (73-note soundboard)
enclosed:
8 Dulciana
8 Hohlflöte
4 Orchestral Flute
Harmonic Gongs, 30 bars
Sub
Super
Unison Off
Tremulant
unenclosed:
16 Contra Dolce
8 Open Diapason
4 Octave
Super
Unison Off
Swell to Great
SWELL (73-note soundboard)
8 Viol di Gamba
8 Echo Salicional
8 Voix Célestes
8 Stopped Diapason
4 Gambette
8 Trumpet
Sub
Super
Unison Off
Tremulant
Enclosed Great to Swell
Unenclosed Great to Swell
PEDAL
from Great:
16 Dolce
8 Flauto Dolce
in Great box:
16 Geigen
8 Geigen
unenclosed:
16 Bourdon
8 Flute
4 Flute
Here is an instrument fit for recital use. The gongs would be charming, even
in choir accompaniment; and if a little more money were available, the insertion of
either a five-octave dulcitone (tuning forks) or a Mustel celesta (steel bars)
would be well worth while. The pedal is luxurious.
GREAT (73-note soundboard)
enclosed:
8 Salicional
8 Vox Angelica
8 Claribel Flute
Sub
Super
Unison Off
Tremulant
unenclosed:
8 Open Diapason
4 Octave
Super
Swell to Great
SWELL (73-note soundboard)
8 Lieblich Gedackt
8 Echo Viole
8 Viole Céleste
4 Gemshorn
2 Fifteenth
16 Contra Oboe
8 Trumpet
Super
Unison Off
Tremulant
Enclosed Great to Swell
Unenclosed Great to Swell
PEDAL
16 Sub Bass
8 Flute
4 Flute
16 Oboe (Swell)
With a bold, bright gemshorn and with the reeds treated quietly but on
Father Willis lines, the swell fifteenth could be omitted for the sake of
economy. This scheme would be appropriate for an Anglo-Catholic church
in which the more delicate side of choir training received stress. The
enclosed great section (treated also on Willis lines) would form a useful
background for the accompaniment of plainsong and boys' voices. The instrument
would give a good account of itself in the performance of most organ music;
but for the bigger organ works in general, some more pedal would be needed.
GREAT (73-note soundboard)
enclosed:
8 Echo Dulciana Hunter type
8 Dulciana Céleste ditto
8 Cor de Nuit Cavaillé-Coll type
Dulcitone, 61 notes
Sub
Super
Unison Off
Tremulant
unenclosed:
16 Bourdon
8 Open Diapason
8 Claribel Flute
4 Octave
Swell reeds on Great
Swell to Great
SWELL (73-note soundboard)
8 Geigen Diapason Lewis type
8 Quintatön Lewis type
8 Viole de Gambe Lewis type
8 Voix Célestes Lewis type
4 Geigen Principal
4 Flûte Harmonique
II Mixture 12.15
Tremulant
16 Double Hautboy Father Willis type
8 Trumpet Father Willis type
Sub
Super
Unison Off
Tremulant
Enclosed Great to Swell
Unenclosed Great to Swell
PEDAL
16 Open Wood
16 Bourdon (Great)
16 Echo Bass
8 Octave Wood
8 Octave (metal; in the Great box)
8 Flute (in the Swell box)
8 Echo Flute
4 Octave (metal; in the Great box)
4 Flute (in the Swell box)
16 Hautboy (Swell)
Where heavy congregational accompaniment was not required, the lighter but more
colourful violone 16ft. would be preferable to the pedal open wood 16ft. and 8ft.
Where space and money were not available for either choice, the great open diapason
or swell geigen (box-room permitting) could be extended, Compton fashion, twelve
pipes downward to form a solitary open metal 16ft. pedal bass. In any case, this
is a luxurious pedal in which a cunning player would revel. For a remote country
church where recitals would be redundant, it should be curtailed to
16 Bourdon (Great)
16 Sub Bass
8 Flute
4 Flute
16 Hautboy (Swell)
(Cocker is evidently being ironic; for a "remote country church" the whole
stoplist would have been outrageously avant-garde and comprehensive - j.r.)
GREAT (61-note soundboard)
16 Contra Dolce
8 Open Diapason
8 Claribel Flute
4 Principal
Choir to Great
Swell to Great
CHOIR (enclosed; 73-note soundboard)
8 Echo Dulciana
8 Dulciana Céleste
8 Cor de Nuit
4 Flûte Douce
Super
Swell to Choir
Tremulant
SWELL (73-note soundboard)
8 Open Diapason
8 Flûte Harmonique (grooved into Diapason)
8 Viole de Gambe
8 Voix Célestes
4 Gemshorn
II Mixture 12.15
Tremulant
16 Contra Hautboy
8 Trumpet
Super
Tremulant
PEDAL
16 Dolce (Great)
16 Bourdon
8 Flute
8 Flute
8 Octave (metal)
4 Superoctave
16 Hautboy (Swell)
(There seems to be a mistake in the Pedal stoplist. Presumably one of the 8ft.
flutes is repeated in error; and is perhaps meant to be a 4ft. stop - j.r.)
GREAT (61-note soundboard)
16 Bourdon
8 Diapason
8 Flûte Harmonique (grooved into Diapason)
4 Prestant
Choir to Great
Swell to Great
CHOIR (enclosed; 73-note soundboard)
8 Claribel Flute
8 Viole d'Orchestre
4 Flûte Douce
8 Clarinette
Tremulant
Swell to Choir
SWELL (73-note soundboard)
8 Bourdon
8 Salicional
8 Voix Célestes
4 Octave
II Cornet 12.15
16 Basson
8 Trompette
Super
Tremulant
PEDAL
16 Bourdon (Great)
16 Soubasse
8 Flûte
8 Flute
8 Octave (metal)
4 Flûte
16 Basson (Swell)
(Cocker's misuse of the term 'Cornet'
is no worse than that of other British organists of his day - j.r.)
CHOIR (enclosed; 73-note soundboard)
8 Claribel Flute
8 Viole d'Orchestre
8 Dulciana
4 Flûte Douce
SWELL
8 Bourdon
8 Salicional
8 Voix Célestes
4 Octave
II Cornet 12.15
16 Bass Clarinet
8 Trompette
The clarinet is now worth its place in the team; and, at the expense of its largely
uneccesary top octave, it combines its normal duty of solo work with the more
satisfying task of enriching the swell ensemble.
GREAT (73-note soundboard)
16 Contra Dolce
8 Open Diapason
8 Claribel Flute
4 Octave
Harmonic Gongs, 30 notes (tenor g to c2)
Super
Unison Off
Choir to Great
Swell to Great
CHOIR (enclosed; 73-note soundboard)
8 Viole d'Orchestre
8 Flûte Harmonique
8 Dulciana
4 Concert Flute
Celesta, 61 notes
Sub
Super
Unison Off
Tremulant
Swell to Choir
SWELL (73-note soundboard)
8 Lieblich Gedeckt
8 Echo Salicional
8 Voix Célestes
4 Flauto Amabile
2 Salicetina
Tremulant
16 Contra Oboe
8 Trumpet
Sub
Super
Unison Off
Tremulant
Choir to Swell
PEDAL
16 Sub Bass
8 Flute
8 Octave (metal)
4 Flute
16 Fagotto (Swell)
3 pedal couplers
To the conservative minded, the three percussions will seem outrageous
in a church organ. They would be tolerated
in an orchestra in church (though some, no doubt, would even consider
an ecclesiastical orchestra out of place); and
besides, we are bidden to praise the Lord with harp, sackbut, psaltery,
lute, timbrels, and all kinds of music. So I fail to
see why in the absence of performers upon these instruments we should
confine ourselves solely to organ pipes. After
all, when we have all heard a cinema organist of the calibre of Quentin
Maclean or Charles Saxby perform
entertaining light music upon the organ, I am sure we shall renounce the
idea once and for all that the organ is
essentially a sacred instrument. It is rightly regarded as a suitable
medium for the rendering of sacred music, but it is
equally well adapted to secular music; and the role of entertainer
is one which it can always undertake with complete
success, otherwise we may be sure that the cinema world would not have
welcomed it so universally.
Swell. - Diapasons 2ft. mixture, reeds 16ft. 8ft. 4ft.
Swell. - Diapason 2ft., reed 8ft., sub, super.
2. The foundational, as pertaining more towards flute tone.
2. Great: the home of weight, - the foundational.
3. Choir: the home of grace, - the silvery.
2. The silvery ones blend less well.
3. The foundationals blend least well.
2. The fiery, but still thin, medium pressure Father Willis trumpet;
a greatly refined edition of No. 1, with stronger trebles, - the trumpet.
3. The shining, heavier pressure type, with a good deal of clang and grip,
like the old Willis tubas and many of the modern Harrison
or Hunter great reeds, - the tuba.
4. The modern smooth tromba, which though not altogether
lacking in clang yet possesses more body and meatiness than No. 3, - the tromba.
GREAT (3 1/2in. wind)
16 Bourdon
8 Open Diapason
8 Stopped Diapason
4 Principal
2 Fifteenth
SWELL (6in. wind; 73-note soundboard)
8 Geigen
4 Geigen
II Geigen Mixture 12.15
16 Contra Oboe
8 Trumpet
Super
CHOIR
unenclosed:
8 Diapason Fondamentale
4 Octave
enclosed; 73-note soundboard:
8 Harmonic Flute
8 Dulciana
4 Concert Flute
Tremulant
8 Tromba (85 notes)
Sub
Super
Unison Off
ECHO (73-note soundboard)
8 Lieblich Gedeckt
8 Echo Viole
8 Voix Célestes
4 Lieblich Flöte
Sub
Super
Unison Off
Tremulant
PEDAL
16 Bourdon (Great)
16 Sub Bass
8 Flute
8 Octave (metal)
4 Flute
16 Fagotto (Swell)
16 Trombone (Choir)
(This is an excellent stoplist, marred only by the rather rigid
family grouping of tone colours, particularly the Choir and Echo flutes.
The advantage of Schulze and Father Willis Choir divisions was that
there were often both Lieblichs and Traversos at 8ft. and 4ft. - the variety
of cross-combinations was great - j.r.)
Swell. - This is a complete contrast, with its little geigen family
full of brilliance and its splashy trumpet chorus. The usual flute and
celeste sweetmeats are allowed the privilege of a separate manual and called
"echo," which is a great (but expensive) advantage.
Choir. - Here come the big foundational diapasons: (1) for congregational
accompaniment; (2) for use tuba fashion, in contrast with the lighter work of
the great; and (3) for use in Continental organ music as
a grand orgue (always the lowest manual), to which the great will effectively
do duty as a positif, - a great boon in Bach playing. Here also is the 85-note
tromba, available on the pedal as an enclosed loud reed, and available
also in complete 16ft. 8ft. and 4ft. pitches on the manual for both solo and
chorus use. Enclosure will detract from its power and éclat, but
its utility will proportionately be enhanced. Here again is the essential accompanimental
pianissimo dulciana together with a couple of orchestral flutes.
8 Geigen
4 Geigen
II Mixture
16 Double Trumpet
8 Trumpet
4 Clarion
The whole scheme would then contain two swell-boxes instead of three, and 1143 pipes
instead of 1377. But maybe there are not half-a-dozen builders in the land who
could cope successfully with the extensional problems.
GREAT
8 Open Diapason
8 Stopped Diapason
4 Principal
2 2/3 Twelfth
2 Fifteenth
SWELL
8 Violin Diapason
8 Stopped Diapason bass
8 Vox Angelica
4 Suabe Flute
8 Oboe
CHOIR
8 Open Diapason
8 Stopped Diapason
4 Flauto Traverso
SOLO
8 Harmonic Flute
2 Harmonic Piccolo
8 Cremona
8 Trumpet
PEDAL
16 Bourdon
8 Flute
Couplers: 4 to Pedal; Swell to Great sub, super & unison;
Choir to Great; Solo to Great; Swell to Choir.
Tremulant
It would be interesting to know its age, and the name of its designer and builder.
