An Historical Sketch by George Dixon
Part Two: The Swell, Choir, Echo and Solo organs.
JULIAN RHODES' DREAM ORGANS
The Swell Organ. Next in importance of the manual departments in the English organ is the Swell. It was introduced by Jordan, and, in its original form, was an echo organ of short compass. For some time it did not usually extend below tenor C. One of the earliest swells to C was made by Willis for his first cathedral instrument at Gloucester, in 1849.
What the later tonal development of this division owes to his genius will presently be seen. Apart from their short compass, the early English swells generally suffered from a muddy l6ft. register, usually a stopped diapason (or bourdon), indifferent flue chorus work, and bad reeds. The combination of the two latter nearly always produced the characteristic "sausage frying" effect already mentioned. To all intents and purposes it was a smaller and softer edition of the great enclosed in a box. Except Cavaillé-Coll, the continental builders did not treat the swell seriously. The Germans, including Schulze, almost despised it. They regarded the choir and even the (unenclosed) echo as more important. The swell department as we know it is peculiarly an English development. The first step towards modern design was made in 1866 (amended by Dixon in a later issue of 'The Organ' to 1861, the correct date - j.r.), and a most momentous one it was. In the scheme for a very fine and complete two-manual instrument built by Willis for Wallasey Parish Church, Best had the boldness to dispense with the flue double in the swell altogether and substitute a contra fagotto 16ft. Though there was no heavy wind it is worth while to give the design if only to show how wonderfully modern his conception of the essential features of the swell really was:-The full-compass swell was an integral feature of the 'German system' organs of the 1830s and 40s; it was well established by 1849.
8 Open Diapason 8 Stopped Diapason 4 Principal 4 Harmonic Flute III Mixture 16 Contra Fagotto 8 Trumpet 8 Oboe 8 Vox Humana Tremulant Octave couplerHe clearly saw then how indispensable the 16ft. reed was to the tonal structure of the swell, and that no flue stop could act as an effective substitute. This important fact has hardly yet been fully realised.
Leaving out of account St. George's Hall, Liverpool, which stood by itself, the next important advance was made at St. Paul's Cathedral in 1873. Here again the genius of Willis must be given the full credit, for he carried out Best's ideas as exhibited at Wallasey to their logical conclusion. He entirely reversed the ordinary method of tone building, and utilised as the foundation of the swell a complete family of splendid chorus reeds, voiced on heavy wind pressure. The flue work, though not without its use, is quite subsidiary; and, except for the beautifully balanced mixture, may be omitted from the full swell without loss. This department remains practically as it was in 1873; and the St. Paul's full swell, though not very large, can hold its own in tonal effect with almost any modern example. In most of his larger instruments, Willis followed the same general lines. Sometimes the mixture was omitted, as at St. Paul's, Knightsbridge. Occasionally, for some obscure reason, two open diapasons were included, while the second 8ft. chorus reed is seldom found. The tonal scheme of the St. Paul's swell has nevertheless remained the model on which most of the modern developments have been based.
Some builders, it is true, introduced heavy pressure diapasons, &c., "just to balance the reeds," but such registers are quite foreign to the genius of the true full swell effect, the chief characteristic of which is reediness and sparkling brilliance. In more modern times, the tendency has been in the other direction, and a chorus of trumpets of a more fiery nature than the ordinary Willis cornopean type has been introduced (by Harrison - jr). This plan has the advantage, not only of providing an effective contrast to the smoother toned great chorus reeds, but, what is more important, of securing a very wide difference between the ensembles of the full swell and full great which was lacking in the normal Willis organ.The above view of the evolution of the "full swell" effect ignores several important considerations.The 1861 Best/Willis organ at Wallasey was not the first organ to include a 16ft. reed while omitting a 16ft. flue. That honour goes - I believe - to the 1857 organ by John Squire (who had trained with Robson) at Craven Chapel, off Regent Street, London. This two-manual 25-stop instrument included a Swell division as follows:
8 Open Diapason 8 Stopped Diapason 4 Principal III Cornet 16 Contra Fagotto 8 Cornopean 8 Oboe 4 ClarionThe inclsuion of a clarion makes the reed chorus more complete than Wallasey. To see the full stoplist of this interesting organ, click here.
Willis himself had made a Swell as follows at St. Dunstan, Cranbrook, in 1854:
16.8.8.8.4.2.III.16.8.8which, with its stopped 16ft. Double Diapason and 2ft. Fifteenth, is arguably a more useful disposition than at Wallasey.
Strong 16ft. swell reeds had featured in British organs by Hill and others since the 1840s.
Despite a retrospective 'smear' campaign during much of the 20th-century, the evidence of registration directions in many Victorian and Edwardian scores shows that a soft 16ft. flue double was an important component of the romantic British Swell organ. Its omission is no particular virtue, though Dixon saw no use for it.
It is also interesting that Dixon tacitly ignores the Swell disposition of Best's design for Bolton Town Hall (Gray & Davison 1874) while referring with approval to the Choir division of the same instrument (below). The Swell for this 47-stop, 4-manual concert organ contained a flue double but no reed double, while finding room for a full palette of 8ft. ranks including no fewer than four reeds:
16.8.8.8.8.4.3.2.III.8.8.8.8.4In Best's remarkable three-manual 21-stop design for Clayton Church, Bradford (Hill 1886), the swell stops were as follows:
16.8.8.8.4.V.8.8.8It seems, therefore, that Best remained unconvinced of the value of a 16ft. reed foundation in the Swell.
There is, furthermore, some doubt as to whether Willis perceived his swell reeds in quite the way Dixon did. On occasion he repeated the formula of 16ft. reed before 16ft. flue, such as the (admittedly unusual) organ in St. George's Hall/Private Chapel, Windsor Castle, in 1888:
8.8.8.8.4.16.8.8.8.4Dixon claims that at St. Paul's Cathedral Willis "utilised as the foundation of the swell a complete family of splendid chorus reeds, voiced on heavy wind pressure" and that thereafter "In most of his larger instruments, Willis followed the same general lines." This is not quite true; as is well known, during the 1870s and 80s - Willis's 'glory years' - the Swell departments in even large organs often had a relatively slight Contra Fagotto or Contra Hautboy as the reed double, while the Great had a full-blown Trombone. More than one commentator has concluded that Willis saw his swell organ as an altogether lesser edition of the great organ, reeds and all. It was only towards the end of his life that Willis made the swell 16ft. Contra Posaunes (at Truro and St. Bees, for example) for which he became so renowned.
The fine design of the swell at St. Mary Redcliffe, Bristol (1912), is an interesting example of this modern development. (Organ by Harrison - jr)And which, we have seen above, may be regarded from another point of view as an advantage.
On 6in. wind: 16 Contra Viola 8 Viole d'Orchestre 8 Violes Célestes (to FF) 4 Viole Octaviante 8 Open Diapason 8 Harmonic Flute 4 Principal 4 Concert Flute 2 Fifteenth V Mixture 12.19.22.26.29 16 Cor Anglais 8 Orchestral Hautboy 8 Vox Humana Tremulant On 12in. wind: 16 Double Trumpet 8 Trumpet 8 Horn 4 ClarionThe viols form no essential part of the tonal structure. They were included because room could not be found for them in any other enclosed department. They in no way interfere with the ordinary full swell effect which is obtainable by piston independently of the orchestral work. The two 8ft. chorus reeds, horn and trumpet, are almost as widely contrasted as a flute and a gamba. The former is a close imitation of the orchestral instrument played softly, while the latter (like the clarion and to a lesser extent the 16ft. reed) is exceedingly fiery and free toned. The swell is enclosed in a stone chamber which also includes the heavy wind 32ft.and 16ft. reeds on the pedal. The provision of a true and expressive bass greatly enhances the grandeur of the full swell effect.
The Choir Organ. The older English builders regarded the choir organ (like the Germans always have done) as second only in importance to the great. Both looked upon it as a smaller edition of their great departments and designed it accordingly. For the sake of simplicity it is intended to treat it in the light of a purely accompanimental unenclosed organ, and to deal with the enclosed solo and orchestral departments separately. Except so far as improved voicing is concerned no department has undergone fewer changes in essentials than the unenclosed choir. Indeed, the most recent specimen approximates very closely to the older builders' design. The early English examples were characterised by their bright and sprightly tone which was largely produced by the prominent 4ft. stops. This doubtless gave some colour to the theory attributed to Hopkins that they regarded 4ft. as the normal pitch of the choir. For instance one finds a principal, 4ft. flute, a fifteenth and possibly a compound stop supported merely by a stopped diapason sometimes in company with a tenor C dulciana. The choir reed was generally a cremona or a clarinet, - a most unsuitable stop for an unenclosed department, as Dr. Audsley has so often insisted. Nevertheless, it is strange that right up to the present day clarinets sometimes appear on the choir or worse still on the great, where in neither case is it possible to endow them with the only imitation of expression which the organ can give. Consequently the true choir organ is not the place for essentially solo registers, except the unenclosed tuba, which is occasionally included for convenience; but, of course, it forms no part of the tonal structure.
The early English choirs, like the great organs, contained no double, and the chorus reed was very rare. On the continent, especially among German instruments, as in the case of the great, we meet with numerous specimens of fully developed choirs complete with doubles, mixtures and chorus reeds. In England, however, it was only in the largest Willis concert organs that we find this desirable state of things as a rule.
But a fine example of an eight stop choir is to be seen at Bolton Town Hall (organ by Gray & Davison 1874 - j.r.). It includes a 16ft. register, a beautiful dulciana cornet (V. ranks) and a trumpet. Yet the latter is not all that could be desired. Best was responsible for the design. A complete choir organ such as has been described is a desideratum where cathedral music, especially of the older type, is performed. The ringing brilliance of the full great is sometimes called for without its destructive force, and this can only be supplied by its miniature, the completely designed full choir. Again, the rendering of Bach's organ works frequently requires bright contrapuntal passages to be played in contrast to the great diapasons. The swell flue work is not sufficiently distinct, because it is enclosed. Such passages can, however, be rendered most effectively on the unenclosed choir. It is, therefore, not a little remarkable that until recent times no serious attempt was made to develop the choir to its logical conclusion in its natural ecclesiastical home. In most cases we find it topped by a piccolo and clarinet.Examples of choir divisions with double, mixture and chorus reed by other builders included: Panopticon, Leicester Square - Hill 1853; Glasgow City Hall - Gray & Davison 1853; St. Peter, Manchester - Kirtland & Jardine 1856; Crystal Palace - Gray & Davison 1857; Leeds Town Hall - Gray & Davison 1857. The only Willis organs which included these features in the Choir division were St. George's Hall, Liverpool (1855); the Royal Albert Hall (1872) and Alexandra Palace (1873 & 75), the three largest organs in the country.During the present century matters have considerably improved, as the true function of the choir organ has grown in recognition. Compound stops of artistic design are often included and a refined chorus reed is occasionally added. Very few choirs of importance are now without a soft stop of 16ft. pitch, which is frequently a salicional or dulciana. Perhaps the most complete church organ scheme is that designed by Dr. Alan Gray for the re-constructed instrument at Trinity College, Cambridge (1912) (organ by Harrison - j.r.):-
CHOIR ORGAN 16 Double Dulciana 8 Open Diapason 8 Dolce metal & wood 8 Viole da Gamba 8 Spitz Flöte 8 Clarabella wood 8 Rohr Flöte wood 4 Salicet 4 Claribel Flute wood 2 Harmonic Gemshorn IV Echo Cornet 15.17.19.22 8 Cornopean Wind pressure: 2 3/4in. throughout POSITIVE ORGAN 8 Open Diapason 8 Stopped Diapason 4 Nason Wind pressure: 2 1/2in.The choir dolce is by Schulze and the three stops of the positive by Father Smith. The latter are contained in the small case behind the player. By means of a double switch they can be registered independently of, or in combination with, the stops of the choir organ proper.
An interesting design for a nine stop choir is that by Mr. Alfred Hollins for the Johannesburg Town Hall (1916). It contains an open l6ft. salicional and is built up on a family of tapered stops, surmounted by a III. rank dulciana cornet 12, 15, 17, and a chorus reed. The whole is on 4in. wind. Another equally beautiful scheme of similar size but on old English lines is that for the new organ in Westminster Cathedral given on p.51 of The Organ for July last. It is on 3in. wind throughout.
The Echo Organ Of this department, little need be said. In England, it was originally the precursor of the swell, by which it was gradually displaced. In more recent times, it has reappeared sometimes under fancy names, producing for the most part purely fancy effects. The mystery with which it is commonly associated is much enhanced by the retired position it usually occupies, often at some distance from the main organ. In German instruments, it was looked upon much more seriously. It was generally designed as a smaller and softer edition of the choir organ on a lighter wind, and on an open soundboard. It formed the third manual. Schulze left one or two fine examples in this country, of which the beautiful specimen at Armley was quite typical. The scheme is complete, from a light double to a delicate compound stop of two ranks. The wind pressure is but l 1/2in. At the last reconstruction this division was enclosed in a swell box, and the same is believed to have been done at Doncaster. Much of the original effect is now lost.
The policy of enclosing stops voiced in such a refined manner on so low a wind pressure is somewhat doubtful. Some are mere whispers and are quite smothered, as they were never intended to be heard under such conditions. The box, however, serves to protect their delicate voicing from the disturbing influence of dust. An enclosed echo organ, to be really effective, requires much bolder treatment and a moderate wind pressure. An excellent specimen is situated at the extreme east end of Norwich Cathedral (Norman & Beard: 1900). It is voiced on 6in. wind, and perhaps its most noteworthy feature is a beautiful six-rank dulciana cornet and harmonic trumpet. There is another fine example (designed by Dr. Bairstow) with a complete tonal structure at Leeds Parish Church (1913). This includes the Schulze pipes of the old echo organ, revoiced on 3in. wind to suit the altered conditions under which they are heard (organ by Harrison - j.r.):-The Schulze organ at Doncaster had the 2 2/3ft. and 2ft. stops on one draw; at Armley they were separate. The Doncaster Echo division had indeed been enclosed, but Armley remained unenclosed.
ECHO ORGAN 16 Lieblich Bordun wood & metal 8 Open Diapason wood & metal 8 Gamba 8 Salicional 8 Vox Angelica (tc) 8 Lieblich Gedackt metal & wood 8 Flauto Traverso wood 4 Salicet 4 Lieblich Flöte 2 Flautina V Dulciana Mixture 12.15.17.19.22 8 Cornopean harmonic trebles 8 Vox Humana TremulantIt is placed in the north east corner of the chancel, and can be played from either the choir or solo keyboards. Though the effect is very beautiful, it is possible, in a church like this, where much cathedral music is performed, that the chorus reed and the compound stop might have found a more appropriate place on the unenclosed choir organ.
Dixon could equally well have cited the 19-stop Echo then planned for Liverpool Cathedral (Willis); or the subdivided 16-stop Echo at Westminster Abbey (Hill 1895); or the 17-stop Echo at the Colston Hall, Bristol (Norman & Beard 1905. Click here to see the Echo division in the extraordinary Hill/Gauntlett proposal for the enlargement of the Birmingham Town Hall organ in 1842.
Referring again to the reed foundation of the swell, it is is interesting to note that Michell & Thynne's 1885 Exhibition organ, now at Tewkesbury Abbey, contains a heavy pressure contra posaune 16ft., but no flue double on that manual.The concluding part of Dixon's essay is taken from 'The Organ', April 1922. After some introductory remarks correcting certain factual inaccuracies in the preceding, included in my italicised comments above, Dixon writes:
He then continues with the substance of his essay.
The Solo and Orchestral Organ. The solo organ is also an English development, and as its name implies was originally a division confined to registers of a pronounced solo character thrown together haphazard without any idea of ensemble effects, still less of building up a tonal structure. It was indeed a fortuitous concourse of atoms, and in one or two instances the fourth manual originally contained but two stops, a harmonic flute and a tromba!
Now Willis was again the pioneer. In 1855 he actually constructed a solo organ of fifteen stops, at St. George's Hall, Liverpool, comprising ten splendid reeds. About 1867, at Best's instigation, the pressure on the four heavy reeds was raised from 9 1/2ins. to 22ins., thereby producing tuba effects of a grandeur never before conceived. Here the genius of both these great men will be for ever indissolubly connected. In 1899 the flue work and orchestral reeds were enclosed in a swell box, but all the four tubas were left outside and still so remain. But we are anticipating. In 1873 a six stop solo was inserted in St. Paul's Cathedral by Willis, and as this was to be the standard type in his many cathedral instruments for some time to come it is worth while to give the scheme as it then stood:-
Light wind: 8 Flûte Harmonique 4 Concert Flute 8 Corno di Bassetto 8 Orchestral Oboe 17 1/2in. wind in the treble & 14in. in the bass: 8 Tuba Major 4 Tuba ClarionIt was, of course, entirely unenclosed. There were (and are yet) two additional orchestral reeds of 8ft. pitch in the open soundboard of the choir organ, a cor anglais and another corno di bassetto. Two points are worthy of note: no attempt was made to impart gradation of tone to any of the orchestral stops - a feature now almost universally insisted upon - and not one of the four orchestral reeds is of 16ft. pitch in spite of the fact that the corno di bassetto was duplicated. As a consequence such delightful combinations as, say, bassoon 16ft., clarinet 8ft. and flute 4ft. were impossible. Gamba tone, too, was absent, and the modern viol was as yet undreamt of, but it was more than foreshadowed by the vivid colouring of the Willis orchestral oboe. About 1898, towards the end of his wonderful career, a great advance was made both at St. Paul's and Lincoln Cathedral by the enclosure of most of the solo organ*, except the tubas.
(Dixon's footnote:
* Enclosed solos on a smaller scale had, however, been tried at Exeter (1891) and Hereford (1892). In the late Dr. Sinclair's scheme for the latter, a harmonic corroborating stop was at least contemplated.)
A 16ft. orchestral reed appeared at Lincoln, but on the unenclosed choir. A 16ft. contra fagotto was inserted in the new solo at St. Paul's. This beautiful stop is not so orchestral as its name would imply, but rather partakes of the nature of a small trumpet. It is, in fact, the counterpart of its companion, the cornopean 8ft. Both speak on 7in. wind. Incidentally the feature of the enclosed solo, or rather of the whole organ, which has made more impression on the present writer than any other, not excepting the 25in. dome tubas, is that wonderful pair of reeds on 17 1/2in. wind, the contra posaune 16ft. and the tuba 8ft. Though no attempt was made in either case to build up a definite ensemble or tonal structure, it is interesting to note the germ of modern string tone family in the group of gambas in the enclosed altar organ.Dixon does not mention the organ at Leeds Town Hall (Gray & Davison 1859) in which the "Orchestral Solo" division was completely enclosed. It was the fore-runner, and had a stoplist as follows:
8 Bourdon 8 Concert Flute Harmonic 4 Piccolo Harmonic 2 Ottavino Harmonic 8 Clarinet 8 Oboe 8 Cor Anglais and Bassoon, free-reed 8 Tromba 8 Ophicleide By mechanical combination: Clarinet and Flute, in octaves Oboe and Flute, in octaves Clarinet and Bassoon, in octaves Clarinet and Oboe, in octaves Oboe and Bassoon, in octaves Flute, Clarinet and Bassoon, in double-octaves Flute, Oboe and Bassoon, in double-octavesThe 'mechanical combination' movements were intended to provide "a very accurate imitation of almost all the ordinary wind combinations of an orchestra... placed easily within the grasp of one of the performer's hands".
In spite of all its shortcomings the unenclosed solo did, however, possess one advantage; the orchestral registers were always telling in solo passages, an important feature which is lacking in many modern instances, thereby detracting seriously from their effect. This weakness is sometimes due to the unfavourable situation of the solo department, sometimes to inadequate wind pressure and the lack of sufficiently bold treatment, but most frequently it is caused by the box being too thick. Dr. Alan Gray strongly advocates thinner construction in consequence. In more recent times the tendency has been to replace the purely solo organ by an enclosed department where ensemble effects of a definite character are paramount. At the same time the ordinary orchestral solo registers are not only included, but are even built up into the tonal structure. The latter, however, are a secondary consideration. Such an ensemble, for instance, can be based upon a foundation of flutes and strings (a development of Cavaillé-Coll's flûte harmonique and gamba combination) with 16ft. tone and a harmonic structure all its own, in complete contrast to any other department of the organ. It will, of course, give an endless variety of charming effects, of which the ordinary solo organ is absolutely incapable. A department possessing such rich colouring and varied functions is appropriately termed orchestral rather than solo. In most cases, with suitable modifications, it will be preferred to the unenclosed purely accompanimental choir organ, in the ordinary three-manual instrument. In this connection it is interesting to note that as far back as 1877, in Sir F.A. Gore Ouseley's design for the three-manual Willis organ at the Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford, the choir was omitted. The third manual was a solo organ, and included a tuba, the importance of which has been fully recognised of late years.
The most complete example of an orchestral organ at present extant in this country is that on the fourth manual at Ely Cathedral (1908):-Alan Gray was organist at Trinity College, Cambridge, and a friend of Dixon.
Click here to see Ousley's stoplists for the Sheldonian Theatre, and Parratt's design for St. Giles, Oxford (which also had a third-manual Solo, and pre-dated that at the Sheldonian by two years.)It should also be noted that the 1861 Nicholson organ for Manchester Cathedral included a subdivided Choir manual with two unenclosed solo stops, including a high-pressure reed on a separate soundboard:
enclosed: 8.8.8.8.4.4.2.8 unenclosed: 4 Solo Flute, 8 Grand Ophicleide
Twenty years earlier, in 1841, William Hill made a Tuba Mirabilis to play from the Swell keys of his 3-manual instrument for Great George Street Chapel, Liverpool. In his 1846 proposal stoplist for St. George's Hall, Liverpool, S.S. Wesley specified an 'Ophicleide or Great Solo Reed' playable from the Choir manual.
Enclosed, 6in. wind: 16 Contra Viola 8 Viole d'Orchestre 8 Viole Céleste 4 Viole Octaviante III Cornet des Violes 10.12.15 8 Harmonic Flute 4 Concert Flute 2 Piccolo 16 Clarinet 8 Orchestral Hautboy Tremulant Unenclosed, 20in. wind: 8 Tuba Octave Suboctave Unison off Swell to Solo (A piston labelled "clarinet 8ft". acts by octave duplication.)
An almost identical family of violes will be found in the design of the Liverpool Cathedral organ (1913), and it will also appear in a more complete form in the coming reconstruction of the Albert Hall organ, London. Dr. Audsley for many years strenuously advocated the inclusion of such a family of string toned stops in all organs of importance.The builders' leaflet and other published stoplists of the Ely organ omit the Piccolo and add an 8ft. Cor Anglais.
On to the next part of the articleClick here to see the rather more complete solo division (1912 contract) at Liverpool Cathedral.