The Tuba and Bombard Organ.

This subsidiary department takes its first name from that commanding register, the true development of which will be for ever associated with the name of Willis, though it was originally introduced by another.

Dixon's aversion to the Hill organ is such that he cannot even bring himself to call the builder by name.

We have already seen how he (Willis - j.r.) was associated with Best in the great advance which was made at St. George's Hall in 1867. It was the latter who, in his compositions, his arrangements, and, most of all, in his playing, first proved conclusively the predominant value of big reed tone of pure even quality, which could be used alone, in contrast to, and apart from, rather than in combination with the great organ flue work. In fact, his use of the tuba and other heavy reeds in this manner was nothing short of masterly, and in this respect he has never been approached by any composer or organ player. But if Willis's superb specimens of reed voicing had not been available, Best's conceptions of registration would have been impossible of realisation. To attempt them would have been to court disaster; and it may be said, without exaggeration, that in voicing heavy pressure reeds Willis outdistanced all his rivals right up to the end of his life. If such registers are playable only from the great organ keys and are not available independently on another manual, they lose much of their value. They form no real part of the great tonal scheme. Assertive stops like these can scarcely form part of the tonal structure of any department except in the rare instances when they can make up one of their own. A tuba organ of five stops, 16, 8, 8, 4 and 4ft. on pressures varying from 14ins. to 25ins., appeared as a fifth manual in the 1899 reconstruction at St. Paul's Cathedral. A similar design for Liverpool Cathedral on 30ins., with an additional tuba on 50ins., was published in 1913. Both these departments are entirely unenclosed. It is doubtful whether for concentrating the brass wind into one group the awkwardly placed fifth manual is ever necessary or desirable. In ordinary three-manual organs where no separate tuba is provided, it has for some time been customary to voice the great chorus reeds as semi-tubas and make them transferrable to another manual for tuba effects. Apart from greatly enhancing their usefulness, it becomes possible in this way to concentrate all the manual reeds on one clavier, thus providing a tuba organ on a small scale. This plan has even been followed in the new Westminster Cathedral instrument. So far only unenclosed tubas have been dealt with. Many authorities, however, have held with some show of reason that an enclosed tuba should be the primary consideration on the grounds that it is more generally useful. On the other hand there can be no doubt that the normal stop loses much of its brilliant splendour by enclosure, and even under the most favourable circumstances its essential features - the commanding effect against the bigger combinations of the great organ - is destroyed.*

(Dixon's footnote:
* In the original design (1898) of the three-manual organ in St. Bees Priory Church (for which the present accomplished organist, Mr. F.J. Livesey, and the writer were jointly responsible), it was proposed that the 15in. tuba should be enclosed in the solo box along with the other stops of that department. To this, Willis at the time reluctantly agreed, but before the organ was erected he prevailed upon us to leave his tuba unenclosed. At that time I was influenced by Dr. Audsley's arguments, but the result in this case and later experience satisfied me that Willis was right.)

Again, all reality of climax is lost, for a climax is no part of a crescendo, per se, but something superadded to it. As many of the more modern examples are smoother than the Willis type this argument applies a fortiori. Conversely the more blatant kind voiced with open reeds are vastly improved by enclosure, indeed in some instances it is only under such circumstances that their effect is tolerable. When possible it is best to have a close-toned tuba in the open, and a fiery incisive orchestral trumpet in the box, as at Manchester Cathedral (1910, revoiced 1916). In the smaller organ with but one such register the essentially characteristic tuba effect should not be sacrificed to enclosure. The swell trumpet can generally be utilised where lighter brass passages are required. Examples of enclosed tubas by Willis are to be found at Glasgow Cathedral (1879, Pearce's design), and at Hereford (1892, Sinclair's design). In the latter case it is additional to the unenclosed register. St. Paul's Cathedral (1898) has been already alluded to. To come to more recent times, Ripon Cathedral (1912) has an enclosed contra tuba 16ft., and the 8ft. register stands in the open. At Newcastle Cathedral (1911) the close-toned tuba 8ft. is unenclosed, while a more incisive family stand on an 85-note soundboard inside the solo box. In the latter case the 16ft. and 4ft. stops, which draw independently, are borrowed from the parent 8ft. The end in this case quite justifies the means, though in strict theory it is hardly legitimate. Be that as it may, the identical plan is being followed at Westminster Cathedral, but on 30in. wind. The pressure at Newcastle is 16in.

Dixon is referring to the 1920 contract stoplist for Westminster Cathedral, which was amended when the instrument was built.

This leads us on to the consideration of a further development in modern times called the bombard department (from the French clavier de bombardes), having a tonal structure consisting of a complete family of heavily-winded reeds and a very powerful mixture, - enclosed, of course, in a swell box. The germ of the idea is contained in the St. Paul's swell of 1873 already referred to, though it is doubtful whether Willis ever apprehended its significance.

Dixon stated a date of 1872 earlier, and this is not the only such anomaly in his account.

To T.C. Lewis must be given the credit for first clearly recognising the possibilities of such a department, - really a super full swell. In his multim in parvo design for the organ of the People's Palace, Mile End Road, such a division playable separately from the swell and great keys was inserted in about 1886. It consists of a family of 16ft., 8ft. and 4ft. chorus reeds and a big mixture on 12in. wind; perhaps the first instance of a set of heavy-pressure reeds being made available independently on two different manuals - a valuable device of which the modern builder has taken full advantage.*

(Dixon's footnote:
*This was re-introduced at St. John's College, Cambridge (Norman & Beard), 1902, at the request of my friend, Dr. Rootham.)

As Dixon states elsewhere, the floating reed/mixture division in Lewis's scheme for the People's Palace contained two mixtures, both prepared-for only, neither of which was inserted.

Incidentally it is worthy of note that Lewis usually enclosed his heavy solo reeds. The bombard division was strongly advocated by the late Carlton C. Michell, and was inserted by him in one or two organs in America.

Click here to view the stoplist of the organ at St. Luke, Germantown, PA, designed by Michell and built in 1894 by Cole & Woodberry.

Probably the best recent example in this country is to be found at Leeds Parish Church (Dr. Bairstow's design, 1913), though it is incomplete. In this case the 16ft. and 8ft. tubas are enclosed in the solo box, together with a powerful five rank mixture on heavy wind. Mr. Alfred Hollins, however, has included a complete bombard division in his fine organ for Johannesburg Town Hall, 1916:-

    32       Contra Trombone  (tc)
    16       Trombone
     8       Harmonic Horn
     8       Trompette Harmonique
    5 1/3    Horn Quint
     4       Clarion Harmonique
   VI-VII    Grande Fourniture  12.15.19.22.26.29
             12in. wind throughout

The whole is enclosed in the solo box, and is playable from any or all four manuals. There is in addition an unenclosed tuba 8ft. (16in. wind) on the solo organ. Here we have what is perhaps the only specimen in the world of a manual reed of 32ft. pitch.*

(Dixon's footnote:
*Even this was foreshadowed by Casson in a design for a large swell organ given to the writer some twenty years ago, which comprised a contra fagotto ten.C 32ft. It was probably inserted with a view to obtaining a 16ft. reed on his echo organ by octave duplication rather than to enrich the swell ensemble.)

The quint reed is also noticeable. The only examples in this country are at Ely (swell), and in the large chamber organ which belonged to the late Mr. J.M. Boustead. Such stops probably obtain on the continent, and a quint reed was certainly included by Cavaillé-Coll in his proposed tonal scheme for St. Peter's at Rome. What the effect of a family of reeds of his type would have been in such a building we can only conjecture. It is said that the blend of tone of the Johannesburg bombard is admirable while the crescendo is most thrilling; this is only to be expected. A complete bombard division will be one of the important features in the reconstruction of the Albert Hall organ, London; but there will be four manual claviers only.

Hollins was influenced in his design for Johannesburg by his friend Dixon. The Horn Quint had been paid for by Dixon, and introduced at his suggestion, in the 1908 Ely organ.

Dixon might also have mentioned the Bombarde division in his own design for St. Paul, Toronto, 1914, on which Hollins' Bombarde appears to be closely modelled:

      8      Stentorphone
     VI      Grande Fourniture 12.15.19.22.26.29
     16      Trombone
      8      Tuba Sonora
      8      Trompette Harmonique
     5 1/3   Quint Tromba          
      4      Clairon Harmonique
             unenclosed:
      8      Tuba Mirabilis
      4      Octave Tuba
             (Grande fourniture 8in., rest 16in.  
              All unaffected by octave couplers)

The Bombard division of the Solo organ at the Royal Albert Hall, London, was to have the following disposition:

   
     16      Bombardon
      8      Tuba
      8      Orchestral Trumpet
      8      Cornopean
     5 1/3   Quint Trumpet         
      4      Orchestral Clarion
      V      Sesquialtera  12.15.17.19.22
             Octave
             Suboctave
             Unison off
             unenclosed:
     16      Contra Tuba
      8      Tuba Mirabilis
      4      Tuba Clarion
             Tubas on Choir
             Bombard on Choir

On to the final part of the article