JULIAN RHODES' DREAM ORGANS
Cecil Clutton's (1909-91) early articles for 'The Organ' quarterly reveal an astute critic and tonal architect who, in his economy of design and wholistic vision, carried the flame of George Dixon with forward-looking vision.Clutton was notable for his contributions to the issue of the multim in parvo organ, the provision of maximum tonal resources and flexibility from a limited number of stops. Owing to rising costs after the first and second world wars, this consideration loomed large from the the 1920s onwards.
Clutton's first foray into the field was a letter in the January 1929 issue. He had been inspired by Norman Cocker's proposals in the October 1928 issue, and used them as a basis for his own ideal organ of around 20 stops.
I GREAT enclosed: 8 Lieblich Gedackt stopped wood and metal 8 Aeoline 8 Voix Céleste tc 2 2/3 Nazarde stopped metal Tremulant Enclosed section On unenclosed: 16 Bourdon 8 Open Diapason 4 Principal 2 Fifteenth 8 Tromba from Solo Unenclosed section On II SWELL 8 Geigen Diapason 8 Clarabella wood 4 Gemshorn III Mixture 15.19.22 16 Waldhorn extra 8ve of pipes at top? 8 Trompette extra 8ve of pipes at top? Octaves on reeds Unison off on reeds III SOLO 8 Flûte Harmonique 8 Clarinet 8 Tromba Swell reeds on Solo Great enclosed on Solo Octave Unison Off Suboctave Tremulant (light wind) PEDAL 16 Contrebasse wood and metal 16 Sub-Bass from Great 8 Viola metal, extension 8 Flute from Great 4 Octave Flute from Great 16 Waldhorn from Swell
Clutton wrote:
He noted that "an open stop of some kind on the pedals is money well spent", and decided that a pungent string-toned wooden rank would combine the gravity of the open wood with the prompt speech of the open metal. He also remarked that duplexing a 16ft. swell Oboe as the sole pedal reed would give a weak effect, and decided that a Waldhorn would give better support for full organ. Unsurprisingly for the time, he felt obliged to defend the inclusion both of a 2 2/3ft. flute and a fifteenth.By adopting the third manual in fairly small instruments, resources are immensely enhanced; but surely the great advantages of a third manual are (a) that it enables orchestral use of the tuba or tromba and (b) that it allows the presence of a real solo flute which cannot very wellbe worked in on a two-manual organ.
In the October 1930 issue Clutton wrote a letter responding to an article by George W. Stanley jun. in the July 1930 issue entitled 'Some American Views on Two Manual Church Organ Design'. Stanley's suggested stoplists were largely vehicles for the production of pastel tone-colours. Clutton wrote:
Clutton's suggested scheme was as follows:From time immemorial the principal glory of the organ has been its ringing chorus of diapasons.... An organ without this full complement sounds dead and uninteresting in the extreme. It is not a miniature of a large organ, but rather an organ with its head cut off...
The smallest organ which should be tolerated is surely that which provides one complete manual ensemble, independent pedals, and one each of the four chief families of tone...
GREAT unenclosed: 8 Open Diapason enclosed: 8 Rohr Flöte 4 Gemshorn III Echo Cornet 12.15.17 SWELL 8 Salicional 8 Closed Horn PEDAL 16 Bourdon 8 Gedackt 4 Flute (last two by extension)
Clutton commented:
The provision of a three-rank cornet as the first mixture stop in an organ was favoured by Willis III in his small organs of this period. Contemporary commentators were highly enthusiastic about these registers; Clutton himself, writing about the 1933 Willis III organ at St. John, Eden Park, Beckenham in the January 1936 issue of 'The Organ', said:The absolute necessity for mutations is now fully realised by the majority of those interested in tonal design, but they are passed over by Mr. Stanley as "ear-ticklers", so that he evidently cannot have gone very deeply into the matter. The chapter in Dom Bédos upon registration deals very fully with the use of mutations, yet how many have read this stupendous work?...
The echo cornet in the scheme I have suggested can perfectly well fulfil both the function of a mutation stop and a chorus creating register (given suitable voicing) as has been shown in practice time and time again...
Clutton wrote that the Closed Horn was:... I consider it the most astounding compound stop of my acquaintance, and I have specialised in the study of these more than any others. The twelfth is of fairly bright lieblich tone, the fifteenth a silvery geigen and the seventeenth approximately a dulciana. It can be used as a solo mutation register with any of the swell fluework (with the 4ft. flute it is particularly effective), or it can even be played in chords with the sylvestrina if the box be shut; yet as against this it produces a full and satisfactory top for the full organ.
By 1940 Clutton's interest in the historically accurate performance of early music, and his enthusiasm for continental organs, were increasingly evident. As his ideas evolved and gained individuality, his earlier enthusiasm for the organs of Henry Willis III had been replaced by something more truly cosmopolitan. The following stoplist is from an article in the October 1940 issue, and was intended to be "the very smallest baroque organ which could genuinely compete with all classes of organ music written prior to 1800"....as far as I know, the invention of Messrs. Rushworth & Dreaper... It combines great ring and brilliance with a rich and sustained quality of tone which produces an effect of size in even the smallest instruments in a most deceptive manner. In addition, its comparatively refined tone palls on the ear less rapidly than the brazen clang of the trumpet; and that, after all, is one of the primary considerations in designing a small organ.
I BOMBARD 16 Krummhorn 8 Trumpet Great to Bombard Choir to Bombard II GREAT 8 Rohrflöte stopped metal 4 Principal 2 Octave III Fourniture 19 Choir Sub8ve to Great III CHOIR 8 Dolce stopped wood and open metal 4 Quintade stopped metal II Sesquialtera 12.17 wide scale II Rauschquint 15.19 narrow scale PEDAL 16 Bourdon 8 Holzprincipal 4 Gemshorn III Cornet 19.22.24 Bombard to Pedal Bombarde 8ve to Pedal Great to Pedal Choir to Pedal Great Fourniture: CC 19 22 26 TF sharp 12 19 22 f1 sharp 12 15 19 f2 sharp 1 12 15
This scheme was pared to the bone in the January 1941 issue, in a stoplist which Clutton describes as "the smallest organ that would be of any general artistic use".GREAT 8 Gedackt 4 Principal Swell/Choir to Great SWELL or CHOIR 8 Dolce stopped wood and open metal III Mixture 15 PEDAL 16 Bordun 8 Bordun extension 4 Bordun extension Great to Pedal Swell/Choir to Pedal Swell Mixture: CC 15 19 22 TG sharp 8 15 19 c2 8 12 15
Clutton commented:
The article also contained Clutton's scheme for a 3-manual 20-stop organ:Such an instrument could not, of course, be more than a practice organ or for use in a tiny church or chapel, but one could play on it practically the whole of Bach, including the trio-sonatas; and it would produce some sort of effect for much modern music. I particularly wish to draw attention to the composition of the mixture which, though belonging to the Great can, owing to its disposition, also be used alone with the dolce to produce some sort of a full choir or full swell effect.
GREAT 16 Gedackt wood 8 Diapason 8 Holzflöte wood 4 Octave 2 Fifteenth V Fourniture 12 Choir Sub8ve to Great Choir to Great Swell to Great Swell 8ve to Great CHOIR 8 Rohr Flöte metal 8 Dulciana 4 Nachthorn metal 2 Gemshorn II Sesquialtera 12.17 Tremolo Swell to Choir SWELL 8 Viola 4 Geigen Principal III Scharf 15 16 Krummhorn 8 Trumpet Tremolo 8ve Sub8ve Unison Off Great to Swell PEDAL 16 Contra Bass wood and metal 16 Gedackt Great 8 Octave extension 8 Gedackt Great 4 Gedackt Great IV Cornet 15.19.22.24 16 Posaune metal 16 Krummhorn Swell Great to Pedal Choir to Pedal Swell to Pedal Swell 8ve to Pedal Great Fourniture: CC 12 19 22 26 29 TC 12 15 19 22 26 C1 5 12 15 19 22 C2 5 8 12 15 19 C3 1 5 8 12 15 Swell Scharf: CC 15 19 22 G2 sharp 1 15 19 G3 sharp 1 12 15 G4 sharp 1 5 8
Clutton wrote that this scheme
Clutton also remarked that the Great to Swell coupler allows a single part on full organ to be brought out against an accompaniment on full Great only, providing an effective substitute for a tuba. He concludes by saying that:would be a complete solo and accompanimental instrument, in which not one stop is superfluous. Nor could a stop be added to it without to some extent spoiling the now perfect balance. That, I think, is an essential feature of any sound design: it should be absolutely final as it stands.
The man who cannot build a perfect organ with thirty speaking stops or more at his disposal should go back and re-learn his job; but he who can build a perfect organ of twenty speaking stops or less is the greater artist.
Julian Rhodes
July/August 1999