JULIAN RHODES' DREAM ORGANS
The small market town of Bolsover lies in the heart of the coal-mining area of north-east Derbyshire. In 1956 Henry Willis III visited St. Mary's Church to inspect the organ installed by Brindley & Foster of Sheffield in the 1920s. The stoplist is recorded as follows in the Willis archive:This specification is not untypical of contemporary instruments by Brindley & Foster. The unusual stop names were little more than window-dressing for a standard complement of pipes: 'Flute Fondamentale' was a Hohl Flute; 'Stentorphone' was an Open Diapason; 'Tibia Mirabilis' was a Gedact, and so on.GREAT 16 Contra Flute 8 Open Diapason 8 Flute Fondamentale 8 Dolce 4 Flute Octaviante 2 Fifteenth SWELL 8 Stentorphone 8 Tibia Mirabilis 8 Viole de Orchestre 8 Unda Maris 4 Octave Viol 8 Cornopean PEDAL 32 Double Bass 16 Major Bass 16 Minor Bass 3 unison couplers, Swell 8ve & Sub8ve.
Willis described the organ as "dreadful and of a debased Brindley period", and immediately suggested tonal improvements - a 4ft. principal instead of the 4ft. flute on Great; a Swell mixture and 16ft. reed; 8ft. and 4ft. flutes on the Pedal. The church was still debating whether to go ahead with the work when the organ was destroyed by fire early in 1960.
Willis wasted no time, and on January 19th 1960 he submitted a proposal for a new organ to be based on the redundant 1903 Lewis from Glasgow City Hall. This instrument was a beefy four-manual with 53 speaking stops, as follows:
GREAT: 16.16.8.8.8.8.4.4.2 2/3.2.IV.16.8.4Willis proposed to keep the majority of the pipework with some alterations and additions. His suggested scheme, with three manuals and 59 stops, was amazingly ambitious for a not very large church in a working-class area.
SWELL: 16.8.8.8.8.8.4.4.2.V.16.8.8.4
CHOIR: 16.8.8.8.4.4.2
SOLO: 8.8.8.4.16.8.8.8
PEDAL: 32.16.16.16.16.8.8.8.16.8
The price for this scheme was to be in the region of 14,000 pounds. The church, perhaps overwhelmed by the magnitude of Willis's aspirations for them, decided to purchase a smaller organ. By coincidence, this also used material from a Lewis organ from Glasgow (St. George's). For 8,850 pounds the church got a Willis organ of three manuals and 32 speaking stops, quite adequate for their needs.GREAT 16 Double Open Diapason 8 Open Diapason No.1 8 Open Diapason No.2 8 Stopped Diapason 8 Aeolian 4 Octave Diapason 4 Flute Couverte 2 2/3 Twelfth 2 Fifteenth IV Mixture 19.22.26.29 16 Contra Tromba 8 Tromba 4 Octave Tromba (reeds enclosed in their own swell box) SWELL 16 Quintade 8 Open Diapason 8 Rohr Flute 8 Viola da Gamba 8 Voix Celestes TC 4 Fugara 4 Gedeckt 2 Flautino III Chorus Mixture 15.19.22 III - V Cornet 12.15.17/1.8.12.15.17 16 Contra Fagotto 8 Trompette 8 Oboe 4 Clarion Tremolo POSITIF (manual 1: unenclosed) 8 Nachthorn 4 Gemshorn 4 Coppel 2 2/3 Nazard 2 Sifflote 1 3/5 Terz III Cimbel 26.29.33 Tremolo CHOIR-SOLO (manual 1: enclosed) 8 Hohl Flute 8 Violoncello 8 'Cello Celestes TC 4 Concert Flute 2 2/3 Solo Nazard 2 Piccolo 8 Cromorne 8 Flugel Horn Tremolo PEDAL 32 Sub Bass (resultant) 16 Open Bass 16 Violon 16 Salicional 16 Bordun 8 Octave (ext.) 8 Violoncello (ext.) 8 Bordun (ext.) 4 Super Octave (ext.) 4 Bordun (ext.) 2 Bordun (ext.) IV Mixture 12.17.19.22 32 Contra Trombone (ext.) 16 Trombone 8 Trumpet (ext.) 30 couplers. 3-way rocker tablet for: Positif - Both - Choir/Solo. Full complement of pistons & accessories.The organ from Glasgow City Hall went to the much larger Parish Church at nearby Chesterfield, where it was rebuilt by Willis in 1963 with 3 manuals and 56 speaking stops.
(Archival research: N. Tilley)
Back to the index of organ proposals | Back to the index of organ designs & stoplists | Back to the front page