JULIAN RHODES' DREAM ORGANS
PROPOSALS WHICH REMAINED ON PAPER

Between 1922 and 1932 an organ was built by Hele & Co. (Plymouth), with 26 stops on three manuals. In 1934 an Aeolian residence organ was added, forming a Solo division; Aeolian pipes were also incorporated into the Swell and Pedal, and other tonal modifications made. The rather unusual, sprawling stoplist was now as follows:

I CHOIR (unenclosed)
     8       Lieblich Gedeckt
     8       Dulciana
     4       Lieblich Flöte   
 
I SOLO (enclosed)
     8       Bell Diapason
     8       Hohlflöte
     8       Gedeckt
     8       Viole
     8       Viole Céleste
     8       Cone Gamba
     8       Vox Angelica
     8       Quintatön
     4       Principal             not Aeolian
     4       Octave Viole
     4       Concert Flute 
     2       Flageolet
     8       Trumpet
     8       Orchestral Oboe       Musette
     8       Corno di Bassetto     free reed
     8       Clarinette            not Aeolian           
 
II GREAT
    16       Double Diapason       part from Pedal
     8       Open Diapason I
     8       Open Diapason II      extension
     8       Claribel Flute
     8       Stopped Diapason
     4       Principal
     4       Harmonic Flute
    2 2/3    Twelfth
     2       Fifteenth
     8       Trumpet               h.p.           
 
III SWELL
    16       Gedeckt               Aeolian
     8       Open Diapason
     8       Violin Diapason
     8       Gedeckt               extension; Aeolian
     8       Flauto Traverso
     8       Rohrflöte
     8       Salicional
     8       Aeoline
     8       Voix Céleste
     4       Gemshorn
     4       Gedeckt               extension; Aeolian
     1       Salicet               (sic - j.r.)
    III      Echo Cornet
    16       Contra Posaune        extension
     8       Cornopean
     4       Clarion               extension            
 
PEDAL
    32       Contra Bourdon        to EEEE; Aeolian
    16	     Open Diapason         wood
    16	     Open Diapason         metal; Great
    16       Violone               wood; Aeolian
    16       Grand Bourdon         extension; Aeolian
    16       Sub Bass
    16       Dulciana              Aeolian
    16       Gedeckt               Swell
     8       Octave                wood; extension
     8       Principal             extension
     8       Viola                 extension; Aeolian
     8       Gedeckt               extension; Swell
     4       Gedeckt               extension; Swell
    16       Trombone              h.p.
    16       Fagotto               Swell
     8       Trumpet               extension; h.p.
     4       Clarion               extension; h.p.
 
Octave couplers for Swell and Choir; other unison couplers
but no Solo to Great.
 
"Pneumo-electro-pneumatic" action.

Ralph Downes (1904-1993) was called in as consultant. He had spent seven years, between 1928 and 1935, as organist and director of music at Princeton University Chapel NJ, and was familiar with the progressive American style of G. Donald Harrison. The two men collaborated on a revised scheme for the Buckfast organ in 1939, but the outbreak of war in the same year prevented work from going ahead. It was not until 1947 that a fresh start was made, to a much reduced and revised scheme by Ralph Downes.

Here is the 1939 Downes/Harrison proposal. All registers were to be new, except where stated in the right-hand column.

I BRUSTWERK (choir aisle, east)
    16       Quintade
     8       Koppelflöte
     8       Viola da Gamba              old Solo Cone Gamba
     8       Vox Angelica                old Solo
     4       Spitzflöte
    2 2/3    Nassat
     2       Blockflöte
    1 3/5    Terz
    IV       Scharf
    16       Dulzian
             Brustwerk on manual III
 
I POSITIV (choir aisle, east or centre)
     8       Quintade
     4       Rohrflöte
     2       Principal
    1 1/3    Larigot
     1       Sifflöte
    II       Sesquialtera 12
    III      Zimbel
     8       Krummhorn
 
II GREAT (triforium centre)
    16       Bordun
     8       Principal
     8       Spitzflöte
     8       Bordun
     4       Prestant
     4       Flute Ouverte
    2 2/3    Nazard
     2       Doublette
    1 3/5    Tierce
    III      Cornet 12
    IV       Fourniture 12
    IV       Cymbel 26
    16       Bombarde
     8       Trompette    (the 3 reeds in old French style)
     4       Clairon
 
III SWELL (enclosed, triforium east)
    16       Lieblich Gedeckt             old Swell
     8       Diapason                     old Swell or Great
     8       Hohlflöte                    old Solo or Great
     8       Gedeckt                      old Solo
     8       Quintatön                    old Solo
     8       Viole de Gambe               old Solo
     8       Violes Célestes              old Solo
     4       Concert Flute                old Solo
     4       Fugara                       old Solo Viole
     2       Flageolet                    old Solo
    II       Sesquialtera 12
    VI       Pleinjeu Doux
    16       Fagot
     8       Trompette                    old tubes?
     8       Basson-Hautbois
     8       Clarinet                     old Solo
     4       Clairon
 
IV ECHO (enclosed, triforium west)
     8       Rohrflöte                    old Swell
     8       Flauto                       old Swell
     8       Salicional                   old Swell
     8       Céleste                      old Swell
     8       Dulciana                     old Choir
     4       Salicet                      old
     4       Lieblich Flöte               old Choir
    III      Echo Mixture                 old Swell
 
PEDAL (choir aisle west)
    16       Principal or Contrebasse     old Pedal
    16       Bourdon                      old Aeolian
    16       Dulciana                     old Aeolian
    16       Echo Lieblich                Swell
     8       Violoncello    
     8       Flötenbass
     8       Still Gedeckt                Swell 16ft.
     4       Choralbass
     4       Rohrflöte
     2       Nachthorn
    II       Sesquialtera 12
    IV       Mixture
    III      Cymbel
    16       Bombarde                     old French type; old tubes?
     8       Trompette                    old French type
     4       Clairon                      old French type
     4       Rohr Schalmei
     2       Cornet

This scheme was not made public before the outbreak of war; had it been so, the howls of outrage from the British organ community would have been amusing.

In many salient points this design anticipates the controversial instrument at the Royal Festival Hall, London, installed to Downes's design in 1954. There is the generous provision of mutations and mixturework, the French reeds, the lack of concern for the contemporary British obsession with 8ft. Open Diapasons and Pedal Open Woods; the trans-national nature of the whole.

The only thing to prefigure this revolutionary scheme was the 1936 Willis III Echo/Traditional division at the Colston Hall, Bristol. But even Willis would not have approved of the Buckfast scheme, a fundamental revision to the very nature of the British organ as it had developed for over 80 years.

This would have been the only substantial example of a G. Donald Harrison scheme to be built in England. It was not to be, and another fifteen years was to elapse before the Royal Festival Hall.

(Information from 'Baroque Tricks' by Ralph Downes, Oxford 1983)