JULIAN RHODES' DREAM ORGANS
An organ was built by Renautus Harris in 1685 for the Royal Chapel in Whitehall, and was given to St. James's in 1691. Its disposition was:
Great: 8.8.4.4.3.2.IV.(V?).8.4.VIt was rebuilt and enlarged by Bishop in 1851 and Rothwell in the 1920s/30s, by which time it had a romantic specification of 35 stops as follows:
Choir: 8.8.4.4.2.8
Echo: 8.4.II.8
Great: 16.8.8.8.8.8.4.4.III.8.4In the 1980s an appeal was launched for a new organ by Frobenius, to cost £175,000. The publicity leaflet stated:
Swell: 16.8.8.8.8.4.2.III.16.8.8.4
Choir: 8.8.8.8.4.8.8
Pedal: 16.16.16.8.16
The visual effect of the case has been spoilt by extensions and the interior of the organ, much altered, is now beyond repair. The instrument recently fell silent and is unplayable. However, the splendid case could easily be restored and much of the original pipework is well worth preserving.The new organ was to be "modelled closely on Harris's original scheme and incorporating all his pipework that survives. It should be housed entirely within the old casework." Though the proposed stoplist may have taken the Harris disposition as a starting-point, it deviates far from it into the 1980s Eurpean mainstream, with a 16ft. Dulcian, celestes and a 32ft. Bassoon included in its 39 stops. But it is attractively characterful and coherent.
The stoplist and appeal leaflet appeared in 'The Organ Club Journal', May 1986. Since that time the old Harris/Bishop/Rothwell organ is still in situ and there have been no recent announcements about the progress of the appeal.GREAT 16 Bourdon 8 Open Diapason 8 Stopt Diapason 4 Principal 4 Flute 2 2/3 Twelfth 2 Fifteenth IV Fourniture V Cornet 8 Trumpet 4 Clarion CHAIRE 8 Stopt Diapason 4 Principal 4 Flute 2 Gemshorn 1 1/3 Larigot 1 Twenty-Second II Sesquialtera III Scharf 16 Dulcian 8 Crumhorn Tremulant ECHO 8 Bourdon 8 Salicional 8 Unda Maris 4 Flute 2 2/3 Nazard 2 Fifteenth 1 3/5 Tierce II Cymbal 8 Trumpet Tremulant PEDAL 16 Subbass 8 Principal 8 Flute transmission from Great 4 Octave transmission from Great III Mixture 32 Bassoon 16 Trumpet 8 Trumpet 4 Clarion transmission from Great Mechanical action throughout. Compass: 58/32.
Bevington installed a substantial instrument here in 1854; it was rebuilt by Hill in 1869 and 1912, and by Hill, Norman & Beard in about 1929. R. Spurnden Rutt & Co. Ltd. rebuilt it once more in 1935/6, leaving it with 90 stops on three manuals. (Click here to see the Bevington and Rutt stoplists.)Paul Stubbings recalled in 1996:
By the 1970s the electrics became, in the words of a leading organ builder "a maze of fast-deteriorating cables, relays and multipoint switches... under some circumstances considered a fire-risk... of poor quality, much of it Post Office surplus". Visitors to the instrument have little difficulty in recalling all manner of sparks between the keys and the smell of burning rubber as the organ approached fortissimo.At the end of the 1970s the church was considering a proposal for a new 39-stop organ by J.W. Walker & Sons. This came to nothing, but by 1985 an appeal was underway for a new organ by Frobenius. The proposed 43-stop instrument was to be as follows:
This proposal came to nothing, and the church reverted to Walker as its builder of choice. Finally, in 1990, a new 48-stop Walker organ was installed.GREAT 16 Principal 8 Oktav 8 Spidsfløjte 4 Oktav 4 Fløjte 2 2/3 Quint 2 Oktav 1 3/5 Terts - Mixtur 8 Trompet 4 Trompet SWELL 8 Principal 8 Viola di Gamba 8 Celeste 8 Rørfløjte 4 Oktav 4 Fløjte 2 2/3 Quint 2 Fløjte 1 3/5 Terts - Mixtur 16 Fagot 8 Trompet 8 Oboe Tremulant RÜCKPOSITIV 8 Principal 8 Gedakt 4 Oktav 4 Gemshorn 2 Svegl 1 1/3 Quint 1 Sivfløjte - Scharf 8 Dulcian Tremulant PEDAL 16 Principal 16 Subbas 8 Oktav 8 Gedakt 4 Oktav - Mixtur 32 Fagot 16 Basun 8 Trompet 4 Skalmej 5 unison couplers (no Swell to Rückpositiv). Compass: 56/30.(Paul Stubbings was quoted in 'The Organ' quarterly, Summer 1996; the Frobenius stoplist appeared in 'The Organ Club Journal', July 1985.)