ORGANS AND ORGANISTS
THE WEST COAST STORY
ORGAN HISTORICAL TRUST OF AUSTRALIA 27th ANNUAL CONFERENCE
PERTH, WESTERN AUSTRALIA, 25-29 SEPTEMBER 2004
IMPORTED ORGANS
Hill & Son, London
ST LUKE'S ANGLICAN CHURCH, MOSMAN PARK
St Luke's Church was designed by architect James William Wright; the foundation stone was laid in 1897. Wright was born in England in 1854 and after serving his articles there, arrived in Perth in 1881 following four years in Adelaide. He was also responsible for several buildings at the Ascot Racecourse at Belmont.
The organ was imported for Mr George Hillman and was built in 1893 by Hill & Son, London (job no. 2115). It was moved to St Luke's in 1905, probably by R.C. Clifton, who added casework and a tremulant. The instrument is of compact dimensions and thus the Great Gedeckt (with metal trebles) provides the bass octave for most of the Swell. A similar arrangement may be found in the 1879 Hill & Son organ now at Wesley College, Glen Waverley, Victoria. In the early 1990s, the Hill Dulciana was transposed to form a Fifteenth, but the tenor octave pipework has been stored and this change is reversible. The organ was fully restored in 2000 by F.J. Larner and Co and Pipe Organs WA as a joint project which has included a restoration of the facade decoration and the casework, with new side panelling. The project consultant was Anne Page, a well known Perth Organist who has been based in Cambridge, England since 1978. The instrument retains its characteristic Hill sound and console details, including scrolled key cheeks.
|
GREAT
|
|
|
|
SWELL
|
|
|
|
Open Diapason
|
8
|
|
|
Hohl Flute
|
8
|
|
|
Gedeckt
|
8
|
|
|
Salicional
|
8
|
|
|
Principal
|
4
|
|
|
Wald Flute
|
4
|
|
|
Fifteenth
|
2
|
|
|
Oboe
|
8
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tremulant
|
|
|
|
Compass: 56/30
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2 couplers
|
|
|
|
PEDAL
|
|
|
|
2 composition pedals to Great
|
|
|
|
Bourdon
|
16
|
|
Mechanical key and stop actions
Attached drawknob console
• Ian Molyneux, Looking around Perth: a guide to the architecture of Perth and surrounding towns. East Fremantle: Wescolour Press, 1981, p.40
William Hill & Son and Norman & Beard Ltd, London
TRINITY UNITING CHURCH, PERTH
Trinity Church has probably the most distinctive style of architecture among the churches of the City of Perth, which are predominantly in the Gothic idiom. Trinity is of American Romanesque style and was designed by architect Henry S. Trigg ARVIA and built in 1893 in the heady days of the goldrush when architects emigrated to the West to find work. Trigg was the first locally trained architect to practise in the West. The Church is the third to be built on this site. The second still stands behind the present church, serving as a hall. It is classified by the National Trust and was built at around the same time as the Barracks Arch and the Town Hall, of similar brickwork. The main facade of the church incorporates twin flanking towers capped by octagonal spires roofed in slate, a rose window and large entrance portal. The interior is of note for its galleries and their cast iron balustrading and stained glass by Ashwin of Sydney.
The organ was built by William Hill & Son and Norman & Beard Ltd of London in 1929 and is the second organ to be placed in the church. The original was a Norman & Beard organ of 1892 now at St Patrick's Church, Mt Lawley. The instrument is comparable in size with the contemporary and intact Hill, Norman & Beard instrument at St Peter's Anglican Church, Ballarat, Victoria. The casework, of three broad flats with finely carved pipeshades, is of fine quality and likely to have been designed by Philip Selfe, of the organbuilding firm.
The organ was restored in 1963 without alteration by Paul F. Hufner. Further mechanical refurbishment, with tonal additions, took place in 1993 by F.J. Larner and Co. The original "Christie style" coupler and combination mechanisms are stored within the church. The overall Hill, Norman & Beard sound, of great boldness, and delightful softer colours and reeds, has been preserved.
|
GREAT
|
|
|
|
SWELL
|
|
|
|
|
Open Diapason
|
|
8
|
|
Bourdon
|
16
|
|
|
|
Stopped Diapason
|
|
8
|
|
Open Diapason
|
8
|
|
|
|
Dulciana
|
|
8
|
A
|
Lieblich Gedackt
|
8
|
|
|
|
Principal
|
|
4
|
|
Salicional
|
8
|
|
|
|
Orchestral Flute
|
|
4
|
|
Unda Maris
|
8
|
TC
|
|
|
Twelfth
|
|
2–2/3
|
*
|
Gemshorn
|
4
|
|
|
|
Fifteenth
|
|
2
|
|
Mixture
|
III
|
|
|
|
Fourniture
|
|
IV
|
*
|
Horn
|
8
|
|
|
|
Trumpet
|
|
8
|
B
|
Oboe
|
8
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CHOIR
|
|
|
|
PEDAL
|
|
|
|
|
Claribel Flute
|
|
8
|
|
Open Diapason
|
16
|
|
|
|
Viole d'Orchestre
|
|
8
|
|
Bourdon
|
16
|
C
|
|
|
Flauto Traverso
|
|
4
|
|
Bass Flute
|
8
|
C
|
|
|
Cornet
|
|
III
|
*
|
Dulciana
|
8
|
A
|
*
|
|
Clarinet
|
|
8
|
|
Dulcet
|
4
|
A
|
*
|
|
Trumpet
|
|
8
|
B
|
Trombone
|
16
|
B
|
*
|
|
|
|
|
|
Trumpet
|
8
|
B
|
*
|
* 1993 additions
Compass: 61/30
11 couplers
Electro–pneumatic action
Detached drawknob console; ivory keyboards and drawknobs
• Ian Molyneux, Looking around Perth: a guide to the architecture of Perth
and surrounding towns. East Fremantle: Wescolour Press, 1981, p.19.
Albert Moser, Munich, Germany
NEW NORCIA: ABBEY CHURCH OF THE HOLY TRINITY
The first parts of this building date from 1855–60, constructed of bush stones, mud plaster and rough–hewn tree trunks. It originally consisted of a simple cruciform plan of nave, transepts and sanctuary, of classical proportions. The retro choir was added in 1870 behind the high altar and choir screen. Abbot Fulgentius Torres designed the stucco facade with its lofty pediment, and the bell tower with its clock and turret, which were added in 1907–08.
The organ was designed in consultation with the Abbey Organist Dom Moreno and built in 1922 by Albert Moser of Munich. It was displayed at the German trade exhibition in Munich in 1922 before it was dismantled, packed in 24 zinc–lined cases and shipped to Australia, arriving at Fremantle on 21 April 1923. It was installed at New Norcia from April to August 1923 by Dom Stephen Moreno, assisted by his brother Dom Henry Moreno, Dom Boniface Gomez, Dom Vincent Quindos and an aboriginal boy Harry Weston. The opening concert was given by Stephen Moreno on Sunday 2 September 1923.
The organ is totally enclosed within massive swell boxes with shutters at the front and on top of the organ. The oak casework, of elaborate neo–classical design, incorporates five flats of non–speaking pipes and fine carvings especially on the front of the reversed console and on the pediment, at the top of the case. The instrument is of interest, particularly for the comprehensive series of solo mutations on Manual II, extremely advanced for the time, its generous tonal structure and wide dynamic range.
A refurbishment of the organ by Belsham Pipe Organs (WA) took place in 1978. Many of the pipe mouths were found to be blocked by candle grease. The concrete floor on which the organ was placed was sealed and the organ reinstated to its former level, supported on a new steel frame. A new Discus blower, of high capacity, and new wind regulators were installed. The sliderless chests were electrified simply by using electro–magnets to operate the primary pneumatic motors. Many of the timbers in the chests and console case had split so badly, owing to climatic extremes, that they had to be restored by the insertion of new pieces of timber. The complicated original console pneumatics operating the couplers and the accessories were also removed and replaced by a combination of solid state and direct electrical switching – they still exist in a room at the top of the Monastery buildings.
Further work was carried out in 1997 with the replacement of the wind regulators with a very large floating frame reservoir and new wind trunking, designed by Lynn Kirkham and approximating as closely as possible to the original design. These were manufactured and installed by Pipe Organs Builders and Services.
|
MANUAL I (enclosed)
|
|
|
|
MANUAL II (enclosed)
|
|
|
|
|
Bourdon
|
16
|
A (wood)
|
|
Rohrflöte
|
16
|
*
|
|
|
Principal
|
8
|
(wood bass)
|
|
Viola di Gamba
|
8
|
*
|
|
|
Soloflöte
|
8
|
(wood)
|
|
Aeoline
|
8
|
*
|
|
|
Unda Maris TC
|
8
|
(wood)
|
|
Vox Coelestis
|
8
|
*
|
|
|
Dulciana
|
8
|
(wood bass)
|
|
Konzertflöte
|
8
|
*
|
(wood)
|
|
Oktav
|
4
|
|
|
Gedeckt
|
8
|
*
|
(wood)
|
|
Mixtur III
|
2
|
|
|
Fernflöte
|
4
|
|
|
|
Solo–Trompete
|
8
|
|
|
Gemshorn
|
4
|
*
|
|
|
Tremolo I Man
|
|
|
|
Nassard
|
2–2/3
|
|
|
|
Manual–Koppel II–I
|
Piccolo
|
2
|
|
(harmonic)
|
|
- (stopkey, thumb piston and toe lever)
|
Terzflöte
|
1–3/5
|
|
|
|
Suboktav––Koppel II–I
|
Septime
|
1–1/7
|
|
|
|
- (stopkey & thumb piston)
|
None
|
8/9
|
|
|
|
Superoktav–Koppel II–I
|
Harm. aetheria
|
2–2/3
|
V
|
|
|
- (stopkey & thumb piston)
|
(selects 2–2/3, 2, 1–3/5, 1–1/7, 8/9)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cimbal
|
1–1/3
|
III
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Eng. Horn
|
16
|
*
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Clarinett
|
8
|
*
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Vox Humana
|
8
|
*
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Clarine
|
4
|
*
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tremolo II Man
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
* 70 notes for use with super–octave coupler
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
PEDAL
|
|
|
|
VENTILS
|
|
|
|
|
Echobass
|
16
|
A
|
|
Engl. Horn
|
16
|
ab
|
|
|
Subbass
|
16
|
(wood)
|
|
Clarinett
|
8
|
ab
|
|
|
Contrabass
|
16
|
(wood)
|
|
Vox Humana
|
8
|
ab
|
|
|
Dolcebass
|
8
|
(wood bass)
|
|
Clarine
|
4
|
ab
|
|
|
Gedecktbass
|
8
|
B
|
|
Calkant
|
|
|
|
|
Violon
|
8
|
(wood bass)
|
|
Rohrwerke
|
|
ab
|
|
|
Bombard
|
16
|
(wood bass with
|
|
Solo–Trompete
|
|
ab
|
|
|
|
|
metal trebles)
|
|
Bombard
|
16
|
ab
|
|
|
|
|
I. Man.
|
|
ab
|
(hitch–down lever)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Pedal–Koppel I.M. (stopkey, thumb piston & toe lever)
Pedal–Koppel II.M (stopkey ,thumb piston & toe lever)
Superoktav Koppel II.z.Ped. (stopkey & thumb piston)
ACCESSORIES
Crescendo an (balanced crescendo pedal and hand lever)
Ped. Reg. II. Man. ab
Feste Pedalumsch. ab
Handreg. z. Schweller
Transpositeur (hand lever, up or down two semitones)
REGISTRATION PISTONS
Freie Comb. an.
A.L. (cancel)
P.P., P., M.F., F., F.F.
Compass: 58/30
Detached stopkey console (pedal stopkeys duplicated for independent use with Man.I and II)
Free combination operated by miniature drawknobs
Balanced swell pedals (manual I, manual II) with indicators.
• Ian Molyneux, Looking around Perth: a guide to the architecture of Perth and surrounding towns. East Fremantle: Wescolour Press, 1981, pp.127–9.
• Information supplied by Jeremy Fletcher, July 2004.
ORGANS OF INDIGENOUS MANUFACTURE
Robert Cecil Clifton, Perth
ST AIDAN'S UNITING CHURCH, CLAREMONT
This instrument is the earliest example of the work of Robert Cecil Clifton and was completed in 1878. In 1879 it was moved to St John's Anglican Church, Fremantle and in 1884 to St Matthew's Anglican Church, Guildford. It was installed in its present location in 1912 by J.E. Dodd who carried out an overhaul, with changes to the original tonal scheme that included a Labial Oboe and Viole d'Orchestre. In 1975 an overhaul was carried out by F.J. Larner and Co., with further modifications to the tonal scheme including upperwork, followed by a more comprehensive restoration in 1987 when the tonal scheme reverted back more closely to the original, although the Swell Trumpet and Quint have remained. In 1999 the organ was cleaned and the bellows releathered by F.J. Larner and Co. The facade pipes were restencilled by Pipe Organs WA. Five ranks of Clifton pipework remain in the organ, some only partially surviving.