Northern Territory




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Pipe organs and organ building in the Northern Territory

D.B. Duncan, June 2008

 

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Organ building in the Northern Territory has been hampered by three major factors:

  1. the remoteness of the region,
  2. the smallness of its population; and
  3. the tropical climate that creates difficulties for the organ builder. 

 

Creating a pipe organ for climatic conditions has always taxed the skill of the organ builder and is often beyond the ability of builders more accustomed to milder climates.  Quite apart from the extreme and prolonged heat and humidity of the tropics, there is also the devastating effect of cyclonic activity.  This factor has been an important consideration in the supply of instruments to the northern regions of Australia.

 

Nonetheless over a sixty year period from 1938 there have been three pipe organs in Darwin, two of which were in service and one in storage pending installation but removed before it became playable.  At the time of writing, there remains only one pipe organ in the Territory, the other two removed in 1974.  All of the central churches in Darwin city are now serviced by electronic instruments, at least two of which are sophisticated modern organs of high calibre and quality.



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Darwin
Darwin Symphony Orchestra, Charles Darwin University Performing Arts Centre, Rapid Creek Campus, Darwin.
B. 1980’s George Fincham & Sons Pty Ltd, Richmond, Australia, for the residence of Dr. Euan McLean, Canterbury, Melbourne.[i] 
Removed, cleaned, regulated and relocated to Darwin 1992 Australian Pipe Organs Pty Ltd.[ii]  1m., 4 sp.st., tr.  Man: 8.4.2-2/3.2 [iii]
Residence of Michael Pfitzner
B 1923 Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, North Tonawanda, USA. for Wintergarden Theatre, Brisbane;
inst J.E. Dodd.  2m, 7rks.ext, el.pn. Inst Plaza Theatre, Sydney 1937 J.E. Dodd; tibia rank added.
Sold c.1956 to Penn Hughes, Bexley, NSW, then to Michael Pfitzner, Darwin.[iv]  
Purchased by TOSA SA 1974.[v]  Enl & inst at present loc Capri Theatre, Goodwood Road, Adelaide, 1983. Enl 2002.
4m, 29rks.ext, el.pn.  Main: 16.16.8.16.8.8.8.8.8.8.16.8.8.8. Solo: 16.8.8.8.8.8.16.8.8.8.8.8.8.8. Stage: 16.
St. Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Cathedral, Smith Street, Darwin.
B 1938 E. F. Walcker & Cie, Ludwigsburg, Germany.  Erected in Darwin to commemorate the opening of the old Cathedral building (now demolished).  Relocated to new building August 1962.  Res. early 1970’s by Rudolf Hoffman, Paderborn, Germany.  The pipe organ was to be publicly played for the first time since restoration at the Midnight Mass, Christmas Eve of 1974, the night Cyclone Tracy devastated Darwin.  The organ was severely water and wind damaged.  It had been thought that the organ was totally destroyed and no trace of it remained either in the church or elsewhere.[vi]  However the organ was removed from the damaged building and transported to Adelaide where it is in storage.  The organ is not currently playable. 
This organ was thought to be  Walcker Opus 2649,[vii]  of 2m., 21 sp.st., el.pn., probably 3 rks. ext.  A similar instrument by the Walcker company, Opus 2637 also built in 1938, exists in the rear gallery of the St. Mary Magdelene RC Church, Rose Bay, New South Wales.[viii] [ix]  The Darwin organ was, however of 3 manuals and has probably more stops derived from the 3 extended ranks than the stated 21.  The opus number of the ex-Darwin organ could not be confirmed.[x]


 

 

References

 


[i] Gazetteer of Victorian Pipe Organs 

[ii] Robert Heatley, Australian Pipe Organs Pty Ltd, Melbourne.

  Mr Bruce Lindsay, former Director of Darwin Symphony Orchestra.

  Associate Professor Martin W B Jarvis OAM, Artistic Director Darwin Symphony Orchestra. 

[iii] Specification obtain by the author August 2007. 

The single manual is of 56 keys C – ggg and is stamped under the key rest KLAV 1.

Stops are:  Diapason 8’ (on separate windchest with the lowest octave offset to the left of the main chest and casework, all wood except top six notes); Rohr Fluit 4’ metal; Nassard 2-2/3’ metal; Piccolo 2’ metal. 

[iv] The organ was originally transported to Darwin by Michael Pfitzner in a double-decker bus.  

[v] When the organ was purchased by TOSA, a six-person team from Adelaide flew to Darwin in late 1974 and loaded the organ into a truck which took it to Adelaide.  At the time they had no idea of the urgency of their work, but within a month, Darwin was devastated by Cyclone Tracy on Christmas Day, 1974.  Michael Pfitzner and his family were forced to take shelter in the empty area which had been set aside for organ chambers, as their house collapsed around them. 

[vi] Fr Stephen Hackett MSC, Catholic Diocese of Darwin.

Mr Bruce Lindsay, former Director of Darwin Symphony Orchestra. 

[vii] Historic Organs of New South Wales, G D Rushworth, 1988.  p.333. 

[viii] Historic Organs of New South Wales, G D Rushworth, 1988.  p.333. 

[ix] Gerhard Walcker-Mayer, Walcker Organs, (Orgelbau Gerhard Walcker-Mayer) Germany, is unable to provide further detail on the organ due to difficulty in accessing Walcker archive detail. 

[x] The purchaser of the Darwin Cathedral Organ has not given permission to be identified.  The organ is in storage in Adelaide’s eastern suburbs.


For other States please click below
NSW
Sydney
Canberra ACT
VIC
QLD
SA
WA
TAS
NT
Organ Historical Trust of Australia website
Key to background colours
Historic / Restored
Destroyed / Removed
Modern / Tracker
Rebuilt