St Stephen's Anglican Church, Coorparoo
[Photograph by Howard Baker (1990s)]
St Stephen's Anglican Church, Coorparoo
[Photograph by Howard Baker (1990s)]
Historical and Technical Documentation by Geoffrey Cox
© OHTA 2011 (last updated August 2011)
The first St Stephen's church in Coorparoo was dedicated on Sunday 8 October 1922 by the Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane, Dr Sharp.1 The foundation stone of the present building was laid on 7 July 1957. It was opened and dedicated on 27 April 1958,2 having been designed by the Brisbane architect, H.G. Driver.3 The organ was built by the Charles Dirksen Organ Co. of Brisbane and completed in April 1959, one year after the opening of the new building.
Charles Dirksen, a Dutchman, had trained with the firm of L. Verschueren, Heythuysen, Netherlands, before migrating to Australia. He spent two years in Adelaide before moving to Brisbane in 1956 for his honeymoon. Deciding to stay in Brisbane, he set up his own business there, but returned to Holland around 1963 after a period of ill health. A specialist in pipe-making, Dirksen made his own metal and wooden pipes in Brisbane. Around 1957, he secured a contract to build small extension organs for some 14 Mormon churches around the country. The organ at St Stephen's Anglican Church, Coorparoo, was an exception in that it was not designed on the extension principal.4 Around the time of building the organ for St Stephen's, Dirksen contracted tuberculosis, and was hospitalized for an extended period. The metal pipes for St Stephen's were therefore imported from Verschueren in Holland rather than being made in Brisbane.5
At the service of the dedication of the new organ at Coorparoo, which took place on Thursday 23 April 1959 (St George's Day), the organist was Mr Edward R. Salisbury (choirmaster-organist of St Andrew's Church, South Brisbane), and the music at the service was led by the combined choirs of St Andrew's and St Stephen's.6
The Dirksen organ at St Stephen's Church, Coorparoo
[Photograph by Howard Baker (1990s)]
This instrument was the largest built by Dirksen during his short stay in Brisbane. There were nine stops described as 'prepared for' at the time of the opening (including the Swell Bassoon 16ft and Mixture 3 ranks). The Swell Mixture appears to have been added shortly afterwards, but the instrument was never completed according to the original design:
| GREAT Dulciana Chimney Flute Open Diapason Harmonic Flute Principal Twelfth Fifteenth Clarinet SWELL Gamba Voix Celeste (Ten.C) Lieblich Gedackt Violin Diapason Gemshorn Mixture Bassoon (Ten.C) Oboe PEDAL Bourdon Violone Flute Cello Quint COUPLERS Swell Sub Octave Swell Super Octave Swell Sub to Great Swell Super to Great Swell to Great Swell Super to Pedal Swell to Pedal Great to Pedal |
8 8 8 4 4 2-2/3 2 8 8 8 8 8 4 III 16 8 16 16 8 8 5-1/3 |
A A B C B C B |
[prepared for] [prepared for] [prepared for] [prepared for] [prepared for] [prepared for] [prepared for] |
3 thumb pistons to Great Organ
3 thumb pistons to Swell Organ
2 thumb pistons to Pedal Organ
1 reversible Swell to Great thumb piston
1 reversible Great to Pedal thumb piston
Auto coupler (alternates Great to Pedal reversible with Swell to Pedal)
Swell tremulant
Balanced swell pedal
Detached draw-stop console
Compass: 61/32
Direct electric action.7
The organ was rebuilt in 1978 by H.W. Jarrott, at which time the Swell Block Flute 2ft was added, together with extensions to the Great and Pedal Organs. Budget restrictions precluded the replacement of original soundboards, but the electric action was completely replaced.8 Some of Dirksen's stop names were altered at the time in the light of the revised scheme, and some of the 'prepared for' stop knobs on the console were removed. The resulting specification is as follows:
| GREAT Dulciana Chimney Flute Open Diapason Harmonic Flute Principal Nasard Flautina SWELL Violin Diapason Gamba Lieblich Gedackt Gemshorn Block Flute Mixture Bassoon (Ten.C) Oboe Cornopean PEDAL Bourdon Flute Quint Fifteenth COUPLERS Swell Sub Octave Swell Super Octave Swell Unison Off Swell Sub to Great Swell Super to Great Swell to Great Swell Super to Pedal Swell to Pedal Great to Pedal |
8 8 8 4 4 2-2/3 2 8 8 8 4 2 III 16 8 8 16 8 5-1/3 4 |
A A B A A C C D D D B |
[1978] [1978] [1978] [1978] [1978] [1978] |
4 thumb pistons to Great Organ
4 thumb pistons to Swell Organ
2 thumb pistons to Pedal Organ
1 reversible Swell to Great thumb piston
1 reversible Great to Pedal thumb piston
Swell tremulant
Balanced swell pedal
Detached draw-stop console
Compass: 61/32
Direct electric action.9
H.W. Jarrott undertook major refurbishment of the instrument in 2005, including replacement of the original wind trunking and power supply.10
Console of the 1959 Dirksen organ,
modified by H.W. Jarrott in 1978
[Photograph by Howard Baker (1990s)]
_______________________________________________________________________
1 The Brisbane Courier (9 October 1922), p. 11.
2 Glenda Murrell, Anglican Records and Archive Centre Guide to Records (DioceseofBrisbaneWeb, 2010) - cited August 2011.
3 E.J.A. Weller (ed), Buildings of Queensland (Brisbane: Jacaranda Press, 1959), p. 34.
4 Personal communication to G. Cox from John Spall, an employee of Dirksen in Brisbane, 1973.
5 Remarks by E.R. Salisbury, Organ Society of Queensland Newsletter, vol. 17, no. 5 (April 1990), pp. 12-15, 18.
6 Service of Dedication of the new Pipe Organ, 23 April 1959.
7 Specification noted by G. Cox, January 1973, and from Order of Service, 23 April 1959.
8 Details supplied to G. Cox by H.W. Jarrott, 1978.
9 Details supplied to G. Cox by H.W. Jarrott, 1978; Specification noted by G. Cox, January 2001.
10 Personal communication to G. Cox from H.W. Jarrott, January 2006.