Fortitude Valley

This building, originally the property of the Queensland National Association and known as the 'Exhibition Building', was built in 1891 to the design of Brisbane architects Oakden, Addison and Kemp to replace an earlier building destroyed by fire in 1888. As Brisbane at that time had no concert hall, a concert hall was incorporated into the design of the building from the outset, [1] and from 1892 this housed the city organ by Henry Willis, which was rebuilt and moved to the Brisbane City Hall in 1927-29. For many years after this, this building housed the Queensland Art Gallery and Museum before they moved to new accommodation as part of the Queensland Cultural Centre on the South Bank of the Brisbane River in 1986.

The present organ was in St Stephen's Cathedral, Brisbane, 1921-1988, but its early history remains obscure. It has long been associated with the Melbourne builder William Anderson and thought to have been built c. 1890. Mr Joe Whitehouse (Jnr) reported that it was stored in a shed in Melbourne prior to its removal to Brisbane. [2] In other accounts emanating from the Whitehouse firm, however, the organ was reportedly built by an English builder whose name could not be recalled, and erected in the factory of an organbuilder whose name they believed to be Taylor. [3] This was presumably Frederick Taylor of Melbourne, who had been apprenticed to George Fincham in 1875 and began business on his own account in 1900. [4]

Miss Kitty Slack, Organist of St Stephen's Cathedral, Brisbane, 1923-73, recorded that Mr J. H. Whitehouse (Snr) had been instructed by Mr Dan Carroll of Birch and Carroll to go to Melbourne, dismantle and pack the organ for delivery to Brisbane, with the intention of having it installed in the Strand Theatre, Queen Street. It was stored in the basement of the theatre for some years, but Mr Whitehouse declared it unsuitable for the theatre, and enquiries commenced around 1916 to purchase it for St Stephen's Cathedral. The instrument was purchased by the Cathedral in 1920 and installed by B.B.Whitehouse & Co. It was opened on Pentecost Sunday in May 1921. Two Swell stops were added shortly after the time of installation at St Stephen's, [5] and a Pedal Open Wood 16 with Octave Coupler were added in 1925. [6] The organ occupied the southern side of the rear gallery, which had been considerably enlarged to accommodate it. [7] Whitehouse Bros gave the instrument a major overhaul in August 1939, [8] and it remained in their care until the early 1970s.

There were proposals around 1974 by Dr Robert Huestis, one of the organists associated with the Cathedral at the time, to revise the specification significantly, [9] and the Choir Dulciana is reported to have been sold in 1978 with the intention of starting a fund for rebuilding the organ. [10] By the early 1980s, however, the intrinsic value of the instrument as a product of its era was better understood, and an extensive restoration was undertaken by Messrs Brown & Arkley of Sydney in 1983, with David Kinsela acting as consultant. [11]

In the process of the 1983 restoration, it became apparent that the organ had originally comprised just two manuals, to which Anderson had added the four-stop unenclosed Choir Organ, placed behind the swell box in a position presumably occupied originally by the Pedal Organ. The original depth of the case (comprising a pine frame and redwood panels) was probably only some 11 feet, and the manual compass was originally 54 notes rather than 56. Anderson added a third keyboard to the console (with noticeably different drawstops), as well as a distinctive and handsome roll-top between polished pine wing-boards, similar to his console at St Ambrose', Brunswick, Vic. He also painted the whole of the case white. [12]

Work undertaken as part of the 1983 restoration included the following:

removal of the two c.1921 Swell stops (not 1925, as described by Kinsela), which were reportedly placed in storage inside the organ,
replacement of the missing Choir Dulciana (using a former Celeste by Roberts),
addition of a Pedal Trombone 16 (from Australian Pipe Organs),
electrification of the pedal action, and discarding of the 1925 pedal octave coupler,
retention of cone tuning on all but the smallest Mixture pipes, and the pitch slightly higher than concert pitch,
removal of circular lids soldered onto the resonators of the Great Trumpet,
removal of the white paint on the case, and repainting of the diapering on the 19 case pipes. [13]

In conjunction with major architectural renovations in the Cathedral during the late 1980s, the organ and the gallery in which it stood were removed. The organ was placed in storage in 1988. It was purchased in 1990 by the Queensland Government for the Queensland Youth Orchestra, who had by this stage found a new home in the old Museum Building, J141 although it was not installed until 1998.

The installation of the organ in its present location has been carried by W J. Simon Pierce of Brisbane, who has also undertaken necessary repairs following the 10 year period of storage. Owing to the fatigued condition in which much of the pipework was found, tuning slides have been fitted throughout, and the pitch of the organ is reported to be approximately A.444. The Swell Cornopean appears to have been renamed 'Horn', and the spelling and nomenclature of various Choir and Pedal stops appear also to have been changed. The two former Swell stops said to have been stored inside the organ in 1983 have apparently disappeared. [15]

Apart from the various changes and additions noted above, all of the pipework appears to be integral to the original organ, except that the pipes of the Swell Cornopean [renamed Horn?] are marked 'Swell Clarion' from Tenor C upwards, and do not fit correctly into the original rack-board [16] It has also been suggested from the layout of the Choir Organ that this division may once have been enclosed. [17] Like the remainder of the organ, therefore, the Choir may derive from an earlier instrument. Given that William Anderson was responsible for the instrument in its three-manual configuration, this is in keeping with the fact that he often constructed organs partly or entirely from second-hand materials, and that he seldom attached a name-plate to them. [18]

The specification, based on nomenclature noted in the 1970s and earlier, is as follows:

COUPLERS
Swell to Great
Swell to Choir
Swell to Pedal
Great to Pedal
Choir to Pedal

mechanical action (manuals)
electro-pneumatic action (pedals) (tubular pneumatic until 1983)
drawstop console
trigger swell lever
radiating concave pedalboard
3 pistons to Great [pneumatic)
3 pistons to Swell [pneumatic)
compass: 56/30 [19]

* added around 1921, and suspended in the swell box on pneumatic action; stored inside the organ in 1983, but since disappeared.
ø removed in 1978 and replaced in 1983 with a former Celeste by Roberts.
# added in 1925 (Octave removed in 1983)
• added in 1983.

[1] Frederic Rogers, "City Hall Organ". OHTA News, 14, No 2 (April 1990), 8-10,
[2] Pers. comm Mr J. H. Whitehouse (Jnr) to Geoffrey Cox, January 1973.
[3] Letter dated 7 April 1967 from Whitehouse Bros to Miss Kitty Slack (Organist of St Stephen's Cathedral, 1923-1973), now in the Catholic Archives, St Stephen's Cathedral, Brisbane. See also: Veronica Corkeron, "The St Stephen's Cathedral Pipe Organ" (Postgraduate Diploma Thesis, Queensland Conservatorium of Music, 1988).
[4] Enid N. Matthews, Colonial Organs and Organbuilders (Carlton: Melbourne University Press, 1969), pp. 87ff.
[5] Pers. comm. Miss Kitty Slack to Geoffrey Cox, 1,973; and [Kitty Slack] "St Stephen's Cathedral Brisbane Pipe Organ: History of the Organ" (unpublished MS, compiled C.1973 by Kitty Slack, now in the Catholic Archives, St Stephen's Cathedral, Brisbane)
[6] Whitehouse Bros Ledger (1922-1940), p. 151; date confirmed by letters in Catholic Archives, St Stephen's Cathedral, Brisbane.
[7] Pers. comm. Miss Kitty Slack to Geoffrey Cox, September 1974.
[8] Whitehouse Bros List.
[9] Pers. comm Robert Huestis to Geoffrey Cox, 1974.
[10] David Kinsela, 'St Stephen's Cathedral, Brisbane: A monument of Victorian organbuilding revitalised', OHTA News, 8, No 3 (July 1984), 6.
[11] The Sunday Mail (27 February, 1983), p. 5; The Courier Mail (August 8, 1984), p. 22;
[12] Kinsela, pp. 4-7.
[13] Loc. cit.
[141 The Courier Mail (29 June, 1990), p. 9.
[15] Timothy McEwan, "Installation of the organ in the old Museum Building", The Organ Voice, 24, No 2 (June 1998), 7.
[16] Kinsela, p. 5; McEwan, p. 9.
[17] McEwan, p. 9.
[181 Matthews, pp. 3, 24-25.
[19] Spec. noted by Geoffrey Cox, January 1973, at St Stephen's Cathedral, and incorporating known subsequent changes.