Main Road, Mannum
B 1975 Roger H. Pogson. 2 manuals, 10 speaking stops, 3 couplers, tracker action
Gt: 8.4.4.II.III. Sw: 8.4.2.II. Ped: 16.
From Pipe Organs of Adelaide Volume 8, CD booklet:
In the early 1970s, then-Adelaide organist and teacher Robert Ampt was approached for organ lessons by Mrs Bertha Schulz, a parishioner of St Martin's Lutheran Church in Mannum. She was proud and pleased to announce that the Church would shortly purchase a new organ.
At this time, while the return to classical specifications and mechanical action for new pipe organs was well under way elsewhere in the world and even in Australia, there was not at that time any instrument in South Australia which might be termed "neo-classical". Exciting installations by builders like Ron Sharp at Knox Grammar School, and Roger Pogson at The King's School - both in Sydney - fired the imagination of organists for whom the revival of such instruments meant that suddenly there were vehicles for repertoire which had languished for the want of suitable organs. Robert Ampt was enthused by the opportunity not only to teach Mrs Schulz but also to contribute to the process of the Church's acquisition of a suitable instrument.
St Martin's Lutheran Church stands in the riverboat town of Mannum, alongside the River Murray, and now servicing a sparse rural community and an active tourist trade based on the remaining riverboats. Aside from their courage in considering a brand new organ, the congregation needed to be mindful of cost, and there were strong arguments advanced in favour of both a ground-breaking classical organ or - at less cost - an electric action instrument built in the then more commonly prevailing "extension" style. The parish worked hard to raise the extra money, which came from the generosity of the congregation as well as what might be the most novel way yet devised of raising funds to puchase a fine pipe organ; the parishioners grew butternut pumpkins for sale! And what's more, that particular season was kind enough to produce a bumper crop.
Roger Pogson was called upon to design and build an instrument in the classical mode. He produced an organ of 10 stops, available over two manuals and pedals, the specification containing two Mixtures and a Sesquialtera. The Great is based on an 8' Flute, the Principal being at 4' pitch. The flexibility and beauty of sound available from so few ranks is all the more remarkable.
The specification is:
| Great Rohr Flute Principal Koppel Flute Sesquialtera Mixture Swell to Great Swell Gedackt Gemshorn Principal Cymbel Tremulant Pedal Sub Bass Swell to Pedal Great to Pedal |
8 4 4 II III 8 4 2 II 16 |
Compass 54/30
Mechanical key and stop action
Hitch down pedals for couplers and tremulant
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Photos: Trevor Bunning (Oct 2009)
