St Mark's Anglican Church, Buderim
[Photograph by David Vann (August 2012)]
St Mark's Anglican Church, Buderim
[Photograph by David Vann (August 2012)]
Historical and Technical Documentation by Geoffrey Cox
© OHTA 2012 (last updated August 2012)
Buderim village is located a short distance inland from Maroochydore and Alexandra Headland, on the coast north of Brisbane. In the late nineteenth century, Buderim Mountain was a centre for the sugar cane industry, but it has become known since the late 1920s for growing ginger. The present St Mark's Church was opened and dedicated on 20 November 1988, replacing an earlier church built in 1917.1 The building was not consecrated until April 1999.
Stone marking the consecration of St Mark's Anglican Church, Buderim
[Photograph by David Vann (August 2012)]
The musical needs of the congregation were served by an electronic organ before 1998. The parish decided to obtain a pipe organ, either new or second-hand, and a suitable instrument became available when the organ at St Paul's Anglican Church, Glen Waverley, Vic., was made redundant following amalgamation of that parish with two others nearby.2
The organ was built in 1986 by George Fincham & Sons of Melbourne for St Paul's, Glen Waverley, incorporating some second-hand pipework obtained from Mr Peter Cheung, then of Melbourne, who had intended to build a residence organ. It was voiced by Michel Alcouffe, who worked for the Fincham firm at the time.3
The organbuilder's plaque on the console
[Photograph by David Vann (August 2012)]
Following the purchase of the organ by St Mark's Church, it was installed on a new platform above the west door by Australian Pipe Organs Pty Ltd, and dedicated on Palm Sunday, 17 May 1998. Dr Robert Boughen and the choir of St John's Cathedral, Brisbane, performed on this occasion.4
The façade added to the organ at Buderim in 1998
[Photograph by David Vann (August 2012)]
Console of the 1986 George Fincham & Sons organ
[Photograph by David Vann (August 2012)]
The only addition to the organ at the time of installation in Buderim was a new façade of non-speaking pipes, although this incorporates the bottom (speaking) pipes of the Open Diapason 8ft rank. Prior to installation, the previous Swell Principal 4ft rank was replaced with a Violin Diapason rank, formerly from Wesley Church, Shepparton, Vic., and the Great Open Diapason 8ft was rescaled and revoiced to produce a warmer tone. The total cost of the project was borne by a member of the congregation, Janet Sutherland, as a memorial to her late husband.5
Commemorative plaque on the organ console, 1998
[Photograph by David Vann (August 2012)]
The total specification of 33 stops is derived from 6 extended ranks together with 6 further independent stops, as shown below:
| GREAT Open Diapason Bass Dulciana Open Diapason Gedeckt Dulciana Principal Flute Nazard Fifteenth Tierce Mixture |
16 16 8 8 8 4 4 2-2/3 2 1-3/5 IV |
A&D B A C B A C A |
|
| SWELL Gedeckt Principal Harmonic Flute Salicional Principal Flute Fifteenth Sifflute Mixture Oboe Oboe Clarion |
16 8 8 8 4 4 2 1 III 8 4 |
D E D E D E E F F |
[Quintation bass] [gvd bass] [repeating] |
| PEDAL Bourdon Bass Gedeckt Principal Bass Flute Quint Flute Octave Flute Super Octave Bass Oboe Oboe Oboe Clarion |
16 16 8 8 5-1/3 4 4 2 16 8 4 |
D A C D A D A F F F |
|
| COUPLERS Great to Pedal Swell to Pedal Swell to Great Swell Octave to Great |
Swell Tremulant
Compass: 61/30
Detached console
Electric action.6
Console details of the 1986 George Fincham & Sons organ
[Photographs by David Vann (August 2012)]
1 Glenda Murrell, Anglican Records and Archive Centre Guide to Records (DioceseofBrisbaneWeb, 2001) - cited January 2004.
2 William J. Ralph, 'A New Organ in Queensland - St Mark's Buderim,' Organo Pleno, vol. 1, no. 1 (February 1999), pp. 7-8.
3 Personal communication to John Maidment from David Fincham, 1986; Date from plaque on console.
4 The Organ Voice, vol. 24, no. 4 (December 1998), pp. 22-23.
5 Ralph, op.cit.
6 Specification from Ralph, op. cit., with corrections from photographs supplied by David Vann, August 2012, and with additional details from personal communication to G. Cox from Robert Heatley of Australian Pipe Organs Pty Ltd, December 1998.