David Drinkell

Post from Tony Newnham on the Organ Matters board, June 24th 2018 : From Facebook this morning:- "It is with tremendous sadness that Henry Willis & Sons Ltd. has reported the death of Henry Willis 4 b. 19th Jan 1927 - d. 23rd June 2018 Mr. Willis was the last member of the Willis dynasty to be materially involved in the family firm from which he stood down as Managing Director on his birthday in 1997, later appointing David Wyld to the position: he continued as the Majority Shareholder until the 28th November 1998. An obituary has been written by Bruce Buchanan and will appear in The Times tomorrow."

I'm sure all forumites wish you a very long, happy and fulfilled retirement, John. Thank you for all the things you have done to enhance and beautify the organ world.

The first time I met Henry 4 was while I was a student at Bristol University, c.1977, when I drove the Union minibus to Petersfield with half a dozen other music students and he gave us a tour of the organ works. (I had previously visited the old Willis works in the Old Kent Road as a young child with the Friends of the Colchester Museums - my father was the secretary - and I think, but I'm not sure, that we were shown round by Henry III.) He gave up a whole afternoon to us and the whole visit was very instructive. I remember seeing an old Father Willis Scudamore organ and a rebuild of a Junior Development Plan organ (remember those?) which had been expanded to two manuals, the lower of which consisted of extensions of the gedeckt rank. Because of the manual extension (and the cheaper pattern console without refinements such as toggle touch and the Willis pattern stop-tablets), the organ was not officially classed as a Willis and had a Peter Conacher plate (Willis had taken over Conacher some years previously and the firm was later run independently by Henry 4's son John). As might be expected, Henry 4's quirky and piquant brand of humour was very memorable. A few years later, as organist of St. Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall, I had Henry 4's "restoration and partial rebuild" (as he insisted it was) of his father's 1925 organ in my charge. I always found it to be a fine instrument (and it was there that I found a preference for the Willis style of a full set of couplers controlled by tilting tablets - borrowed from Ernest Skinner - which I have had ever since), but more recently it has had some work done by the present Willis firm, including tuning to the "Willis Scale" (David Wyld tells me) and it sounds noticeably better than it did before. I played it virtually every day for nine years, so I'm quite sure about this. Henry 4 paid us a visit and did some regulation during my time and I spent a good deal of time in his company, being regaled by many yarns, some organ-related and others downright risqué but very interesting all the same. A larger-than-life character in his bow tie (a proper one, not a made-up effort) and, while at work, maroon overalls. As at Petersfield, his sheer joy in the craft of organ-building was most memorable. At the time, he had just got back from Norfolk Island in the Pacific, where he had been restoring at least one organ. Talking, over the years, to people who knew him better than I did, I was struck by the references to his kindness and concern for members of the trade who had perhaps fallen on hard times (I remember a little chamber organ at Petersfield by a builder with whose ideas Henry 4 would certainly not have been in agreement, and I found out later that he had quietly been of great assistance when things were not going so well). As is well known, he shouldered a large personal expense in saving the Alexandra Palace organ and I believe that the criticism he received over subsequent events in its re-instatement was not deserved, and indeed was largely malicious gossip. The YouTube video below shows Henry 4 at St. George's Hall, Liverpool and typifies the unique Willis humour.

Yes. I notice the 32' was in the original organ by Dalladay of Hastings before it was rebuilt by Brian Bunting. Dalladay did some odd things. On the other hand, it's just an Acoustic Bass with no pipes of its own (Daniel's Sub Bourdons normally had only 7 acoustic notes), so the effect was obtained cheaply for just the cost of the action and the draw-stop. The smallest organ I know of which claimed to have a 32' is (I presume it's still there) in the Old Kirk, Westray, Orkney Islands, and is a Model B major organ by Solway Organs of Dalbeattie. The pipe-work, etc, is in a large box with a shutter on top (the Minister thought it was an electronic instrument until I showed her the pipes) and there is a detached console next to it with the following stop-keys: Viola 8, Principal 4, Block Flute 2 2/3, Octave 2, Contra Bass 32 The fraction on the Block Flute stop-key has been added to the 2 already engraved thereon. Inside the box, there is a stopped bass 8', running into open pipes from tenor C upwards and everything is extended from this one rank. At the bottom, there is an octave of harmonium reeds at 16' pitch and this constitutes the "Contra Bass 32", which is thus not a 32' at all but a 16' bass device working only in the bottom octave. Now, the basic idea might have worked OK (Percy Daniel used to have a little organ on hire which had one rank of pipes tapped at 8, 4 and 2, and it was a nice little job), but the execution here was awful and it was a pretty terrible machine. A quick trawl through NPOR reveals that a lot of the instruments by Solway Organs have not survived, although they rebuilt the one at Kirkandrew-on-Esk with its fine Temple Moore case, and I see that the Pipe Organ Preservation Company has recently moved one to Ballyclog, Co. Tyrone, where I remember playing the harmonium a couple of times in my Belfast days. I was told that the proprietor sold up in order to become a clergyman in the Episcopal Church and that the new owner found he had inherited a large debt and went bust......

Mark Noble of Norwich built some nicely-cased and fine sounding organs. This one was built for Pirnough Church, Ditchingham in 1865. The church was badly damaged by the 1987 "hurricane" and subsequently converted to a residence. The organ was restored and installed in Itteringham Church by Holmes & Swift. There was some suggestion (Charles Drane's notes and Canon Gordon Paget) that the organ came from Worstead Church and might have been by Bishop of about 1840, but this was never substantiated. Its predecessor was an 1866 Hill, the case of which consisted of a big box with shutters on the front and the console beneath. http://www.npor.org.uk/NPORView.html?RI=C00902 Here is Noble's rather stunning case at Colton: http://www.npor.org.uk/NPORView.html?RI=N06195

A 32' Sub Bourdon was a common feature of organs by Percy Daniel. It usually went down to bottom G, with the ;last seven notes quinted. Examples included Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire http://www.npor.org.uk/NPORView.html?RI=N00797 and St. George's, Brandon Hill, Bristol. NPOR gives a proposed stop-list of Daniel's rebuild here (in the early nineteen-fifties, I think), but it actually came out as: Great: Double Open Diapason, Open Diapason 1, Open Diapason 2, Stopped Diapason, Principal, Flute, Twelfth, Fifteenth Swell: Geigen Diapason, Stopped Diapason, Salcional, Vox Angelica, Principal, Mixture II, Contra Fagotto, Horn, Oboe, Tremulant, Octave, Sub, Unison Off Choir (enclosed): Muted Viol, Lieblich Gedact,, Dulciana, Open Flute, Piccolo, Clarionet, Trumpet, Tremulant, Octave, Sub Pedal: Sub Bourdon, Open Diapason, Bourdon, Echo Bourdon, Octave, Bass Flute, Trombone There is a picture on NPOR http://www.npor.org.uk/NPORView.html?RI=F00013 of the John Smith case before the Daniel rebuild, but it doesn't seem to want to copy here. The church was converted to a concert hall shortly after my student days in Bristol finished (1978) and the organ was removed. Percy Daniel had a small three-manual house organ at his home at Eckersley, Clevedon, which also had a Contra Bourdon. After his death, the house and organ were bought by local organist Stanley Chappell, and when he died, Martin Renshaw acquired the instrument for its parts (including a nice old case).

Here's Sir Charles Nicholson's case for the west end section of the organ at Hythe Parish Church, Kent. The instrument itself is said to be the last that Arthur Harrison finished in person and it is a very fine and aristocratic example of his work. The original specification was as here: http://www.npor.org.uk/NPORView.html?RI=N14797 Since I played there, Browne of Canterbury restored and enlarged the organ as follows: http://www.npor.org.uk/NPORView.html?RI=N13073

St. John the Divine is so big that the west end State Trumpet is said to be in a different postal district from the rest of the instrument. The organ as a whole is a fabulous instrument, it would certainly come into my top ten, although by American standards and in relation to the size of the building, it isn't that big - about 120 speaking stops.

Holdich coined the term Diaocton. A few other builders borrowed the name, but usually did not supply the extra octave of pipes. See the reference to Leaden Roding earlier on this thread. Is the organ to which you refer Lower Quinton, Gloucestershire? If so, here it is on NPOR: http://www.npor.org.uk/NPORView.html?RI=D04551 And the picture from your link, a nice typical example of a Holdich case:

I remember one St. Magnus Festival when we had a concert by the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Andre Previn. The programme included the premiere of Maxwell Davies's Violin Concerto (with Isaac Stern) and the Vaughan Williams Tallis Fantasia, but also the Mendelssohn Midsummer Night's Dream music. Elspeth and I were perched on the custodian's desk at the west end and Bill Cant, the cathedral minister, was sitting on a chair next to us. He dozed off during the Mendelssohn, but woke up with a considerable start when the Wedding March started!

I remember the old organ at Brasted - one of a clutch of outstanding instruments by Cedric Arnold, Williamson & Hyatt, which included Walsingham, St. Botolph's, Colchester and Southwold. Sawbridgeworth PC, Hertfordshire, has a scheme in similar vein, but I've never heard it played. Here's Walsingham: http://www.npor.org.uk/NPORView.html?RI=N06436

The organ at St. John's Cathedral, where I used to play, had 68 note soundboards on Great, Choir and Solo and (for some reason) 73 on Swell. The Fredericton organ has 65 notes on all manuals (which I think is a bit odd, but it's a slightly odd beast anyway). In general, it's not unusual to have extended soundboards and octave couplers on all manuals. 2' stops tend not to have the extra octave, on the basis (I suppose) that it would only be heard by dogs.....

The posts from Paul Isom remind me that, some years ago the Ulster Society of Organists and Choirmasters spent a week-end in Kent and visited several new Walker organs. If I remember correctly, Paul demonstrated that at St. George, Bickley and the assembled company was mightily impressed by his playing. The demonstration included a piece by Denis Bedard, of whom I had not heard before, but have since played quite a few pieces. We also visited Bromley Parish Church and Lancing College. I think all the cases are by David Graebe. http://www.npor.org.uk/NPORView.html?RI=D03330 http://www.npor.org.uk/NPORView.html?RI=D03599 http://www.npor.org.uk/NPORView.html?RI=N09210

Interesting to note that the Knockholt organ has a 70 note soundboard on the Swell, thus giving full range to the octave coupler. This is unusual in Europe, but normal in North America, and from experience I would say that it makes a considerable amount of difference in flexibility of registration, especially if you have a full set of octaves, subs and unison offs. Here's the Comper case at Cosham - I didn't know about it until Paul mentioned it. I can imagine that, as he says, the organ is more flexible than the stop-list would suggest. Arthur Harrison was a clever fellow that way! One thinks also of the Addington Palace organ (now at St. Alkmund, Shrewsbury) and St. Sepulchre, Holborn Viaduct (13 speaking stops including a full-length Double Open Wood inherited from the previous instrument).

Thanks, John, for this - it's most interesting. I guess the folk at Maldon would be disappointed to have their tradition proved wrong, but it's highly unlikely I shall ever be in a position to enlighten them! I've been into "Edit" and changed "east" to "west".

It is said that Mendelssohn included the Wedding March when he played at the Argyll Rooms in London. If so, since the place burned down in 1830, this performance would have predated the one at Tiverton. It is possible, of course, that the Wedding March may have been played by the orchestra and not on the organ, but the instrument is now in All Saints, Maldon, Essex, which is where I heard the Mendelssohn story. I played this organ in 1971 - I remember the date, because I went there as tuner's boy to John Budgen of Bishop & Son and we proceeded to Burnham-on-Crouch to give the organ there a check-over before its opening recital by Gordon Phillips that evening. The Maldon organ has since been re-sited by Bishops', with a new west-facing case, the ex-Argyll Rooms case facing into the chancel. From the pictures, it looks much improved. http://www.npor.org.uk/NPORView.html?RI=V00189

I had forgotten about this one, but the Bates organ at Badwell Ash, Suffolk, has strikingly painted front pipes. NPOR has sound files for it, but the picture here is from Simon Knott's Suffolk Churches site. http://www.npor.org.uk/NPORView.html?RI=D01745

Another piece of Gothick in Wales - Chepstow Parish Church. The striking arrangement of pipes in double compartments has similarities with the Davis case at Wydmondham Abbey, Norfolk. http://www.npor.org.uk/NPORView.html?RI=D05271

St. Michael, Croydon, is an unbeatable combination of a Bodley case in a Pearson church, containing a superb Father Willis rebuilt by Mander. Big Wow Factor on all counts! http://www.npor.org.uk/NPORView.html?RI=N13470

Mander installed the old Bishop organ from Old Marylebone Parish Church at Wenhaston, Suffolk, in 1950. A pretty little case and a nice organ. The church is worth visiting anyway, for the spectacular Doom painting, the finest such survival anywhere. http://www.npor.org.uk/NPORView.html?RI=H00700

St. Vedast, Foster Lane, City of London. Another of Noel Mander's earlier restorations, when he rescued the wreck of this Harris & Byfield organ from St. Alban, Margravine Road, Fulham, and brought it back to the City where it graces Stephen Dykes Bower's sumptuous restoration of Wren's church. There are some things about it which wouldn't be done now, but other builders would have altered much more and preserved much less. Overall it was a ground-breaking job and, as was so important in Noel Mander's philosophy, it all all hung together and worked as a musical instrument. As a young teenager nearly 50 years ago, I wandered in, was allowed to play the organ, and was blown away by it. I can hear it yet! http://www.npor.org.uk/NPORView.html?RI=N17660

OK - quite outside the parameters for this thread, but an English organ all the same, and of quite mind-blowing quality. St. Ignatius Loyola, New York - build quality, tracker action, tonal scheme and balance are all immaculate. While I don't object to the principle of importing organs, considering that a wide range of styles is a good thing, I often wonder why there are still so many big instruments being brought into the UK when one of our leading builders can do something like this. http://www.nycago.org/Organs/NYC/html/StIgnatiusLoyola.html

Adlington Hall, Cheshire - a landmark restoration by Noel Mander in 1959, the methods used being vastly less intrusive than was usual at the time. This one is on my bucket list - I've never met it in the flesh but intend to do so when I get the chance. http://www.npor.org.uk/NPORView.html?RI=N04410

Looking up the thread, it seems to me that our hosts are not represented as well as they should be, considering that they have for many years been world leaders, not only in the quality of their work but in their skill in handling historic restorations. Here is St. Giles, Cripplegate, City of London. I first heard and played this shortly after it was finished, on an Organ Club evening visit during a winter when there were lots of rolling power-cuts. We were somewhat apprehensive at the prospect of being blacked out in the middle of the new Barbican development, but all was well. I thought (and still think) that the organ is a particularly fine one in every way, with the added bonus of what the organist at the time, David Roblou, referred to as the "Mighty Wurlitzer bits": the Willis Great reeds. Arguably a bit over the top for the rest of the organ, but good fun all the same. http://www.npor.org.uk/NPORView.html?RI=N17641

And a slightly-bigger-than-usual Father Willis Model Organ, at Foxearth, Essex, where a rich Victorian rector paid for a lavish restoration and redecoration of the church (including what is possibly the ugliest tower in the county), extending this to the organ pipes and case. You can see that the word "case" is a bit of a misnomer, because there basically isn't one, just some decoration on the front pipes. Father Willis was said to have begrudged money spent on case-work when it could be spent on pipes. The organ is a fine one, but I could never work out what a Victorian organist would do with the Great Corno di Bassetto. It sounds great in Susato, but I don't think that sort of music figured very largely in the repertoire at that time. http://www.npor.org.uk/NPORView.html?RI=D02729