Will N
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Posts posted by Will N
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Does anyone have upto date info on the playing condition of this instrument? I understand that a Mr Robin (or Julian) Wyn has done some work recently including reordering stops on the choir organ. Any information would be much appreciated. Please PM me if you prefer.
Will
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Since the console and solid state were put in place things have been very reliable. During my time on the choir just after R&Ds work it was an emotional time to hear the 4f tuba clarion for the first time in nearly a decade. John Walls was the R&D tuner who looked after it after the last major work was done and it certainly sounded well then. The spec is a strange one with lots of pedal mutations and a pedal reed at 32 16 8 4 and 2 ft. Also no reeds on the great but a 2 huge mixtures. On paper it so should not work, but in the flesh it works very well indeed!! How many other parish church organs boast 4 swell strings, 16, 8, 4 tubas (not extended) beautifull Forster and Andrews AND Lewis stops??? Maybe the one of the closest contenders is Holy Trinity Hull????
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Has anybody played the Bishop Street organ?? Think it a fabulous instrument. It has a Father Smith case formally in St Margarets Leicester. I believe that plans were afoot to drasticly reduce the size of this instrument to improve the inside appearence of the chapel. I think these plans have been shelved on cost grounds (Thankfully) Work is needed to repair perished leather on all 3 drawstop machines. Several stops on each division are off. In my opinion an organ that definitly needs saving. It could be one of the best in the county. What do others think??
William Northmore
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The organ occupies the whole of the north transept with the console between the front pipes and the choir stalls. The choir organ used to be where the console is today but was moved back into the main instrument in the 50s rebuild. R&D updated the console with a new solid state capture system in 1988.
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Talking of Taylors, I hear that the De Montford hall organ has sufferd due to the heat. An allen toaster had to be used for Carlo Curlys recital earlier this week
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How about the fine instrument in St Mary's Beverley? Wonderful to play and hear at the console (about 5 ft from the front pipes) but a great deal of sound is lost 1/3 of the way down the nave. I have very fond memories of this instrument having learnt on it. It has one of the most thrilling 16foot reeds l have ever heard. Also enclosed tubas at 16,8, and 4foot pitches (not extended) which with the box shut could be added to the swell to create a seemingly never ending crescendo. I would be very interested to hear others oppinions on this instrument.
William Northmore
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Diverging slightly, I always thought that it would be a good idea to have goals for those who play the organ but who would not profees to being organists. How about some kind of course concentrating on Hymns or popular wedding pieces? The many 'reluctant' organist l have come accross while tuning or playing are in fact the opposite being very keen to play well, use the correct stops etc. Often all that is needed is a few words of guidance and encouragement. The organ as we that are so used to playing day in day out seem to forget can be a pretty daunting contraption to a pianist. I always remeber an afternoon course run by the rscm that l attended in my earl teens which did just this. One lady asked 'if there is a sw to gt why not a gt to sw?' when you think about this kind of thing is NOT obvious to those who are not familiar with organs.
William Northmore
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Having talked to a few people about this topic I have been told that if l put together details on Porritt, I then have to do the same for Taylors!! Could be a big project
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Ha ha Well even when we were taking the job down the security gaurds were not friendly!! At that time there were no soldiers left so they were guarding mostly derilict emtpy buildings. Even asking to use the one remaining working toilet was too much trouble!! It was a fine instrument though with a huge pedal open holding up the back wall!! It will need some work before it goes back up, there were several water damaged pallets on the great.
William Northmore
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Yes I can confirm that Cousans removed it in 2007 (I work for them). The organ was sold to an Italian Gentleman who currently has the organ in storage. He has had interest in the instrument but as yet has not found it a new home.
Best wishes,
William Northmore
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I agree that this instrument should be fully restored as it is with no changes, it is a brilliant instrument sounding amazing when l last heard it about 8 years ago. Surely it would get the use and reputation it deserves in the current venue????? Or do others think it underused/underated. I dont know the set up in Newcastle but l would think there would be enough interest in the area to support it.
WN
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Hello Will
I remember the Gilmorton organ, having last played it in the late 70s when we lived in Lutterworth. If it's in a poor way now, it wasn't much better mechanically then. Porritt's organs sem to just go on and on, and as I recall this one is totally unaltered apart from the addition of the choir organ. On the few occasions I played it I was quite impressed, even then thinking how good it could be if restored. From what you say it doesn't sound as if anything has been done to it.
The only other Porritt I played was Bitteswell, small 2 manual with no Swell - Pedal coupler for some reason. Also, the NPOR survey gives the pedal compass as C-f, but my recollection is that it was c compass, two octaves (I nearly fell off going for a top d that wasn't there!). Did the firm do many slightly quirky organs like that? Hard to imagine quite why!!!
R
Yes Ron the choir organ was added by Porritts at a later date. I think when first added it was the top manual then Porritts came back and rebuilt the action to have the manuals in the usual order. The pipework although about the dirtiest l have ever seen still speaks well and the flutes are very fine. The reeds are very erattic in speech but would be fine after a carefull clean. Indeed when l was last there, their tuner had disconected the great and choir reeds because they would not stay in tune!! I have told the church wardens what a fine and historic organ it is but as always l think it is at the bottom of the list.
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Have you tried the National Pipe Organ Register? From the NPOR menu on the top left, select "search by builder" and in the first box type "Porritt%" (without the quotes).
This brings up a list of some 66 organs in which Joshua Porritt had a hand, including one in Aberdeenshire and one in Weymouth, Dorset.
Gilmorton (All Saints, is it?) does not seem to be listed yet.
In interpreting NPOR one always needs to note the survey date, as the specification currently listed will often include the work of later builders. For example, there is a IV/46 at St Peter, Leicester, but this is largely the work of Taylor & Sons; Porritt had provided only for a III/36 - and most of that was prepared for.
It looks as though the largest Porritt listed may be the III/39 at St Mary's, Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire (it's listed as a III/40, but this is after the 1952 work by Rushworth & Dreaper, cf. the secondary sources further down the page), but how much of this was Porritt's work (1910) and how much is from the original Wordsworth and Maskell is not stated.
There is also a III/38 at Christ Church, Clarendon Park Road, Leicester which was rebuilt without significant change by Rushworths in 1952.
Thankyou for replying Vox, I had checked the npor site and seen most of the information listed above although l hadnt found the Gilmorton on it for some reason.
I had assumed the Chipping Norton Organ maybe had been added to by R and D but perhaps it was just a clean and overhaul. I will do some more detective work on this! Many thanks for your response, I will post more info if people are interested in this l think overlooked builder.
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Does anybody using this forum have any details of Porritt organ builders of Leicester? I look after a fairly large number of instruments by this builder but have been unsucesful in obtaining much information. I wonderd if anyone may be able to help? Im interested to find out how far away from Leicester any of his instruments managed to get and also details of any of the larger instruments built by this firm. I know of the fine organ built by them in Gilmoton Parish church (sadly in very poor shape at present) and have always wonderd if this was their largest instrument. Many thanks in anticipation of any information recieved!
Best wishes William Northmore
P.S. This is only my second post so please be gentle!!
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This does not look like the Rothwell l look after at all! Do we have any details of any previous work on the instrument? Also does anyone know the specification?
Will N
Pedal Cornets
in Nuts and bolts
Posted
I remember playing the organ at St Marys Beverley a while back and noticing some very strange mutations on the pedal organ. My memory is not upto listing the exact details and l think most visiting organists decided to stay well clear of them!