James Atherton

Thank you, Paul. What lovely comments, and so heartening when someone really understands the concept. I completely take your point about the Solo Oct to Pedal when the Pedal Divide is drawn. I hadn't thought about that. It will come down to space on the jambs, but worth a convo with J-Ho to see what he thinks..... The Voix Humaine is on the Swell soundboard rather than on a chest, so this wasn't possible on the Solo. However it is possible on the Swell, but of course the Flute mutations are tied up there.... The Clarinette will be purposely 'woody' and not really a substitute for a Cromhorne. It might be that the Hautbois and Clarinette together on the Solo fulfills that purpose.... Until we get it in there we won't know. It will be up to those that play it (and I look forward to hearing you take her out for a spin) to see how they can make repertoire work. That's 90% of the fun of meeting an organ for the first time. As long as the music stands up, it doesn't matter that much what your draw. The tired old 'you can't play Bach without two choruses, or Couperin without this or that' is mostly now behind us (in most quarters) This new organ, as you rightly see, is designed with liturgical requirements at the fore, but not a little thought has gone into the playing of the wider organ literature. Time will tell how it turns out, but it hasn't been designed with any fads or fashions, so with luck it will see us all out, and many subsequent custodians of the instrument. ATB J

Hi Jonathan. Thank you for your kind remarks and your interest in the new organ. Re the Aliquot, this is a compound stop, invented by John Compton. He called them various things Harmonics 32' Bass Corner 32' and I think also Harmonics of 32' There might be others... Originally ours was going to be called Aliquot 32' However the layout of the console dictates that the Pedal flues will be on one jamb, and the reeds on another. A 32' stop at the top of the flues looked odd, so we decided on Aliquot VII. The composition is such that if one plays bottom C on the pedal the following notes play C @ 16' G @ 10 2/3' C @ 8' E @ 6 2/3' G @ 5 1/3' A# @ 4 1/7' D @ 3 8/9' At the moment I am not sure of the derivations. We will experiment once we have the rest of the organ in the building to see what works best. The console remains in the organ loft, more details of that to be revealed in good time..... Hope that is useful? James

Thank you, Martin. The Pedal Aliquot is in fact a compound stop, and gives the effect of a soft 32' reed when drawn with fairly full registrations. We have used this trick at Radley and the effect is incredible. It is inspired by Compton's Bass Cornets or Harmonics of 32' (he used several different names) So that meant the Bombardon can really 'roar' in the bass! Hope that's helpful?

Wow! Thank you SO much for this. When someone 'gets' what it is we have designed, it is an extremely humbling experience. You have absolutely understood how I have come to this design, and this makes me very happy. It isn't the 'norm' We don't do that at N&Co. Every new organ we build is different from the last, as every building and set of requirements differ. Why would we try to build something our forefathers have done? We can't! It would be a pastiche. We build what we believe is the optimum solution for each client. We will not shift from this ethos under my watch.

thank you SO much for this. Come and hear it in the flesh. I will be very happy to show anyone who has a genuine interest in it, once it is built. You all know where you can find me.....

that is a really interesting question, thank you. If one reads the specification in the way that I have designed it, one can see a story that links the lineage from Dallam/Harris of the C17th to N&Co in the C21st. I have researched each incarnation of the organ, and have picked up a thread that leads us to our 2026 instrument. The Chaire is clearly Dallam/Harris. The Great is inspired by our finest Victorian organ builders, not least of all John Nicholson (whose scalings and voicing style are the inspiration for this division) The Pedal makes the best use of the limited space we have, in the way Arthur Harrison did. The Swell is designed to provide the best and most colourful tonal spectrum possible, inspired by Cavaillé-Coll (whose pipes we have hear in Malvern to study) and the Nave division is pure N&Co. The reeds will offer fiery brilliance in the Swell, Victorian elegance and brass on the Great and an all-out brass band for the Bombarde unit. The Tuba Mirabilis will be voiced on 18" wp and is to our new house-style. Brilliant and arresting, without any of the podgy tone other Tubas can display. Is that helpful?

you've hit the nail on the head with the word 'space'. Had we had more space in that ancient and tiny organ case the specification would have reflected that. As it is we have had to think hard about how we provide a flexible instrument for accompanying the liturgy, with all the appropriate gentle colour that was lacking in its predecessor, whilst still having a thrilling recital instrument. Extension has been used in the colouring stops, whilst keeping the integrity of the principal choruses. A 16' based Nave division, 8' based Great, Swell and Chaire. An independent pedal is not necessary for a cathedral organ, however the Nave on Pedal transfer will provide independence for the pedal line when required, as the Nave Grand Chorus is based on the 16' rather than 8'

Or even an unfair advantage

Nothing spoof about this. My comment on the other thread was meant to make people laugh. Having designed the specification of the organ that is to be built, I am at somewhat of an advantage, wouldn't you say.....

Thank you, we are all really excited for this project!

On reflection, we decided that enough time had passed since the demise of the 1971 instrument, and that for fund raising purposes it would be helpful for people to know what they are contributing towards.

The Nave division will be approximately where the previous West Great was.

I get that some people can't understand the scheme, or have ideas of how they would do things differently. That's all part of our funny little world. I am open to all questions and will chat to anyone about this scheme. At the moment it is a list of stop names. How it sounds and how it plays is what actually matters.

Ask me any questions you like, I'll answer them.

Am I allowed to play.......

This is a superb synopsis of all that was good and not so good about the old Gloucester organ. I, for one, appreciate your considered thoughts on the organ and can guarantee that the new one will be able to do much of what the old one could, but everything it couldn't. Best wishes James

Thank you for your kind words. We are pleased with how Radley turned out, it certainly does the job or supporting the lusty singing of the boys there (and goodness me do they sing!!!) The uptake of new organ students has been heartening. The Tuba is a new design of ours, and is certainly arresting in the chapel!!

Christchurch Cathedral NZ, to clarify.

Precisely! Come and hear it, rather than damn it before it has even been built. (I started the voicing the new organ this week, a stop for the Swell for those who might be interested....)

There is no room for scheme like this. The new organ will be exactly where the old one was. The beauty and historic case along with its gloriously decorated case pipes will be meticulously restored. The Bishop Open Wood will remain in the 'pedal pit' where it has been since 1971. As for a 64' Reed.... That did make me chuckle. I think you might keep your fag packet 🙂

Thank you. I look forward to seeing you at the Cathedral when you do.

The Bishop Open Wood will remain.

There is no 'headline grabbing' The specification for the new instrument was drawn up by me, as a matter of fact. It was approved by the Cathedral musicians and the Dean and Chapter with one additional stop they requested. This is the basis of the contract that was signed last year. The pipework was not suitable for reuse in the new instrument with the exception of 2 basses. It was almost all made by Stinkens and was not the finest quality. The pipe bodies and the languids were very thin. They were made with the specific needs of open toe voicing, and scaled by Ralph Downes. The scalings were bizarre to say the least. There is no consultant at Gloucester, it was not felt necessary as the Dean and Chapter and cathedral musicians and ourselves were 'on the same page' from day one. They trust us to build the organ they want. This was also true for our brand new instruments at Llandaff and Auckland Cathedral's respectively. I don't recall any discussion of Charterhouse on this site. Charterhouse will be the next brand new organ out of our factory after Gloucester Cathedral (the specification was also drawn up by me in consultation with Mark Shepherd, for your information) Another brand new Cathedral organ for Christchurch Cathedral follows hot on the heels of that one (where I also drew up the specification)

Paul Hale is not the consultant at Gloucester.

I think it was out of peevishness. Such wanton waste. The cost of they were to be replaced is eye-watering