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Thanks for that Tony. Do you know what happened to the organ (I see the 32 flute was transferred to the new instrument)? Also, now the church is closed, do you know what the fate of the most recent instrument is?

Best wishes

 

==========================

 

I wish that I knew more about the fate of the Anneessens organ at Bradford, and of that which once stood in St.Joseph’s Church, Bradford, about a mile or so away. What I do know is largely anecdotal, with bits of proper information thrown in to confuse everything. It’s sad really, because I played the original Anneessens at St.Joseph’s when it was there, I have given a recital on the organ of St.Mary’s, and at 15, I made bits for the organ re-build at Bridlington Priory.

For the record, there was another Anneessens in Lancashire which we used to try to tune and maintain without much success. It was near to Nelson/Burnley, and may well have been at Barrowford, in the Congregational church. The fascinating thing about this latter organ was the console, which had chroma-key, ceramic stop-heads in pretty pinks and blues and greens; running horizontally above the top manual. I seem to recall that the console of St.J’s, Bradford was similar.

 

(Interestingly, Bradford also had a Walcker instrument at Otley Road, Methodist Church, of which I know absolutely nothing beyond the fact that I saw it listed in an original Walcker brochure.)

 

Some may feel that Bradford was not kind to some of the more interesting instruments, and perhaps the greatest loss was that of an absolutely magnificent 4-manual Isaac Abbott instrument when St.Mark’s church was demolished. A few people still mention it to-day with mist (possibly cataracts) in their eyes.

Bradford is now something of a cultural desert with a hole in the middle, as a result of building contractors running out of money.

 

However, back to the Belgian instruments and what bit I know about them. The great problem, (in all fairness to Bradford), was the fact that Anneessens used very soft pipe-metal (a lack of Antimony in the metal alloy), and very dubious (early) electrics. The action patent is interesting, because my understanding of it is that Mols & Schmoel were an American/Belgian company, who worked outside the organ trade in the wider field of electrical engineering. (I stand to be corrected, as always).

 

The St.Joseph’s instrument was in a parlous state when I played it, with many of the flue and reed basses in a twisted, mangled state, but somehow still making a sound. When it was in tune, (not very often), the sound was rather grand, with plenty of fine reed tone. The flutes were especially nice, but for me, the most beautiful register of all was the free-reed Clarinet, which in a big acoustic, sounded quite ravishing. Overall, the tonal quality was excellent, but the structural quality too flimsy. I have no idea what happened to the instrument. I assume it was scrapped, and replaced by the second-hand Binns which now reliably supports the singing.

 

St.Mary’s, (now closed), was always a vast barn of a church, with a big acoustic and enormous height and width. It’s a big space inside, and whatever organ was going to go in there, would have to make plenty of sound if it was to be effective. Quite why the choice of builder went to Anneessens is anyone’s guess, but perhaps it was the personal whim of the then priest who paid for it. The organ had been an exhibition instrument, as I understand it. In any event, it was a big instrument with 5-manuals, though I’m not sure if the 5th manual wasn’t just a coupler division. The opening recital was given, if I recall correctly, by Jaques Lemmens.

 

Judging by the very limited life of this instrument in its original guise,(13 years), one must assume that reliability was a problem, and the action was soon replaced by an ultra-reliable Binns pneumatic, which must have been an improvement on the original.

 

At a guess, this instrument must have suffered the same problems as the other Belgian organ up the road, because it would simply have cost too much to re-build, even in the relatively affluent 1970’s.....but wait a minute, was it the 1970’s??????

I have absolutely no memory of the earlier instrument, but I have a memory of the current console when it was situated in the sanctuary rather than the nave. I would have been very young at the time; possibly around 18 -20 years of age. That would almost certainly mean lat 1960’s rather than mid-70’s when the organ was replaced by the Booth organ from Cleckheaton Methodist church.

 

The acquisition of the Booth organ from Cleckheaton was interesting, if presenting something of an historical dilemma, because the preservation of one historic organ meant the destruction of another.

 

Now this is where things get a little hazy, due to the fact that Mr Hanson, the last organist of the church (so far as I am aware), is now deceased. He knew the history of both instruments. However, the organ-building name of Booth covers more than one company, and it is my understanding that the Booth who built the organ for Cleckheaton, was not ‘Booth of Wakefield,’ but another Booth, (I think related), who set up business in Otley, nr.Leeds. This particular Booth worked closely with Schulze, and it is known that Schulze voiced quite a number of ranks for Booth, and Booth studied Schulze carefully and even worked with him; possibly in collaboration. (One RC priest rather unkindly suggested that Schulze probably had more disciples than one Jesus of Nazareth!)

 

Another organ, by the same builder and with the same Schulze association, used to stand in the Methodist Church, Mornington Rd., Bingley, and a new home was found for this and the instrument saved.

 

I spoke to Peter Wood about the organ at St.Mary’s, Bradford, but he had no re-collection of it from the time that Wood, Wordswoth & Co., re-built the instrument from Cleckheaton, which surprised me. Unfortunately, all the records of the company went up in smoke in a fire, and the firm went pop possibly at the same time, but I don’t actually know when. However, I have one clue, which sticks in my mind from a very long time ago, when I was shown around the inside of the organ at Leeds Town Hall, by Peter Wood, just after the re-build in the early 70’s. For some strange reason, I recall being informed that the 32ft reed was from St.Mary’s, Bradford, even though the organ always had a 32ft reed. Whether or not this is true is immaterial, because it would place the date to pre-1972 when the Anneessens organ at St.Mary’s was removed. (Was the original Gray & Davison 32ft reed ineffective at Leeds Town Hall?)

 

Perhaps a further clue is my memory of a piston capture system at St Mary’s, which had the usual switch toggles with coloured plastic caps.

 

At around this time, Wood, Wordswoth & Co., had done a lot of big jobs....Leeds PC, Leeds Town Hall and Blenheim Palace, and St Mary’s was probably the least of these in terms of contract size, but the work at Leeds PC started in, I believe, 1965; that at the Town Hall around 1972.

 

Never mind what the date may have been, three things were remarkable about the organ at St.Mary’s. First was the huge detached console, second was the magnificent Anneseens case work with 16ft front (presumably with the original pipes intact), and the third was the terrible condition of the winding, which meant that the organ never spoke properly and never stayed in tune when I played it about ten years or more ago. Being quite a wealthy man, the then organist, Mr Hanson, poured a lot of personal money into the instrument, and the last time I played the instrument, John T Jackson had fettled things, installed a computerised stop-action, moved the Tuba to the top of the Swell box and sorted out the winding. Although not really a big enough sound for the church, it was a good quality sound, and I’m very pleased that I finally heard the organ as it was meant to be heard in the last years of the church being open. I think I last played the organ there for the funeral of a friend, in 2002 or so.

 

How much of the original Anneesens remained I cannot say, but the 32ft Gross Flute was certainly from the original instrument. However, I believe certain other things may well have been Anneessens also, but I have no idea which bits. (I think the Ocarina stop was original).

 

Whatever happened to the remainder of the Anneseens pipework, I know nothing, but we should bear in mind the fire.

As Tony Newham knows only too well, most of the good organs perished in Bradford, and many of the poorer quality ones have remained; possibly because they were in smaller, less prestigious buildings. I remember the old Laycock & Bannister at his church in Heaton, (the old building; now demolished), and I seem to recall playing for a couple of services once, when I was still a tiny mite of 15 or so. The remarkable thing about the organ was not the bread & butter, workmanlike sound of the ever reliable L & B style, but the sheer panache of the reeds, which were reputed to have been by Cavaille-Coll. That is more than likely, because a church local to me, with a Laycock & Bannister organ, has the most ravishing Vox Humana made of tin, which cost £100, at a time when whole organs could be built for around £400!

 

I’m sorry I can’t be more specific about the details of these instruments, and now that most have gone or the churches closed, it is probably too late to worry about it all. However, my gut feeling is that the details relating to the big jobs which Wood,Wordsworth & Co., carried out before their demise, may well be inaccurate in the NPOR, and in view of what happened to the company records, this is probably quite understandable. There is no record of the company in the NPOR, other than references to it under specific organ listings.

 

MM

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==========================

 

I wish that I knew more about the fate of the Anneessens organ at Bradford, and of that which once stood in St.Joseph’s Church, Bradford, about a mile or so away. What I do know is largely anecdotal, with bits of proper information thrown in to confuse everything. It’s sad really, because I played the original Anneessens at St.Joseph’s when it was there, I have given a recital on the organ of St.Mary’s, and at 15, I made bits for the organ re-build at Bridlington Priory.

For the record, there was another Anneessens in Lancashire which we used to try to tune and maintain without much success. It was near to Nelson/Burnley, and may well have been at Barrowford, in the Congregational church. The fascinating thing about this latter organ was the console, which had chroma-key, ceramic stop-heads in pretty pinks and blues and greens; running horizontally above the top manual. I seem to recall that the console of St.J’s, Bradford was similar.

 

(Interestingly, Bradford also had a Walcker instrument at Otley Road, Methodist Church, of which I know absolutely nothing beyond the fact that I saw it listed in an original Walcker brochure.)

 

Some may feel that Bradford was not kind to some of the more interesting instruments, and perhaps the greatest loss was that of an absolutely magnificent 4-manual Isaac Abbott instrument when St.Mark’s church was demolished. A few people still mention it to-day with mist (possibly cataracts) in their eyes.

Bradford is now something of a cultural desert with a hole in the middle, as a result of building contractors running out of money.

 

However, back to the Belgian instruments and what bit I know about them. The great problem, (in all fairness to Bradford), was the fact that Anneessens used very soft pipe-metal (a lack of Antimony in the metal alloy), and very dubious (early) electrics. The action patent is interesting, because my understanding of it is that Mols & Schmoel were an American/Belgian company, who worked outside the organ trade in the wider field of electrical engineering. (I stand to be corrected, as always).

 

The St.Joseph’s instrument was in a parlous state when I played it, with many of the flue and reed basses in a twisted, mangled state, but somehow still making a sound. When it was in tune, (not very often), the sound was rather grand, with plenty of fine reed tone. The flutes were especially nice, but for me, the most beautiful register of all was the free-reed Clarinet, which in a big acoustic, sounded quite ravishing. Overall, the tonal quality was excellent, but the structural quality too flimsy. I have no idea what happened to the instrument. I assume it was scrapped, and replaced by the second-hand Binns which now reliably supports the singing.

 

St.Mary’s, (now closed), was always a vast barn of a church, with a big acoustic and enormous height and width. It’s a big space inside, and whatever organ was going to go in there, would have to make plenty of sound if it was to be effective. Quite why the choice of builder went to Anneessens is anyone’s guess, but perhaps it was the personal whim of the then priest who paid for it. The organ had been an exhibition instrument, as I understand it. In any event, it was a big instrument with 5-manuals, though I’m not sure if the 5th manual wasn’t just a coupler division. The opening recital was given, if I recall correctly, by Jaques Lemmens.

 

Judging by the very limited life of this instrument in its original guise,(13 years), one must assume that reliability was a problem, and the action was soon replaced by an ultra-reliable Binns pneumatic, which must have been an improvement on the original.

 

At a guess, this instrument must have suffered the same problems as the other Belgian organ up the road, because it would simply have cost too much to re-build, even in the relatively affluent 1970’s.....but wait a minute, was it the 1970’s??????

I have absolutely no memory of the earlier instrument, but I have a memory of the current console when it was situated in the sanctuary rather than the nave. I would have been very young at the time; possibly around 18 -20 years of age. That would almost certainly mean lat 1960’s rather than mid-70’s when the organ was replaced by the Booth organ from Cleckheaton Methodist church.

 

The acquisition of the Booth organ from Cleckheaton was interesting, if presenting something of an historical dilemma, because the preservation of one historic organ meant the destruction of another.

 

Now this is where things get a little hazy, due to the fact that Mr Hanson, the last organist of the church (so far as I am aware), is now deceased. He knew the history of both instruments. However, the organ-building name of Booth covers more than one company, and it is my understanding that the Booth who built the organ for Cleckheaton, was not ‘Booth of Wakefield,’ but another Booth, (I think related), who set up business in Otley, nr.Leeds. This particular Booth worked closely with Schulze, and it is known that Schulze voiced quite a number of ranks for Booth, and Booth studied Schulze carefully and even worked with him; possibly in collaboration. (One RC priest rather unkindly suggested that Schulze probably had more disciples than one Jesus of Nazareth!)

 

Another organ, by the same builder and with the same Schulze association, used to stand in the Methodist Church, Mornington Rd., Bingley, and a new home was found for this and the instrument saved.

 

I spoke to Peter Wood about the organ at St.Mary’s, Bradford, but he had no re-collection of it from the time that Wood, Wordswoth & Co., re-built the instrument from Cleckheaton, which surprised me. Unfortunately, all the records of the company went up in smoke in a fire, and the firm went pop possibly at the same time, but I don’t actually know when. However, I have one clue, which sticks in my mind from a very long time ago, when I was shown around the inside of the organ at Leeds Town Hall, by Peter Wood, just after the re-build in the early 70’s. For some strange reason, I recall being informed that the 32ft reed was from St.Mary’s, Bradford, even though the organ always had a 32ft reed. Whether or not this is true is immaterial, because it would place the date to pre-1972 when the Anneessens organ at St.Mary’s was removed. (Was the original Gray & Davison 32ft reed ineffective at Leeds Town Hall?)

 

Perhaps a further clue is my memory of a piston capture system at St Mary’s, which had the usual switch toggles with coloured plastic caps.

 

At around this time, Wood, Wordswoth & Co., had done a lot of big jobs....Leeds PC, Leeds Town Hall and Blenheim Palace, and St Mary’s was probably the least of these in terms of contract size, but the work at Leeds PC started in, I believe, 1965; that at the Town Hall around 1972.

 

Never mind what the date may have been, three things were remarkable about the organ at St.Mary’s. First was the huge detached console, second was the magnificent Anneseens case work with 16ft front (presumably with the original pipes intact), and the third was the terrible condition of the winding, which meant that the organ never spoke properly and never stayed in tune when I played it about ten years or more ago. Being quite a wealthy man, the then organist, Mr Hanson, poured a lot of personal money into the instrument, and the last time I played the instrument, John T Jackson had fettled things, installed a computerised stop-action, moved the Tuba to the top of the Swell box and sorted out the winding. Although not really a big enough sound for the church, it was a good quality sound, and I’m very pleased that I finally heard the organ as it was meant to be heard in the last years of the church being open. I think I last played the organ there for the funeral of a friend, in 2002 or so.

 

How much of the original Anneesens remained I cannot say, but the 32ft Gross Flute was certainly from the original instrument. However, I believe certain other things may well have been Anneessens also, but I have no idea which bits. (I think the Ocarina stop was original).

 

Whatever happened to the remainder of the Anneseens pipework, I know nothing, but we should bear in mind the fire.

As Tony Newham knows only too well, most of the good organs perished in Bradford, and many of the poorer quality ones have remained; possibly because they were in smaller, less prestigious buildings. I remember the old Laycock & Bannister at his church in Heaton, (the old building; now demolished), and I seem to recall playing for a couple of services once, when I was still a tiny mite of 15 or so. The remarkable thing about the organ was not the bread & butter, workmanlike sound of the ever reliable L & B style, but the sheer panache of the reeds, which were reputed to have been by Cavaille-Coll. That is more than likely, because a church local to me, with a Laycock & Bannister organ, has the most ravishing Vox Humana made of tin, which cost £100, at a time when whole organs could be built for around £400!

 

I’m sorry I can’t be more specific about the details of these instruments, and now that most have gone or the churches closed, it is probably too late to worry about it all. However, my gut feeling is that the details relating to the big jobs which Wood,Wordsworth & Co., carried out before their demise, may well be inaccurate in the NPOR, and in view of what happened to the company records, this is probably quite understandable. There is no record of the company in the NPOR, other than references to it under specific organ listings.

 

MM

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==========================

 

I wish that I knew more about the fate of the Anneessens organ at Bradford, and of that which once stood in St.Joseph’s Church, Bradford, about a mile or so away. What I do know is largely anecdotal, with bits of proper information thrown in to confuse everything. It’s sad really, because I played the original Anneessens at St.Joseph’s when it was there, I have given a recital on the organ of St.Mary’s, and at 15, I made bits for the organ re-build at Bridlington Priory.

For the record, there was another Anneessens in Lancashire which we used to try to tune and maintain without much success. It was near to Nelson/Burnley, and may well have been at Barrowford, in the Congregational church. The fascinating thing about this latter organ was the console, which had chroma-key, ceramic stop-heads in pretty pinks and blues and greens; running horizontally above the top manual. I seem to recall that the console of St.J’s, Bradford was similar.

 

(Interestingly, Bradford also had a Walcker instrument at Otley Road, Methodist Church, of which I know absolutely nothing beyond the fact that I saw it listed in an original Walcker brochure.)

 

Some may feel that Bradford was not kind to some of the more interesting instruments, and perhaps the greatest loss was that of an absolutely magnificent 4-manual Isaac Abbott instrument when St.Mark’s church was demolished. A few people still mention it to-day with mist (possibly cataracts) in their eyes.

Bradford is now something of a cultural desert with a hole in the middle, as a result of building contractors running out of money.

 

However, back to the Belgian instruments and what bit I know about them. The great problem, (in all fairness to Bradford), was the fact that Anneessens used very soft pipe-metal (a lack of Antimony in the metal alloy), and very dubious (early) electrics. The action patent is interesting, because my understanding of it is that Mols & Schmoel were an American/Belgian company, who worked outside the organ trade in the wider field of electrical engineering. (I stand to be corrected, as always).

 

The St.Joseph’s instrument was in a parlous state when I played it, with many of the flue and reed basses in a twisted, mangled state, but somehow still making a sound. When it was in tune, (not very often), the sound was rather grand, with plenty of fine reed tone. The flutes were especially nice, but for me, the most beautiful register of all was the free-reed Clarinet, which in a big acoustic, sounded quite ravishing. Overall, the tonal quality was excellent, but the structural quality too flimsy. I have no idea what happened to the instrument. I assume it was scrapped, and replaced by the second-hand Binns which now reliably supports the singing.

 

St.Mary’s, (now closed), was always a vast barn of a church, with a big acoustic and enormous height and width. It’s a big space inside, and whatever organ was going to go in there, would have to make plenty of sound if it was to be effective. Quite why the choice of builder went to Anneessens is anyone’s guess, but perhaps it was the personal whim of the then priest who paid for it. The organ had been an exhibition instrument, as I understand it. In any event, it was a big instrument with 5-manuals, though I’m not sure if the 5th manual wasn’t just a coupler division. The opening recital was given, if I recall correctly, by Jaques Lemmens.

 

Judging by the very limited life of this instrument in its original guise,(13 years), one must assume that reliability was a problem, and the action was soon replaced by an ultra-reliable Binns pneumatic, which must have been an improvement on the original.

 

At a guess, this instrument must have suffered the same problems as the other Belgian organ up the road, because it would simply have cost too much to re-build, even in the relatively affluent 1970’s.....but wait a minute, was it the 1970’s??????

I have absolutely no memory of the earlier instrument, but I have a memory of the current console when it was situated in the sanctuary rather than the nave. I would have been very young at the time; possibly around 18 -20 years of age. That would almost certainly mean lat 1960’s rather than mid-70’s when the organ was replaced by the Booth organ from Cleckheaton Methodist church.

 

The acquisition of the Booth organ from Cleckheaton was interesting, if presenting something of an historical dilemma, because the preservation of one historic organ meant the destruction of another.

 

Now this is where things get a little hazy, due to the fact that Mr Hanson, the last organist of the church (so far as I am aware), is now deceased. He knew the history of both instruments. However, the organ-building name of Booth covers more than one company, and it is my understanding that the Booth who built the organ for Cleckheaton, was not ‘Booth of Wakefield,’ but another Booth, (I think related), who set up business in Otley, nr.Leeds. This particular Booth worked closely with Schulze, and it is known that Schulze voiced quite a number of ranks for Booth, and Booth studied Schulze carefully and even worked with him; possibly in collaboration. (One RC priest rather unkindly suggested that Schulze probably had more disciples than one Jesus of Nazareth!)

 

Another organ, by the same builder and with the same Schulze association, used to stand in the Methodist Church, Mornington Rd., Bingley, and a new home was found for this and the instrument saved.

 

I spoke to Peter Wood about the organ at St.Mary’s, Bradford, but he had no re-collection of it from the time that Wood, Wordswoth & Co., re-built the instrument from Cleckheaton, which surprised me. Unfortunately, all the records of the company went up in smoke in a fire, and the firm went pop possibly at the same time, but I don’t actually know when. However, I have one clue, which sticks in my mind from a very long time ago, when I was shown around the inside of the organ at Leeds Town Hall, by Peter Wood, just after the re-build in the early 70’s. For some strange reason, I recall being informed that the 32ft reed was from St.Mary’s, Bradford, even though the organ always had a 32ft reed. Whether or not this is true is immaterial, because it would place the date to pre-1972 when the Anneessens organ at St.Mary’s was removed. (Was the original Gray & Davison 32ft reed ineffective at Leeds Town Hall?)

 

Perhaps a further clue is my memory of a piston capture system at St Mary’s, which had the usual switch toggles with coloured plastic caps.

 

At around this time, Wood, Wordswoth & Co., had done a lot of big jobs....Leeds PC, Leeds Town Hall and Blenheim Palace, and St Mary’s was probably the least of these in terms of contract size, but the work at Leeds PC started in, I believe, 1965; that at the Town Hall around 1972.

 

Never mind what the date may have been, three things were remarkable about the organ at St.Mary’s. First was the huge detached console, second was the magnificent Anneseens case work with 16ft front (presumably with the original pipes intact), and the third was the terrible condition of the winding, which meant that the organ never spoke properly and never stayed in tune when I played it about ten years or more ago. Being quite a wealthy man, the then organist, Mr Hanson, poured a lot of personal money into the instrument, and the last time I played the instrument, John T Jackson had fettled things, installed a computerised stop-action, moved the Tuba to the top of the Swell box and sorted out the winding. Although not really a big enough sound for the church, it was a good quality sound, and I’m very pleased that I finally heard the organ as it was meant to be heard in the last years of the church being open. I think I last played the organ there for the funeral of a friend, in 2002 or so.

 

How much of the original Anneesens remained I cannot say, but the 32ft Gross Flute was certainly from the original instrument. However, I believe certain other things may well have been Anneessens also, but I have no idea which bits. (I think the Ocarina stop was original).

 

Whatever happened to the remainder of the Anneseens pipework, I know nothing, but we should bear in mind the fire.

As Tony Newham knows only too well, most of the good organs perished in Bradford, and many of the poorer quality ones have remained; possibly because they were in smaller, less prestigious buildings. I remember the old Laycock & Bannister at his church in Heaton, (the old building; now demolished), and I seem to recall playing for a couple of services once, when I was still a tiny mite of 15 or so. The remarkable thing about the organ was not the bread & butter, workmanlike sound of the ever reliable L & B style, but the sheer panache of the reeds, which were reputed to have been by Cavaille-Coll. That is more than likely, because a church local to me, with a Laycock & Bannister organ, has the most ravishing Vox Humana made of tin, which cost £100, at a time when whole organs could be built for around £400!

 

I’m sorry I can’t be more specific about the details of these instruments, and now that most have gone or the churches closed, it is probably too late to worry about it all. However, my gut feeling is that the details relating to the big jobs which Wood,Wordsworth & Co., carried out before their demise, may well be inaccurate in the NPOR, and in view of what happened to the company records, this is probably quite understandable. There is no record of the company in the NPOR, other than references to it under specific organ listings.

 

MM

St John Bowling (Anglican church) had an Anneessens organ which was scrapped off maybe 20 years ago. At the time I was at St Wilfrid Lidget Green and we bought the pedal reed off them and installed it in that organ. As I recall the rest of the organ was scrapped.

 

R

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What a fascinating post - thanks so much for all the information MM! I dont know either of the churches or their organs, but was nevertheless very interested to read what you had to say. I did play the Bridlington organ once (when I was 12, on holiday!). It is the only experience I had of this builder and I remember, it blew me out of my seat!

It seems a real shame if these instruments were simply broken up and thrown away.

 

All rather depressing really - which leads me to another point (as much "off-thread" as we currently are in "Youtube"!), if Cynic were still a member of this forum, I bet he would now be posting telling us he has half the Bradford pipework in his house organ; not only that, but he would probably list all the pipe scales too!

 

Am I the only one who not only misses his brilliant posts and responses to posts, but also feel over the last couple of months that his absence makes this forum feel rather less interesting than it should be?

 

Who is brave enough to start a "bring back Cynic" post then? And whilst we are at it, perhaps Lee Blick should be asked to return!

 

Best wishes

 

Richard

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==========================

I spoke to Peter Wood about the organ at St.Mary’s, Bradford, but he had no re-collection of it from the time that Wood, Wordswoth & Co., re-built the instrument from Cleckheaton, which surprised me. Unfortunately, all the records of the company went up in smoke in a fire, and the firm went pop possibly at the same time, but I don’t actually know when. However, I have one clue, which sticks in my mind from a very long time ago, when I was shown around the inside of the organ at Leeds Town Hall, by Peter Wood, just after the re-build in the early 70’s. For some strange reason, I recall being informed that the 32ft reed was from St.Mary’s, Bradford, even though the organ always had a 32ft reed. Whether or not this is true is immaterial, because it would place the date to pre-1972 when the Anneessens organ at St.Mary’s was removed. (Was the original Gray & Davison 32ft reed ineffective at Leeds Town Hall?)

 

MM

 

I have, somewhere, a small booklet published round about the time that the Leeds Town Hall organ was rebuilt. I seem to remember reading in it that the new 32' reed was indeed sourced from St Mary's. It also states that the previous 32' reed was replaced due to its being an ineffective free reed.

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Thanks for that Tony. Do you know what happened to the organ (I see the 32 flute was transferred to the new instrument)? Also, now the church is closed, do you know what the fate of the most recent instrument is?

Best wishes

 

Hi

 

Sorry - I haven't heard what has happened to the current organ at St Mary's - maybe Ben Saunders, (Leeds RC diocese musical director - and I think on this list) will know. Having been ill for the 2nd half of last year, I've got somewhat out of touch.

 

In response to the comment about Wood, Wordsworth not being on NPOR (actually, that section is strictly not NPOR but the Dictionary of English Organ Builders) - they ARE listed - search DBOB for Wordsworth and you'll find that it was a name that they traded under from 1920 until after the DBOB current cut-off date of 1950

- see http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/ESearch.cgi?

 

Every Blessing

 

 

Tony

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Bit late now, but Jose Hopkins gave a talk on Anneessens at the BIOS Bernard Edmonds recent Research Conference at Birmingham in February this year. I hope it will get written up somewhere in due course. There are still some examples around in England such as that in Chippenham, Cambridgeshire:

http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi...ec_index=N03029 which has a BIOS Historic Organ Certificate grade II*.

 

PJW

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Guest Patrick Coleman
if Cynic were still a member of this forum, I bet he would now be posting telling us he has half the Bradford pipework in his house organ; not only that, but he would probably list all the pipe scales too!

 

Paul is staying here this week, as he is masterminding our work with the Walker organ.

 

I shall put this matter to him and see if he wishes to reply.

 

I think he has a few months yet to spend in the sin bin...

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All rather depressing really - which leads me to another point (as much "off-thread" as we currently are in "Youtube"!), if Cynic were still a member of this forum, I bet he would now be posting telling us he has half the Bradford pipework in his house organ; not only that, but he would probably list all the pipe scales too!

 

Am I the only one who not only misses his brilliant posts and responses to posts, but also feel over the last couple of months that his absence makes this forum feel rather less interesting than it should be?

 

Who is brave enough to start a "bring back Cynic" post then? And whilst we are at it, perhaps Lee Blick should be asked to return!

 

I certainly support the return of Cynic (only) but the matter is out of our hands unfortunately. My understanding is that he will eventually be reinstated automatically if he wishes to be. I know I am not the only one who has benefitted from his kind and knowledgeable advice and help, communicated privately, during his enforced absence.

 

Malcolm

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I have, somewhere, a small booklet published round about the time that the Leeds Town Hall organ was rebuilt. I seem to remember reading in it that the new 32' reed was indeed sourced from St Mary's. It also states that the previous 32' reed was replaced due to its being an ineffective free reed.

 

 

=========================

 

Thank you for that information John, which confirms that I haven't lost the plot yet. So it looks as if I was right about the organ at St Mary's being replaced in the 1960's rather than the 70's.

 

MM

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St John Bowling (Anglican church) had an Anneessens organ which was scrapped off maybe 20 years ago. At the time I was at St Wilfrid Lidget Green and we bought the pedal reed off them and installed it in that organ. As I recall the rest of the organ was scrapped.

 

R

 

 

==============================

 

 

I'm afraid to have to correct you Ron. The Bowling organ, which did have a 16ft pedal reed, was never an Anneesens instrument. It was originally built by Driver & Lupton in the 1880's, and came from the now demolished church of St Peter, Keighley.

 

Amusingly, in its original home, it had a 32ft full length Violone, which would not fit into the church at Bowling. So rather than discard the register, they chopped it in half and stoppered it; keeping the name Violone 32ft!!

 

All part of Bradford's bizzare organ-history.

 

Interestingly, I had no idea that there actually is a TRACKER ACTION Anneesens on the outskirts of Halifax, which is believed to be in good playing condition.

 

 

No trace of the other one on NPOR which I mentioned as being in Barrowford, in Lancashire.

 

MM

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Christmas improvisation at SJD, NYC

Very much an improvisation in the 'SJD style'...

 

 

and the State Trumpet- glorious or vulgar..? ;)

 

===============================

 

 

In moderation, I love the State Trumpets at St JTD, New York.

 

I heard them when I was over there, and they leave....erm....a bit of an impression!

 

Superlative voicing.

 

MM

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Here is the first Video featuring a Dalstein & Haerpfer organ:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cpr2vjEeR0Y

 

Note the Specifications: there is only one 4' and one Mixture

(with tierce rank, to be heard from 6' 35". And note also the Trompette is to be

heard for two seconds only; as it was halas off-tune, the player soon shut it!)

The action is pneumatic, probably after the Weigle system.

 

To be thrown into the Rhine ?

 

The Specifications was by Albert Schweitzer.

 

See here (in french language):

 

http://decouverte.orgue.free.fr/orgues/stthomch.htm

 

Pierre

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What always fascinates me about instruments from this period is how the mainstream English, French and German instruments have so many similarities and sometimes I think we concentrate too much on the differences. Pierre, do you know what the tradition of L'eglise Saint Thomas is ? This sometimes helps to understand the instrument more. Not to take anything away from this organ, but I suspect most instruments, even those with a dubious birth or pedigree would sound good in that acoustic.

 

AJS

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I do not know much about that particular church.

What I do know is than Dalstein and Haerpfer met while

working with Cavaillé-Coll, after having be trained in Germany

(Walcker), and that they built organs that were a splendid

synthese of both.....Nothing less than that.

 

Pierre

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Here is the first Video featuring a Dalstein & Haerpfer organ...

 

The previous specification, which included some upperwork on the Récit and replaced two other stops, is at this page, as is more information about the church history and its Silbermann organ. Nearly a third of the ranks are new, based on the builder's site, but as much as one can tell from a YouTube video, they seem to have been married very nicely to the instrument. Thank you for sharing this!

 

Justin

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I guess, though, in some years you will hear precisely that in the majority

of Bach's recordings, since it becomes clearer everyday that Bach had just such mixtures!

 

Another interesting video: a presentation of a 1920 swedish post-romantic organ

of first magnitude:

 

 

Pierre

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I guess, though, in some years you will hear precisely that in the majority

of Bach's recordings, since it becomes clearer everyday that Bach had just such mixtures!

Pierre

But does it become clearer every day that he actually liked them or used them?

JC

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But does it become clearer every day that he actually liked them or used them?

JC

 

Indeed - I have yet to see anything conclusive regarding tierce mixtures on organs Bach would have known. The only instrument (Mülhausen) which he was known to have played, for which I can find contemporary records of the mixture intervals shows that all the chorus mixtures contained unison and quint ranks only.

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