St Peter's Collegiate Church, Wolverhampton

[Guest]

Recent references on the forum to Wolverhampton have all I think been related to the very sad demise of the Compton organ in the Civic Hall.  Although it is many years since I lived in Wolverhampton, I thought forum members might like to end the year on a happier note from the city and from the Collegiate Church of St Peter.

On Sunday 22 December 2019, as I understand it, the church’s 3-manual Willis organ will come back into use at the Service of Nine Lessons and Carols.  The organ was originally built by Father Willis in 1882 and has been rebuilt several times since.  This rebuild has been completed by Michael Farley with Paul Hale as the consultant. There is a new console by Renatus and the decorated pipes of the case have been beautifully restored.

The specification of the organ prior to the rebuild can be found on the NPOR at https://www.npor.org.uk/NPORView.html?RI=H00214.  The specification, as advertised in the church, is now:

Great

Double Open Diapason 16

Open Diapason I 8

Open Diapason II 8

Claribel Flute 8

Stopped Diapason 8

Principal 4

Stopped Flute 4

Nazard 2 2/3

Fifteenth 2

Block Flute 2

Tierce 1 3/5

Full Mixture IV

Sharp Mixture III

Tromba 8

Clarion 4

Tuba 8 (Choir)

Tremolo

Swell to Great

Choir to Great

 

Swell

Geigen Diapason 8

Lieblich Gedact 8

Salicional 8

Vox Angelica 8 TC

Geigen Principal 4

Flauto Traverso 4

Fifteenth 2

Mixture IV

Hautboy 8

Contra Fagotto 16

Trumpet 8

Clarion 4

Octave

Unison Off

Sub Octave

Tremolo

 

Choir

Stopped Diapason 8

Viola da Gamba 8

Gemshorn 4

Flauto Amabile 4

Flageolet 2

Larigot 1 1/3

Sesquialtera II

Clarinet 8

Tromba 8 (Great)

Clarion 4 (Great)

Tuba 8

Octave

Unison Off

Sub Octave

Tremolo

Swell to Choir

Great to Choir

 

Pedal

Subbass 32

Open Wood 16

Open Diapason 16

Bourdon 16

Dulciana 16

Principal 8

Bass Flute 8

Choral Bass 4

Mixture IV

Contra Posaune 32

Ophicleide 16

Fagotto (Swell) 16

Clarion

Swell to Pedal

Great to Pedal

Choir to Pedal

Great & Pedal Combinations Coupled

Generals on Swell toe pistons

Generals on Pedal toe pistons

 

Both Sidney Campbell MVO and A.H. Mann were organists of St Peter’s Collegiate Church and many other distinguished musicians have contributed to a thriving musical life in the church.  The current director of music is Hamish Dustagheer.

Ian Tracey is giving the opening recital on 6 June 2020 at 7.30pm.  Details are on organrecitals.com and on Professor Tracey’s website.

 

[DaveHarries]

On 20/12/2019 at 18:01, chrisogorman said:

The current director of music is Hamish Dustagheer.

The church's music website suggests there is an acting DoM - http://www.stpeterswolverhamptonchoir.co.uk/index.php?page=music-staff - after the retirement of Peter Morris at Easter 2018. Also the most recently available music list on the church's website suggests likewise but that is dated Easter 2018. Clearly needs an update!

Dave

[Bruce Buchanan]

On 20/12/2019 at 18:01, chrisogorman said:

The organ was originally built by Father Willis in 1882 and has been rebuilt several times since.

In fact, the organ was originally built by Henry Willis in 1859, opened on Tuesday, 24 May that year (sermon by the Bishop of Oxford). The stop-list of the instrument has not yet come to light.

[Nigel Allcoat]

There are now some electronic sounds on this newly completed instrument.

[sbarber49]

Post-rebuild details (I think) here: https://www.npor.org.uk/NPORView.html?RI=S00105

[Tony Newnham]

The NPOR survey is dated 2019 & refers to a "new organ" using much old pipework, so unless more major work has been done in the last year, it should be as accurate as the source information!

Every Blessing

Tony