Lucien Nunes RIP

[Colin Pykett]

Lucien Nunes, a former member of this and other forums, died before his time on 11 June.  Intellectually still in his prime, he had been fighting cancer for some years although you would not have known it from the characteristic vigour and extraordinary depth of expertise that flowed undiminished from him until the end.  Among some top rank performers and within the organ building world he was known as one of the unsung heroes who were involved with painstaking restorations such as that of the fabulous twin-console Compton instrument at Southampton Guildhall about 15 years ago.  Richard Hills recorded a CD of the organ around that time and paid tribute to him by name in the sleeve note.

An electrical and electronics engineer by training, Lucien always argued for the greatest care to be taken in preserving the structure and integrity of the instruments he was faced with, particularly their actions.  At Southampton he was personally responsible for bringing the original electro-mechanical combination capture actions from the 1930s back to life, for example.  Among many other features of this organ, the system illustrated the extraordinary capabilities of the Compton company in its heyday and it was therefore most gratifying that it was restored (and, indeed, that he deemed it restorable) to working order after so many years.  Most other interventionists would have just ripped it out and replaced it with electronics.  A similar story unfolded a few years later at Battersea Arts Centre, formerly the Town Hall, where the historic four manual concert organ built by Norman and Beard using the Hope-Jones system of electrical control was similarly being cosseted back to life by Lucien and a few others until the disastrous fire of 2015 put an end to much of their efforts.  At the time he was probably the only one who fully understood the labyrinthine complexity of Hope-Jones's electro-pneumatic combination action sitting behind the stop keys, an early precursor of the system which appeared many years later in Wurlitzer theatre organs.

I felt privileged at the time to have met and interacted with Lucien over many years, and certainly do so now that he is no longer with us.  In recent times he worked tirelessly to promote his ideas for MEET, the Museum for Electrical and Electronic Technology, in which several Compton Electrone electronic organs will be showcased, together with examples of pipe organ control systems.  It is to be hoped that it will continue to move towards fruition in the future as a tribute to his energy, enthusiasm and courage in the face of overwhelming adversity.

Deepest sympathies go to his family and friends.

[PaulH]

This is such a shock.  I first "met" Lucien via the Electrokinetica website (a virtual online electrical museum) and corresponded for a while on Compton electric action as well as Strand resistive dimmer stage lighting systems and Comptometer mechanical calculators.  He was active on pretty much any forum to do with organs, electrics and generally interesting electromechanical stuff particularly from the early 20th century.  A true gentleman and a fount of knowledge on subjects where few experts still exist.  His passion for organs was clear to see and he will be greatly missed by the community.  Condolences to his family and all who knew him.