"They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ.” Job chapter 21, v12
Foreword by
the Rector of St Mary's with Christ Church, Wanstead
The commissioning of a new organ for Christ Church is such an exciting project
not, I hope, just for those who worship, for whom it will be a definite enhancement,
but I trust for the whole community, for it will be for us all, and belong to
us all. The organ itself, a thing of great beauty, will be our gift from the
start of the 21st century to the people of the 22nd. It is our sign of confidence
in the creative arts and the cultural life of our community. In a world so often
full of destruction, here is the opportunity to build a sign of hope in the
future, a sign that can sound across the years. I commend this appeal to you.
Robert Springett
Patrons of
the Appeal
The Bishop of Chelmsford.
John Scott -Organist and Director of Music at St Thomas Church, Fifth Avenue,
New York and formerly at St Paul’s Cathedral.
Dr. Harry Bramma - Organist of All Saints, Margaret Street and former director
of the Royal School of Church Music.
The Right Honourable the Lord Jenkin of Roding.
Harry Cohen MP.
Appeal Prayer
Eternal Lord God, source of all beauty and harmony, we praise you for the gift
of music, for the inspiration given to those who compose it, for the skill and
devotion of those who perform it, for the faculties and powers which enable
us to enjoy it; and we pray that our lives may be enriched and renewed by it
so that we may glorify your name. In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
This prayer was chosen by the Bishop of Chelmsford especially for the Organ
Appeal.
The Appeal
In 2002, the Organ Appeal Committee was formed to advise the PCC on the most
appropriate way of replacing old organ in Christ Church. It looked at all the
options and concluded that the most prudent course was to raise money for a
new organ whilst actively seeking an historic instrument (which would be likely
to attract grant aid) which would be right for the church. The appeal was launched
successfully in November 2002: Dr John Perry, then Bishop of Chelmsford, provided
us with a prayer for the appeal and the boys of Canterbury Cathedral choir gave
a splendid recital. We had achieved lift-off.
The difficulty which existed from the beginning revolved round where to site
the replacement organ, whether new or historic. Either it could go into the
Victorian organ chamber where it would not speak into the main body of the church
but would not take up space in the church or it could be put in the body of
the church where it would intrude but sound so much better. All the advice we
sought was positively in favour of it coming out of the organ chamber. To this
end, we started getting estimates from organ-builders and began to seek historic
organs which would fit.
We were fortunate to have Paul Tindall on the committee. He discovered, in St
Mary Magdalene, Manningham in the diocese of Bradford, a Hill organ comprising
three manuals and pedals which had been built in 1878. This was a fine, historic
organ and, even better, had not been subjected to the sort of unsympathetic
renovation that used to be so prevalent. The parish’s organ adviser, Ian
Bell, inspected it and was impressed with it: it made a good sound, was built
of good materials and could be restored to its former glory. Most importantly,
it would fit into Christ Church.
The parish then entered into long but eventually successful negotiations with
the diocese of Bradford to buy it and it was brought to Christ Church and stacked
in pieces behind a hoarding. An application was made to the Heritage Lottery
Fund for a grant to fund the renovations.
It will be readily appreciated that this stage could not have been reached without
the generosity and goodwill of so many people in the parish raising a lot of
money. Some kind people paid via standing orders. Others attended the many fundraising
events that were organised like marking the Chinese New Year with drums and
dancers and Chinese food, a wonderful evening of bingo, dinner in the House
of Lords (with an organ recital in the crypt as an aperitif) and so on. Then
some gave with help and assistance in various ways. The money that was raised
allowed the parish to buy the organ and transport it here and there was enough
left over to show the HLF how serious we were in wanting to accomplish this
project. I would like to thank in a very expansive and fulsome manner all those
who have helped to make this project possible. Present and future generations
will appreciate the effort.
In March 2007, the parish was thrilled to discover that the HLF had awarded
a grant of up to £261,000 to the parish to restore the organ. By doing
so, the HLF recognised the historic and musical qualities of the instrument
as well as the parish’s foresight and commitment in acquiring it.
The grant will cover two aspects; first, the restoration of the organ and secondly
an education project to teach all age groups something about organs in general
and the heritage aspects of our William Hill organ in particular.
The parish would like to express its thanks to the Heritage Lottery Fund for
the award of this grant. When we started in 2002, we wanted to make this an
organ that everyone could use and enjoy. With their award (and, if I might say
so, their wisdom in recognising our enthusiasm for this project) we will be
able to bring this historic organ back to life and make it an asset for the
whole community.
The future
David Wells, the organ-builder, is expected to start work on the instrument
in summer 2007. This will necessitate the removal of some or all of the parts
to his workshop in Liverpool. We anticipate that the organ will be fully restored
and installed during the summer of 2008. It will be sited in the east bay of
the north aisle where the blue organ case now stands to allow it to speak into
the body of the church. We are already planning a Grand Opening Festival in
September 2008.
The Organ
The National Pipe Organ Register notes, rather charmingly, that the Manningham organ was “given by the daughters of Dr Macturk (who attended Miss Charlotte Bronte in her last illness) in memory of their father.”
In all essentials the organ appears to remain exactly as it was in 1878. The stoplist, then and now, is:
Pedal
Open Diapason 16
Bourdon 16
Violoncello 8
Choir
Lieblich Gedacht 8
Dulciana 8
Gamba 8
Gemshorn 4
Suabe Flute 4
Flautina 2
Clarionet TC 8
Great
Double Open Diapason 16
Open Diapason 8
Stopped Diapason 8
Spitz Flute 8
Principal 4
Wald Flute 4
Twelfth 2 2/3
Fifteenth 2
Mixture 17.19.22. III
Posaune 8
Swell
Bourdon 16
Open Diapason 8
Hohl Flute 8
Salicional 8
Vox Angelica TC 8
Principal 4
Lieblich Flute 4
Fifteenth 2
Mixture 17.19.22. III
Cornopean 8
Oboe 8
Clarion 4
Tremulant
Choir to Pedal
Great to Pedal
Swell to Pedal
Swell to Choir
Swell to Great
Mechanical action to manuals and stops
Tubular-pneumatic action to pedals
Compass of manuals 56 notes
Compass of pedals 30 notes
Stoplist as given in the National Pipe Organ Register
But what does this mean to the layman? Dr. Harry Bramma is one of our patrons
and has been the organist of Southwark Cathedral and a former Director of the
Royal School of Church Music. He has been involved in the restoration of many
organs and his judgment is well respected. He wrote to me saying, “I’m
delighted the organ from St Mary Magdalene’s, Bradford, is finding a good
home with you. I shall very much look forward to visiting the Church when David
Wells starts work.
“I remember quite clearly playing the organ in about 1952 and how I thought
at the time how fine it was. That was the only occasion I ever visited that
Church – which I seem to remember was large.”
The David Wells referred to is the organ-builder who will restore our instrument and he is a board member of the Institute of British Organ Builders. He looks after many organs including those in Liverpool and Chester cathedrals and is an expert in restoring old Hills. His workshop is in Liverpool. He is very enthusiastic about this project: he telephoned Ian Bell, our organ adviser, who emailed me, “They started dismantling yesterday [24/11/05], and he called me simply because he wanted to say he was bowled over by what a grand instrument it is – the first time he had been able to look at it closely and hear it properly. He's really thrilled by it.”
And even better, it has lasted over 100 years without much major work and we hope that it will do so again after its renovation.
If you would like to talk to me about this, please feel free to telephone me
on
020 8989 1072.
Charles Llewellyn
Chairman, Organ Appeal Committee
