| Instruments: St.Paul's Hall, Huddersfield University |
Commentary.
The Organ was opened in Autumn 1977, with recitals by Dame Gillian Weir and Lionel Rogg. Unfortunately, the hall was closed in 1978 as major repairs were found to be necessary. In 1979, the organ was shrouded in scaffolding, boxed in and fitted with its own central heating system, whilst repairs, including reroofing the majority of the building were undertaken.
The building was converted into a concert hall, retaining original acoustics and heating system as far as possible. The Hall reopened in Dec 1980. The organ required tuning, cleaning of Man. 3 pipework, and the opportunity was taken to fit a wider Tierce to Man.3.
Changing acoustics led to a revision of the Man. 2. Mixture in 1984, revised to a V - V1 rank stop with the 12th coming in at C13.
In 1985, the blower was removed from the inside of the organ and resited in a cellar under the former organ chamber, in order to reduce impellor and mechanical noise:-shortly afterwards the instrument was fitted with new pulldown seals to reduce wind leakage.
At the same time the Contra Posaune 32 [1986] was added on a new soundboard at the rear of the instrument. This reed is on 3.75" wind pressure and is fed from its own bellows reservoir.
The very heavy use of the organ led to the deterioration of the electro-pneumatic stop machines, and these were gradually replaced over 1987 - 1991. However the instrument had to be prematurely cleaned in 1990/1 because of accidental damage [workmen from the local authority cut a drain into the boiler house floor, filling the building with stone dust]. At this time, the organ was fitted with a comprehensive stop control system, including Sequencer and a Read/Write registration storeage system. The following tonal changes were made:
In 1992 the stop rectification system was fully modernised.
The 1996/7 Restoration.
Over the years it became apparent the the mechanical actions were deteriorating, and that major restoration work would have to be undertaken on the instrument, if the organ was to continue to perform the functions of a teaching and recital instrument.
The restoration, funded by grant aid from the Foundation for Sport and the Arts,and the National Lottery [Arts Council of England], together with partnership funding from the University was staged in two sections.
1996.
Replacement of Console Chassis, involving new keyboards, pedalboard, coupling. The keys were faced with unbleached bone to achieve good wear characteristics. New drawstop heads were provided, new pistons/associated switching, and new Swell Pedal mechanisms. The Man 111 soundboard was fully restored - new pallet boards and new pallets[cedarwood] and new action tensioning fitted[ the beam floats on two dummy action runs between console and soundboard].
1997.
Restoration of all remaining soundboards[ as Man111], and fitting of new tensioning.
Replacement of Schwimmer valves, replacement wind trunking in cellar, new, larger turbulence suppressor.
The action restoration has lightened a heavy action, making the organ more responsive and more expressive.
New registration system with expanded memory.
All pipework was cleaned.
The following tonal changes were made:
All zinc pipework in the Pedal 16 and 8 Principals were replaced by pipework of 75% tin, and scaled one note larger, thus improving the tonal quality of those stops. The continuing problem of retaining a polished finish on Zn pipework was eliminated.
The 8ft. flute on Man 111 was replaced from C13 upwards, to improve the blend of the flue work.
A 1V rank Cornet was added to Man 11.
A 2ft. flute was added to Man 1, and placed on the 1ft. slide. The 1ft. was clamped onto the soundboard. In addition, the Cymbel 111 was replaced by a Scharf 1V rank mixture[22. 26. 29. 33.], in order to provide an unenclosed 4ft chorus. This was the most drastic change: it is a matter of regret that the Cymbel could not be retained, but to do so would have meant the loss of the 1ft. stop. For obvious reasons, the builders were unhappy to clamp a second stop onto the soundboard.
The restoration set out to resolve a series of technical problems with the instrument, much of which was due to the state of technical design in the 1970s. In effect, the technical aspect of the instrument has been modernised, making use of the latest technical developments as required. The changes to the tonal aspect of the instrument have only been undertaken after considerable thought and consultation, and with due regard to conservation. This instrument has established itself as being one of the best of the new instruments built in the UK in the last 30 years, and has fulfilled the original remit - ìto be scaled and voiced in a singing style:- to produce an organ of the 20th Century, rather than one falling into a Classical or Romantic idiom. Because of its tonal flexibility an adequate interpretation of nearly all compositional styles of Organ Music can be made on this instrument [1977 Brochure]