Organists’ Review November 2009 31

SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW

This article seeks to examine thebackground to the 1962 Harrison &Harrison organ in St Albans Cathedral,and to observe the influences on itsdesigner (Ralph Downes) and on H&Hwhich informed the organ’s design andexecution.We will then look at the2008/9 work carried out on theinstrument by its original makers,assess the sound of the instrument as itnow stands and consider how near toDownes’ original concept it remains.

Ralph Downes CBE (1904–93) wasone of Britain’s first ‘stylistically-aware’organists and a renowned teacher, beingorganist of the London [Brompton]Oratory (1933–77) and Professor ofOrgan at the Royal College of Music from1954 to 1975. It was at Downes’suggestion that his second-year RCMstudent, GillianWeir, entered the fledglingSt Albans International Organ Festival in1964; her career was launched by winningit – and the popularity in the UK of theorgan music of Messiaen grew as a directresult of her performance in that Festival,on the new cathedral organ about whicheveryone was talking.Why were theytalking about the StAlbans organ? Becauseit was the first cathedral organ fully toembrace the principles of organ design forwhich Ralph Downes is rememberedtoday, principles whose expression inseveral significant instruments will behis lasting memorial, long after hispupils and recordings are no more.

As many readers will know, Downes’principal projects were for new organs inthe Royal Festival Hall (Harrison),Brompton Oratory (Walker), Croydon’sFairfield Hall (Harrison), St David’sHall, Cardiff (Collins), also smallerorgans in Lancaster University (Bishop)and St Mary’s Parish Church, Chigwell(Walker). His new organs based on alarge amount of rescaled existing

pipework were in Buckfast Abbey(Walker), St Albans Cathedral (Harrison)and Gloucester Cathedral (Hill,Norman & Beard), whilst Paisley Abbey(Walker) was rebuilt with great respectfor its original maker, Cavaillé-Coll.

Before considering Downes’contribution to the 1962 St Albansorgan scheme, we should observe threeimportant influences that had formed histhinking, and also the influences at workon the organ’s makers, Harrison &Harrison, at the time.Details are inimitablyset forth in Downes’ frank and honestautobiography, BaroqueTricks [Positif Press,1983 & 1999]. First, between 1928 and1935 his tonal thinking was prised awayfrom his early romantic tendencies by hisexperiments with the PrincetonUniversity Chapel organ, during whichtime he discussed tonal design with theWillis-trained, G. Donald Harrison, areformer soon to lead the emerging

‘American Classic’ school of organ-building as principal of Aeolian-Skinner.Visits to several of G.D. Harrison’s earlysuccesses fired Downes with enthusiasmfor low wind pressures, restrainednicking, small-scaled ‘French’ reeds, thevalue of historically-inspired wide-scalemutations, principals with narrowbass/tenor scales and wider trebles, andthe abundant use of tapered ranks of alltypes and at all pitches.A session withthe 1863Walcker organ at Boston’sMusic Hall also proved an inspiration,particularly in the value of correctlytreated mixture-work for creating achorus suitably clear for contrapuntalmusic.

One of G.D. Harrison’s early tenetswas the ‘reedless Great’ where thePrincipal chorus was all; one can see theinfluence of this in several of Downes’schemes, particularly StAlbans, where theGreat was built with only one chorus reed– and that at 16ft pitch.This mightseem bizarre, but one needs toremember another of Downes’ greatinfluences: the historic organs of NorthGermany and the Netherlands.This wasthe final of the ‘three influences’, whichformed in Downes’ mind during two trips(one in 1949 and another with HarrisonandWalker head voicers in the summer of1950) just as he was working on thedeveloping scheme for the Royal FestivalHall and was about to design a new organfor the Oratory to replace that destroyedby fire that year.There he discovered thatit was not unusual for a late-Baroqueorgan to have a 16ftTrompet as its soleHauptwerk reed (and/or, in the case ofArp Schnitger, a solitary 16ft Dulcian inthe Rückpositiv).The sonority of a full GreatPrincipal chorus with two sparklingmixtures and a rich-toned 16ft reedevidently appealed; ironically, this sound israther akin to a ‘super full swell’ and thus

Mr Downes’ delight?St Albans Cathedral revisited

Paul Hale

Ralph Downes CBE KSG

John Ross

32 Organists’ Review November 2009

SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW

a logical extension of the British likingfor that particular ensemble.

The second influence – one that camesoon after the USA years and well beforethe life-changing 1949 & 1950 Dutch/German tours – was that of the Frenchorgan. A visit to London by the Frenchvoicer, Louis Eugène-Rochesson, resultedin Downes being given a detailed tour ofsignificant Parisian organs, where theirsecrets were explained by Rochesson.Anamazed Downes (who was also shown acopy of the famous Dom Bédos book onorgan-building) came away thrilled by theprompt and brilliant speech of the reeds,and charmed by the blend of the fonds.

The French and American-classicinfluences began to inform his work,the schemes for the Oratory andBuckfast Abbey being test-beds.Thesecond Dutch/German trip had aninteresting consonance with the Paris

trip: just as in France Downes wasimpressed by the blend of the 8ftMontre, Flûte harmonique, Gambe andBourdon, so in Germany was heimpressed by the blending possibilitiesof similarly disparate ranks – the large-scale tapered Spitzflöte (or Barpyp) andthe narrow-scaled harmonically-richQuintaton/Quintadena.This reinforcedhis interest in similar ranks whichAeolian-Skinner had been developing.

There was, it can be observed, asomewhat curious result of the blendingtogether of Downes’ various enthusiasms:the advent of an organ with ‘Germanic’flues, ‘French’ reeds, an abundance oftapered ranks and Quintaton ranks atmany pitches, an eschewing of loud soloreeds in favour of carefully balancedchoruses and trio combinations fromdepartment to department, and thereplacing of a Romantic ‘English’ Swell

with a department which, in someorgans, inclines more towards aGermanic Brustwerk, yet retained somemore traditional ‘Swell’ elements.Crucially, it was only in Downes’ all-neworgans that these principles could be fullyexpounded, for all pipework could bemade to the scales Downes developed.These scales were vital to the ‘Downessound’ for he developed a theory of‘variable’ scaling, abandoning completelytheTöpfer principle of halving flue pipediameters every seventeenth oreighteenth note, in favour of muchmore flexible scaling, often varying thefundamental nature of a rank from bassto treble.With the pre-existing pipeworkhe was obliged to employ in many ofhis important projects, this principlecould be applied only to new ranks.

Thus it was that the Royal FestivalHall, the London (Brompton) Oratory,the Fairfield Hall and St David’s Hall,Cardiff remain the only significant organsbuilt entirely to Downes’ scales.The otherprojects (see para.2 above) are all to agreater or lesser extent compromises.

St Albans Cathedral was one suchcompromise, though Downes did manageto ensure that much of the manualfluework was new, particularly theupperwork. Before looking at this organ asbuilt in 1962 and as now (after the recentHarrison work) let us briefly examine theother influences on Harrison & Harrisonat that time. Harrisons were well on withtheir 73-stop 4-manual at CoventryCathedral when they began work onthe St Albans organ.The Coventryorgan (which in the opinion of manyremains the company’s finest cathedralorgan of the post-war years) clearlybenefits from experience and knowledgegained from the RFH voicing period someten years before.There is a sureness oftouch to the flue voicing clearly derivedfrom this, allied to reeds which areinfluenced by the‘French’RFH reeds buthave that H&H refinement which (at first)eluded some of the Rochesson-voicedRFH pipes. An additional influence atCoventry was Sidney Campbell, recentlyarrived as Organist at St George’s Chapel,Windsor Castle. He drew up the stop-listwith Cuthbert Harrison (as he did for theWindsor organ a few years later), andthe result is remarkably assured,St Albans Cathedral organ as built in 1962; the Choir case was designed by Cecil Brown

Dr

Dav

idK

elsa

ll,H

arri

son

&H

arri

son

Organists’ Review November 2009 33

following many tenets which wouldhave been recognised by Downes butavoiding the ‘pick and mix’ eclecticismof an out-and-out Downes organ.

It is also significant that Downesand Harrisons collaborated on two othermajor new instruments during the 1950s,both for rebuilt bombed-out Londonchurches:All Hallows by theTower (1957)and St Clement Danes (1958), thoughinterestingly Downes mentions neitherin his book.The Swell organs of bothinstruments are clear precursors of the StAlbans Swell, particularly the All HallowsSwell with its flue stop-list from 4ftupwards being identical with St Albans.Athird Downes/H&H collaboration at thistime was the small organ which did dutyin St Albans from 1959–62 and was laterbought by Arthur Starke for his home onthe Isle ofWight; this, too, had the Downestrademark Spitzflutes, Quintatons, andunusually-pitched Sesquialtera ranks.With all this activity in refining ‘openfoot’ voicing and in improving the newscaling principles it is no surprise thatthe two great H&H cathedral organs of1962 were so successful.

In passing it is worth recording that afad for curved H&H stop-jambs at thistime apparently started with late 1940sdesigns for the Manchester Cathedral naveconsole, doubtless at the suggestion ofcathedral organist, Norman Cocker, who,moonlighting as a cinema-organist, becameenamoured of curved stop-key rails.This idea was picked up by Downes,who modified the radius of curvatureand adopted the idea for the RFH (1953)and St Albans. Despite it being aprodigiously expensive procedure, theColston Hall (Bristol, 1956) and Coventry

Cathedral (1962) also were built withcurved jambs, being joined later by AllSouls, Langham Place (London, 1976) andHuddersfieldTown Hall (1980).

The St Albans organ was required tobe built within the two 1908 cases by J.Oldrid Scott, facing one another acrossthe particularly deep pulpitum. On thesouth side the organ extends back into theaisle; on both sides it uses the depth of thearch and three levels of height.The oldorgan contained heavily reworkedpipework by Hill (1861),Abbott & Smith(1885 & 1908),Tunks (1921) andWillisIII (1929). As would occur in 1971 atGloucester Cathedral, Downes conceiveda suitable scheme (together with cathedralorganist Peter Hurford), then looked atthe old pipework to see what could bere-used.The 1962 stop-list is above.

The Great, it will be noticed, has asolitary 16ft chorus reed, the trademarkDownes 8ft Spitzflute, and a 2ft Blockfluterather than an independent Fifteenth (the12th and 15th are combined in theQuartane).This ushered in a period inBritain of Great Organs with 2ft flutesinstead of 2ft Principals – a feature of the1965 Royal College of Organists organwhich drove examiners to distraction!Note next, that neither the Swell norChoir have 2ft principals, a characteristicwhich Peter Hurford altered for a shortperiod quite early on, when he had theChoir 2ft Waldflute replaced with a 2ftOctave (it was soon returned). Looking atthe Swell one observes above the 4ftPrincipal a cornet decomposé topped by aCimbel III.This was the nearest Downesgot to making this Swell a Brustwerk;although the Cimbel was not a trueCimbel, but rather a Scharf (29.33.36),

it was still so high-pitched that for muchrepertoire and for choral accompanimentthe lack of a coherent principal chorusbetween 4ft and the Cimbel proved a realproblem. Curiously this stop was turnedinto a much more typical Downes [tierce-]Cimbel (pitched at 38.40.43, repeatingon the 6ths) in 1973 when the organ wascleaned; the Choir and Great Mixtureswere raised by one rank at the same time.Downes only ever specified such a highCimbel atop a lower-pitched Mixture(at Gloucester, RFH, Cardiff, etc.), soit was perhaps a relief for the musicians(and the organ tuner) that in 1991 thisstop was replaced by an orthodox swellMixture 22.26.29. More of that later.

The scheme is clever and largelycomplete in what it offers the player,particularly for solo repertoire.As such itbecame a suitable vehicle for the StAlbansInternational Organ Festival, augmentedin 1989 by a tracker organ by Peter Collinsin St Saviour’s Church (‘in the style of theStrasbourg Silbermanns’ to quote thebuilder), when mechanical-actionbecame expected as the norm. In voicingand tonal finish the Cathedral organ wasnot necessarily exactly as Downes mighthave left it had he been involved in all thetonal finishing; it was Kenneth James ofHarrisons who carried that out.Thoughtrained from boyhood at Harrisons,initially in their Edwardian tonal style,Ken James (whose father was also withthe company – see Elvin’s The HarrisonStory for a photograph of the pair of them)had enthusiastically embraced the ‘open-toe’,‘no nicking’ principles espoused byDownes. Left to his own devices James’results could be somewhatuncompromising: a classic example from

SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW

The 1962 St Albans specificationGREAT ORGAN

Principal 16Bourdon 16Principal 8Diapason 8Spitzflute 8Stopped Diapason 8Octave 4Stopped Flute 4Blockflute 2Quartane (12.15) IIMixture (19.22.26.29) IV–VIGrand Cornet (t.g.) (1.8.12.15.17) VTrumpet 16FanfareTrumpet 8

SWELL ORGAN

Open Diapason 8Rohrflute 8Viola 8Celeste (t.c.) 8Principal 4Open Flute 4Nazard 2DGemshorn 2Tierce 1FCimbel (29.33.36) IIIHautboy 8Vox Humana 8Corno di Bassetto (73 pipes) 16Trumpet 8Clarion 4Tremulant

CHOIR ORGAN

Quintaton 16Open Diapason 8FlautoTraverso 8Gedackt-pommer 8Octave 4Rohrflute 4Waldflute 2Larigot 1BSesquialtera (19.24/12.17) IIMixture (26.29.33.36) IVCromorne 8TremulantGrand Cornet (t.g.) (1.8.12.15.17) (Great) VFanfareTrumpet (Great) 8

PEDAL ORGAN

Sub Bass 32Principal 16Majorbass 16Bourdon 16Quint 10DOctave 8Gedackt 8Nazard 5BChoral Bass 4Open Flute 2Mixture (19.22.26.29) IVBombardon 16Trumpet (Great) 16Tromba 8Shawm 4

34 Organists’ Review November 2009

SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW

1969/72 was the Positive Organ added tothe 1907 H&H at St Anne’s Cathedral,Belfast – it has no point of tonal referenceto the earlier material from which it isas different as chalk is to cheese.

St Albans as finished by James hadsomething of that to it: the ‘acid-drop’stopped/canistered flutes were refreshingbut their pronounced articulation, drynessand abundance of overtones meant theflute ensembles sometimes lackedsufficient unison pitch and the basseslacked warmth. On the other hand, thereeds – revoiced as most of them werefrom Hill,Abbott & Smith orTunks ranks,were less fearsomely ‘French’ than newreeds such as those at the RFH wouldprobably have been, so they partnered theflues better than in some ‘German flues/French reeds’ Downes ensembleselsewhere.All the reeds were fitted withvarieties of ‘French’ shallots except thenewVox Humana, the Corno di Bassetto,the Pedal Shawm and the bass two octavesof the Swell Hautboy.Though exciting andcolourful, the organ somehow failed tohang together quite as well as it should.Despite that slight caveat it became one ofthe UK’s most famous instruments,known the world over through its use inthe StAlbans International Organ Festival,and also as the springboard from whichPeter Hurford launched his solo career.

The StAlbans’ organ became due for

a major overhaul after forty years’ harduse.The Cathedral’s heating system hadtaken its toll on the soundboards, the 3-manual console had come to beconsidered rather restricting (it hadalready been moved from its originalangled position, though interestinglystill used wind to power its combinationsystem), the electrical systems were inneed of further upgrading, theleatherwork was failing and the pipeworkneeding cleaning. OrganistAndrew Lucaswas concerned to achieve not only thenecessary work but to take theopportunity to carry out some small butfar-reaching tonal alterations in order tocomplete the scheme in a mannercompletely consonant with the Downes/Hurford 1962 scheme; indeed all wasdone with Dr Hurford’s enthusiasticsupport. Ian Bell was engaged by the Dean& Chapter as their independent consultantfor the scheme of work.

Structural work undertaken hasbeen the releathering of all reservoirsand the rebuilding or replacement of allsoundboards with modern ones, inert tochanges of humidity or temperature.Some of the actions are correspondinglynew, as is the console, built as a 4-manualusing the 1962 manual keyboards togetherwith a contemporary extra manual, withnew ebony sharps fitted throughout.Theold case pipes were undistinguished and in

poor shape, their mouth lines never suitedthe Scott case, as they had been retainedfrom the Hill and Abbott & Smith fronts.Accordingly, new spotted-metal frontpipes have been made with a similarmixture of French and bay-leaf mouths,but with the mouth-line reflecting thecasework pipe shades in a visually happymanner. By making more of the frontpipes in the south case speak, space wascreated within the lower portion of thecase so that the major tonal additioncould be made: a modest-scale 32/16ft42 pipe reed rank called ‘Fagotto’(Hurford: ‘it always needed a 32ftreed’).The new front pipes provide thebass octaves of the Pedal and GreatPrincipals at 16ft and 8ft pitches.

The Great has had chorusTrumpetsadded at 8ft and 4ft, matching the 196216ftTrumpet (renamed‘BassTrumpet’, inthe spirit of Downes) though somewhatThe new 2008 console

The new 32ft reed in Harrison & Harrison’sworkshop

Dr

Dav

idK

elsa

ll,H

arri

son

&H

arri

son

Dr

Dav

idK

elsa

ll,H

arri

son

&H

arri

son

Organists’ Review November 2009 35

SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW

warmer.The Great has lost the FanfareTrumpet to the new Solo manual,where the Grand Cornet is duplexed,and aTwelfth and Fifteenth have beencontrived by dividing the two ranks of theQuartane.The Mixture has been returnedto its slightly lower 1962 composition.The Swell has at last gained its 2ft Octaveand two mixtures – one at 22.26.29 (the1991 Mixture somewhat relaxed) and anew Cimbel made to the 1962 recipe(29.33.36).The Swell Suboctave couplerhas been arranged not to work to the 16ftCorno di Bassetto; this enables the playerto draw the coupler with the Full Swelland thus enrich the tone (particularly in thebass) without the 16ft reed ‘growling’along at 32ft pitch underneath.TheChoir Mixture has been returned to22.26.29.33 and a set of solid oak shuttersadded to the back of the Choir enclosure(ingeniously available in eight positions bya dial on the console, to adjust the amountof Choir tone projecting into the Nave orbeing reflected into the Quire).The Choirhas also lost the FanfareTrumpet andGrand Cornet, as they are now mostusefully housed on the new Solo.The Solomanual controls not only the GrandCornet (whose pipes have incidentallybeen moved to the top of the south case,from where they sing out much moreeffectively) and the FanfareTrumpet, butalso the 16ft Corno di Bassetto from theSwell (a 73-note rank now on its ownchest).The Solo Octave and Unison Offcouplers enable this to be drawn at 8ftpitch (full compass) when required for solowork. It is a most useful idea to have thestop drawing additionally on the Solo, as itis best accompanied by other stopsfrom its ‘home’ manual, the Swell. A‘Great Reeds on Solo’ transfer adds tothe usefulness of this new top manual.The final addition is a Cimbelstern ofharmoniously-tuned bells, mountedwithin the Choir casework.The design ofthe revolving ‘star’ in front of the uppercentral Choir case pipes imaginativelyreflects a carved roundel in the panellingbeneath the choir stalls canopies and iscoloured in blue and gold – the ancientcolours of StAlbansAbbey’s coat of arms –which matches the royal coat of armsabove it, placed there in 1962 as a result ofa donation from Her Majesty the Queen.

It is planned that a Nave section(16.8.8.4.4.2.IV) to help lead

congregational singing in this long navewill be installed in due course towards thewest end of the north triforium. It will‘float’ and be available on the Solo orGreat; a Pedal Subbass 16ft will underpinit and four thumb pistons will control it.

The new console has curved jambs asdid its predecessor. Unlike its predecessorit is beautifully stained to match the rich‘medium’ colour of the oak of the organcasework (which has been cleaned andwaxed).The casework itself has beengreatly improved at organ loft level,though from the floor of the Cathedralthis can only be seen obliquely.There is aplentiful supply of general pistons (16)memory levels and stepper ‘advance’pistons, for experience with theInternational Organ Festival has shownthat when several players are setting upand storing registrations for theirprogrammes on the same day, morepistons and memory levels are needed

than in normal Cathedral use.What, then, of the result of all this

work?Would it be an organ that RalphDownes would own as one of ‘his’? Is itsuccessful in its own right, regardless of itsrather special history?Well, as Downeswould have moved on in his thinking inthe 47 years between its building and itsrebuilding, who knows in what directionhis taste would have gone? Nonetheless, ifone applies the principles which heexpounds in his writings, I believe that hewould be enthusiastic about the organ.After all, it has returned to his originalscheme in its mixture-work and hasretained every one of his other stops. Ithas gained stops which he himself insertedin other organs (such as two swell mixturesand a Great reed chorus) and still eschewsthose stops which he came to consider an‘irrelevance’ – hooting open woods, closetoned reeds and acidic strings. Its internalbalances – choruses at all levels and trio

The new Cimbelstern and 1962 royal coat of arms

Dr David Kelsall, Harrison & Harrison

36 Organists’ Review November 2009

combinations – are superb, somethingwhich would especially have pleasedhim.The new Pedal reed is of adifferent type from the more ‘French’reeds that he employed in the 1950sand early 1960s, but it is of a type withwhich he would have been familiar andwould doubtless have approved: the styleof a late baroque Dutch or Germanic‘Posaunenbaß’ as Downes would havecome across in his North European travels.At both 32ft and 16 ft pitches it has awoody sonority to it, which blendssuperbly with the flue chorus and growsin gravitas as more stops are added: aremarkable rank.The 16ft extension fillsout the Bombardon or the BassTrumpetor can be used in a ‘Germanic’ or ‘English’tutti as the single Pedal reed, incounterpoint or homophony.The 32ftunderpins the tutti without overwhelmingit, leaving the 16ft range dominantwhilst adding that wonderful bassextension which only such a stop can do.It is a great success.

Downes would surely have approvedalso of the completed Swell chorus, wherethe Cimbel now acts as the ‘SharpMixture’ which tops the organ’s full fluechoruses. He might, however, have saidthat wherever he did arrange for two Swellmixtures, the Cimbel was always a higher-pitched [Tierce-]Cimbel (38.40.43), so itcould be used either for Brustwerkcombinations or as a spicy pinnacle to thefull flue chorus.To my ear the organ lacksthat typical Downes Cimbel pinnacle –though to be fair it had this effect onlyfor the few years from 1973–91 whenHurford and Downes had raised themixtures and recast the Cimbel.Personally I might have put the Cimbelback to Downes 1973 ‘second thoughts’and left the Choir Mixture to act as theorgan’s ‘sharp’ mixture. Be that as itmay, even with only a 58-note compass,the Swell Cimbel together with theTiercecan be coupled to the Great 16ft Bourdonand played an octave higher to create aperfectly delightful Brustwerk‘Terzzimbel’combination, for those spiky sections inBuxtehude, Lübeck or Bruhns whichseem to call out for such a sound.

The new Great reeds are not as‘French’ as the Swell chorus reeds; I thinkDownes would have enjoyed their warmfreshness of tone and their blending nature

SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW

Dr

Dav

idK

elsa

ll,H

arri

son

&H

arri

son

Dr

Dav

idK

elsa

ll,H

arri

son

&H

arri

son

St Albans Cathedral – 2009 Harrison & Harrison specificationGREAT ORGAN

Principal 16Bourdon 16Principal 8Diapason 8Spitzflute 8Stopped Diapason 8Octave 4Stopped Flute 4Quint 2DSuper Octave 2Blockflute 2Mixture (19.22.26.29) IV–VIGrand Cornet (t.g.) (1.8.12.15.17) VBassTrumpet 16Trumpet 8Clarion 4

SWELL ORGAN

Open Diapason 8Rohrflute 8Viola 8Celeste (t.c.) 8Principal 4Open Flute 4Nazard 2DOctave 2Gemshorn 2Tierce 1FMixture (22.26.29) IIICimbel (29.33.36) IIIHautboy 8Vox Humana 8Corno di Bassetto (73 pipes) 16Trumpet 8Clarion 4Tremulant

SOLO ORGAN

Corno di Bassetto (Swell) 16Grand Cornet (t.g) (1.8.12.15.17) (Great) VFanfareTrumpet 8Cimbelstern 6 bells

CHOIR ORGAN

Quintaton 16Open Diapason 8FlautoTraverso 8Gedackt-pommer 8Octave 4Rohrflute 4Waldflute 2Larigot 1BSesquialtera (19.24/12.17) IIMixture (26.29.33.36) IVCromorne 8Tremulant

NAVE ORGAN (console preparation only)

Bourdon 16Principal 8Rohrflute 8Octave 4Spitzflute 4Super Octave 2Mixture (19.22.26.29) IVPedal Subbass 16

PEDAL ORGAN

Sub Bass 32Principal 16Majorbass 16Bourdon 16Quint 10DOctave 8Gedackt 8Nazard 5BChoral Bass 4Open Flute 2Mixture (19.22.26.29) IVFagotto (ext 16ft) 32Bombardon 16BassTrumpet (Great) 16Fagotto 16Tromba 8Shawm 4

Left and right stop-jambs of the new console

Organists’ Review November 2009 37

SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW

(rather English 1860s Gray & Davison instyle). He might also have enjoyed thefruits of Peter Hopps’ re-regulation of thefluework; Mr Hopps has worked on thisorgan from time to time for severaldecades (sometimes with Downes at hiselbow) and clearly knew just what todo to make it as musical as possible. Itall ‘sings’ rather more than before, thestopped flutes having gained a certainwarmth and a less aggressive attack,their large-scale stopped metal bassesnow speaking firmly for the first time.

At the end of my evening exploringthis instrument within and without Isensed that the whole organ had beenwaiting for just such a great event as this –its half-century overhaul – to be carriedout in order for it to feel completelyfinished.Visually and aurally it seems tobreathe a sigh of relief: ‘yes, that’sbetter: this is how I was meant to be’.

As the sparkling new front pipesshine down at us, their mouth linesnow shape into a smile, one feels thatMr Downes would be smiling too. Onething is quite certain, cathedralworshippers and concert-goers alikewill be smiling for a long time to comeas this wonderful instrument fulfils itsearly promise.The St Albans Cathedralorgan has come of age.

The South case with its new spotted-metal front pipes

Dr

Dav

idK

elsa

ll,H

arri

son

&H

arri

son