Two Centenaries at St John’s
The article below was written for the Newcastle and District Society of Organists' Monthly Newsletter "The Mixture" in August 2009. St John's has had a long and close relationship with the NDSO: the current Director of Music at St John's Geoff Watson, is a Vice-President and past Secretary, whilst the Assistant Director of Music at St John's Charles Wooler, is the existing Secretary and Chairman of the Society.
2009 is a significant year in the life of St John’s Church on Grainger Street. A well known landmark en route from Central Station to Earl Grey’s Monument, it is a beautiful building (Grade I listed) which can be dated to the reign of Henry I by virtue of some very rare patterning on parts of the stonework. These are beautifully preserved by being sheltered from the elements, as they are now inside the 1881 organ chamber. At this time the F. C. Nicholson organ was moved from its original North Transept position to its current place on the south side of the chancel. Confusingly the chancel has been known as the Lady Chapel since the 1971 reordering of the church when the Choir Stalls moved to the North Transept and the Stephen Dykes Bower screen was erected as a back drop to the new nave altar.
In 1909 a large scale restoration of St John’s took place and this was the start of the daily cycle of prayer. Every day, morning and evening prayer are said at St John’s and there is at least one celebration of Mass. To the current Vicar’s knowledge, this has been celebrated every day of the last century except for one day when a nearby building was perilously close to collapse and the necessary evacuation of St John’s meant that for the first and only time since 1909, the Eucharist did not go ahead. In the same year, the 1876 F. C. Nicholson organ which was struggling to make itself useful was rebuilt. Since its first use it had been beset with problems, not least due to mechanical problems caused by the damp conditions in its original North Transept position. The then new and up-and-coming firm of Harrison and Harrison, hot on the heels of their successes at Ely, Durham and Carlisle Cathedrals, won the contract to build the new organ. This served the church extraordinarily well until the early 1990s by which time the tubular pneumatic action and the wind system were well overdue for restoration.
In 1996 Harrison and Harrison again rebuilt the organ as the final stage of the church’s £500,000+ restoration appeal. The complexity of the Tubular Pneumatic action and the advanced state of its decay put its refurbishment well beyond the means of the PCC and so the action was converted to electro pneumatic. At this time the opportunity was taken to augment the organ, providing two new ranks of pipes: a Mixture for the Great and a Posaune unit which can be found at 8’ on both the Choir and the Great and 16’ on the Pedal. The existing 16’ pedal stops were quinted to provide a 32’ Harmonic Bass. As one has come to expect from Harrisons, the rebuilt organ has been a superb success.
The current specification is below:
|
Swell Organ (enclosed) | | |
| Open Diapason | 8 | |
| Lieblich Gedact | 8 | |
| Geigen Principal | 4 | |
| Mixture (15.19.22) | III | |
| Contra Oboe | 16 | |
| Trumpet | 8 | |
| Tremulant | | |
| Octave | | |
| Octaves Alone | | |
| | | |
| Great Organ | | |
| Bourdon | 16 | |
| Large Open Diapason | 8 | |
| Small Open Diapason | 8 | |
| Rohr Flöte | 8 | |
| Octave | 4 | |
| Octave Quint | 2 2/3 | |
| Super Octave | 2 | |
| Mixture (15.19.22)* | III | |
| Posaune* | 8 | |
| | | |
| Choir Organ (enclosed) | | |
| Double Salicional | | |
| Hohl Flöte | 8 | |
| Viole d’Orchestre | 8 | |
| Voix Célèstes | 8 | |
| Harmonic Flute | 4 | |
| Piccolo | 2 | |
| Clarinet | 8 | |
| Posaune* (Gt) | 8 | |
| Octave | | |
| | | |
| Pedal Organ | | |
| Harmonic Bass* | 32 | |
| Open Wood | 16 | |
| Sub Bass | 16 | |
| Octave Wood | 8 | |
| Flute | 8 | |
| Posaune* (ext Gt) | 16 |
Accessories:
· Balanced Pedals to Choir & Swell
· 3 combination levers to Swell
· 3 combination levers to Great & Pedal
· Great to Pedal reverser
· Swell to Great reverser
· Couplers: Swell to Great, Choir to Great, Swell to Choir, Swell to Pedal, Great to Pedal, Choir to Pedal.
All ranks on the Swell have an extra twelve pipes in the treble for use
with the octave couplers.
The organ was restored in 1996 by Harrison and Harrison who continue to maintain it. During the restoration, those stops marked * were added.
Tonally the organ sounds exactly as might be anticipated from an early Arthur Harrison organ of the period. No pipes have ever left the organ meaning that it is still possible to play the organ as it was when it was first built, however the new additions greatly enhance the instrument’s versatility. Previous to 1996 it had been described as “polite”- now it produces a sound well matched to the building.
The wealth of soft colours available on it make it an ideal instrument for accompaniment- absolutely essential at St John’s as the Mass is accompanied by a full Choral setting every Sunday and Choral Evensong features regularly in the choir’s programme. Two unusual features of the organ increase its flexibility enormously: the provision in 1909 of an extra octave of pipes for each rank on the Swell and the placement of many of the ranks that would traditionally be expected to be found on the Swell on the Choir instead. To choose just one of the many extra possibilities that this affords: one can use the 16’ Contra Oboe with the Octaves Alone to get an 8’ Oboe instead, but the provision of the third manual (rather than two which you may well expect on an instrument of this size) means that the Choir Flutes and Strings are still available to accompany it.
Besides its liturgical role, the organ is equally capable of good accounts of a surprising range of repertoire and we are launching a recital series during which we hope that this will be demonstrated.
Full details of the Organ recitals at St John's are listed on the "Future Events" page
CW 17/08/09
bravenet.com