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January 30, 2005
A musical note
Several of my regular readers have asked, at various times, for a picture of the console for the Grove Organ, so here it is. As you can see it is a four manual organ with separate pedal boards. It is all original as built in 1886 and works very well if the organist knows how!
The Organ Console for the Grove Organ at Tewkesbury Abbey. Originally built for the Empire Trade Exhibition in 1886, it has been in the Abbey since 1892.
The organ action is a combination of pneumatic and tracker mechanical. The valves are operated by either a straight mechanical link (some of the biggest stops) or the mechanical linkage known as a "Tracker Action". The sliders which open the wind chests for the various stops are a straightforward mechanical link and requires some "positive" operation - quite interesting to watch the organist applying! Definitely NOT for the tender touch or the fainthearted!
The sound that this instrument can produce is wide in range - as in it can caress or it can give full voice and be heard outside - and it has a wide range of interesting stops set on the Solo as well as on the Swell, Choir, Great, and Pedal. Oh, and four Sliders labelled "Ventils" which, if not pulled out firmly will mean that nothing happens when the organist attempts to play! The only change since it was built has been the addition of a 32 foot Stopped Diapason which the Choirboys refer to as the "earthquake" stop. Two years ago the organ was given a new blower motor which is powerful enough to allow the organist to really show it off properly.
Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor on this instrument is something to hear.
Posted by The Gray Monk at January 30, 2005 09:50 AM