Harrison & Harrison Ltd is a British company that makes and restores pipe organs, based in Durham and established in Rochdale in 1861. It is well known for its work on instruments such as King's College, Cambridge, Westminster Abbey, and the Royal Festival Hall. [1] [2] [3]
Thomas Harrison established an organ building company in 1861 in Rochdale, then moved to Durham in 1872. The company was moderately successful but did not achieve real success until 1896 when Thomas's sons Arthur and Harry took over. Harry designed the organs and Arthur proved to be a particularly gifted voicer, resulting in commissions for rebuilds of several great organs including Durham Cathedral, the Grand Organ at the Royal Albert Hall and new commissions including Westminster Abbey, and Rossall School (1925). Between 1890 and 1996, Harrisons was located on Cross Street (now Hawthorn Terrace), Durham in a former paper mill. [4] The building is now called Harrison House.
Arthur Harrison died in 1936 and Harry retired in 1946. The company passed to Harry's son Cuthbert. The firm was led by Mark Venning from 1975. David Hirst joined as Deputy Managing Director in 2008 and led the firm as Managing Director from 2009. In 2010, Mark Venning returned to maintain operations until the arrival of Dr Christopher Batchelor in 2011. The firm was run by Dr Batchelor from 2011 to June 2017. [4] In October 2017, Andrew Reid left his job as Director of the Royal School of Church Music and joined Harrisons as the new managing director. In 2022, Andrew Scott took over as managing director, the first to work his way up through the firm from an apprenticeship. Mark Venning remains active as chairman.
In the postwar period Harrisons contributed significantly to the renaissance of classical organ building; their instruments for the Royal Festival Hall (designed in close collaboration with Ralph Downes) and St Albans Abbey (for Peter Hurford) are of particular importance. To those two landmark instruments may be added the organs of Coventry Cathedral, the chapel of Somerville College, Oxford and St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, all of these instruments being built during the tenure of Cuthbert Harrison and under his direction. [4]
Harrisons continued to innovate and push the boundaries of organ building, even as they maintained their traditional craftsmanship. In the late 20th century, the firm expanded its operations to include electronic and digital organs. They also worked to adapt their instruments to modern performance styles and spaces, designing organs for concert halls and recording studios. [5]
Under the leadership of Mark Venning, the company continued to receive numerous commissions for high-profile instruments. These included the organs of St. Paul's Cathedral in London, and King's College Chapel in Cambridge. Harrisons also worked on international projects, including the restoration of the organ in St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna, and the construction of a new organ for the National Concert Hall in Dublin. [6] These builds were detailed in "The Harrison Story", recounting the history of the firm, was published in 1974 by Laurence Elvin. [7]
Aristide Cavaillé-Coll was a French organ builder. He has the reputation of being the most distinguished organ builder of the 19th century. He pioneered innovations in the art and science of organ building that permeated the profession and influenced the course of organ building, composing and improvising through the early 20th century. As the author of scientific journal articles about the organ construction details, he published the results of his research and experiments. He was the inventor of the symphonic organ being able to follow smooth and immediate dynamic changes like a symphonic orchestra. This goal was reached by: a) invention of harmonic flue and reed stops, such as the ''flûte harmonique'', ''trompette harmonique'', ''clairon harmonique'', b) invention of divided windchest with 2-3 different wind pressure sections, c) creation of groups of stops allowing for fast dynamics changes without taking hands out of the keyboards by the organist, d) organ specification planning on the base of ''orchestral quartet". His most famous organs were built in Paris in Saint-Denis Basilica (1841), Église de la Madeleine, Sainte-Clotilde Basilica (1859), Saint-Sulpice church, Notre-Dame Cathedral, baron Albert de L'Espée's residence in Biarritz, and many others. After Cavaillé-Coll's death, Charles Mutin maintained the business into the beginning of the 20th century. The organ reform movement in the 20th century sought to return organ building to a more Baroque style; but since then, Cavaillé-Coll's designs have come back into fashion.
Æolian-Skinner Organ Company, Inc. of Boston, Massachusetts was an American builder of a large number of pipe organs from its inception as the Skinner Organ Company in 1901 until its closure in 1972. Key figures were Ernest M. Skinner (1866–1960), Arthur Hudson Marks (1875–1939), Joseph Silver Whiteford (1921-1978), and G. Donald Harrison (1889–1956). The company was formed from the merger of the Skinner Organ Company and the pipe organ division of the Æolian Company in 1932.
Ernest Martin Skinner was an American pipe organ builder. His electro-pneumatic switching systems advanced the technology of organ building in the first part of the 20th century.
Henry Willis & Sons is a British firm of pipe organ builders founded in 1845. Although most of their installations have been in the UK, examples can be found in other countries.
Mander Organs Limited formerly N.P Mander Limited was an English pipe organ maker and refurbisher based in London. Although well known for many years in the organ building industry, they achieved wider notability in 2004 with the refurbishment of the Royal Albert Hall's Father Willis Grand Organ. The company filed for insolvency in 2020.
Peter Collins was an English pipe organ builder based in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire. He specialised in tracker action organs. Collins was an advocate of computer-aided design, using it to produce compact instruments and to control material costs.
All Saints Church, Leighton Buzzard, is the fine Early English parish church for the town of Leighton Buzzard in the English county of Bedfordshire.
William Drake (1943–2014) was the founder of the firm of William Drake, Organ Builder that manufactures pipe organs in Buckfastleigh, Devon, England. He held a Royal Warrant as organ builder to Queen Elizabeth II.
This article is about the numerous notable pipe organs of the city of Brighton and Hove, from the small early 19th-century organs to the large 20th-century instruments in the large churches.
William Hill & Son was one of the main organ builders in England during the 19th century.
J. W. Walker & Sons Ltd is a British firm of organ builders established in 1828 by Joseph William Walker in London. Walker organs were popular additions to churches during the Gothic Revival era of church building and restoration in Victorian Britain, and instruments built by Walker are found in many churches around the UK and in other countries. The firm continues to build organs today.
Nicholson & Co. Ltd manufactures pipe organs. It was founded in 1841 by John Nicholson. Its work encompasses the creation of new instruments as well as historical restorations, rebuilds and renovations. In 2013, the firm completed the first wholly new instrument in a British cathedral since 1962 at Llandaff Cathedral in Cardiff.
John Snetzler was an organ builder of Swiss origin, who worked mostly in England. Born in Schaffhausen in 1710, he trained with the firm of Egedacher in Passau and came to London about 1741. When he retired in 1781, his business continued and ended up with Thomas Elliot. Snetzler died in Schaffhausen on 28 September 1785.
Rushworth and Dreaper was a firm of organ builders, and later general instrument suppliers associated with Paul McCartney based in Liverpool. The manufacturer was founded in 1828 by William Rushworth, operating until 2002. Upon its liquidation, its archives were mostly destroyed, and the Victorian clock in the works tower was removed. The premises are now occupied by Henry Willis & Sons.
John Compton (1876–1957), born in Newton Burgoland, Leicestershire was a pipe organ builder. His business based in Nottingham and London flourished between 1902 and 1965.
Norman and Beard were a pipe organ manufacturer based in Norwich from 1887 to 1916.
Nigel B. Church is a British organ builder who was based in Stamfordham, Northumberland from 1971 to 1998.
A. Hunter & Son was an English pipe organ maker and refurbisher, established in London in 1856. Hunter was best known for the instruments at St Cuthbert's Philbeach Gardens and St James's, Spanish Place. The firm was acquired by Henry Willis & Sons in 1937.