London Bridge station organ

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The organ at London Bridge station following its relocation in 2022 Pipe organ at London Bridge (cropped).jpg
The organ at London Bridge station following its relocation in 2022

The London Bridge station pipe organ, popularly known as Henry, is a Victorian pipe organ located at London Bridge station in London, England. Originally built in 1880 by Henry Jones for Christ Church at Whetstone, it was moved to its current location for public use in 2022 by the Pipe Up for Pipe Organs charity project who recovered the organ from the church following its closure in 2020. It bears one manual with fifty-six notes spanning from C to g''', a pedalboard from C to f', and five stops.

Contents

History

Description

The organ was built by Henry Jones in 1880, and later namesaked Henry after him. Its casing is in a typical 'small' style for its period. [1] [2] The console has one manual, a pedal keyboard and five flue stops (one divided in bass and treble), four for the manual and one on the pedal, and its electric blower has a thirty-minute switch. [1] It has a swell pedal which operates using a ratchet rod under an expressive manual.

The console is attached directly to the tracker instrument. Its pedalboard is in a straight concave. The organist sits on a wrought iron-framed bench, which is chained directly to the pedalboard to prevent theft. Some of the instrument's pipes are visible: the side of the instrument are the low C to low E pipes of the Pedal's Bourdon 16', and the bottom octave of the Open Diapason 8' are mounted in its façade.

The organ was installed at Christ Church, a United Reformed church in Whetstone, north London, where it remained in use until the church closed in July 2020. [3] [1] It was removed the following year. [1]

Public use

In July 2022 the organ was installed at London Bridge station (in the Stainer Street concourse near Saint Thomas Street) by organ restorer Martin Renshaw's charity project, Pipe Up for Pipe Organs. Its relocation preserved the instrument and helped to raise public awareness of the loss of pipe organs from closed churches in the United Kingdom. [1] [4] [5] It is freely available for anyone to play for thirty minutes at a time, upon which its blower must be freely reactivated. [6] The Future for Religious Heritage organisation believe it to be the 'world's first open-access railway station pipe organ'. [6]

Pipe Up for Pipe Organs estimate that of the approximately 35,000 pipe organs in the United Kingdom, "up to four pipe organs a week are being stripped out and sent to rubbish tips". [6] The charity relocates British pipe organs to France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Denmark, Norway and Eastern Europe. [6]

Another organ, nicknamed James, was moved by the project together with the London Mozart Players to Trinity Court in Whitgift Centre, a shopping centre in Croydon, south London. [7] [8]

Disposition

Manual (C-g''')

Pedal (C-f')

Reception

Following the organ's relocation to London Bridge station in July 2022, [9] a ceremony was held on 27 October 2022 to mark its installation. The event was attended by the chair of Network Rail, Peter Hendy; organist Anna Lapwood, Director of Music at Pembroke College, Cambridge, gave a performance. Organists and Network Rail officials cited the positive reaction they observed from the public. [5] [10] [11] [12] [13]

Lapwood's September 2022 performance of "God Save the King", accompanying a security guard who turned out to be a trained singer, had previously gone viral on Twitter. [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] In 2023, David Hill, the former organist and music director at Westminster Cathedral, Winchester Cathedral and St John's College, Cambridge, performed Bach's Toccata in D minor on the organ. [19]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "London Bridge organ". Pipe Up. Archived from the original on 27 October 2023. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  2. ↑ "Pipe Up - for Pipe Organs". National Churches Trust . 20 January 2023. Archived from the original on 27 October 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  3. ↑ Davis, Matt, ed. (November 2022). "News and Notes: New home for a chapel organ". Chapels Society Newsletter. No. 82. The Chapels Society. pp. 26–27. ISSN   1357-3276.
  4. ↑ "Pipe Up for Pipe Organs – The Lady Organist". theladyorganist.com. 28 September 2022. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  5. 1 2 Muir, Ellie (25 July 2022). "A Victorian pipe organ has been installed at London Bridge to serenade commuters". Time Out London. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  6. 1 2 3 4 George, Allan. "Future for Religious Heritage". frh-europe.org. Archived from the original on 27 October 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2023. free public use
  7. ↑ "PIPE UP FOR PIPE ORGANS | Heritage charity fighting to save the King of Instruments". Pipe Up. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  8. ↑ "London Mozart Players launches UK's first shopping centre organ". Classical Music. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  9. ↑ Marshall, Alex (21 December 2022). "On TikTok, an Organist Finds an Audience, and Herself". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  10. ↑ "Church organ rehomed at London Bridge station for passengers to enjoy". RailAdvent. 28 October 2022. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  11. ↑ "Victorian church organ rehomed in the heart of London Bridge station". Network Rail Media Centre. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  12. ↑ Russell, Herbie (24 July 2022). "Victorian pipe organ installed at London Bridge Station". southwarknews.co.uk. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  13. ↑ "London Bridge railway station is new home for Victorian church organ". South London News. 27 October 2022. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  14. ↑ Tweet with video by Anna Lapwood
  15. ↑ "'Beautiful' organist duet with railway station guard began with national anthem". The Independent. 12 September 2022. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  16. ↑ Somerville, Ewan (11 September 2022). "Watch: Security guard's opera tribute to Queen Elizabeth brings London train station to tears". The Telegraph. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  17. ↑ "Duo's impromptu performance at London Bridge station in tribute to the Queen goes viral. Watch". Hindustan Times. 12 September 2022. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  18. ↑ "Cambridge organist's musical moment of sorrow goes viral". University of Cambridge. 15 September 2022. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  19. ↑ "David Hill plays organ at tube station - The Bach Choir". thebachchoir.org.uk. 21 February 2023. Archived from the original on 26 October 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2023.

See also

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