Late last year we received our first order from St Germans Cathedral Peel (Cathedral Isle of Man) for a bespoke chamber organ. This was finally delivered in April 2019 to the delight of Organist and Director of Music Peter Litman.
We have had some vigorous discussion as to whether these small instruments should be called chamber organs or box organs, eventually deciding on the former description. But as you see from the delivery photograph this instrument most certainly travelled in a box to get there, so perhaps it can claim a dual personality.
A beautiful bespoke organ design and matching keyboard
The case was designed to echo the woodwork of the choir stalls. It was also a requirement that the organ had the right dimensions to allow it to ‘travel’ around the choir with ease. Small as it is you see there is not a lot of room for choristers to process past it. I hope you agree it is a handsome case that blends very well with its surroundings.
It has a 56 note keyboard by UHT in Germany that enables the highly touch sensitive transients of the notes to be managed by the musician. We created a new model for the 8ft flute stop which Peter most generously described as ‘beautiful’.
The delivery and in situ voicing was carried out by our colleague Richard Lowe who you see together with Peter in the photo above.
The chamber organ being built
I thought you might also be interested to see some of the pictures of the instrument during the course of manufacture. We hope to have some recordings of it in action available later this month when it will be used in public performance for the first time on May 25th at 7.30pm.
We now look forward to Opus 3.
Video of the Chamber Organ at St Germans Cathedral
Miserere by William Byrd – played on the Regent Classic chamber organ by Peter Litman (published in 2020).
I have had a passion for church organs since the tender age of 12. I own and run Regent Classic Organs with a close attention to the detail that musicians appreciate; and a clear understanding of the benefits of digital technology and keeping to the traditional and emotional elements of organ playing.
