Derby Cathedral December 2021

Derby Cathedral is well known in pipe organ circles for their vast Compton instrument installed very soon after world war II. Sadly part of the notoriety is due to a long-overdue rebuild of this instrument.

Our instrument however currently replaces the much smaller Cousans instrument in the retro choir which failed just after Easter and for which there is no appetite to repair. After 8 months hire use of a Viscount Regent 356 tab stop instrument we installed this fully reconditioned used console to permanent installation standards of wiring. Derby requested some modifications which included the addition of a 16 ft Bourdon to the swell and the addition of a 32ft reed to the pedal instead of a 4ft Schalmei.

The console sits adjacent to the Compton console in the nave. Wiring descends to the crypt reaching the retro choir by means of the Cousans organ blower duct. Speakers sit in the rear choir stalls, the choir having returned to sing from the nave choir stalls. Later in 2022 it is intended to install a speaker system on the west gallery which can be switched on to duplicate the setup at the east end.