It was back in the summer of 2023 that we were first approached to discuss options for a hire instrument at St John’s College Cambridge. The Mander organ was to be removed and a gap of about a year would follow before the rebuilt Willis instrument was ready to play. It’s always nice to have a generous lead in to these large projects so that proper planning takes place and we match precisely instrument to liturgical and recital demands.
It would be fair to say at the early stage of the requirement, keeping costs down was uppermost in the college’s thinking. At a later meeting with Christopher Gray who had only just arrived as the Director of Music the scope of the job became much more significant. Christopher certainly wanted the very best possible temporary solution for both choral accompaniment and organ practice. This refreshing approach set up in my mind an interesting proposal which was later agreed as the ideal solution.
Building a new bespoke digital organ for St John’s College
We offered to build a new digital instrument for them. This is a first for any of our hire engagements. We would provide the very best quality keyboards made by UHT in Germany, and privy to the rebuilt Willis spec, our instrument would have an identical stop list so providing the organ scholars a run-in to the fine pipe organ that would eventually take pride of place.
We also incorporated some features certainly not usually found on pipe organs built in past years. There is a stop clock to allow pieces to be timed, a Bluetooth page turning device with thumb pistons to manage iPad music display and a mobile phone charging port, all features that will be in the new Willis console.
We limited our instrument to 3 manuals so the Solo floats. We also added a Solo expression shoe which the new pipe organ does not offer. Much easier to do this on a digital platform!
Read more details of the chapel organ project on the St John’s College website.
Planning the organ installation in more detail
Further meetings took place in 2024 to plan the installation in more detail. A large scaffold structure would have to be installed. This had impact on both console and speaker locations.
As is often the case with these very significant requirements, initial plans do not always hold firm as the significance of the challenge fully dawns. Continued use of the east end with a scaffold intruding just part way into the nave finally became a scaffold that spanned the entire nave with the result that the east end is closed off.
Our main speaker resource on both north and south sides above the stalls had to move westward, but east end speaker positions were made easier as the space was no longer to be used during services. All was set for the switch over which was the most time pressured of any we had undertaken.
Two visits to install speakers and the organ console
We normally advise that the digital instrument arrives a few weeks ahead of the pipe organ falling silent. That was not an option for St John’s and with a very busy service diary windows to work in the building were hard to find. Consequently, the job was split into two phases to match reduce the workload into segments that with luck we could fit into the available time slots.
The first visit in early February 2025 was to install speaker wiring for our 24 cabinets and sub bass. The console was to be on the south side of the nave with wiring route below the chapel floor to take speaker cables from south to north side.
The arrival of the console was on February 28th, my 70th birthday which was spent assisting at St John’s. Well what else would one do on such a momentous day. Answers on a postcard please!
We only had until 4.00 pm to connect the instrument and place speakers above the north and south side stalls. Much to my surprise we were allowed to screw speaker brackets onto the woodwork. We had prepared special mountings that would have allowed the speakers to sit pointing upwards, which would have been a quicker solution so a little time was added to the job by this change.
Organ console location changes
Confusion had somehow slipped into the system. Our most recent discussion with the external project manager on console location advised it had moved westward and from the north to the south side and would now be positioned with the musician facing the stalls, rather than with their back to the stalls. I thought this a little strange but did not challenge the instruction.
When the console arrived and was put in place we were advised it needed to turn through 180 degrees. Much more logical but as cable entry points were in the rear panel the change required some of the speaker cables to be extended. Another time pressure on the day which did create anxiety that the 4.00pm deadline was not achievable.
Happily, we crossed the line with about 20 minutes to spare and one of our most significant and prestigious installations was up and running, save of course for the detailed voicing that would take place at near sunrise on the following Saturday and late into the night on Sunday. The details of the voicing challenge will follow soon in another blog.
Earlier milestone birthdays had been spent at Salisbury Cathedral and Southwell Minster, just enjoying the instruments courtesy of friends in the music world. Perhaps my true birthday present at St John’s will be returning in a year’s time to remove our instrument, when I hope they may allow me to be one of the first to experience the joy of the refurbished Willis instrument in all its brand new glory.
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.
