Author: Matt Dixon

The T.C. Lewis organ at St. John’s Church, Upper Norwood, (the venue for the November BIOS Conference and Annual General Meeting) offers, among other topics, the opportunity to reflect on the use of manual couplers. The specification (published in the July Reporter) shows the extent to which the organ was fitted with octave and sub-octave…

After the enthusiasm presaging the intended restoration of the Schulze organ at Doncaster, one could be forgiven for wondering whether the outcome would match expectations. The effective withdrawal of Lottery funding for organ projects has effectively pulled the rug from under the feet of historic restorations including the Doncaster project. This seems to be symptomatic…

The recent BIOS – IBO joint conference at the British Organ Archive presented an important opportunity to state the need for adequate documentation of instruments prior to any reconstruction or restoration. Present opinion is well informed of the necessity for recording an object’s history; witness the work being carried out by NADFAS (National Association of…

1999 will be an important year in the political life of the United Kingdom, for it will mark the establishment of devolved power to Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The distinctive characters of these parts of the United Kingdom will be given some opportunity to express themselves. This seems to be an appropriate cue to…

For over a century the ‘Snetzler’ organ in St. Margaret’s Church, Kings Lynn, Norfolk, has been an unhappy marriage of two quite disparate schools of organ building; a substantial amount of eighteenth century Snetzler pipework and case cohabiting uncomfortably with a late nineteenth century Wordsworth structure, chests and considerable tonal additions. All of the material…

The inclusion of papers about the work of John Compton at the forthcoming Bath Residential Conference and the November BIOS Day Conference is welcome recognition of an organ builder who, while pursuing a line of design and construction that is latterly seen to have had shortcomings, did it with a sense of conviction and surefootedness…

The invention in 1904 of the thermionic valve has had far reaching consequences for the development of radio, television, and, indeed, the entire twentieth century. Its successors, the transistor in 1948, and the integrated circuit in the mid-sixties, underline the rapid pace of change and the almost explosive penetration of electronics into every facet of…

The exercise of restoring an important organ to its original form is a daunting challenge. In the case of the Schulze organ at St. George’s Church, Doncaster, there can be no doubt of its excellence -“the noblest work of organbuilding art that England has ever heard or seen” was the enthusiastic comment by a contemporary…

Bernard Edmonds’ question posed in the July 1997 Reporter focuses on an important point. Given the close association between the organ and worship, and the fact that most organists play for services, what do worshippers make of organ and church music in general?…

The availability of money for the organ from the National Lottery has provided a new impetus for the repair and restoration of many ailing instruments and the construction of new, exciting designs. Some churches will not use such money on the grounds that it is derived from gambling, others have no such scruples. Where there…