Care and Conservation

Well-made organs will give excellent service for many years provided they are properly cared for. It is not uncommon to find organs functioning efficiently after a century or more, with only occasional cleaning and minor repairs. An organ is a valuable resource.

The following pages suggest which instruments may be worthy of preservation, and indicates ways in which their qualities may be preserved for the enjoyment of generations to come. A subsection gives advice on technical procedures in restoration. We recommend that you initially read these pages progressively, with the links to the right allowing you to dip back in to a particular topic after.

Grant Sources

Visit here for guidance on potential grant sources for the repair of historic organs. BIOS is unable to give grants from its own limited resources.

An Introduction to Organ Conservation and Restoration

BIOS includes amongst its activities efforts to preserve important historic organs in Great Britain. This document suggests which instruments may be worthy of such attention, and indicates ways in which their qualities may be preserved for the enjoyment of generations to come.

BIOS believes that the musical success of a good organ is due to a happy combination of the builder’s skill and a particular date of construction. Subsequent alterations to keep pace with changes in fashion, whether to pipes or mechanism, will weaken the builder’s original concept and impair the artistic value of the instrument. Where an instrument is unaltered, any alteration should be avoided; where alterations have already been made, they should be reversed if reasonably possible. If restoration to the original state is impossible, the instrument may be restored to a chosen former state, usually decided as being that state when the organ last represented, in a coherent and recognisable way, the work of one builder or school of builders.

This does not attempt to deal with all the questions that may arise, nor can it be used as a set of hard and fast rules for all circumstances. However, it reflects the kind of attitudes that will help anyone contemplating the maintenance or repair of an historic instrument.

Organs regarded as worthy of conservation or restoration

The significance of an old organ increases with its age, rarity, and the extent to which it remains in its original state. Organs of any size from the seventeenth, eighteenth or first half of the nineteenth centuries in any state of preservation are now so rare and of such historic importance that their preservation, and, if necessary, faithful restoration, should be assumed as a matter of course. Organs of the period 1850-1920 survive in somewhat greater numbers, but again their preservation and restoration should normally be the rule. Organs from 1920 onwards may not be historic as such, but nevertheless major unaltered examples of the work of good builders should be preserved in their original state.

Organs that have been so radically altered that they no longer represent the style of the original builder may be of lesser interest, though some such instruments may still contain extremely important historical material. Any organ case, pipework or mechanism more than a hundred years old should be considered for preservation.

Organs, like other musical instruments, are works of art. The most significant examples rank alongside famous violins and paintings by great masters though, as they are fixtures and not often marketable, their monetary value may well not reflect this. Even the most humble examples represent great care and skill on the part of their makers, and the temptation to alter them to conform to tastes in playing that the maker did not envisage should be avoided. Nor should it be imagined that the non-sounding parts of the organ are just mechanism, and can be changed at will; each part has a vital role in affecting the way the instrument can be played, and therefore the way it will sound.

Some historic organs now have their status confirmed by the award of a Historic Organ Certificate, although the listing programme is currently incomplete.

Conservation and Environment

Conservation may be defined as work carried out to prevent decay. Even if an organ does not require restoration it may require careful attention to keep it in good order.

An historic instrument should be maintained by a skilled professional. When choosing an organ builder to tune and maintain the instrument, it is advisable that the choice should be made bearing in mind his experience and reputation in work with historic organs. The recommendations of an organ builder should be taken seriously. However, there is the possibility that they may be motivated by the prospect of financial reward, and impartial expert advice should be sought where necessary. Organs should not be tuned more often than is required for acceptable performance.

Responsibility for maintenance does not lie only with the organ tuner. Unlike modern instruments, historic organs were built at a time when the heating of public buildings was inefficient or nonexistent. Like furniture and other musical instruments, historic organs can be damaged by extremes of temperature and humidity. In particular, continuous winter heating leads to low humidity which causes dimensional changes in organ mechanisms as well as in other wooden furnishings. A relative humidity of 55% or above is acceptable but often not achievable if the building is continuously heated to over 16°C. Another problem is caused by heating systems that produce very rapid changes in temperature. Not only are they wasteful of fuel (much of the heat goes up into the roof) but rapid changes in temperature can upset the tuning of an organ.

The organ and its surroundings should be kept free of dirt and rubbish and should be guarded against interference or vandalism. Actual leaks of water can cause expensive damage if drips from a faulty roof or drain fall on leather and timber components. Organs should be protected if decorators or other construction staff are working above them. Organ pipes are made of soft metal and can be easily damaged by inexpert handling. Moderate use of an organ will not usually do any harm and is better than disuse.

Restoration

Restoration may be defined as the process of returning an organ to its original state, or to as near its original state as is possible, or to some other chosen earlier state. The word ‘restoration’ is often misused to cover various forms of rebuilding or alteration. In some cases a little-altered instrument may be restored to its original state by a simple programme of cleaning, repair and adjustment. Other instances may require the reproduction of missing or damaged parts. In severe cases the whole organ may be rebuilt in the style of the original builder round some surviving material. In this case the work is likely to be of a more speculative nature and should be termed reconstruction.

All original components should be preserved and properly repaired. Components that have been severely damaged or altered beyond repair may be replaced by reproductions. All repairs and replacement parts should be made in a manner consistent with the original work, both in materials used and method of construction. Any repairs or changes necessary during the course of restoration should be reversible, in case it be found at a later date that the work needs to be done again.

Certain organs that have been greatly altered may be incapable of restoration. If returning the instrument to a former state would involve considerable speculative reconstruction and/or considerable further alteration to original material, then restoration should not be carried out.

Restorers

The restoration of historic organs should always be carried out by a professional specialising in work on the type of organ involved, and should never be entrusted to amateurs. For the sake of the their own investment as well as the preservation of the organ, the owners of organs and their advisers should investigate the reputation, previous work and references of any prospective restorer, including relevant accreditation by the Institute of British Organ Building (IBO). An historic organ may be irreparably damaged by incompetent or unqualified workers, but a well-restored historic organ can be a musical treasure and a legacy to future generations.

Sounds Good

A simple guide to the care of organs, published in 2002 by the Council for the Care of Churches.

This user-friendly guide provides advice on the care and repair of existing organs as well as recommendations on new and second-hand organs. It also contains sections on dealing with organbuilders, finance and contracts.

Church House Publishing ISBN 0 7151 7594 7

Towards the Conservation and Restoration of Historic Organs
Papers given at the international conference on organ conservation and restoration held in Liverpool in 1999

Church House Publishing ISBN 0 7151 7586 6