Cranleigh School

Cranleigh School in Surrey has a strong music department. The generous donation by Hamish Ogston CBE FRSA FRGS of a new organ has now opened up the possibility of developing an organ-teaching curriculum as well.

The new organ has been designed not only to accompany services in the school chapel but also to be a versatile teaching instrument. To that end, Philip Scriven, lately of Lichfield Cathedral, has been engaged as Organist in Residence and already has a clutch of new pupils who have taken up the organ.

The organ has been conceived and voiced to enable students to gain as musical an impression of the wide organ repertoire as possible. To this end the organ has some unusual features. The Mounted Cornet is of only four ranks. This allows any of the three 8ft stops to be added to make a full five rank cornet, but each of the stops added lends a different character to the cornet, depending on the repertoire being played. In addition, the lower end of the compass can be changed from tenor G to middle C by the organist at the console. The organ also has a coupling manual, the lowest of the three keyboards. This manual is permanently coupled to both the Great and Swell Organs. With appropriate registration, the instrument can be played as if it were a three manual organ. Finally, for playing the early repertoire, the concussions in the soundboards can be turned off, reproducing the wind characteristics of early instruments, enabling students to learn how to cope with such early instrument winding.