St Andrew’s Holborn, London
This new instrument has been built in a style influenced by that of the great English organ-builders of the mid-nineteenth century - especially Gray & Davison, and William Hill. The stoplist was drawn up in consultation with Mr Michael Gillingham, who also advised with regard to the console furniture.
The interpretation of the style has remained deliberately free and although the key action is entirely of wood - trackers, squares, levers and rollerboards - no attempt has been made to copy accurately the surviving work of the period, nor to ignore the obvious and desirable developments of the modern mechanical action.
Each manual has both tierce and quint mixtures; most of the pedal ranks are of wood. All of the reeds have open shallots in the Hill style, and reference has been made to scaling of the period in compiling the overall scaling proportions - although, again, no ranks are simply copied from old examples.
An interesting innovation is the 'Undulant' stop, which draws the Swell Open Diapason on a reduced - and finely adjustable - supply of wind, thus enabling it to beat with the Salicional. Whilst hardly 'authentic', we believe this to be in sympathy with the exploratory attitudes of the period!
The winding is provided by two large reservoirs on the adjoining gallery. There are two composition pedals to each department. The keys are of bone and ebony, and the stopknobs - of startlingly generous proportions - are of rosewoood and ivory, with brass department labels. The upper part of the casework incorporates carving from an organ built in 1750 for the Foundling Hospital, London, to a design by Handel.
View the Specification of the St Andrew's Organ (completed 1989)
Project Leader Ian Bell
Consultant Michael Gillingham
Technical Design Ian Bell
Construction Ralph Beddoes (Works Manager), Harry Austin,
Terry Hobart, Kevin Rutterford (Workshop Foremen)
Voicing and Site Finishing David Frostick (Team Leader)
