Restoration of the Harrison & Harrison organ in St Albans Cathedral

For a Master of the Music who has persuaded his Dean and Chapter to commit a very substantial amount of their financial resources to the total restoration of the cathedral organ, Monday 18 August 2008 will remain a landmark date. From mid-morning onwards a team of eight organ builders from Harrison & Harrison (seven men and one woman) assembled at the cathedral from their various locations in London, Durham and Cambridgeshire to begin the lengthy process of reinstalling the instrument.
At about 5pm, just as evening prayer was beginning, a large and very clean and shiny lorry was painstakingly manoeuvred for 20 minutes into the west entrance of the churchyard and was immediately unloaded into the Nave. It was fantastic to see the various components as they came out of the back – large soundboards, wind reservoirs, trunking and, most fantastically of all, the longest pipes of the new 32’ reed stop. It was a wonderful 50th birthday present from the Dean and Chapter!
The dismantling last year was comprehensive – only the three wooden display cases, the main building frame, the blowers, a handful of windtrunks and the very largest 12 pipes of two of the wooden pedal stops stayed in situ. The majority of the remainder travelled to Durham for restoration, repair or replacement whilst the rest stayed in two storage containers at the cathedral: one under the organ loft behind a temporary wooden screen, and most of the metal flue pipes in a large metal container in the North churchyard.

The new 32’ reed is visible here in the Harrison & Harrison workshop, upright on chests

 

A year later the Harrison & Harrison team have started work, cleaning the inside of the organ site thoroughly on the first few days. They then began the process of reconfiguring the building frame and installing the larger components – the restored and new reservoirs, the refurbished and new soundboards, wind trunks and the largest pipes which go to the back and the sides. These included the 44 pipes of the new pedal reed, which are now in place in their commanding position at the west end of the south case. It is like watching the construction of an enormously complex 3-dimensional jigsaw puzzle, where knowledge and experience is most important, occasionally assisted by the consultation of working drawings. The array of components is bewildering, the detail is astonishing and the quality of the craftsmanship is first class.
Now into their fourth week on-site the metal hands have arrived and started making all the new conveyances for the wind supply to the new case pipes and other wind trunking links. This work continues for a few weeks yet before the wiring to each note and stop is begun, the new console is installed and the blowers are connected. Meanwhile in Durham the beautifully constructed new four manual console is being completed ready for transport, the new case pipes for the North and South cases are being made, and at some point new pipes for the extra stops to be added to the organ will be constructed.
The main installation continues from 8am to 8pm each weekday until the end of November, stopping only for lunch and evensong each day. After Christmas we reach the final and most crucial stage when the voicers arrive, putting all the pipes into the organ and regulating their speech for optimum effect and musical balance. By Easter it will all be complete and we will once again be inspired by its glorious sound in the cathedral services before it takes its central role in the organ competitions and events in the next Organ Festival.
The re-opening weekend of events will be on Saturday and Sunday 6-7 June – the Saturday being an open day with short concerts, demonstrations and tours. On Sunday the organ will be re-dedicated and there will be a celebrity opening recital in the afternoon given by David Higgs who is well known to most members of the IOFS. Do please put these dates in your diary – they will be events not to be missed.

Andrew Lucas, Master of the Music

You can now view the new specification here