Handel House Museum London New Chamber Organ

The organ was made for the Handel House Trust, https://handelhendrix.org/, which in 2001 opened a museum in the house where Handel lived for the last 36 years of his life: 25 Brook Street in Westminster. It lives in the church of St George’s Hanover Square, Handel’s parish church and the home of the London Handel Festival. The organ is based on the chamber organs of Richard Bridge and Thomas Parker, who built the organ which belonged to Charles Jennens, the librettist of Messiah, which still exists close to its original condition.

Stop Diapasonwood
Open Diapason (c#_ – e_)metal
Principalmetal
Flutewood
Fifteenthmetal
Sesquialtera II (GG – c_)metal
Cornet II (c#_ – e_)metal

The key compass is 54 notes (GG AA C D – e³). The metal ranks are all divided into bass and treble halves at c¹/c#¹. There is a shifting movement pedal which removes the metal ranks (if drawn). The pitch is a¹=415Hz.

The organ is 263cm high, 141cm wide and 75cm deep. It has a stained oak case, with gilded dummy metal front pipes, and a gilded cherub’s head. The keys have ebony naturals and sandwich sharps. The stop knobs are ebony, next to engraved brass labels.