Author Archives: Goetze and Gwynn

Opening concert at Canolfan Soar

The opening concert for the Peter Conacher organ at Canolfan Soar in MT last Saturday September 23rd 2023. William Reynolds played the organ in a program including the South Wales Clarinet Choir, Con Voce Choir, the tenor Rhys Meirion and Delyth and Bethan McLean, daughters of Liesbeth, director of the centre. Excellent music making.

Italian Organ at St Andrews University

The Italian Organ has been at St Andrews University since mid July and has been used extensively for teaching and for concerts by Massimiliano Guido and Giovanna Riboli during St Andrews Organ Week in early August 2023.

The Handel House organ moves to 25 Brook Street

The Handel House organ has moved to the Handel and Hendrix Museum at 25 Brook Street, London. It is in Handel’s Fore Parlour as shown in the pictures. The link to the museum is https://handelhendrix.org/

St Teilo organ at Lincoln Cathedral

The St Teilo organ is at Lincoln Cathedral. It will be used in the upcoming festival to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the death of William Byrd (who was the organist at Lincoln between 1563 and 1572). The festival runs from 30th June to 4th July. It will also be used both for voluntaries and to accompany the choir.

The Wingfield Organ at Bradford Cathedral

A recording of the debut live performance of “Duet, Aria and Fughetta on Bradford”, composed by Sarah MacDonald and played by Imogen Morgan, commissioned for, and recorded live, on International Women’s Day 2023. The link is as follows : https://youtu.be/0IqgQ7m6Irc

The Wingfield Organ is currently at Bradford Cathedral bradfordcathedral.org.uk

Happy New Year

We at Martin Goetze and Dominic Gwynn Ltd, wish you a very happy and prosperous New Year, as we embark on a vey busy period. We welcome new staff, customers and friends to the workshop with varied projects including Georgian recreations, Victorian restorations and maintaining and restoring mighty Wurlitzers.

The Wurlitzer pedalboard completed

The restoration of the pedalboard of the Wurlitzer theatre organ of the Thursford Collection in Norfolk

Wurlitzer pedal board

The restoration of the pedalboard of the Wurlitzer theatre organ of the Thursford Collection in Norfolk

The Wurlitzer pedalboard

The restoration of the pedalboard of the Wurlitzer theatre organ of the Thursford Collection in Norfolk

Restoration of the pedalboard of the Wurlitzer theatre organ at Thursford

The restoration of the pedalboard of the Wurlitzer theatre organ of the Thursford Collection in Norfolk

The Compton Minatura chest re-leathered

A Compton Minatura chest completely re-leathered, with many of the pouch coil springs having to be replaced because the originals were rusted and brittle.

Theatre organ in Lincolnshire

Private residence Theatre organ in Lincolnshire. Restoration work after water damage.

A unit chest for the Vox Humana with a new side wall

Re-leathering relays on the Wurlitzer

Most recently Chris and Rob have just returned from a week of maintenance on the famous Wurlitzer organ of the Thursford Collection in Norfolk, re-leathering the grey key relay secondary motors.

Two weeks in Geneva

Then again at the end of March, we had two weeks in Claparède College in the suburbs of Geneva in Switzerland, the home of the former Granada Cinema, Clapham Junction, 3 manual 8 rank Wurlitzer organ from 1937

Theatre organ work

So far 2022 has had quite a lot of theatre organ work, beginning in January with two weeks maintenance on the world famous 1935 Tower Ballroom Blackpool Wurlitzer organ. 

This year’s Christmas Card

LATE 1890s 87 KEY GAVIOLI

This organ was built in the 1890s and was housed in the three-abreast gallopers on the sea front at Mablethorpe Lincolnshire, owned at the time by the Gray family.  These instruments were built to represent a medium-sized orchestra, the main sounds being trombones, saxophones, violins, clarinets and piccolos.  The opulent decoration and the gaudy colours, like the interiors of the musical theatre and gin palaces, were designed to attract the newly-leisured lower classes, a mirror to the luxury of the rich.

It was purchased in the 1960s in very poor condition and restored by former Chiappa employee M. Rooney.  Chiappa were Britain’s main importer and manufacturer of mechanical instruments throughout the 1800s and 1900s.  They are still trading today, making punched cardboard music from their works in Eyre St Hill, London.  The organ is now owned by the Bishton family of showmen, who still use the organ for its original purpose, which is to attract custom to their ‘old-time’ vintage fair.

It has undergone major mechanical and pipe restoration in the Goetze & Gwynn workshop under the close eye of Stuart Dobbs whose background and interest is in this type of instrument.

Access to the pallet box at Lillington

The organ had been moved to the church by John Budgen in 1998, against the wall, so the lower half of the organ had to be moved out for access, and back again to connect with the blower. 

New pallet springs fitted into the Lillington organ

New pallet springs fitted into the Lillington organ

Dominic making new springs for the Lillington organ

I enjoy making pallet springs on the jig which Martin made in 1980.  It demands a degree of dexterity and over forty years of experience…

Corrosion in the Lillington organ’s pallet box

Why some yellow pine seems to be so corrosive, and others not, is from the user’s point of view a mystery.  Presumably ‘yellow pine’ from North America, as bought from the timber merchant, is a generic term for many varieties, some corrosive, most not.

Lillington corroded pallet spring

The organ at Lillington near Sherborne in Dorset was made by T.C.Bates in about 1840.  It is a four stop organ, with swell front and short pedalboard, but most ingeniously a drop-down dumb organist to replace the human one, the barrel playing the keys.  The reason for the ciphers was the corrosion of the pallet springs, which had in places completely disappeared, presumably because of corrosive agents in the yellow pine pallets.

Thomas Mace organ as far as it has got…

A picture of Edward’s great nephew Oscar Bennett with the wind chest and the pipes (racked in by Oscar).  Unfortunately the project has stalled, until more funding is forthcoming and a stimulus towards a different home than the flying music room, which may not now happen.

Tracker offcut Christmas trees

Christmas encourages creativity – an abundance of offcuts from the trackers for the Peter Conacher organ at Merthyr Tydfil stimulated another set of coloured Christmas trees

Swan Singers with the Wingfield Organ

At the beginning of December the traditional crib festival was held at St Cuthberts Wells (200 model cribs of varying materials and styles from round the world) with music provided by a wide variety of musicians, including a Wells chamber choir (including Antonia Gwynn and for this occasion Dominic) and with music from the Wingfield organ played by Julian McNamara and blown by choir members

Margaret Phillips plays Art of Fugue

On Thursday November 25^th at 6.00pm Margaret Phillips will play movements of J.S.Bach’s Art of Fugue on the Richards Fowkes organ at St George’s Hanover Square, to launch her new CD.  It is an excellent organ for the music, and Margaret’s playing reveals its inspiration. 

Concert at St Peter Pilning

On November 6^th members of Ystradivarius, see https://ystradivarius.com/, gave a lovely concert of baroque music with the William Allen chamber organ, with John Cheer playing the organ in Handel Organ concertos and Stanley voluntaries.  David Lewis violin played a Leclair sonata, and Claudine Cassidy cello played a capriccio by Joseph dall’Abaco.  Thanks to Jonathan and Sharon Edwardes for organising a delightful occasion.  The Allen organ looked and sounded wonderful.

Jennifer Bate memorial concert

Jennifer Bate memorial concert

Handel House Museum

Dominic helped to move the 1754 Snetzler bureau organ from the Handel House Museum, which is expanding into its ground floor and basement, see https://thehallelujahproject.org/

Richard playing his Russell chamber organ

Richard playing his Russell chamber organ

Richard Hobson’s Russell chamber organ

Dominic has helped Richard Hobson to collect the 1786 Hugh Russell chamber organ which he bought from Sotheby’s recently.  The organ has recently belonged to two collectors, and was probably in the church at Patney in Wiltshire before that.  It was repaired by organ builders in Devizes in 1909, an organ builder in Bath in 1863, and by Holdich at some point (it uses his bellows weights).  It was restored by Manders recently, with a new Hautboy treble replacing the missing one.  The stops are fifteenth, principal, bass and treble diapason, hautboy, dulciana, the compass is GG AA C D – f³ (bass treble bº/c¹).  Its condition is almost unaltered, a lovely little organ.