Author Archives: Goetze and Gwynn

Warmth…..at last!!

Following a very cold January with broken heaters, we have finally had a new heating system installed in February, warmth at last!!

Edward testing for the weight of the counter balances of the swell stop action

Edward testing for the weight of the counter balances of the swell stop action

Chris Wells revealing previous decorative schemes on the front pipes

Chris Wells revealing previous decorative schemes on Cockerham front pipes

Chris casting counter balance weights for the Cockerham swell stop action

Chris casting counter balance weights for the Cockerham swell stop action

The completed oak grained lower case

Nick’s completed oak grained lower case

Cockerham case panels and frames oak grained and ready for fitting

Cockerham case panels and frames oak grained and ready for fitting.

Cockerham woodwork being prepared for wood graining

Cockerham woodwork being prepared for wood graining

Nick painting the casework

Nick painting the casework

Cockerham lower case

Setting up the Cockerham lower case.

Bill Hunt and Fretwork

Bill Hunt and Fretwork preparing for Edmund Hooper’s wonderful “Hearken ye nations”, an anthem giving thanks for safe deliverance from the Gunpowder Plot of 1605.

The Magdalena Consort, Fretwork and the St Teilo organ recording English verse anthems at St Jude’s Hampstead last week.

For Bill hunt’s verse anthem project see https://www.orlandogibbons.com/chains-gold-orlando-gibbons-complete-consort-anthems/ and http://www.fretwork.co.uk/page/2/

This recording, which featured his Majesty’s Sackbuts and Cornets and Silas Wollaston on the St Teilo organ as well as the voices of the Magdalena Consort and the viols of Fretwork will have verse anthems by Byrd, Morley and Edmund Hooper as volume 2 of “In Chains of Gold”.

Leeds Baroque lunch time performance on Sarurday 16th February 2019 at 1.00pm

Saturday 16 February 2019 at 1:00pm
Clothworkers Centenary Concert Hall,
University of Leeds
Leeds Baroque launch
The Baroque Timpani Project

You are cordially invited to join us for a free short lunchtime recital performance of Henry Purcell’s Sound the trumpet, beat the drum – a Welcome Ode for King James II followed by an informal reception and an introduction to our ambitious Timpani Crowd Funding project.
We hope you will join us and be part of this exciting enterprise. Booking is not essential – but do let us know if you can join us so we can ensure we have enough glasses and refreshments!
You can book a place online via our webpage www.leedsbaroque.org
Or email your name and number of guests to leedsbaroque415@gmail.comTickets are free – but please book in advance

More about Leeds Baroque

Much of our core repertoire requires period instrument timpani – instruments that are hard to find in our region. To remedy this problem, and with the help and advice of Adrian Bending (principle timpanist for OAE and Professor of Timpani at the Royal College of Music) Leeds Baroque is launching a crowd funding campaign to commission a set of Baroque timps, which in addition to our own use will be made available to other period instrument groups. The instruments will be made by the legendary historical instrument makers, Henry Potter & Co.

Leeds Baroque is the city’s only ‘period instrument’ orchestra specialising in performances of music of the 17th and 18th centuries. Founded in 2000, and made up of professional, student and talented amateur performers: it is directed by an international authority on the performance of this repertoire, Prof. Peter Holman MBE. It has gained an enviable reputation for lively performances and academically informed programmes covering standard works by Purcell, Handel, Bach, Corelli and by their less familiar contemporaries. Most of the performers are unpaid, playing in the belief that this specialist, but very accessible, repertoire should be more widely appreciated, there being few similar organisations outside London.
Leeds Baroque is financed solely from its ticket income, modest grant funding and its small, but very supportive ‘Friends’ organisation.
It is now embarking on an ambitious plan to expand its repertoire opportunities with the purchase of a set of historically appropriate timpani. Such instruments are handmade, with copper bodies, goatskin heads and, inevitably a considerable price tag. In addition to Leeds Baroque the instruments will be made available to other period instrument groups in the North.
To bring this plan to fruition we seek your help via a crowdfunding project. We hope you will join us on this exciting journey, offering your own contribution to making another facet of this wonderful repertoire available to the people of Leeds and the region.

Christmas card 2018

Xmas card 2018 pic blog

2018 Christmas card from Goetze and Gwynn Ltd

Please click on the link to view the Christmas card

THE 1788 JOHANNES PRAUSE ORGAN AT REICHESDORF IN TRANSYLVANIA

In 2018 the restoration was completed by Hermann Binder, organ builder of Hermannstadt/Sibiu in Romania, with the assistance of Bartis Szabolcs in Gheorgheni, and from G&G at the beginning and completion of the project. The organ was built by Johannes Prause, a Prussian organ builder who settled in Saxon Transylvania, where he built a number of organs. This one was built in 1788, in the late 14th century church in Reichesdorf/Richiş, which was Lutheran from the Reformation and is filled with galleries, benches and banners. The organ was rebuilt by Karl Einschenk in 1909 with a reversed console and pipework transposed to give a more romantic stoplist.

It has been restored to the situation in 1788, with new keyboard and stop knobs in the original style, new bellows using the original leaves, and the pipes returned to their original positions. The organ has one keyboard and pedal pulldowns, with short compass C/E – c³. There are 12 stops; a principal chorus with Mixtur IV and Rauschpfeife II, stopped flutes at 8’ and 4’, and an open flute at 2’, a narrow-scaled Salicet 8’ and tapered Fugara 4’, with a Subbass 16’ (also available on pedal pulldowns). It was built to lead the congregation’s singing, but also to provide colour for preludes and voluntaries, some of which were heard at the opening concert by Liv Müller organist from Mediasch. A report can be found at www.goetzegwynn.co.uk/reports/

HAPPY CHRISTMAS
2018

from
Martin Goetze and Dominic Gwynn ltd

Edward setting up the key action frame and keyboards

Edward setting up the key action frame and keyboards for the Cockerham organ

Nick fitting the concussion bellows

Nick fitting the concussion bellows as the Cockerham organ is being assembled

Nigel Church organ in the new building for the Diocese of Leeds Music Department

On Tuesday December 4th, Nick and Dominic took a 5 stop Nigel Church practice organ of 1981 to the new music school in the vacated building next to the Roman Catholic Cathedral in Leeds. For the wonderful work being carried out by Ben Saunders and his colleagues for church music in the diocese of Leeds, see their website http://www.dioceseofleedsmusic.org.uk/ The organ is being played by an organ scholar, Anthony Beckwith who helped us with the installation of the organ.

Lèse Majesté

Dominic and Edward (presumptuously occupying the Provost’s chair (sorry CHAIR) in the Public Theatre, admire the work of their team. The organ builders were all present, Nick Hagen, Joe Marsden and Chris Davies. I am sorry not to have a group photograph.

David Grayson addressing the audience

Before the concert the audience were addressed by the Provost Patrick Prendergast, emeritus Professor of Chemistry David Grayson and Professor Andrew Johnstone from the School of Music. David was the chairman of the organ committee, and was largely responsible for bringing the project to completion (https://www.tcd.ie/news_events/articles/inaugural-organ-concert-and-restoration/)

Inaugural concert at Trinity College Dublin

On Friday November 30th Malcolm Proud and David Adams gave a wonderful concert on the new organ in the Public Theatre at Trinity College Dublin, with music by William Byrd, Clérambault, Boyce, Distler, Nivers and J.S.Bach, to a packed hall. It was the organ’s first concert, though the university ceremonies have been accompanied by the organ throughout the year.

Handel fugues and Cannons anthems at St Lawrence Whitchurch

On Saturday November 24th a concert was given by Alastair Ross and the London Handel Orchestra in the church of St Lawrence Whitchurch of fugues by Johann Krieger and Handel, and the Te Deum in B flat written for Cannons and the anthem “The Lord is my Light”. The choral music was all written 300 years ago, and performed in this church. Dominic explained to the audience how close the 1994 organ is the organ Handel knew. The concert was attended by members of the Handel Institute (https://handelinstitute.org/), who had the previous day had a performance of an aria recently acquired by the British Library, on whose autograph score there was a note describing Handel’s debt to Johann Krieger as a writer of fugues, hence the combination of Krieger and Handel fugues on the organ on the 24th (https://www.bl.uk/events/celebrating-handel)

Re-leathering the reservoir on Cockerham

Nick preparing the reservoir from the Cockerham organ for re-leathering

An old version

Chris trying out an old version of Stuart’s press, which used to belong to the late Roger Jubb of Gainsborough and now belongs to Stuart.

The finished result

The finished result.

Chris continuing….

The surplus has been cut off and the insert is place back into the mould to finish it.

Chris inserting the arm and the new leather insert into a press

Chris is inserting the arm and the new leather insert into a press loaned to us by Stuart Dobbs, with our shaped moulds which have a pin in the bottom mould for the hole into which the action wire is fitted.

Chris soaking the leather in polish

We are restoring the 1867 Hill & Son organ at Cockerham near Lancaster. As usual, the leather inserts in the metal roller arms and squares have perished, and have to be replaced. They are made of leather, soaked in polish, inserted in the hole in the arm, and moulded in a press to give a domed shape on either side of the arm. The result is excellent but requires special equipment and is undoubtedly time-consuming. Here Chris is soaking the leather in the polish.

Joe soldering

Here he is soldering one of the tinned brass rods to the bottom of the resonator (from the Great Trumpet)

Joe preparing rod to strengthen bass reed resonators

The larger reed resonators at St James Bermondsey (J.C.Bishop 1829) have been collapsing for some years now, so Joe is strengthening them, with three brass rods soldered to the lower end of each resonator to stop them bending. Here he is tinning the brass rod in preparation for soldering.

Wetheringsett organ moving to Ludlow

Nick, Joe and Chris moved the Wetheringsett organ from St Swithin’s, Worcester to St Lawrence’s, Ludlow yesterday. This picture is in it’s new home at Ludlow, but only partly together, it was a long day…….

Swell chest and pipes

The restored swell windchest with the pipes, so we can make sense of what has survived and what needs to be made new, and which pipes are played by each key.