Blog
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Trinity College Dublin Great upper case during installation
It is difficult to show in photographs the ingenuity of Nick’s solutions to the problems. In this photograph one can see that the impost is now straight, upright and secure, though it still carries the same heavy weight. There is still a separate support structure, to which all the old parts of the case are …
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Trinity College Dublin Great upper case before restoration
The 1684 Great case and the 1705 Chair case were in appalling condition when we took the organ to pieces. The Great case was top-heavy, and what internal stability there may have been had been removed when Telford introduced a new organ with its own support structure in 1839. The cases had been taken to …
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David Hindle’s Snetzler bureau organ case finished keyboard surround
Snetzler himself would surely have been delighted with the care and attention to detail paid to his work…
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David Hindle’s Snetzler bureau organ case keyboard surround
The upright front rail below the keys is original, with a battered but original finish. Nick made the flat keyboard surround and stop jambs at the sides to match it and the rest of the case. The mouldings had all been lost, and had to be reconstructed from surviving Snetzler cases.
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David Hindle’s Snetzler bureau organ case during polishing
The finished case with its side panels. The lower case sides had original panels, but had lost their veneers. The undecorated back panel was original, but the top case sides were made from the ca1810 alterations. The doors were new, with dummy front pipes made out of the ca1810 dummy front. There is nothing like …
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David Hindle’s Snetzler bureau organ case Nick veneering side
Veneering is a skill which Nick has not made much use of with us, apart from occasional repairs, so it was an instruction and a pleasure to see him at it.
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David Hindle’s Snetzler bureau organ case pre-restoration
The challenging projects are not always the larger ones. This organ had started off as a 1754 Snetzler bureau organ, with Snetzler’s usual hand-written label chopped out of the back of the pallet box and mounted. It had been rebuilt a couple of times, including once by a harmonium builder who provided a free-reed pedal. …
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Georgian chamber organ finished case in music room
Georgian chamber organ finished case in music room
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Georgian chamber organ top case set up in workshop
Georgian chamber organ top case set up in workshop
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Georgian Chamber organ tower mouldings being turned
In 2012 we made a new large chamber organ in the style of mid-18th century England, for the music room of a private customer. It was a wonderful project altogether. Nick made most of the beautiful case, including the round mouldings to the tower caps, seen here using Phil Neal’s lathe.
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Working on Odiham’s case
Nick working on the Odiham case front during staying, edging the case on the spindle moulder and fitting the silvered brass stop labels to the jambs..
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Odiham lower case being lifted into place
Nick helped us a great deal with his knowledge of machinery, moving heavy organ parts into position, etc. This is one of those exciting moments in the life of a new organ, when the finished but partly dis-assembled organ is moved into position.
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Odiham gallery from the organ loft
The gallery at Odiham presented a challenge because it could not be assembled in the workshop and had to be fitted to a platform incorporated into the building, with steel supports to the floor. The style is based on the gallery rails of the two galleries at the west end of the aisles, on either …
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Odiham lower case in workshop
Nick Hagen has left the firm after working with us for twelve years, to pursue a mid-life change of career. He has made some significant contributions, including fitting up the machine shop with new machines and an extraction unit for dust and shavings, and working out the logistical challenges of transport and site-work. He worked …
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Nick’s last day
After 12 years Nick is off to pastures new and we wish him well.
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Nick’s leaving do
Nick’s leaving do socially distanced of course! Chris provided bacon sandwiches, cooked outside, Edward produced carrot cake muffins and Dominic joined proceedings form Wells via Zoom…
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The Project list has been updated with our latest projects
If you click on the following link https://www.goetzegwynn.co.uk/opus/ you can see the latest additions to our project list. The picture is of the Lewis Organ at St Peter’s Vauxhall where we have just completed the restoration.
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The team removing the Conacher Organ from Theatr Soar, Merthyr Tydfil for restoration
The team removing the Conacher Organ from Theatr Soar, Merthyr Tydfil for restoration
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Re-installation of the Lewis organ at St Peter’s Church Vauxhall
Joe and Chris assembling the Lewis organ on it’s return to St Peter’s Church Vauxhall.
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Rob and Chris voicing Vauxhall
Rob and Chris just doing the final voicing on St Peter’s Vauxhall ready for it’s return next week.
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Recording at St Jude’s Hampstead Garden Suburb
It was recorded last year, with the St Teilo organ, played by Silas Wollston. This organ is the closest that one could get to the organs on which Byrd and Gibbons, using a pitch A465 which means that it can be used alongside the viols (Fretwork) and cornets and sackbuts (His Majesty’s Sackbuts and Cornets), …
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Release of the second volume of In Chains of Gold
The second volume of William Hunt’s project, to record the surviving repertoire of pre-Restoration verse anthems, has been released. Selections are available on the project’s website: https://www.orlandogibbonsproject.com/in-chains-of-gold-volume-2.html It was Presto’s CD of the week: https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/articles/3346–recording-of-the-week-byrd-and-more-from-the-magdalena-consort-and-friends Part of the point of the recording is its attention to detail; it tries to get as close as possible …
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Joe starting to make the new dummy pipes
Joe starting to make the new dummy pipes.
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Vauxhall case is going up…
The case is going up in the workshop ready for starting to fit the components….
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And unit 2…
Joe and Chris……2m apart……
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Back to work 1st June!
Back to work…2m apart…Edward and Nick…..2 per workshop….
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The positive organ
The Positive organ in situ.
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Chris and Dominic deliver new positive organ to Chris Kent
Chris and Dominic deliver the new positive organ to Chris Kent
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Bishop organ case
The organ’s case was designed by James Savage, the architect of the church. Like the rest of the church, it is monumental but quite plain.
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Andrew Roberts and Dominic Gwynn blowing the Bermondsey organ in the traditional manner
Our sympathies go to Jennifer’s partner Andrew Roberts. Andrew is a most distinguished man, but for the purposes of the recording we were there to help. He will remember this occasion, when the new electric blower cut out and we had to resort to authentic muscle power, as one of the more surreal in his …
