The Organ

The church organ is an historic instrument. It is a ‘baby’ in the development of the modern church organ. August Gern the builder has built beautiful, round sounding organs and this one is an excellent example. It is a versatile instrument with lots of lovely sounds from pipes crammed into a relatively small chamber.
An organ, be it a pipe or an electronic organ, is the most valuable item for insurance purposes after the church building. Like the building it unfortunately requires regular maintenance at a relative cost. Also, like a building, the maintenance and repair becomes more costly the longer it is left. This is a real problem particularly when the church is not easily visited by the organ tuner and the cost is much more than a visit down the road in England. The average tuning and regulation there is £300 a visit.
There are problems which need regular attention. Because it is a ‘baby’ it has tracker action from earlier times which is not easy to play. It is worth persevering because of the sounds made but sometimes the action becomes warped or stuck and needs easing off otherwise it will cause problems.
The pipes need tuning or some need individual attention if they are not sounding properly. Because the chamber is small layers of pipes sometimes have to be removed in order to tune and maintain the instrument fully. This access is quite a problem.
It is wonderful that the community of Holy Trinity over the years have valued this instrument. It is hoped that people will continue to support the unique organ on this watch. Understandably people may say that the organ sounds alright although there are times when it does have sticky notes that don’t stop.
The tuner should really visit once a year as a minimum so that tuning and regulation is regular. The matter of financing this is a great problem. I believe that as the fabric of the building is covered so too should the organ.
Here are the faults. They are technical.
Action
1 Top G# on the swell is sticking when Swell to Great coupler is drawn.
2 Choir to Great was a problem but was relieved by a tug. Top D and F went down and sounded when coupler was drawn. The action needs a check.
3 Swell to Choir slips in when choir manual played.
Pedal
Some notes on the 16ft Bourdon are not sounding properly and suddenly start up on a second depression i.e. the two F#s.
Choir Reeds
Cornet - some notes not sounding. Tenor A.
Clarinet – Tenor Bb and Treble G not sounding.
There could be more.
Addendum to Duncan's article. So where do we go now? We have launched an Organ Appeal and are conveying this information/news to you, our Friends. At the moment, we have not discussed alternatives, but this may be something that has to be considered. As stated by Duncan in the article the cost of what should be annual repairs are frightening, especially considering the financial constraints applying at the moment, and in the foreseeable future. But we should not and must not make hasty decisions. If you feel you can help, you know we will appreciate your support more than we can say.