David Bridgeman-Sutton
considers Mayors, Victorian habits and civic organs ~ and wonders if bigger is necessarily better.
considers Mayors, Victorian habits and civic organs ~ and wonders if bigger is necessarily better.
Mine's bigger than yours
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"Mine's bigger than yours," boasted the Mayor of Birmingham (England) to his opposite number from Leeds.
At a Mayoral convention in the USA, the Mayor of Detroit was saying these precise words to the Mayor of Pittsburgh; in South Africa, the Mayor of Pietermaritzburg poured scorn on the inadequacies of Bloemfontein, probably using the Afrikaans language to do so. It is possible, though unlikely given the exquisite courtesy for which those cities are renowned, that the Mayors of Wellington and Auckland exchanged a similar pleasantry. |
Pic. 1
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Pic. 2
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The topic that absorbed these worthies was, of course, organs: the large, state-of-the-art musical instruments that adorned the concert halls in their cities. This municipal rivalry was centuries old: the great churches of Germany and the Netherlands housed (and still house) organs that belong to town councils.
In the English ~ and, as we have seen Afrikaans ~ speaking world, the civic organ is found in the City or Town Hall. The grandfather of these instruments is surely that at Birmingham. built by Hill in 1834 and known to Mendelssohn. It has been rebuilt and enlarged several times since, most recently by Mander, who brought it up to a 5-manual instrument of 93 speaking stops. Mander also restored the case, of 1890 to its original condition, as may be seen in picture 1.
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Problems in designing cases for a generation of new technology instruments hadn't been solved in 1890. The 32' pipes in the front towers are of a scale only made practicable by new methods in producing and controlling wind, and they are broad to the point of ungainliness. Horizontal banding adds to this effect; if only emphasis had been placed on vertical lines, instead!
False length might have been introduced with advantage, though a better effect could have been produced if the lengths of the pipe feet had been considerably increased and the drums on which the towers stand reduced correspondingly. Here the feet look stubby - like pencils in need of sharpening
False length might have been introduced with advantage, though a better effect could have been produced if the lengths of the pipe feet had been considerably increased and the drums on which the towers stand reduced correspondingly. Here the feet look stubby - like pencils in need of sharpening
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This case contains the seeds of what, by classical standards, became a most regrettable Victorian habit. Observe the lower flats on either side of the central tower. These appear to consist of pipes of very nearly equal length - a musical unlikelihood and one that deprives the composition of life and movement. This was taken to its extreme in the later case, of an organ that shall remain anonymous, shown in picture 2.
If these criticisms seem carping, look at the case of St Laurens church, Rotterdam - picture 3. The slender and undecorated 32' front emphasises vertical lines while the pipe mouths and shades create lively movement. This digital realisation is one of a series by Lubbert Schenk that, in many instances, gives a clearer view than photographs.
It is interesting that the combination of polished tin pipes in a red case has again become fashionable. Christchurch Town Hall uses this scheme as does the new Mander instrument at St Ignatius Loyola, New York, that may be seen here. |
Pic. 3
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David Bridgeman-Sutton,
February 11, 2004
February 11, 2004
Picture captions/credits:
1: Mander Organs;
2: The Laycock archive;
3: Lubbert Schenk at SoftART DESIGN.
(all by permission).
1: Mander Organs;
2: The Laycock archive;
3: Lubbert Schenk at SoftART DESIGN.
(all by permission).