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 The Organ in

St. Paul's Church,

Harringay, London.

1993

 

In 1984 the first parish church and its organ were destroyed by fire. The organ was insured separately from the building, so that in 1993 the parish was able to commission a fine new instrument from Bower & Co. which was installed in time for the dedication of this striking new church. The opening recital was given by Jennifer Bate.

The organ is noted for its crisp, light, mechanical action, its clear bright sound and its brilliant Cornet stop. Placed centrally on a spacious west gallery the organ speaks clearly down the main axis of the building.

The organ is arranged vertically above the player in the best classical tradition with the Swell organ placed over the Great organ, while the Pedal organ is divided either side of the case. The metal pipes on the facade are from the Open Diapason stop on the Great organ.

The ash case is made from black stained ash and was designed by Richard Bower consulting with Inskip & Jenkins, of London, EC2, architects of the new building.

 Great Organ:

Open Diapason 8ft

Stopped Diapason 8ft

Principal 4ft

Flute 4ft

Fifteenth 2ft

Cornet II 12.17

Mixture IV 19.22.26.29

 Swell Organ:

Chimney Flute 8ft

Viola 8ft

Gemshorn 4ft

Principal 2ft

 

 

 Pedal Organ:

Sub Bass 16ft

Great to Pedal

Swell to Pedal

 

 A note about Young's tuning:

Devised by Thomas Young (1773-1829), this is a well tempered irregular tuning. Intonation becomes poorer in major keys as the number of sharps or flats in the keys signature increases. It treats sharp and flat keys equally. The major keys of C, D, E & F are very good. The minor keys have less 'flavour' than the major keys.

(PADGHAM Charles (1986) 'The Well Tempered Organ' Positiv Pres. Oxford).

   This exploded view shows the front corner of the organ case where four pieces of 4"x1" ash are mitred, mortised and tenoned together so that no end-grain can be seen.

 

 External views of the church.

For more images and other information, visit the St. Paul's Harringay website.

 

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