Hill Organs in Australia, 1850 - 1910
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HILL ORGANS IN AUSTRALIA, 1850 - 1910: A CRITICAL SURVEY AND CHRONICLE OF DEVELOPMENTS IN ORGANS SENT TO AUSTRALIA BY WILLIAM HILL AND SONS, LONDON by EDWARD McNEAL GRANTHAM A STUDY SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF MUSIC AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. NOVEMBER 1988 LIBRARY 29 MAY 1391 UNIVERSITY OF NSW ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to acknowledge the generous help provided by the clergy, organists, secretarial staff and other officers of the following churches: Annandale, N.S.W. Hunter Baillie Memorial Presbyterian Church Ashfield, N.S.W. St John's Anglican Church Balmain, N.S.W. St Augustine's Roman Catholic Church Balmain, N.S.W. St Mary’s Anglican Church Broadway, N.S.W. St Barnabas' Anglican Church Rose Bay, N.S.W. St Andrew's Scots Presbyterian Church Stawell, Victoria, Lutheran Church Sydney, N.S.W. Christ Church St Laurence Anglican Church Railway Square Sydney, N.S.W. Uniting Church Pitt Street Also, I would like to thank the city organist, Robert Ampt, the Library Staff of the Heritage Council of N.S.W., the organ builders M. Fisher, P. Jewkes, R. Pogson and A. Welby. Thanks are also owed to Patricia Brown, Senior Lecturer in the Music Department, University of New South Wales, Mrs G. Gleeson, Mrs A. Grantham, Mrs M. Heath and Messrs P. de Lasala, K. Hastie, D. Kinsela and J. Maidment. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT vii LIST OF TABLES ix LIST OF FIGURES x LIST OF PLATES xii LIST OF ORGANS REFERRED TO IN THE TEXT xiii PRELIMINARY INFORMATION Tonal History of the Organ xv Basics of Organ Construction xx Organ Nomenclature xxi PREFACE Procedure xxxviii Organs Studied xli Documentation xliv Organ Repertoire xlv CHAPTER I - INTRODUCTION The Importance of the Firm of William Hill 1 The Reasons for the Popularity of Hill Organs 2 The Value of Hill Organs 4 CHAPTER II - THE PIPEWORK Scaling and Timbre 6 Survey of Hill Pipework in the Principal Choruses, Stop by Stop 14 Hill Scales Compared to Those of Other Builders 30 Chronological Comparison of Hill with Other Builders 35 Conclusions 49 iii Page CHAPTER III - TONAL DESIGN Composition of Principal Choruses 51 Criticism of Hill Mixtures 55 Flute Choruses 56 Strings 59 Reeds 62 Synopsis of Stops 63 Comparison of Hill’s Tonal Design with Other Builders 67 Conclusion 75 CHAPTER IV - THE FUNCTION OF THE PEDAL, SWELL AND CHOIR DEPARTMENTS The Pedal 77 The Swell 82 The Choir 86 Conclusion 89 CHAPTER V - MECHANICAL DEVELOPMENT The Key Action 91 The Stop Action 98 CHAPTER VI - THE MUSICAL VALUE OF THE ORGANS Part 1 : The 19th Century Repertoire 101 Sonata VI by Felix Mendelssohn 103 Prelude and Fugue on the Name B.A.C.H. by Franz Liszt 104 Choral No 1 by Cesar Franck 105 Syraphonie V by Charles-Marie Widor 108 iv Page Part 2 : The 20th Century Repertoire 111 Sonata I by Paul Hindemith 111 Christmas Suite by Alex Rowley 112 Chorale Fantasie on 'Lasst uns erfreuen’ by Flor Peeters 113 Messe de la Pentecote by Olivier Messiaen 114 Part 3 : Accompaniment and Transcriptions 117 Accompaniment of Hymns and Anthems 117 Orchestral Transcriptions 118 Part 4: The Baroque Repertoire 120 CHAPTER VII - CONCLUSIONS Pipework 122 Tonal Design 123 The Pedal 124 The Swell and Choir 125 The Action 125 Musical Value 126 Reconstituted Organs 126 Further Research 127 Conservation and Future Use 127 APPENDICES Appendix A: Complete List of Hill Organs Sent to Australia 129 Appendix B: Reproduction of Pages from the Estimate and Order Books 131 Appendix C: Reproduction of an Organ Case Drawn by A.G. Hill 134 v Page Appendix D: Three Organ Gases: Lutheran Church, Stawell, Victoria Presbyterian Church, Annandale, N.S.W. Sydney Town Hall, N.S.W. 135 BIBLIOGRAPHY 138 REFERENCES 146 vi ABSTRACT The subject investigated in this project is the tonal and mechanical development of the instruments sent by William Hill and Sons to Australia between 1850 and 1910. A critical evaluation of their work has also been made in terms of the musical use of these instruments. Tonal development refers to what changes, if any, occurred in the tone of the pipes and in the types of stops included in the specifications. Mechanical development refers to what changes, if any, occurred in the technical construction of the organs. Three types of procedure have been used: firstly, each organ was visited and thoroughly inspected and recorded. This recording involved playing every note of every stop from lowest to highest, as well as playing a common programme of pieces. Most of these pieces were chosen to illustrate the aptitude of the organ for styles generally considered difficult to perform. There were a few works, however, which especially suited the organs studied. Secondly, the detailed documentation of the organs was examined and comparisons drawn between organs of different periods, different sizes and different builders. Thirdly, music of varying national styles and contrasting eras was analysed in terms of a performance on three organs chosen as representative of differing periods and tonal designs. The results of this survey show that the organs are capable of performing a wide range of music from early styles to the music written in the late 20th century. Some music, however, still remains outside the scope of the organs, namely music of the French school vii of Messiaen, owing to the precise stops indicated by the composer. Many of these stops are lacking on the mode of English style organs studied. The tonal design of the instruments, however, shows great versatility in terms of general repertoire and the mechanical construction demonstrates the qualities of reliability, longevity and musical sensitivity. The conclusions suggest that organists should be encouraged to give recitals and concerts on these instruraents both for the aesthetic pleasure they offer an audience and the desirability of keeping instruments of musical and historical value in the public consciousness. viii LIST OF TABLES Page 1 Stops and Scales from the Order Book 10 2 Comparative Scales of Hill Pipework 12 3 Hill Pipework Compared with Other Builders 31 4 Pipe Scales and the TBpfer Index 33 5 Comparative Stop Lists in Chronological Order 54 6 Comparative Stop Lists in Ascending Order of Size of Organ 65 7 Small Organs, 8 to 12 Stops 68 8 Medium Organs, 14 to 19 Stops 69 9 Large Organs, 19 to 28 Stops 70 10 Very Large Organs, 28 to 51 Stops 71 11 Enormous Organs, 126 to 127 Stops 72 12 Comparison of Swell Specifications 83 13 Comparative Stop Lists of the organs at 101 St Barnabas’, Broadway, Hunter Bai.llie Presbyterian Church, Annandale, and the Uniting Church, Pitt Street, Sydney Dynamic Marks Related to Registrations 112 ix LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE Page 1 Harmonic Structure of the Note CC xvi 2 Diagram of a Flue Pipe xxi 3 Diagram of a Reed Pipe xxii 4 Key Chambers in Elevation xxiii 5 Key Chambers in Profile xiv 6 Organ Mechanism in Profile - after J. Stiller xxvii 7 Diagram of Pneumatic Lever - after Hopkins and Rimbault xxviii 8 Diagram of Tubular Pneumatic Action xxix 9 Names of Notes xxxi 10 Water Gauge xxxvii 11 The Hill Languid 8 12 - 19 Graphs of the Scales of Various Stops Compared Chronologically Open Diapason 15 Principal 17 Twelfth 19 Fifteenth 20 Open Diapason II 22 Swell Open Diapason 24 Swell Principal 26 Swell Fifteenth 28 20 - 22 Graphs Comparing the Scales of Hill, Walker and Willis 36 23 - 24 Graphs Comparing the Scales of Hill, Hunter and Willis 40 25 - 27 Graphs Comparing the Scales of Hill and Richardson 43 x FIGURE Page 28 - 29 Graphs Comparing the Scales of Hill, Hunter and Norman & Beard 47 30 Action Diagram for the Organ at Goulburn after J. Stiller 93 31 Action Diagram of Sydney Town Hall after N. Norman 94 xi LIST OF PLATES PLATE Page 1 Reproduction of the Page from the Order Book Referring to the Organ now at Christ Church St Laurence, Sydney 131 2 Reproduction of the Page from the Order Book Referring to the Organ Formerly in Adelaide Town Hall 132 3 Reproduction of the Page from the Estimate Book referring to the Proposed Organ for St Phillip's Church Hill, Sydney 133 4 Reproduction of a Lithograph by A.G. Hill 134 5 The Organ Case at Stawell, Victoria 135 6 The Organ Case at Hunter Baillie Memorial Church, Annandale, Sydney 136 7 The Organ Case at Sydney Town Hall, Sydney 137 xii LIST OF ORGANS REFERRED TO IN THE TEXT Organs Built by William Hill and Sons 1858 Lutheran Church, Stawell, Victoria 1866 St Andrew’s Cathedral, Sydney, N.S.W. Since rebuilt 1871 St Mary’s Anglican Church, Balmain, N.S.W. 1872 St Phillip’s Church Hill, Sydney, N.S.W. Tender only 1878 Uniting Church, Newtown, N.S.W. 1879 St Barnabas' Anglican Church, Broadway, N.S.W. 1883 St John's Anglican Church, Ashfield, N.S.W. Since rebuilt 1883 St Luke’s Anglican Church, Concord, N.S.W. Reconstituted 1884 St Andrew's Scots Presbyterian Church, Rose Bay, N.S.W. 1886 St Augustine’s Roman Catholic Church, Balmain, N.S.W. 1889 SS Peter and Paul’s Roman Catholic Cathedral, Goulburn, N.S.W. 1890 Sydney Town Hall, Sydney, N.S.W. 1890 Hunter Baillie Memorial Presbyterian Church, Annandale, N.S.W. 1890 St Andrew’s Uniting Church, Newcastle, N.S.W. 1891 Christ Church St Laurence, Sydney, N.S.W. 1909 Pitt Street Uniting Church, Pitt Street, Sydney, N.S.W. Organs By Other Builders 1863 St John’s Pro-Cathedral, Parramatta, N.S.W.