Margery Moore (1907–93) was an English music educator and composer. I came across Margery Moore’s organ music in the summer of 2025 and was bemused to find next to no information about the composer herself. Thus bemused, I went off1 ‘to do sone digging’ and as a result I have created a ‘Margery Moore’ ⓦWikipediaⓦ page; link below. Meanwhile …
Margey Moore: a biographical sketch.
Margery Moore was born in Birkenhead and raised in Plymouth, where her musical skills first came to wider attention, not least in 1928 when the BBC broadcast The Margery Moore String Quartet in a concert from Plymouth; she played viola.
In 1929 Margery was living in London where until 1960 we find her worked in a number of posts as a music educator while writing pedagogical articles for The Musical Times and publishing music with the firms of Novello and Co, Boosey and Hawkes, Curwen, and Stainer and Bell. In 1932 her opera ‘Drake’ was first performed in Plynouth. From 1960 onwards traces of Margery Moore’s life disappear until a notice of her death in north-east London in 1993.
Margery Moore: the works for organ
Margery Moore and the organ There is no information to indicate that Margery Moore ever played the organ. However, for the London publisher Novello and Co. she produced a total of ten works for organ as part of that firm’s collection called Original Compositions (New Series). These are the works being presented here.
Gottlieb Muffat (1690–1770) was a German–speaking subject of the Holy Roman Empire under Habsburg rule. He was born into a family of musicians then living in the Prince–Bishopric of Passau. Gottlieb Muffat’s father, Georg Muffat (1653–1704), was the the Prince–Bishop of Passau’s director of music. Gottlieb’s older brothers – Franz Georg Gottfried (1671-1710) & Johann Ernst (1686–1746) – became violinists at the Imperial Habsburg Court in Vienna, which may explain how in 1711 Gottlieb arrived there to work under the aegis of Johann Joseph Fux (c.1660–1741) the Court’s music director.
Muffat spent the rest of his life as a court employee in Vienna where he played for services in the court’s Hofburg chapel and for court performances of chamber music and operas. He was also a music tutor to various children of the imperial family including the future Empress Maria Theresa and it was on her accession as Empress that Muffat was appointed the court’s senior organist.
Playlist:
The dedication of Gottlieb Muffat’s ’72 Versetl sammt 12 Toccaten’ (1726) to the Prince–Abbot Blasius III of the Benedictine abbey of St. Blasien; translation below.
Muffat the composer Gottlieb Muffat wrote almost entirely for keyboard within such traditional structures as toccata, fugue, dance suite, ricercare, ciaccona &c. Muffat’s compositional style was informed by 17th-century Viennese organist-composers such as: Johann Jakob Froberger (1616–67) and Johann Caspar Kerll (1627–93).
During Muffat’s lifetime the circulation of his music seems to have been quite widespread. For example, in England Georg Frideric Handel (1685–1759) extensively borrowed ideas from Muffat’s Componimenti Musicali per il cembalo (1739) in works such as Concerti Grossi op. 6 (1739), Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day (1739), the oratorios Samson (1743), Judas Maccabeus (1746) and Joshua (1747).
Gottlieb Muffat ’72 Versetl sammt 12 Toccaten’ (1726): title page depicting St Cecilia, patron saint of music.
72 Versetl sammt 12 Toccaten (Vienna, 1726) This was Muffat’s first published work. He described it in the preface as a modest work “intended particularly to advance divine worship and support beginners”, presumable referring to ‘beginners’ of liturgical accompaniment; this is not music for neophytes.
The precise liturgical purpose for Muffat’s work was set out on the title page, which reads: 72 Versets along with 12 Toccatas, particularly useful for church services during choral offices and vespers. Published by Gottlieb Muffat, currently serving as Court and Chamber Organist to His Imperial Majesty Karl VI; as well as Court Organist to Her late Imperial Majesty Wilhelmina Amalia. — NB 1. Toccata here describes a short free-form work acting as a prelude and to establish pitch for singers
— NB 2. Verset here describes a short organ piece played during a sung Office in place of a verse during a plainsong canticle, hymn or psalm, i.e. alternating with the singers; a practice called ‘alternatim’ Such a performance practice was formally sanctioned in the publication of Caeremoniale Episcoporum (Rome, 1600) during the Papact of Clement VIII (b. 1536, Pope 1592–1605)
Muffat organised this music into 12 sets, each comprising a toccata and 6 fugal versets, each set written in a single key. Muffat referred to the keys he used as ‘the common tones’ [gebräuchlichen Tonis].
These short pieces are endlessly inventive. The fugues use various techniques such as inverted themes (eg IV 2 and 3, VIII 5 and 6, X 2 and 3), double fugues (eg IX 5 and XI 4) canon (eg X 6) and various styles such as ‘pastorelles’ (eg VII 4 and XII 6). Muffat uses nine different time-signatures (4/2, 4/4, 3/2, 6/4, 3/4, 12/8, 9/8, 6/8, 3/8).
Gottlieb Muffat ’72 Versetl sammt 12 Toccaten’ (1726): table of ornaments.
Throughout the collection Muffat indicated an abundance of ornamentation, providing a table to indicate how this ornamentation might be realised. While such tables were a common feature in French keyboard music of that era Muffat here is the pioneer of them among his Habsburg contemporaries.
Performance – Editions:
The original Vienna 1726 edition is freely available online as is a Vienna 1960 edition. Currently there is also a Bonn 2002 print edition. – Instrument:
Although this music is written on two staves as if for any keyboard it is self evidently meant for the organ, not only because of its liturgical design but also because Muffat explained in his preface that while an independent pedal line was not indicated the pedals are “always to be used with longer notes or fermatas.” – Tempo Muffat gives only a few tempo indications: ‘Adagio’ at the head of toccatas 4, 9, 10 and 12; ‘Andante’ mid way through toccata 11 where running motifs give way to more measured writing. – Registration:
Muffat offers no clues to registration and no specification survives for the organs that Muffat would have known at the Hofburg or at St Blasien. Even so, historically informed decisions can be made with reference to the 1642 choir organ in Vienna’s Franciscan church of St Jerome (2m/p) built by Johann Wöckherl (c.1594–1660):
The 1642 Wöckherl organ. situated behind the high altar of Vienna’s Franciscan church. (Wikimedia)
— Hauptwerk (C-c³) 45 notes. (C-c³): Principal [8’], Copln [8’], Quintadena [8’], Principal octav [4’], Copl Flötten [4’],Quint [3’], Superoctav [2’], Mixtur [VI]. — Brustwerk (C-c³) 48 notes, including three split keys. Copln [8’], Spüzflöten [4’], Principal octav [4’], Super octav [2’], Zümbl [III], Khrumphörner [8’] — Pedal (C-b) 19 notes : Portuna [16’], Plochflöten [8’], Octav [4’], Quint [3’], Mixtur [IV], Pusaunnen [8’]
— Tuning: meantone. [In the playlist givem here a ‘Silbermann mean-tone’ is used.]
— Pitch: A=457. [In the playlist A=440 is used.]
— Manual coupler
— Tremulant to the whole organ.
The dedicatory text of the 1726 edition. [page 1] To the Most Reverend Prelate and Lord Blasius, Abbot of the venerable St. Blaise Abbey in the Black Forest, Lord of the Imperial Lordship of Bondorf in Furtwangen, permanent councillor and plenipotentiary representative of the Roman Imperial and Royal Catholic Majesty to the venerable Benedictine Congregation. Also President of the venerable Prelates’ Estate. To my gracious Lord
[page 2] Gracious Sir,
One cannot blame a lowly vine for seeking support to lift itself from the earth into the heights. Let my humble work not be interpreted by Your Reverence’s grace as though it merely seeks to magnify or endear itself through the renown and esteem of Your person. I do not presume to lean upon so honourable and distinguished a name, nor do I dare compare myself even remotely to such celebrated wine. Rather, this is a sincere and heartfelt acknowledgment, as well as a desire to entrust what is sacred to your gracious patronage.
Since this present modest work is intended particularly to advance divine worship
[page 3]
and support beginners, it has inclined itself to Your Reverence and Grace, who are able to elevate one possession above another—as a noble patron of a work grounded in its essence upon political wisdom, virtues, and distinguished qualities, as well as upon scholarship and the rigorous school of virtue.
As a harmonious work, it reminds me of the famed adage: *Concentus virtutum nihil suavius* [“Nothing is sweeter than the harmony of virtues”], united with thrift, prudent insight, and loyalty, alongside the most essential administrative duties and spiritual independence. Since an outstanding and self-contained harmony in a work is always esteemed, it follows that a certain order is likewise beneficial when upheld by corresponding virtues. Unwavering constancy and steadfast, uninterrupted unity are what advance progress in the sciences and adorn the distinguished court of education under Your Reverence.
As Your Grace has kindly and without reluctance deigned to receive my work, I shall approach Your wisdom with the utmost reverence and respect, humbly seeking your benevolent acceptance.
Your Reverence and Grace, ever obedient, Gottlieb Muffat
[page 4]
Honorable Reader After striving for many years, under the guidance of—without flattery—the best master in the world, Mr. Johann Joseph Fux, Imperial Chief Kapellmeister, to advance as far as possible in the art of playing, I was persuaded to follow in my father’s footsteps, who in the year 1690, as Kapellmeister to the late Cardinal Lamberg, published a great work consisting of toccatas, ciacconas, etc., which is still in use today. And now, for the benefit of students and to the delight of enthusiasts, I have decided to publish these modest works in print. Indeed, I have already completed a good number of so-called “galanterie pieces”, which I plan to print at a later time. However, I wished to dedicate this first work of mine to the Almighty and His holy service, as it is particularly suited for choral offices and as an aid, etc. The work consists of 12 common keys, each represented by a toccata, six variations or fugues, making up a total of 84 pieces, the likes of which are scarcely to be found.
If a student has not yet learned the general application of fingering, modelled after the best authors, he should undertake the highly useful effort of setting aside previous habits and adopting this one. I have made extensive use of different clefs to assist learners: the upper lines belong entirely to the right hand, the lower ones to the left, so that neither needs to interfere with the other. [This use of clefs is only apparent in the original edition.] It was precisely this abundance of clefs that prevented me from notating the pedal, which should be used whenever there are long-held notes or fermatas. To allow the pieces to be played with greater variety and ornamentation, I have indicated embellishments through notes and reinforced signs.
Let this endeavour of mine turn out as it may: I will always remember that, along with my praisers or critics, I am nothing more than a flawed, imperfect human being. I have always strived to serve and not to show off.
Farewell!
The organs of the Hofburgkapelle
2001 – by Orgelbau Kuhn AG. 26 stops, 2 manuals and pedal.
1962 – by Walcker-Orgel. 26 stops, 2 manuals and pedal.
1862 – by Buckow-Orgel. 16 stops, 2 manuals and pedal.
1823 – by Christoph Erler. No details. This instrument was described by Vincent Novello as one of the best small organs he had ever heard.
1802/3 – by Johann Joseph Wiest, reusing some older pipework. 20 stops. 3m/ped.
1795/98 – repaired by Johann Wimola.
1763 – by J.F. Ferstl. 18 stops, 2 manuals.
1629 – by ? No details.
::: Reerences and further reading ::: – —- ‘Alternatim‘. Wikipedia. Online resource, accessed 15 December 2024.
– —- ‘Hofburg‘. Wikipedia. Online resource, accessed 15 December 2024.
– —- ‘Liturgy of the Hours‘. Wikipedia. Online resource, accessed 15 December 2024.
– —- ‘Musical Temperament‘. Wikipedia. Online resource, accessed 15 December 2024.
– —- ‘Wien/Innere Stadt, Hofburgkapelle‘ Organ Index. Online reource, accessed 14 march 2025.
– —– ‘Wiener Hofmusikkapelle‘. Wikipedia. Online resource, accessed 15 December 2024.
– —- Wöckherl-Orgel 1642. (Vienna: Vereinigung der Freunde der Wöckherl-Orgel). Onllne resource, accessed 8 May 2025 – —- ‘Wöckherl-Orgel in Wien‘. [in German] Wikipedia DE. Online resource, accessed 8 May 2025.
– Michael R. Dodds (2012) ‘Organ Improvisation in 17th-Century Office Liturgy: Contexts, Styles, and Sources‘. Philomusica on-line 12 (2012). Online resource, accessed 15 May 2025.
– Michael R. Dodds (2023) From modes to keys in early modern music theory. Oxford University Press. – Alison J. Dunlop (2013) ‘The Famously Little-Known Gottlieb Muffat‘ in Andrew Talle (ed.) Bach Perspectives, Volume 9: J. S. Bach and His German Contemporaries. Online resource, accessed 14 December 2024.
– Alison J. Dunlop. (2013) The Life and Works of Gottlieb Muffat (1690-1770): a documentary biography & aatalogue of works and sources. (Wien [Vienna]: Hollitzer Verlag). Online resource, accessed 14 December 2024.
– Theodor Hawlitschka (2003) ‘Die neue Orgel : Wiener Hofmusikkapelle’. (Wien: Wiener Hofmusikkapelle, 2003).
– Elisabeth Th. Hilscher (2003) ‘Hofburgkapelle(n)‘. ”Oesterreichisches Musiklexikon online”. Online resource, accessed 15 March 2025.
– Christopher Kent (1998) ‘Temperament and Pitch’ The Cambridge Companion to the Organ (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) 42–54. Online resource, accessed 17 December 2024.
– Wolfgang Kogert (2009) Orgelmusik am Wiener Hof: Georg und Gottlieb Muffat. CD (NCA: 60206).
– Joseph V. Pollard (1985) Tuning and temperament in southern Germany to the end of the seventeenth century. Doctoral thesis. University of Leeds. Online resource, accessed 15 December 2024.
– Patrick Russel (1998) ‘Catholic Germany and Austria 1648–c1800’ The Cambridge Companion to the Organ (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) 204–18. Online resource, accessed 17 December 2024.
– Susan Wollenberg (1975) Viennese keyboard music in the reign of Karl VI (1712-40) : Gottlieb Muffat and his contemporaries. Doctoral thesis. University of Oxford. 2 vols. Online resource, accessed 8 May 2025.
– Susan Wollenberg (2001) ‘Muffat, Gottlieb‘. Grove Music Online. Oxford University Press. Online resourcem accessed 14 December 2024.
– Rudolf Walter (2002). ‘Vorwort’ in Gottlieb Miffat 72 Versetl Samt 12 Taccaten. (Bonn: J Butz Verlag) BU1796.
::: Related commercial recordings :::
— Wolfgang Baumgratz (2002) Gottlieb Muffat (1690-1770) Missa F-Dur für Orgel CD (Amniente: 4357933)
– – Wolfgang Baumgratz (2004) Gottlieb Muffat: 72 Versetl sammt 12 Toccaten (1726) CD (Ambiente: 3641001)
— Wolfgang Kogert (2009) Orgelmusik am Wiener Hof: Georg und Gottlieb Muffat. CD (NCA: 60206).
‘Kate Fanny Loder’ (1851) by Charles Baugniet. Lithograph. National Portrait Gallery, London. NPG D37404
Kate Fanny Loder (1825–1904) was born in the British city of Bath to a musical family that by the second half of the nineteenth century was doing much to develop British musical life and influence musical tastes both at home and abroad.
At the age of 13 Kate Loder was enrolled as a student of the Royal Academy of Music (London, UK) and at 18 joined the professorial staff there.
She also had a much-acclaimed career as a concert pianist. This was a role from which she steadily withdrew after her marriage in 1851; her last public performance being in March 1854. Her husband was the eminent surgeon Henry Thompson (Kt. 1868; Bt. 1899. The couple lived at 35 Wimpole Street in London.
Kate Loder achieved considerable success as a composer. Her works include an opera L’elisir d’amore, two string quartets, a piano trio, a sonata in E for violin and piano, works for solo piano and piano duet, for violin and piano, solo songs and choral pieces.
Kate Loder (n.d.). Salon Without Boundaries blog.
Kate Loder, photograph (n.d.). V&A Museum
‘Kate Loder (1825–1904), Lady Thompson’ (n.d.) by Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836–1912)
Kate Loder as organist
The first evidence we have of Kate Loder’s connection with the organ is found in The Musical Examiner of 26 October 1844, which announced that Miss Kate Loder ‘the Talented Academician’ had been appointed as organist at St Peter’s Vere Street, located within strolling distance of the Royal Academy of Music. When Kate arrived at Vere Street the organ there was a modest one of 2 manuals without pedal built in 1722 by Christopher Schrider (c.1675–1751) as follows:
Great organ. 1. Open Diapason; 2. Stopped Diapason’ 3. Principal; 4. Fifteenth; 5. Cornet III; 6. Trumpet. Choir organ. 7. Stopped Diapason; 8. Flute; 9. Cremona.
According to Kate Loder’s obituary in The Musical Times (1 October 1904) she was still the Vere Street organist in 1853 and so would have overseen the 1852 rebuilding of the organ by the firm of William Hill & Sons, as follows:
Great organ. 1. Open Diapason; 2. Stopped Diapason; 3. Dulciana; 4. Flute; 5. Principal; 6. Twelfth; 7. Fifteenth; 8. Sesquialtera III; 8. Trumpet. Swell organ . 1. Double Open Diapason; 2. Stopped Diapason; 3. Principal; 4 Cornopean; 5. Hautboy. Pedal Organ 1. Diapason.
Kate Loder’s obituary noted that it was her time at St Peter’s “which doubtless caused her to compose two sets of organ pieces which have been published.”
Kate Loder autograph. McFarren Autograph Album. Royal Academy of Music, London (RAMAB WM 2023-2163).
The organ music Kate Loder’s only compositions for the organ are two sets of ‘Six Easy Voluntaries’. The music was published in 1889 (set 1) and in 1891 (set 2) by the London firm of Novello, Ewer & Co. as part of a series called Original Compositions for the Organ. There is no known autograph or manuscript copy of this music.
Although termed ‘Easy’ these melody-driven chromatic miniatures are not pieces for the novice organist. They are finely crafted and nicely capture a wide range of moods from urgent & outgoing to calm & introspective, in the spirit of ‘songs without words’. NB Kate Loder’s nearly universal use of the Swell 8′ Oboe as part of the 8′ foundation colour is not uncommon in English organ music of this period.
Title page. Kate Loder Six Easy Voluntaries. Set 1.
St Peter Vere Street.
St Peter Vere Street. Organ of 1724 by Christopher Schrider.
Reception On their publication each set was reviewed rather coolly by The Music al Times, as follows:
Set 1. Although female composers are more numerous than formerly, the organ has not as yet attracted much of their attention, and these pieces must therefore command a certain amount of interest, if only to those who are attracted by curiosities. It may be said at once, however, that the composer needs no allowance on the score of sex. Her voluntaries are musicianly, and she has mastered the legitimate organ style of writing. They are all suitable for church use, and a tendency to over-indulgence in chromatic harmonies is the only defect in them worthy of mention. (The Musical Times. 1 April 1889)
Set 2. … a second set of Six Easy Voluntaries, by Kate Loder, for the most part fresh and genial in character, if somewhat suggestive of Spohr in the numerous chromatic progressions. They will prove excellent as voluntaries or as teaching pieces for comparative beginners. (The Musical Times 1 May 1891)
And today … There are a number of reasons to explain why Kate Loder’s organ music is still unfamiliar. Foremost must be their lack of availability with each set published only once. To this may be added the collections’ deprecating description as ‘Easy Voluntaries’, the relative brevity of each piece, the music’s minimal requirements of instrumental colour, the cool reviews in the musical press, and – of course – female authorship.
Playlist
References and further reading
—– ‘Kate Loder‘ Wikipedia. Online resource accessed 18 M at 2024.
—–‘Miss Kate Loder’. The Musical Examiner (26 October 1844). 862. Online resource, accessed 9 October 2024.
—– ‘Obituary: Lady Thompson‘. The Musical Times, vol. 45, no. 740, 1 October 1904, 652. Online resource, accessed 6 October 2024.
Betty Baker ([1994?]). St Peter’s Church A History of the 1724 Chapel known as St Peter’s, Vere Street. ([London] : [All Souls Church?])
Briony Cox–Williams ‘Kate Loder 1825-1904‘. Salon Without Borders (4 July 2022). Online resource, accessed 18 November 2024.
Briony Cox–Williams. ‘Kate Loder and the Brahms Requiem‘. Salon Without Borders (11 July 2022). Online resource, accessed 18 November 2024.
Therese Ellsworth (2016). ‘A Magnificent Musician: The Career of Kate Fanny Loder (1825–1904)’ in Musicians of Bath and Beyond: Edward Loder (1809-1865) and His Family. Nicholas Temperley (ed). (Martlesham : Boydell Press) 167–90.
Nicholas Temperley (2019) ‘Kate Loder and her Piano Music‘. Programme notes for the CD Kate Loder: Piano Music performed by Ian Hobson. Toccata Classics TOCC0321 (2019). Online resource (PDF), accessed 18 May. 2024.
Nicholas Temperley (2001) ‘Loder, Kate’ in Grove Music Online. Online resource, accessed 14 September 2024.
Nicolas Temperely (2016) Musicians of Bath and Beyond: Edward Loder (1809-1865) and His Family (Martlesham : Boydell Press). [NB Book review by Andrew Pink in Brio: journal of the UK branch of the International Association of Music Libraries. Vol. 55, no.1. (Spring/Summer 2018), 65-9.]
The parish of St Bartholomew in the Stamford Hill (N15) area of north London is a predominantly residential one. The housing stock dates largely from the late nineteenth century. It is typical of mass housing created duing London’s ‘railway-led’ outward expansion into green fields; tight-knit streets with modest terraced homes designed for the respectable lower-middle and working classes as they decanted from the crowded City.
Local streetscape
Location : overview
Location: local view
The ecclesiastical area that would eventually become the parish of St Bartholomew came into being in 1897 under the aegis of the London Diocesan Home Mission. At first it was a mission district named for St Alban, carved out of the parish of St Ann South Tottenham. The mission had its own curate-in-charge, appointed by the Bishop of London. This curate was Rev J.W . Goddard, living at 17 Talbot Road and then (c.1900) at 283 St Ann’s Road. Initially this mission operated from the premises of the Glendale Hall on St Ann’s Road near Tottenham High Road, no longer standing. However, by the end of the 1890s the mission district had obtained a purpose-built mission hall located just a few paces off the Seven Sisters Road, between Stonebridge Road and Ippleden Road. In 1970 the parish sold this building and it was demolished to make way for public-housing.
St Alban Mission Hall : exterior
St Alban Mission Hall : interior
Rev. Goddard
The mission schedule
The church we see today on Craven Park Road (formerly Bailey’s Lane) was built 1903-4 by the firm of Dove Brothers (Islington) to the design of the Anglo-Danish architect William Douglas Caröe [pr. Ka(r)oh] (1857-1938). The substantial Dutch-style parsonage is also by Caröe. Both the church and the parsonage are listed as ‘Grade II*’. Following the completion of this church building the existing mission area was expanded to include part of the parish of St Thomas Stamford Hill. In 1905 the mission area was formally constituted as the parish of St Bartholomew Stamford Hill with the Living vested in the gift of the Crown.
Architect’s drawing : North side.
The parsonage : the south side
Street view : the south side
W.D. Caröe
The cost of building the new church was met by the sale of the City church of St. Bartholomew, Moor Lane (built 1850, arch. Charles Cockerell: 1788–1863, demolished 1902), which itself had replaced St. Bartholomew–by–the–Exchange, London (in use pre-1225/6, rebuilt by 1683: arch. Christopher Wren (1632–1723), demolished 1840).
The Stamford Hill church contains the font and the pulpit from St Bartholomew–by–the–Exchange, moved first to St Bartholomew Moor Lane and then to Stamford Hill at the behest of the then Bishop of Islington.. The Grinling Gibbons (1648–1721) design of wooden font-cover and pulpit were made by William Cleere (c. 1633—1690), Sir Christopher Wren’s chief joiner. The font itself is of a typical Christopher Wren design.
Moor Lane
Font and cover
Pulpit
By the Exchange
Bell cote & baptistry
The church: externally … is a long, low, cruciform building designed in a so-called ‘Free Tudor’ style with Art Nouveau details and sits in well-tended gardens. (The site was was previously an orchard). The main building material is red brick with freestone dressings around the external doors and windows, which have varied tracery. The roof is tiled and has a shingled spirelet atop the crossing. At the west end under an extended ridge hangs the church’s bell, whcih bears the text ‘Anthony Bartlett Made Me 1676’ together with the arms of the Whitechapel bell foundry.
The church: internally … has an open timber roof, an aisled nave of four arcades, north and south transepts, a north-chancel choir vestry with organ above and a south-chancel chapel. Below the raised chancel is a crypt chapel with rib-vaulting of early C13 type, and vestry facilities for clergy. At the west end of the nave is a small, half-octagonal baptistry above which is a gallery. The church contains a striking set of Stations of the Cross (1916), to the design of Thomas Noyes-Lewis (1862-1946). .
Screenshot
Crypt chapel
The pipe organ. The modest pipe-organ of 1921 sits behind an elegant facade in a gallery on the north side of the choir; the console sits below at ground level. The instrument is the work of William Hill & Son & Norman & Beard Ltd and was installed as a memorial to the parish dead of the Great War (1914-18). So far there are no details of any previous pipe-organ. NB, the organ from St Bartholomew-by-the-Exchange travelled to Moor Lane with other fixtures and fittings and from there went to St Alban Fulham and is now in St Vedast Foster Lane in the City of London.
‘Tottenham: Churches‘. A History of the County of Middlesex. Volume 5, (London: Victoria County History, 1976). Online resource, accessed 12 July 2024.
The collection of manuscript keyboard music that is known as the ‘SchneebergerClavierbuch‘ is a three-part volume housed in the Leipzig Municipal Library (D-LEm) at shelfmark Becker II. 6. 22. The last private owner was the Leipzig musician Carl/Karl Ferdinand Becker (1804–77) who gave the manuscripts to the library in 1851. How Becker came into ownership is not known.
St Wolfgang Schneeberg, DE.
Offered here is the first section of this manuscript (43 pages), which for clarity I refer to as Schneeberger: part 1. It is the work of Christian Umblaufft (1673–1757) the cantor of St Wolfgang’s church in Schneeberg (Saxony) and comprises 23 pieces of characterful keyboard music written during the late 17th and early 18th centuries by musicians working mainly in an area south of Leipzig; map below. The manuscript is significant as one of only a handful of this period’s surviving collections of Protestant non-chorale-based German organ-music originating outside the circle of J. S. Bach.
Composer locations
The composers represented in Umblaufft’s Schneeberger: part 1. are: 1. David Heinrich Garthoff (?–1741) from Weissenfels; 2. Gottfried Ernst Pestel [Bestel] (1654–1732) from Altenburg; 3. Christian Pezold [Petzold] (1677–1733) from Dresden; 4. Christian UmblaufftL from Schneeberg; 5. Nicolaus Vetter (1666–1734) from Rudolstadt; 6. Andreas Werckmeister (1645–1706) from Halberstadt; 7. Christian Friedrich Witt (c.1660–1717) from Gotha; 8. Anonymous.
Christian Umblaufft, the compiler of the collection, was born in Bischofswerda (Saxony) the child of Christoph Umblaufft (n.d; mother not identified) a cloth maker and town councillor. Christian’s first teacher was Bischoffswerda’s cantor Adolph Caschauer (fl. 1674–90). In 1684 Umblaufft took up a place at the St Thomas school in Leipzig under the tutelage of the cantor Johann Schelle (1648–1701). From 1694 Umblaufft was enrolled at the local university and in 1696 was appointed to the post of cantor at St Wofgang Schneeberg where he remained for the rest of his life. Schneeberg: part 1 contains Christian Umblaufft’s only currently known keyboard works.
Anonymous (c.1700) ” Ciaccona in Em ‘Schneeberger Clavierbuch’ (D-LEm : Becker II. 6. 22.)
The Schneeberg organ
The organ in St Wolfgang’s was completed in 1695, the year before Umblauft’s arrival there. The organ builder was Severinus Hollbeck (c.1647–1700) of Zwickau (Saxony); specification below. This instrument was a combination of two earlier instruments. Specifically, an instrument of 1538 by Brosium (Ambrosius) Mann (n.d.) that was already in the church and an organ of 1555 from Altzella Cistercian monastery in Nossen (Saxony). The Holbeck instrument was replaced in 1849 with an instrument by Friedrich Jahn (1798–1875) using some some existing pipework. This instrument was destroyed by aerial bombing in World War II.
The manuscript after Umblaufft
At some point it seems that Umblaufft passed on his manuscript collection of organ music to Gottfried Linke (c.1695–1760) who was the Schneeberg church’s organist between 1717 and 1760. The gift of Schneeberger: part 1 from Umblaufft to Linke may relate to a disastrous fire that hit the town in 1719 and destroyed all of Linke’s music. NB The second and third sections of D-LEm: Becker II. 6. 22. are the later work of Linke.
Playlist : ordered according to the manuscript.
The 1695 organ in St Wolfgang’s church: by Severinus Hollbeck (c.1647–1700)
Accessories: Tremulant, Cymbelstern, Vogelgesang, manual couplers, manuals to pedal couplers.
References and further reading ::: Composers ::: – ‘David Heinrich Garthoff‘ [in German]. Wikipedia. Online resource, accessed 17 September 2023.
– ‘Gottfied Ernst Pestel [Bestel]‘. Wikipedia. Online resource, accessed 12 Jamuary 2024.
– ‘Chrsitain Pezold [Petzold]‘. Wikipedia. Online resource, accessed 10 August 2023.
– ‘Nicolaus Vetter‘. Wikipedia. Online resource, accessed 10 August 2023.
– ‘Andreas Werckmeister‘. Wikipedia. Online resource, accessed 10 August 2023.
– ‘Christian Friedrich Witt‘. Wikipedia. Online resource, accessed 2 January 2024.
::: Context & sources :::
– Jam van Blezen. ‘Het tempo van de Franse barokdansen’ [The tempo of French Baroque dances] in Tempo in de achttiende eeuw, red. K. Vellekoop, Utrecht 1984 (Stimu), 7-25, 37-59. [Abstract in English: web] | [Full version in Durch: PDF]
– Carl/Karl Ferdinand Becker. Wikipedia. Online resource, accessed 2 January 2024.
– Colin Booth. Did Bach really mean that? Deceptive notation in Baroque keyboard music. (Wells : Soundboard, 2010) – D-LEm Becker II.6.22.Sachsen digital. Online resource, accessed 5 August 2023.
– Wolfgang Eckhardt. ‘Mitteldeutsche Tastenmusik um 1700: Zu Geschichte und Repertoire der Sammelhandschrift II.6.22 der Leipziger Städtischen Bibliotheken-Musikbibliothek‘. Ständige Konferenz Mitteldeutsche Barockmusik in Sachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt und Thüringen: Jahrbuch, 2002 (2004), 290-304. Online resource, accessed 5 August 2023.
– Howard Ferguson. ‘Rhythmic conventions: binary notation for ternary’ in Keyboard interpretation from the 14th to the 19th century: an introduction (Oxford: OUP, 1975) 89–98. – Michael Heinemann, Marvin Lindner et al. (n.d.). ‘Schneeberg, St. Wolfgang‘. Orgeln in Sachsen. Online resource, accessed 23 August 2024.
– Walter Hüttel, (2001)’Holbeck, Severin‘. Grove Music Online. Online resource, accessed 24 August 2024. – ‘Friedrich Jahn (Orgelbauer)‘. Wikipedia. [In German] Online resource, accessed 2 January 2024. – Natalie Jenne. ‘On the Performance of Keyboard Allemandes‘.Bach, Vol. 10, No. 2 (April 1979), 13-30. Online resource, accessed 12 Janiuary 2024.
– Enrico Lange. ‘Vorwort’ in Das Schneeberger Orgel– und Clavierbuch um 1705. (Altenberg: Hans Jürgen Kamprad, 2020) 5.
– Michael Maul. ‘The Schneeberger Clavierbuch: history and repertoire’. Sleeve-notes in the CD Das Schneeberger Orgel- und Clavierbuch um 1705. Enrico Langer, organist. (Kassel: Querstand, 2018. ASIN: B07Q5CPRZV)
– Karl Wilhelm Mittag. Chronik der königlich sächsischen Stadt Bischofswerda (1861). Online resource, accessed 5 July 2023.
– St. Wolfgang’s Church, Schneeberg. Wikipedia. Online resource, accessed 2 January 2024. – Jon Laukvik. Historical Performance Practice in Organ Playing. Vol.1: The Baroque and Classical Periods. (Stuttgart: Carus, 1996). – Amy Zanrosso. ‘The Baffling Binary Gigue‘, La Scena Musicale. 1 February 2002. Online resource, accessed 12 January 2024.
Commerical recording -CD Das Schneeberger Orgel- und Clavierbuch um 1705. Enrico Langer, organist. (Kassel: Querstand, 2018. ASIN: B07Q5CPRZV)
Johann Christoph Bach (1642–1703) was an older relative of the great Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750). He is not to be confused with:
– Johann Christoph Bach (1645–93) active in Arnstadt
– Johann Christoph Bach (1671–1721) active in Ohrdruf
– Johann Christoph Bach (1673–1727) active in Gehren
– Johann Christoph Bach (1676–1738) a son of our Johann Christoph Bach
In 1665 Johann Christoph Bach took up the position of organist at the municipal church of St George at Eisenach in the Thuringia region of Germany. He was also required to supervise maintenance of the organs in two other Eisenach churches: St Nicholas and the Annenkirche.
Eisenach was then the capital of the Dukes of Saxe-Eisenach and Johann Christoph was concurrently employed at the ducal court as a harpsichordist.
The 44 preludes The source of Johann Christoph Bach’s 44 hymn preludes (44 Choräle zum Präambulieren) is a manuscript that is widely referred to as ‘Spitta MS.1491’, the scribe unknown. It comprises a number of seventeenth-/eighteenth-century German keyboard works. The manuscript’s last private owner was the Bach scholar Phillip Spitta (1841–94). It is now in the library of the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK); shelf-mark RH 0093. The title-page of the Choräle translates as: Chorales / Which may be used as preludes during services / Composed & distributed by Johann Christoph Bach / Corporation of Eisenach. These pieces first appeared in print in 1929 as “44 Choräle zum Präambulieren” edited by Martin Fischer for Bärenreiter (Kassel). That edition, still in print, remains the only published source.
Chorale-prelude “Ach Gott von Himmel” by Johann Christoph Bach (1642–1703). Spitta MS 1491 | UdK Berlin RH 0093.
Portrait of a musician [Johann Christoph Bach (1642-1703)]. Anonymous, circa 1700. [Source: Berlin, [https://www.akg-images.de/ ‘Archiv für Kunst und Geschichte]’ (Prussian State Library)]
Title from the Spitta MS as given in the Bärenreiter (Kassel) 1949 edition, ed. Martin Fischer. [Catalog BA 285]
Style These 44 pieces are akin to written-down improvisations, using simple contrapuntal forms and close major-minor shifts. They are not arranged in any particular order. Each prelude makes use of a similar musical structure in which the first line of the hymn is played as a solo that is then given a straightforward imitative treatment, often in just three voices, interspersed with short melodic sequences, ending with a coda over a sustained pedal note.
St George’s church, Eisenach. 1515-20. Interior looking east [Image source: Wikimedia]
St George’s church. West-gallery organ by Silbermann 1696–1707. Designed by Johann Christoph Bach who died before its completion. [Image source: Wikimedia]
St George’s church, Eisenach. 1515-20. Tower 1898–1902. [Image source: Wikimedia]
Performance
Although not concert-programme material these charming, straight-forward little pieces are adaptable to a wide range of registrations and they can make a most respectable contribution to the work of the liturgical organist.
Playlist: click on any title to start the playlist
The organ at St Geroge’s Eisenach In 1665, when Johann Christoph took up his job at Eisenach, the organ in St George’s was a 26-stop organ built c.1576 by Georg Schauenberg (n.d.). In March I696 Johann Christoph proposed to rebuild the “old and unreliable” organ at St George’s “to a far more beautiful and useful specification”. The old organ-case and wind chests were sold to a church in Ruhla. The new organ’s builder was Georg Christoph Stertzing ( c.1650–1717) and when completed the new instrument had 49 stops spread across four manuals and pedal. The case we see today is only slightly altered from that which Bach knew. (A full history and specification can be found in the 2004 article by Lynn Butler cited below.)
The set of ‘eight short preludes and fugues’ performed here date to the period 1730–50 (Williams) but for stylistic reasons are no longer judged to be the work of J.S. Bach himself (Durr, Lohmann, William).
In the most recent Bach catalogue issued by the Bach-Archiv of Leipzig (Wolff et al, 2022) these works are catalogued as BWV App A 1–BWV App A 8 with their former BWV numbers (553–560) merely noted for historical reference. I continue to use the former numbers here.
The first page of BWV 553. [Source: Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin ‘D-B Mus.ms. Bach P 281’]Source The earliest surviving source of ‘the eight’ is one of five separately copied manuscripts that have been bound together into a single volume containing 12 keyboard works: ‘the eight’ plus copies of BWV 913.2; 718; 916; 735.1. It has been proposed that the scribe was Bach’s great-nephew J.C.G. Bach (1747–1814) and that subsequently the whole volume was in the possession of J.S. Bach’s last pupil J.C. Kittel (1732–1809) (Lohmann, Williams). The manuscript volume was latterly owned by Georg Poelchau (1773–1836) who was an avid collector of Bach materials. Since 1841 the manuscript has been in the collection of the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin as ‘D-B Mus.ms. Bach P 281’.
Linking this copy of ‘the eight’ to the circle of J. S. Bach is strengthened by the fact that the same supply of paper used for it was also used in three sections of an authenticated Bach manuscript, ‘D-B Mus.ms. Bach P 803’, one of whose scribes has been identified as J.L. Krebs (1713–80) (Williams), a pupil of Bach. NB A now-lost manuscript of ‘the eight’ – scribe unknown – was once owned by Bach biographer J.N. Forkel (1749–1818) and then by a promoter of Bach’s work F.C. Griepenkerl (1782–1849). It was used to produce the 1852 C.F. Peters (of Leipzig) edition of ‘the eight’ and is likely to have been a copy of ‘D-B Mus.ms. Bach P 281’. (Durr)
Style Given that nowadays ‘the eight’ is merely “attributed” to Bach various commentators have tried to identify alternative composers but with no clear consensus emerging beyond stylistic traits, e.g. Italian concerto (no.1); durezze (no.3); neo-galant (no. 4); toccata (no.5); southern fugal styles (nos. 1, 4, & 5). (Durr, Lohmann, Williams).
My own hypothesis (2022) is that ‘the eight’ is likely to be by a student or students of Bach, the music of each piece being based upon an outline model, termed a ‘partimento’, that contains sufficient indications for the student to create a complete composition from it. The use of ‘partimenti’ was certainly a method by which Bach taught composition at the keyboard. (Milka).
Partimento sources
Collections of ‘partimento’ models were readily available in print at this time and in ‘the eight’ can be found some (not all) melodic ideas similar to some of those in a ‘partimento’ volume called “L’A.B.C. Musical” (c.1734) by Gottfried Kirchhoff (1685–1746); see two examples below. Kirchhoff was a composer-organist known personally to Bach (Milka). My hypothesis implies that there will be other (as-yet unidentified) generative sources for other parts of ‘the eight’.
Furthermore, it is worth noting that ‘the eight’ is not an ‘ad hoc’ assembly. As with other early eighteenth-century keyboard collections – most famously Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier (BWV 846–93) – its content is ordered by ascending key progression. However, unlike other such collections, the pieces here are not paired in major and minor keys, except in the case of G. Is ‘the eight’ perhaps an incomplete Bach-student project planned to be a larger collection?
NB. As its stands, the sequence of each piece’s tonic note forms the Mixolydian mode.
Performance The attraction of this collection for me is not only that individual movements are useful in liturgical settings but also that the set, when played complete, makes a pleasing and varied baroque-period concert item from the circle of Bach.
In preparing these recordings of ‘the eight’ I have taken account of Baroque-period theory concerning the emotional character (affekt) of different musical keys, here pursuing a 1713 affekt-theory of the Hamburg composer and influential theorist Johann Mattheson (1681–1764). The instrument I am using is tuned according to the Baroque Werckmeister III system.
C- major: … it has a rather hearty and confident character suited to the expression of joy.
D-minor: … somewhat devout and calm, at the same time affecting, agreeable, and expressive of contentment … for the furthering of devotion in the church … ‘skipping’ music must not be written in it, whereas flowing music will be very successful.
E-minor: … whatever one may do with it, it will remain pensive, profound, sad, and expressive of grief in such a way that some chance of consolation remains.
F-major: … capable of expressing the most beautiful sentiments … generosity, steadfastness, love, or whatever else may be high on the list of virtues. It is natural and unforced when used to express such affects. It compares to a handsome person who looks good whatever he may do and who has, as the French say, ‘bonne grace’.
G-major: … insinuating and persuasive … somewhat brilliant and suited to the expression of serious as well as joyful affects.
G-minor: … almost the most beautiful key … rather serious combined with spirited loveliness, uncommon grace and affability … it lends itself well and flexibly both to moderate plaintiveness and tempered joy.
A-minor: … somewhat plaintive, modest and relaxed … relaxing but not disagreeably so. NB These are qualities not immediately apparent here, given the free Stylus phantasticus manner of the prelude and the confident duple pulse of the fugue. While this music is neither ‘relaxed’ nor particularly ‘relaxing’ it does have a plaintive quality, heightened by the sharp intonation of A minor in the baroque Werckmeister III temperament (tuning) of the instrument used here.
Bb-major: … very diverting and showy … it can pass as both magnificent and graceful … it elevates the soul to greater things.
Playlist: click on any title to start the playlist.
Alfred Duur. ‘Introduction’. Johann Sebastian Bach: ‘Acht kleine Präludien und Fugen’. Series: Barenreitr Urtext. (Kassel ; London : Bärenreiter 1990)
Heinz Lohmann. ‘Introductory Notes’. Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750): ‘8 Little Preludes and Fugues BWV 553-560’. (Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1974). [Publisher’s inspection copy. Online resource, accessed 29 Oct0ber 2022.]
Jon Laukvik. Historical Performance Practice in Organ Playing. Vol.1: The Baroque and Classical Periods. (Stuttgart: Carus, 1996).
Johann Mattheson. Das Neu-Eröffnete Orchestre (Hamburg: Benjamin Schillers Witwe, 1713), as discussed in Hans Lenneberg ‘Johann Mattheson on Affect and Rhetoric in Music’. Journal of Music Theory, Vol. 2, No. 2 (Nov., 1958), pp. 193-236. 234-36. (Online resource from Internet Archive, accessed 13 November 2022.)
This playlist comprises 43 characterful and mostly meditative pieces from the long 20th century.
I recorded these during the UK’s various Covid-related restrictions of 2020–22 for use as part of live-streamed church services, as exordia ad missam (tr. preludes to the mass).
Hedwige Chrétien (1859–1944) ‘Musette‘ from Harmonies Religieuses: à l’usage du service divin. (Series ‘Echos des organistes contemporains’ Vol 3 . 1922)
Elisa Delaye-Fuchs (1872–?) ‘Pièce en La bémol majeur‘ Op. 25 (Maîtres contemporains de l’orgue. Vol. 5. 1914. 93–94)
Jeanne Demessieux (1921–68) ‘Rorate caeli‘ (Twelve Choral-Preludes on Gregorian Themes. Op. 8. 1947) .
Théodore Dubois (1837–1924) ‘Adoration‘ (42 Pièces pour Orgue ou Harmonium. c.1915. Op. Posth. 1925)
Marcel Dupré (1886–1971) ‘Alma redemptoris mater‘ (Eight Short Preludes on Gregorian Themes. Op 45. 1958).
Robert Evans (c.1949–.)Divertimento for a Keyoboard: Allegro Energico (2014)
William Faulkes (1863–1933) ‘Idylle in D-flat major’ (William Faulkes: Compositions for the Organ. 1902)
Eugénie-Emilie Juliette Folville (1870–1946) ‘Verset sur le thème du “Tantum”, 6e ton’ (Maîtres contemporains del’orgue, Vol.3. 1912)
César Franck (1822–90) ‘Prélude pour l’Ave Maris Stella: andantino quasi allegretto’, 1858–63. (No. 28 in Pièces posthumes, ed. Georges Franck, 1905. )
Harvey Grace (1874–1944) ‘Cradle Song’ (Ten Compositions for the Organ. 1922)
Walter Battison Haynes (1859–1900) ‘Meditation in G: Introductory Voluntary‘ in The Village Organist (Vol. 1, Book 4, 1897)
Paul HIndemith (1895–1963) ‘Ruhig bewegt’ (Sonate 2, 1937)
Peter Hurford (1930–2019) ‘Wem in Leidenstagen‘ (Five Short Chorale Preludes, 1958)
Jean Langlais (1907–91) ‘Interlude’ (Three Characteristic Pieces, 1957).
John Lee (1908–90) ‘Ecce panis angelorum‘ Ten Organ Preludes for Liturgical Services. No 9. (1939)
Louis J. A. Lefébure-Wely (1817–69) ‘Andante: choeur de voix humaines‘ (Meditaciones religiosas op. 122/vii. 1858).
Kate Loder (1825–1904) ‘Voluntary in B-flat‘ (Six Easy Voluntaries. Second set. 1891). ” … for the most part fresh and genial in character […] somewhat suggestive of Spohr in the numerous chromatic progressions.” (Musical Times. Vol. 32, No. 579 (May 1, 1891), p. 297).
Robert–Charles Martin (1877–1949) ‘Élévation‘ (Parnasse des Organistes … First series, vol.1. 1911)
Léonce de Saint-Martin (1886–1954) ‘Interlude de Grand Orgue pour l’Élévation: infiniment calme‘ (Mass in E-minor, Op.13. 1932) Hermann Schroeder(1904–84). ‘Allegretto‘ (Kleine Präludien und Intermezzi. Op. 9. 1932)
Franz Schubert (1797–1828) ‘Ave Maria’ (Ellens Gesang III, D. 839/vi. 1825), arr. Andrew Pink (2022)
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958) ‘Eventide‘ (from Two Hymn Tune Preludes for small orchestra (1936), arranged for organ (1938) by Herbert Sumsion (1899–1995)
René Vierne (1878–1918) ‘Élévation’ (Archives de l’Organiste, vol 4. 1910)
J. S. Bach’s Orgelbüchlein (BWV 599–644) is a collection of short organ pieces assembled while Bach was employed (1708–17) as organist to the court of William Ernest, Duke of Saxe-Weimar (1662–1728) in Weimar. Later, when organist at St Thomas Leipzig (from 1723) he added BWV 613 to the collection and revised BWV 620 & 631.
Purpose
Bach’s purpose was to assemble 164 works in a variety of styles, all based on pre-existing Lutheran hymn-tunes, and arranged according to the Church’s calendar. The collection would serve Bach not only in church services as preludes to hymn singing but also as models in his teaching of the organ and of composition. Alas, the project remained incomplete at the composer’s death.
The Weimar organ was in a gallery sixty-five feet above floor level.
Organisation
Bach arranged his collection by the liturgical seasons and concluded with some general hymns, as follows:
– Advent: BWV 599–602 | – Christmas: BWV 603–612 | – New Year: BWV613–615 | – Purification: BWV 616–617 | – Passiontide: BWV 618–624 | – Easter: BWV 625–630 | – Pentecost: BWV 631–634 | – Catechism: BWV 635–638 | – General: BWV 639–644. NB BWV 613 was added years later, when Back was in Leipzig.
Playlist: I recorded the following playlist during the UK’s various Covid-related restrictions of 2020–22.
Click on a title to start listening
The organ at Weimar in Bach’s day.
The organ in the Prince’s chapel (the Schlosskirche) in Weimar was built in 1658 by Ludwig Compenius (1603–71), then repaired and rebuilt in 1708 by Johann Conrad Weißhaupt (1659–1727). Further work was done 1713–14 and 1719–20. by Heinrich Nikolaus Trebs (1678–1738) The instrument was placed in a gallery sixty-five feet above floor level. This dramatic arrangement drew on the distinctly Lutheran architectural design known as ‘Kanzelaltar’ [pulpit altar]which placed organ, pulpit and altar directly above one another as a single focal point, allowing the merging of heavenly music and earthly exposition to direct the faithful. The chapel and organ were destroyed by fire in 1774.
Useful reading – (—–) ‘Weimar, Ehemalige Schlosskirche’. Organ Index. Online resource, accessed 1 December 2024.
– Jon Laukvik. Historical Performance Practice in Organ Playing. Vol.1: The Baroque and Classical Periods. (Stuttgart: Carus, 1996).
– Anna Steppler ‘Why the Organ Split the Church […] What place was there for the organ in the Reformation church?’ History Today 74. 12 December 2024. Online resource, accessed 1 January 2024.
– George B. Stauffer. J.S. Bach: the organ works (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2024)
– John Scott Whiteley ‘Hermeneutics surrounding the Orgelbüchlein’ RCO Journal (Volume 11, 2017) 5-30.
– Peter Williams. The Organ Music of J. S. Bach (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003)
– Christoph Wolff. The Organs of J.S. Bach : A Handbook (Urbana : University of Illinois Press, 2012). Online resource, accessed 1 December 2024. Technical notes.
I was recently asked to play the organ for a Sunday morning service at the Union Chapel, Compton Terrace, Islington (London, UK). It is an impressive brick building, replacing an earlier chapel (see below). It was built (1876-81) to a design by James Cubitt (1836–1914), loosely inspired by the rather smaller church of Santa Fosca on the Venetian island of Torcello. The result here is a rather heavy, imposing exterior …
The Union Chapel, Compton Terrace, Islington, London, UK. (February 2020)
The location of the Union Chapel, Compton Terrace, London, UK.
The location of the Union Chapel, Compton Terrace, London, UK.
The church of Santa Fosco on the island of Torcello. [Source: Trip Advisor]
… while inside is a lofty and broad uncluttered space with seating for more than a thousand people, each with a clear view of the central stone pulpit.
The Union Chapel, Compton Terrace, Islington, London, UK (c.2015) [Source: ‘Sunday in London’: pinterest.com]
The Union Chapel, Compton Terrace, Islington, London, UK (c.2015) [Source: ‘whatsoninlondon.co.uk/
The Union Chapel, Compton Terrace, Islington, London, UK (c.2015 [Source: alamy.com]
Roof detail. Union Chapel, Compton Terrace, Islington, London UK. [Source: igx.4sqi.net/]
The origin of the Union Chapel dates back to 1799 with the union of local Unitarians and Anglicans who met together in private, having separated themselves from their respective neighbourhood churches. Initially they used Anglican forms of worship in the morning and Unitarian forms in the evening. They eventually developed thier own forms, and in 1847 joined the Congregational Union, a federation of autonomous congregations, to which the Union Chapel still belongs.
The Union Chapel, Islington, London, c1850. Artist: CJ Greenwood (?-?).
The Union Chapel, Compton Terrace, Islington, London UK (c.1820). Engraving by C. Rivers (?-?). [Source: collage.cityoflondon.gov.uk]
The first purpose-built Union Chapel chapel was completed in 1806 on land leased from Lord Northampton by a property speculator named Henry Leroux who came from nearby Stoke Newington. He added houses on either side of the chapel. The classical-style chapel building was enlarged in 1851 (archtect unknown) and given a new facade. Alas, so far I have found no images of the interior of this former chapel building.
The pipe organ
The organ console in the Union Chapel, Islington, London (UK) c. 2013
The history of the several organs of the Union Chapel was neatly outlined in 1880 by the Chapel’s Rev Henry Allon describing the music at the Union Chapel:
“[About 1842] there was a one manual organ which we sold some years later for forty pounds
[…] In 1852 we had a new organ commissioned from Gray and Davidson, planned by Dr Gauntlett. […] A second organ planned by Dr Gauntlett was built by Holdich under Mr Prout’s direction in 1867. It cost £1,000, inclusive of fitting.
Opening organ recital, Union Chapel, Islington, London UK. [Source: The Musical Times, 13/297 (Nov. 1, 1867)]The old organ was sold to Queen’s Square Chapel, Brighton. […] When the new church was built in 1877 it was found that Holdich’s organ could be made to fit the organ chamber only at an expense that approached the cost of a new instrument. It was therefore decided to sell the organ and Mr Willis built a new one, planned by Prof. W. H. Monk at a cost of £1000.” [‘Studies in Worship Music’]
Pulpit and organ screed (2020). The Union Chapel, Compton Terrace, Islington, London UK. [Source: iao.org.uk]Today’s Union Chapel pipe organ was installed by the London organ-builder Henry Willis in 1877, fronted by an open stone and metal screen placed behind the pulpit.
In order to save the blocking up of a rose window, the instument is built in a concrete chamber below [lower than] the main floor of the building. This position is Mr Willis’s own idea, which he carried out in spite of the evil prognostications of those who considered that he was doing a foolish thing. One great advantage has resulted therefrom. Throughout an oratorio performance, when the building is crowded with people, and the temperature rises very high, the organ is found to be “dead in tune”. [Musical Times (39/663, 1 May 1898)]
In 2012 the Henry Willis organ wa restored by Harrison and Harrison organ builders of Durham (UK) using a grant from the UK National Lottery Fund. The original hydraulic engine that powers the organ was restored to use, although a modern electric powered bellows system was also installed as a back-up.
Coda
The 1852 Gray and Davison organ moved to the Queen Square Chapel in Brighton has subsequently been broken up and destroyed, the building demolished. The 1867 Holdich organ was sold for £600 to a Congregational Chapel in Hinckley in Leicestershire where it remains.
Queens Square Congregational Church Brighton (UK), post 1910, when – according to NPOR – the organ was moved to the chancel. [Source: roughwood.net/]
In 2019 I found myself helping out with the music at the lovely early nineteenth-century church of St Clement King Square in Islington (London) where – following rebuilding work in the 1950s – a second-hand organ was installed, taken from the newly redundant church of St Thomas Agar Town, near Kings Cross (London). Here is a little post about Agar Town and its church, all now long vanished.
Map (post 1820) showing the location of Elm Lodge before the development of Agar Town. [Source: getyourownblog.blogspot.com/2015/12/elm-lodge-agar-town.html]
Map of 1851 showing the location of Agar Town. [Source: Wikipedia article ‘Agar Town]
Map showing the site of Agar Town today/ [Source: streetmap.co.uk]
In 1816 William Agar (1767-1838), a lawyer from Lincoln’s Inn, acquired from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners a 21-year lease on land south of present-day Agar Grove and built there a mansion for himself; Elm Lodge. Extensions were applied to the lease in 1822 and again in 1839 (following Agar’s death) on behalf of his son, also named William (1814–1907).
A view from the east (before 1845) towards the ruined Old St Pancras church with Elm Lodge to the north. [Source: The Kentish Town Panorama (1845). J. F. King (1781–1855)]
Elm Lodge [Source: British History Online]
Agar’s son began to issue his own 21-year building leases on small strips of his land and thus developed the neighbourhood known as Agar Town, a shanty of hastily built housing and workshops. While Agar Town survived little more than 21 years, its reputation as a noted place of urban poverty remains.
Housing in Agar Town c.1854 [Source: ‘London Shadows’ (1854) George Godwin. (London: G. G. Routledge & Company)]
Time was when the wealthy owner of a large estate had lived here in his mansion; but after his departure the place became a very ’abomination of desolation’ […] a dreary and unsavoury locality, abandoned to mountains of refuse from the metropolitan dust-bins, strewn with decaying vegetables and foul-smelling fragments of what once had been fish, or occupied by knackers’-yards and manure-making, bone-boiling, and soap-manufacturing works, and smoke-belching potteries and brick-kilns. At the broken doors of multilated houses canaries still sang, and dogs lay basking in the sun […] and from these dwellings came out wretched creatures in rags and dirt, and searched amid the far-extending refuse for the filthy treasure by the aid of which they eked out a miserable livelihood; whilst over the whole neighbourhood the gas-works poured forth their mephitic vapours, and the canal gave forth […] upon the surface of the water […] a thick scum of various and ominous hues. Such was Agar Town before the Midland Railway came into the midst of it.”
Paradise Row in Agar Town c.1854 [Source: ‘London Shadows’ (1854) George Godwin. (London: G. G. Routledge & Company)]A report in 1847 stated that about 5,000 people lived in Agar Town. There was no provision for sewerage or running water, and no proper roads. With no school, church or chapel to serve the area – other than the Old Saint Pancras church, which was in the process of being restored – a temporary iron church was therefore erected in Agar Town, together with a Ragged School.
As the Agar’s – and their tenants’ – various 21-year leases expired or were abandoned the Church Commissioners steadily took back ownership of the site and began planning improvements. In 1860 construction began on the first permanent church on Elm Road in Agar Town (to be dedicated to St Thomas) and a school, both designed by S. S. Teulon (1812–73).
The original church of St Thomas Agar Town (London UK) and school shown above encroaching railway development [Source: ‘Illustrated London News’ 23 March 1867].
Design (c1858) by S. S Teulon, of the never completed church and school of St Thomas Agar Town, London (UK). [Source: London Metropolitan Archive. Saint Pancras HA 13724]
However, within just a couple of years the Commissioners sold almost all of its Agar Town land to the Midland Railway “for a considerable sum” to accommodate the Midland Railway’s rapidly expanding infrastructure associated with the new St Pancras station. Within just two months of the sale Agar Town was cleared – including its incomplete church and school site – all to be replaced with railway sidings; and the remaining Agar Town inhabitants moved to neighbouring districts like Kentish Town.
The second church: Elm Road/Wrotham Road
The Church Commissioners used some of the money it earned from selling most of its Agar Town land to create on the remainder some new streets of substantial middle-class housing and to build another church of St Thomas – also by Teulon – at the junction of Elm Road and Wrotham Road, 1863-4. This church – damaged by aerial bombing in the Second World War – was demolished after 1953, the parish being absorbed into St Michael’s Camden Town. However, the church’s organ survived, being rebuilt at St Clement King Square, London EC1.
Location of the second church of St Thomas, c1870
Church of St Thomas Agar Town (1953). [Source: London Metropolitan Archive. LCC Photograph Library]
St Thomas Agar Town (1863–4), designed by S. S. Teilon, as shown on an undated commercial postcard.
St Thomas, Wrotham Road, NW1. [Source: “The story of Agar Town : the ecclesiastical parish of St. Thomas’, Camden Town” MORRELL, R. Conyers (London: the author, 1935)]
St Thomas, Wrotham Road, NW1. [Source: “The story of Agar Town : the ecclesiastical parish of St. Thomas’, Camden Town” MORRELL, R. Conyers (London: the author, 1935)]
It is somewhat ironic that the railway infrastructure that swept away Agar Town has itself now been swept away to be replaced by housing, and (high-tech) workplaces. Plus ça change … …
Part od the newly (c.2010) redeveloped area of what was once Agar Town and then railway yards.
The pipe organ
The first organ in the church was a loan instrument by the firm of Gray and Davison (NPOR; DBOB). In 1868 a permanent instrument was provided by the firm of T. C. Lewis (Musical Standard, 28 March, 1868).
St Thomas Agar Town, London (UK), specification of the organ by T. C. Lewis (1868)
The third organ in St Thomas Wrotham Road was installed in 1875 by the local firm of Henry Willis; a two-manual mechanical-action, hand-blown instrument located in the south cnacel aisle (NPOR). It remained unaltered throughout its life there. (Morrell). At the demolition of the church the organ was moved to St Clement, King Square and rebuilt there.
St Thomas, NW1, the chancel.[Source: “The story of Agar Town : the ecclesiastical parish of St. Thomas’, Camden Town” MORRELL, R. Conyers (London: the author, 1935)]
St Thomas, NW1, organ in south chancel aisle. [Source: “The story of Agar Town : the ecclesiastical parish of St. Thomas’, Camden Town” MORRELL, R. Conyers (London: the author, 1935)]
References
Agar Town: Life and Death of a Victorian Slum. Steven Denford. (London: Camden History Society, 1995).
‘The Parish of St Pancras: additional churches‘. Survey of London: King’s Cross Neighbourhood. Ed. Walter H Godfrey and W McB. Marcham (London: London County Council , 1952). Online Resourc.e British History Online. Online resource, accessed 6 January 2020.
The fine-looking early c19 Anglican church of St Clement King Square is little known, though quite unjustly so. Admittedly it is barely visible to most passers by, being tucked away along a cobbled cul-de-sac beside a small, quiet urban park (King Square) and overwhelmed by later c20 housing developments.
The location of St Clement’s hurch, King Square, London EC1 (UK)
St Barnabas (St Clement) King Square (1828) by T. H. Shepherd (d.1884) [Source: ‘Metropolitan Improvements’ by James Elmes.(British Library HMNTS 010349.s.3)]
Aerial view of King Sqaure, London EC1 (UK)
The church building – originally dedicated to St Barnabas – was designed by Thomas Hardwick (1752–1829) and competed in 1826 at a cost of around £17,000. Hardwick’s design was part of a middle-class garden-square housing development built on land owned by St Bartholomew’s Hospital, and was intended as a chapel-of-ease to St Luke’s Old Street.
By the late 1930’s the church was designated for closure in favour of other nearby church buildings, specifically:
St Clement, Lever Street (1863–5; arch. George Gilbert Scott, 1811–78)
St Matthew, City Road (1847–8; arch. George Gilbert Scott. Additions 1866: arch. G. E. Street, 1824–81)
St Paul, Pear Tree [Peartree] Street (1868; arch, Ewan Christian, (1814–95).
A postcard of the former St Paul’s Church, Pear Tree Street, London EC1 UK.
Former church of St Matthew (1848/60) City Road, London EC1 (UK) [Source: British Museum 1932,1115.6]
The former church of St Clement (1868), Lever Street, London EC1 (UK). [Source, London Metropolitan Achive. SC_PZ_IS_01_467]
However, as a result of aerial bombing during the Second World War each of those churches was damaged beyond repair and they were closed. St Barnabas, itself bombed although not irreparably, was retained and renovated by the Norman Haines Design Partnership to restore its exterior amd create the current neo-classical interior. The restored church building was re-dedicated on 12 June 1954 as the church for a newly created parish of St Clement with St Barnabas and St Matthew Finsbury.
The church is well worth a visit. The people here are very warm and welcoming. Apart from church services the building is also well used for concerts of music, not least by musicians from the nearby City University.
The first organ in this building was by the firm of William Hill and Sons, but was lost when the church suffered war damage. The rather nice two-manual organ we find today is derived from the mechanical-action organ by Henry Willis that was originally installed (1876) in St Thomas, Agar Town (1860-61; arch: S. S. Teulon, 1812–73) . That church was closed and demolished in the early 1950s at which point the Willis instrument there was salvaged by the firm of Mander and Sons for re-use, some of it here. The case, console and electro-action are new.
St Thomas, NW1, organ in south chancel aisle. [Source: “The story of Agar Town : the ecclesiastical parish of St. Thomas’, Camden Town” MORRELL, R. Conyers (London: the author, 1935)]
Organ case of the organ in St Clement’s Church, King Square, London EC! (UK)
Builder’s plate on the organ in St Clement’s Church, King Square, London EC! (UK)
The former church of St Thomas, Agar Town, London NW. [Source: commercial postcard]
Console of the organ in St Clement’s Church, King Square, London EC! (UK)
St Paul Pear Treet Street in ‘Great Sutton Street Area‘. Survey of London: Volume 46, South and East Clerkenwell. (2008) 280-93. British History Online, online resource accessed 1 December 2019
Having previously written about the Shrine of Our Lady of Willesden and its connection with Sir Thomas More and his family, I was very happy recently to have the opportunity to visit Chelsea (where More lived at the end of his life) to play for a Sunday mass at the church which – since his canonisation in 1935 – bears More’s name.
Church of Our Most Holy Redeemer and St Thomas More Catholic Church. [Source: – geograph.org.uk]
Location of the church of Our Most Holy Redeemer & St Thomas More, Chelsea, London (UK).
Location of the church of Our Most Holy Redeemer & St Thomas More, Chelsea, London (UK).
The site in Upper Cheyne Walk was formerly occupied by Orange House, one of a terrace of eleven houses (c.1710), of which the other ten remain. Orange House was the location (1876–82) of workshops belonging to the well-known ‘Arts and Crafts’ potter and ceramic artist William de Morgan (1839–1917). The present building was consecrated in 1905, built to the Renaissance-style design of Edward Goldie (1856–1921).
Church of Our Most Holy Redeemer & St Thomas More, Chelsea, London (UK). [Source: geograph.org.uk]
Church of Our Most Holy Redeemer & St Thomas More, Chelsea, London (UK). [Source: geograph.org.uk]
Church of Our Most Holy Redeemer & St Thomas More, Chelsea, London (UK). [Source: taking-stock.org.uk]
G. M. Holdich (1816-96) [Source: ohta.org.au]At the west end of the church is an organ gallery and pipe organ that replaces an earlier instrument destroyed by aerial bombing during the Second World War. The present instrument was made by G. M. Holditch (1816–96) for a church in High Wycombe. It was described there as having an “elegant case of ebonised wood, generously gilded on moulding and ornamentation.” (NPOR). Since then that case has largely been lost and the instrument been much adapted by unknown hands. Although now rather unattractive in appearance this instrument is nonetheless well suited to congregational accompaniment.
Builder’s plate on the west-gallery pipe organ; church of Our Most Holy Redeemer & St Thomas More, Chelsea, London (UK)
Pipe-work of the west-gallery pipe organ; church of Our Most Holy Redeemer & St Thomas More, Chelsea, London (UK)
Console and pipe-work of the west-gallery pipe organ; church of Our Most Holy Redeemer & St Thomas More, Chelsea, London (UK)
Console of the west-gallery pipe organ; church of Our Most Holy Redeemer & St Thomas More, Chelsea, London (UK)
West gallery and pipe organ; church of Our Most Holy Redeemer & St Thomas More, Chelsea, London (UK)
References
‘Chelsea‘. A History of the County of Middlesex, Volume 12 (British History Online). Online resource accessed 28 November 2019
‘Edward Goldie‘, Wikipedia. Online resource, accessed 28 November 2019
The north side of the church of St Thomas Kensal Town, London W10 (UK)
The south side of the church of St Thomas Kensal Town, London W10 (UK)
Location of the church of St Thomas Kensal Town, London W10 (UK)
The present church of St. Thomas with St. Andrew and St. Philip Kensal Town (London, W10, UK) replaces an earlier building and was opened in 1967; built to the design of Romilly E. Craze (1892-1974).
St Thomas, Kensal Road, London W10; east end, c.2010; image by John Salmon. [Source: geograph.org.uk]
St Thomas, Kensal Road, London W10; west end, c.2010; image by John Salmon. [Source: geograph.org.uk]
The former church here was opened in 1889, built to the designs of Demaine and Brierley of York, J. Demaine being described as ‘Diocesan Surveyor’. The building was demolished following aerial bombing during the Second World War. It has not been possible to locate any pre-war images of the interior of this building.
The bombed-out church of St Thomas Kensal Town, London W10 (UK); north side.
The pipe organ
The pipe organ in the 1889 building was lost to war damage; details of that instrument are given in the National Pipe Organ Register. The present west-gallery instrument is a second-hand 1-manual organ by Bevington and Sons of Rose Street, Soho, London. This address. and the builder’s plate would give the organ a date between 1867 and 1896.
The pipe organ, c.1867-96, by Bevington and Sons, Rose Street, Soho, London.
The pipe organ, c.1867-96, by Bevington and Sons, Rose Street, Soho, London.
A Mason & Hamlin Reed Organ (1918) Style 86 K; to give an idea of the temporary instrument described in the parish records.,
The pipe organ, c.1867-96, by Bevington and Sons, Rose Street, Soho, London.
The pipe organ, c.1867-96, by Bevington and Sons, Rose Street, Soho, London.
Memorial plates on the pipe organ, c.1867-96, by Bevington and Sons, Rose Street, Soho, London.
While the previous location of this instrument is unknown, its recent history can be traced in the PCC minute books as follows:
PCC Minutes 21.9.1965. “Organ & Choir. It would be possible and most Desirable. to site Both of choir & organ at West End When type of organ has been decided upon and the Organ Builder so that they can consult with Mr Craze” [Romilly E. Craze was the new building’s architect].
PCC Minutes 20.10.1965. ”Makers of Compton Organ inform us that if we PURCHASE our organ now they will Guarantee to maintain present day price.”
PCC Minutes. 5.4.1967 “Organ. Letter from Diocesan House re organ Stating that they cannot see their way clear to supply cash for organ. Mr Craze is going to see Secondhand Organ which is for sale at £675. For the remodernising and installation of the organ final cost would be approx. £1000.”
PCC minutes 16.4 1972 “The 16 stop American reed organ has been given to the Cecil Club.” [The Cecil Club, 1-5 Wedlake Street, was a nearby local authority facility for senior ciizens]
Records of the parish of Saint Thomas, Kensal Road, North Kensington: PCC/Vestry/Annual church meeting minute books, April 1960-December 1978. London Metropolitan Archive: P84/TMS/025; P84/TMS/026..
Aerial view of the grounds of St Matthias Stoke Newington, London. 2019, [Source: Google Maps]
The east end of the church of St Matthias Stoke Newington N 16, c.1940. Source: RIBA48762
St Matthias Stoke Newington, London N16, c.2019
The location of St Matthias Stike Newington, London N16.
The west end of the churchchurch of St Matthias Stoke Newington (c.1940). Source: RIBA48761
The Anglican church of St Matthias in Stoke Newington, London (UK) is an imposing mid-c19 building located in a modest side-street of this densely populated, multicultural district of north London. The parochial area was established in 1849 and the church building was constructed 1851-53 to the designs of the architect William Butterfield (1814–1900).
From its earliest years the church of St Matthias was home to “high-church” ritual, and remains firmly rooted in the Catholic traditions of the Church of England.
St Matthias Stoke Newington, London N16, looking east, c.1908 [Source: Bumpus]
Pulpit (1868; no longer present), designed by George Gilbert Scott for St Matthias Stoke Newington, church. Source: The Builder, 6/6/1898.
Archtiect’s preliminary drawing of St Matthias Stoke Newington, London N16, south-west view, no date. Source: Collage 304763
CHurch of St Matthias Stoke Newington, London N16. Archtictect’s drawing (1851-3). Source Incorporated Church Buildings Society ICBS04436
The building occupies a surprisingly spacious site – not immediately obvious – comprising church halls, a post-war vicarage and recently rebuilt St Matthias primary school, all separated by well-kept tranquil grounds .
Interior looking north-west at St Matthias Stoke Newington, London N16.
The tower-crossing at St Matthias Stoke Newington, London N16.
Interior looking east at St Matthias Stoke Newington, London N16.
High altar at St Matthias Stoke Newington, London N16.
In 1954 – following substantial war-damage – a reconstruction of the church (with a new vicarage) was completed to the design of Nugent Cachemaille-Day (1896–1976). Although most of the original fittings and decorative scheme had been irretrievably lost, Cachemaille-Day’s bright, broad and lofty ‘restoration’ has a powerful numinous quality.
The pipe organ
Organ gallery at St Matthias Stoke Newington, London N16.
Console of the pipe-organ at St Matthias Stoke Newington, London N16.
Builder’s plate on the pipe-organ at St Matthias Stoke Newington, London N16.
Detail of the rgan gallery at St Matthias Stoke Newington, London N16.
The current four-manual and pedal pipe organ (1952) sits on a fine west gallery and is the work of Noterman & Co of London. It contains some pipework from the church’s former instrument, by Henry Willis & Co. A detailed technical description is online with the National Pipe Organ Register (see References).
‘William Henry Monk (1823–9), Organist and hymn writer’ by W. & A.H. Fry c.1870 [Source: National Portrait Gallery, London. (NPGx21372), with permission]W. H. Monk
The first organist at St Matthias was W.H. Monk, a pioneer in the reintroduction of plainsong to Anglican worship. He remained in this post for 37 years until his death in 1889. Shortly after arriving at St Matthias Monk was appointed (1857) the first editor of the Church of England’s ubiquitous Hymns Ancient and Modern. He also held posts at the University of London (Bedford College and King’s College) and the Royal College of Music.
Today W. H. Monk’s most-performed work is the music for the hymn Abide With Me (Eventide).
Stephen Jasper – present-day Director of Music at St Matthias Stoke Newington – plays W. H. Monk’s tune ‘Eventide’ (Abide with me).
Kensington Chapel, Allen Street, London W8. Postcard c.1909. [Source: Alamy G3CP58]
The location of the Kensington Chapel, London W8.
Kensington Chapel, Allen Street, London W8.
The Kensington Chapel, Allen Street, London W8 in 2012. [Source: geograph.org.uk]
Ground plan (c.1939) of the Kensington Chapel, Allen Street, London W8 [Source: Survey of London]The Kensington Chapel – Allen Street, London W8 – was opened in 1855 to serve as a Congregationalist place of worship.
The architect was Andrew Trimen (1810–72), a favourite of the English Congregational Chapel-Building Society, and the builder was Thomas Chamberlain (n.d.). The total cost of £8,748 included the purchase of the site from the Phillimore family.
Subsequent additions included the eastern hall and meeting rooms (1856). A new school was provided to one side of the chapel 1868–9 designed by G. Gordon Stanham costing £5,000; subsequently demolished and the site redeveloped.
The chapel building was severely damaged by aerial bombing in 1940 and was not restored to use until 1958, with upgraded minister’s accommodation, halls and meeting rooms.
The pipe-organ
Postcard of the Kensington Chapel, Organ & Rev.Thomas Yates, c.1908. Photograph: J Beagle
Kensington Chapel, Allen Street, London W8. Pipe-organ of 1958, by Henry Willis & Sons Ltd.
Kensington Chapel, Allen Street, London W8. Pipe-organ of 1958, by Henry Willis & Sons Ltd.
Kensington Chapel, Allen Street, London W8. Pipe-organ of 1958, by Henry Willis & Sons Ltd.
Builder’s plate (in 2019) on the pipe-organ at the Kensington Chapel, Allen Street, London W8
The present west-gallery instrument was installed in 1958, replacing an earlier instrument that was lost when the building suffered war damage. This two-manual and pedal pipe organ is by the firm of Henry Willis and bears two dates: 1868 and 1958. The earlier date suggests the organ had previously been elsewhere, currently unknown. The specification can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register (see ‘References’ below).
Advertisement in the Musical Times, February 1959, for an organist at the kenisington Chapel, and its newly installed Willis organ.
Previously the chapel’s organ had its pipe-organ placed at the centre of the east wall, as we see in the first pipe-organ image above. The history of this former organ is unclear, the first available evidence – dating from 1921 – notes that it was rebuilt in 1890 by the firm of Hele and Co.
A description (1921) of the rebuilt organ in the Kensington Chapel, Allen Street, London W8.[Source: ”Dictionary of organs and organists” F. W. Thornsby, ed. (London, 1921 2nd edition) 145.References
John Stoughton. Congregationalism in the Court Suburb (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1883).
‘Churches and chapels: Non-Anglican denominations‘, in Survey of London: Volume 42, Kensington Square To Earl’s Court, ed. Hermione Hobhouse (London, 1986), pp. 386–94. British History Online. Online resource accessed 22 July 2019.
‘The Phillimore estate‘, in Survey of London: Volume 37, Northern Kensington, ed. F H W Sheppard (London, 1973), pp. 58-76. British History Online [accessed 22 July 2019].
The ancient parish of St Mary Newington is located in the London Borough of Southwark on the south bank of the River Thames about a mile from London Bridge. In its original form it was geographically commensurate with the ancient manor of Walworth.
The present-day (2019) location of St Mary Newington church, London.
The first known church was located at present-day Newington Butts – where the old churchyard still remains as a public park. Here the tern ‘Butts’ probably refers to the triangle of land between the roads, seen on old maps. We find the term used elsewhere in the area south of central London referring to odd corners of land.
Close-uo detail of the previous and the present-day (2019) location of St Mary Newington church, indicating the locations of the adjacent Roman ‘streets’.
The old churchyard sits close by the junction of two major Roman-era roads leading into London: Stane Street, running from the Sussex-coast port of Chichester to the City; and Watling Street, running from the Kent-coast ports of of Dover, Richborough, Lympne, and Reculver to Westminster. This junction is now better known as ‘Elephant and Castle’, so named after a tavern that once stood here.
While details of the parish clergy can be traced back as far as 1212 the earliest known mentions of the church building date only from the middle of the sixteenth century. In 1719 ir was described as being:
very small, built of Brick and Boulder […] a double Roof covered with Tile, and the Walls with a rough Cast; the Windows are of a modern Gothick; the Floor is paved with Stone [….] Here are three Iles [aisles], and the Roof is supported with wooden Pillars[…] This Church contains 43 Foot in Length, 54 in Breadth, 22 in Heighth, and the Tower (wherein are five Bells) 44 Foot but to the Top of the Turret near 60 Foot. (John Aubrey: History of Surrey)
Next to the church was a moated rectory.
Part of Rocque’s Map of 1755 showing Newington Butts. [Source: ‘Survey of London’ vol 25, p. 53]
In the early eighteenth century major building work took place to shore-up the church’s crumbling walls. However, by 1779 the building was found to be in such a poor condition that it was entirely rebuilt and enlarged.
The site of St Mary’s church and its rectory, Newington Butts, London in 1871. [Source: Ordnance Survey, LV (Lambeth St Mary; Southwark) Surveyed: 1871 Published: 1875]
The old church being taken down. ‘The Church of St. Mary, Newington, London’ (n.d.). Watercolour by James Miller (fl.1773-91) [Source: Guy Peppiatt Fine Art]
‘St. Mary Newington church, 1827’ [Source: ‘Survey of London’, vol. 25, p. 92]
In the early 1870s the decision was taken that this church too should be pulled down, in order to accommodate a road-widening scheme. The old churchyard was retained as a public space. A replacement parish church was put up further south along Stane Street, which by then – as now – was known as Kennington Park Road. Meanwhile back in the old St Mary’s churchyard a clock tower was put up to mark the site of the former church.
St. Mary Newington, Surrey; James Fowler FRIBA. Architect, Lough. London, 1875
The newly relocated St Mary Newington church was opened in 1876. It was built to the designs of James Fowler (1828–92) in the Early English style. The roofs of the nave and chancel were of hammer beam construction, the height of the nave from floor to ridge was 70 feet, and its length 100 feet. The 3-manual organ was by the firm of T.C. Lewis.
Following aerial bomb damage during the Second World War Fowlers’s church was pulled down, leaving only a fragment of the west front and the tower. These now serve to frame the street side of a small courtyard in front of the current building.
St Mary Newington, London, detail above the old west door seen from Kennington Park Road c.2000
St Mary Newington, London, seen from Kennington Park Road,. through the old west door c.2000
St Mary Newington, London. Looking from the courtyard through the remnant of old west wall towards Kennington Park Road c.2000
St Mary Newington, London, looking through the old west door to the new church, seen from Kennington Park Road c.2000
St Mary Newington, London, seen from Kennington Park Road . c.2000
The latest church building and fittings (1957-8) were designed by Sir Arthur Llewellyn Smith (1903-78). The church is described as being in a stripped Neo-Classical style built with yellow stock bricks with Portland stone dressings and copper roof. The organ – by the firm of Henry Willis – is in a west gallery, with a detached console in the north transept. Stained glass windows are signed H. Powell. A practical connection with the parish’s long history is kept in the form of silver altar plate, which includes: two silver cups and a paten (1675), a silver flagon (1681), two silver covers (c.1727), and two silver salvers (1783).
St Mary Newington, London. North transept, and organ console, 2018. [Source: ttps://londonchurchbuildings.com]
St Mary Newington, London. President’s chair. 2018. [Source: ttps://londonchurchbuildings.com]
Some of the church plate at St Mary Newington, in 1955. [Source: ‘Survey of London’, vol. 25, p. 92]
St Mary Newington, London. Interior looking west, 2018. [Source: ttps://londonchurchbuildings.com]
St Mary Newington, London. Side chapel. 2018. [Source: ttps://londonchurchbuildings.com]
St Mary Newington, London. South transept, font and pulpit, 2018. [Source: ttps://londonchurchbuildings.com]
St Mary Newington, London. Nave, looking west, and organ gallery. 2018. [Source: ttps://londonchurchbuildings.com]
St Mary Newington, London. Chancel, 2018. [Source: ttps://londonchurchbuildings.com]
St Mary Newington, London. The east end looking towards Kennington Park Road, 2018. [Source: ttps://londonchurchbuildings.com]
References
‘The Church Plate of Surrey‘ by T. S. Cooper. Surrey Archaeological Collections. Vol XIV (1899) pp 209-11. Online resource, accessed 3 March 2019
‘The manor of Walworth and parish of St. Mary, Newington‘, in Survey of London: Volume 25, St George’s Fields (The Parishes of St. George the Martyr Southwark and St. Mary Newington), ed. Ida Darlington (London, 1955), pp. 81-90. British History Online. Online resource, accessed 3 March 2019
‘Newington: St Mary‘. Diocese of Southwark official directory. Online resource, accessed 3 March 2019
‘St Mary’s Newington‘. Exploring Southwark and discovering its history. Online resource, accessed 3 march 2019
The location of the church of St Barnabas Southfields, London UK
Southfields lies to the south-west of central London in the London Borough of Wandsorth. With the coming of the railway in the 1860s the rural landscape was steadily built over. The Anglican church of St Barnabas (Diocese of Southwark) was built in the period 1906-08 among ‘roomy’ middle-class villas and is the work of the architect Charles Ford Whitcombe (1872-1930), a prolific designer and restorer of churches. In 1916 he emigrated to Queensland Australia.
Charles Ford Whitcomb (1872-1930), architect of St Barnabas Southfields, London IK. Image source: The Digital Archive of Queensland Architecture.
St Barnabas Southfields, London, UK; architect’s plan c 1906. Source: ‘Incorporated Church Building Society Records’, Lambeth Palace Library Collections.
The church of ST. BARNABAS, Southfields, was begun in 1906 and is still incomplete. It has a chancel and nave with aisles to both; the nave has a tall clearstory. Toothings are left in the walls for a future north-west tower. The walls are of red brick with stone dressings; the roofs are covered with slates, and a flèche stands above the chancel arch. [‘A History of the County of Surrey’ (1912)]
At first glance the building presents a modest profile, set back from a wide busy road. However on approaching it we find a rather impressive stately building. It seems to be designed in a not untypical rather plain Victorian Gothic ‘Perpendicular’ style, but on close inspection, and particularly once we are inside, we sense a more Edwardian-era ‘Arts and Crafts’ sensibility at work; large and spacious with generous use of colour, light and space with carefully designed fixtures and fittings.
St Barnabas Southfields (London UK) Nave looking east. [Source: John Salmon (2012): /www.geograph.org.uk/]
Since it first opened the church building has had a chequered history. By the 1920s the building was suffering catastrophic subsidence of the western foundations and rain-water damage to the walls – inside and out – from a poorly executed design. Remedial work was carried out c.1929 and a plan for a newly embellished sanctuary – much as we see it today – was approved. [LMA DS/F/1929/23/1-6].
Notes attached to the catalogue of the parish records held in the London Metropolitan Archive [P95/BAN] state that the church: “was badly damaged by incendiaries in 1941, and not fully restored until 1955” . More recent alterations to the interior at the west end – to provide meeting-room facilities – have managed not to upset the elegance of the interior whose cool light is created by the distinctive green tint of the windows.
The first organ in the church appears to have been a hand-blown instrument, with payments recorded for: “Organist, Choir, Blower, and Music. £67” (Parish magazine May 1910, p.5). This may be a reference to a pipe-organ at St Barnabas that is mentioned in the records of the organ-builders Hill, Norman and Beard Ltd.: “1919. Vol=02 Page=281 Job=1648 small : advice & estimate £5”
From parish magazines of the 1920s we find articles headed: ‘St Barnabas Thank Offering for Victory and Peace’. These describe a fundraising project to provide a new organ -£1600 – as well as new vestry accommodation and a chancel screen – £3000. (Parish Magazine, March 1920, p. 4). The idea to include the screen had been dropped in later issues of the magazine. There is no further mention of the new organ until a reference is made of adjustments made to it in the late 1920s. This may well be the three-manual organ by G.H.C. Foskett (London) that is shown in the National Pipe Organ Register [N17318] – surveyed 1947 – describing the organ on a north-chancel gallery. Given the survey date it would seem that the organ was largely unscathed by the fire-bombs dropped on the church – as we have earlier noted – in 1941.
The present two-manual organ – also on a north-chancel gallery – dates from 1962 and is by the firm of Henry Willis with later adjustments undertaken by Michael Buttolph.
The organ in St Barnabas Southfields, London UK; builder’s plate.
The organ in St Barnabas Southfields, viewed from the chancel. Source: London Churches in Photographs https://londonchurchbuildings.com
St Barnabas Southfields (London UK) Nave looking north-east. [Source: John Salmon (2012): /www.geograph.org.uk/]
The organ in St Barnabas Southfields, London UK; builder’s plate.
The organ in St Barnabas Southfields, viewed from the north aisle, looking east. Source: London Churches in Photographs https://londonchurchbuildings.com
St Barnabas Southfields, London UK. The organ consile.
‘Church Building Society Records’, Lambeth Palace Library. Online resource, accessed 1 February 2019
‘Parishes: Wandsworth‘, in A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 4, ed. H E Malden (London, 1912), pp. 108-120. British History Online [accessed 8 February 2019].
Destroyed by the diocese of Southwark after some war damage.
South London’s Anglican parish of St Agnes Kennington was established in the second half of the nineteenth century.
The route of Stane Street
The location of St Agnes Kennington, London UK
The church sits alongside the green space of Kennington Park, formerly Kennington Common, which is an ancient site of executions and political rallies. The nearby Kennington Park Road follows the line of the ancient Roman Road of Stane Street that runs for 90 kms from London Bridge to the south-coast port city of Chichester (Roman Noviomagus Reginorum).
The current building (1957-58) was designed by Ralph Covell (1911–88) – also the church organist – and was consecrated by the Bishop of Southwark on 24 May 1958. It replaced an earlier building.
St Agnes Kennington, London. The south side.
St Agnes Kennington, London. The chancel.
St Agnes Kennington Park, London. West end.
St Agnes Kennington Park, London. West end.
The earlier church building was designed by the great Victorian architect George Gilbert-Scott Jnr. (1839-97) and consecrated by the Bishop of London on 20 January 1877.
St Agnes Kennington, London. The original church, prior to demolition, 1951.
St Agnes Kennington, London. Design (1975) by George Gilbert Scott Jnr. [Source Alamy Stock Photos https://www.alamy.com/%5D
The rapidly developing district it served was taken out of the parish of St. Paul Lorrimore Square. Along side the church Gilbert-Scott also designed a vicarage and a school. The site – given by the Church Commissioners – had previously been occupied by a vitriol factory established by a Richard Farmer about 1796 in what were then open fields.
St Agnes Kennington, London, UK. The nave looking towards the chancel screen (1898). [Source. RIBA 58067]According to British History Online the building was designed in a 14th-century Decorated style, using Bath stone dressings. The unusually lofty nave rose to about 60 feet. A most imposing feature of the church was the six-light chancel window, 40 feet high, with stained glass designed and executed by C. E. Kempe (1837–1907). Over the chancel screen was a loft, intended to be utilized for an orchestra on the occasion of high festivals, surmounted by an arched beam and massive cross. Many of the internal fittings were completed by Scott’s pupil Temple Moore (1856–1920).
Interior of St Agnes Kennington c.1890. [Source: Architectural Review 5 (1898-99) 63]This church was demolished after the Second World War following minor aerial bomb damage. A campaign to save the magnificent building from demolition was one of several heritage ‘causes célèbres’ championed by the poet laureate Sir John Betjeman (1906-84), but in this case to no avail. Writing in The Spectator magazine (30 September 1955, p.14) he said of St Agnes Kennington
Despite representations from famous architects, such as Sir Ninian Comper, from the Central Council for the Care of Churches and from the Royal Fine Art Commission, the Bishop of Southwark is going to pull down St. Agnes, Ken- nington, and build a smaller church on its site. St. Agnes was designed in 1877 by George Gilbert Scott, Jnr., the father of Sir Giles, and it has long been thought the finest work of the Gothic Revival in South London, and one of the finest in England. No financial arguments can really excuse this vandalism, nor is it true that the parish lacks parishioners. Most of the fittings of the church survive, and the architect appointed to repair it after the war, Mr. Stephen Dykes Bower, resigned from his post rather than agree to the destruction of a building which could perfectly well be repaired.
Later, in his Collins guide to the parish churches of England and Wales (Collins: London, 1958) – a book he dedicated to the memory of St Agnes Kennington – Betjeman noted tersely that the building was “destroyed by the diocese of Southwark after some war damage.“
A number of the fittings by Temple Moore were inlcuded in the new St Agnes’s cbhurch e.g. the chancel screen and loft (1885–89), reredos (1891), font canopy (1893), and choir stalls (1902). Some other furnishings were obtained by the architect Stephen Dykes Bower (1903–94) for use in his c.1956 rebuilding of the Chiurch of The Holy Sprirt, Southsea (UK).
The pipe organ
The earliest mention of an organ in St Agnes Kennington comes from the British Organ Archive (Boa-ref=7656), which names the firm of Gray and Davidson as the builder. The earliest description of what was probably that organ comes from 1886.
In St Agnes Kennington there is a small organ; it is splendidly placed on the loft above the screen. […] Though more diversified effect could be produced with a larger instrument it suffices for its purpose, and no one would believe that it has only an 8ft. pedal stop and about six others on one manual. […] Raise the organ high up on a wooden floor, give it plenty of room to speak, and a comparatively small instrumnet will do a s much duty as a large one. (‘On Church Organs’ by “Church Times” in Musical Opinion 10/111 (1 December 1886) 114-5)
Another description is found in the Proceeedings of the Musical Association 1880-90.
We find ourselves in a good-sized parish church […] high aisles, no chancel arch or break inthe levels between east and west. A shallow transept of the full height of the church projects north and south immediately at the entrance to the chancel. At this point the church is crossed by a high screen, with a loft on it. A small organ stands just in the north transept on the loft, and having plenty of space about it, tells with good effect. It is, indeed, far more effective than most organs three times its size put into the regulation rat hole.” (p.155)
On 5 June 1890 a St Agnes Organ Fund committee was established, the Duke of Newcastle among its members. Its aim was to replace the organ of 7 stops – reportedly acquired second-hand 14 years previously from a neighbouring parish – with a new organ divided between the north and south ends of the chancel screen, in accordance with the architect’s intentions and at a cost estimated to be £1500. [Parish Magazine Xi/7 July 1890]
St Agnes Kennington, London, UK. The pipe organ specification in 1893. [Source: Musical Opinion, 1 ix 1893]
By September 1893 the new organ was in place above the chancel screen and the specification was published in the Musical Opinion (see image). A descriptive account of the instrument (below) together with a photograph of the console appeared in the May 1899 issue of the St Agnes parish magazine.. (Vol XX/5 36-38) [LMA P92/AGN048]), as follows:
Console of the pipe organ by Brindley and Foster in St Agnes Kennington, London. (UK). [Source: Parish Magazine, May 1899, p. 37)
The organ contains twenty [sic] speaking stops, seven couplers, three pneumatic pistons to Great, four pneumatic pistons to Swell, three composition pedals to Great and four to Swell, and, on and off, Great to Pedal and a pedal to bring down Swell reeds onto Choir manual. The diapason work on the Great Organ is on the largest scale. The large Open Diapason is placed on the south side, the lower octaves forming the front, while the small Open Diapason forms the front of the north side.
The Great Organ contains nine stops. The “Rohr Flute” is a very useful stop. It is made of metal, although in tone would lead one to believe that it was a wooden stop. The 4ft “Harmonic Flute”brightens the whole tone of the Great Organ. The “Posaune” is also an effective 8ft reed.
The principle stops of the Peadal Organ are on the south side, viz. the 16 “Bourdon,” 16ft”Open Diapason” (an excellent example of Brindley & Foster’s fine diapason work), and a 16ft “Trombone,” making with the 8ft “Cello”and echo “Bourdon”(which are on the north side) a very fine Pedal Organ.
The Swell Box, of ample proportion, is placed on the north side and is acted upon by vertical venetian shutters. It contains eleven stops and a “Tremulant.” The Solo reed stops, the “Orchestral Clarionet” and the “Orchestral Oboe” are very charming in quality.
The Choir Organ contains four very useful stops.
The whole Organ is built on the “Tubular Pneumatic” principal, upwards of forty miles of metal tubing having been used for the action. Its is blown by hand, two bellows on the screen, and a reservoir high up in the roof of the South Transept. […] All the organ now wants is a handsome case.
In 1901 the organ was cleaned and overhauled by the firm of Brindley and Foster at a cost of £32, chiefly to allow the organ to be used with “much less noise.” (Parish Magazine January 1902, p. 11. [LAMp92/AGN/053]). It is not clear exactly what was the problem.
In 1911 a new case was provided by Temple L. Moore (1856–1920) the designer of the screen on which the organ stood.
St Agnes Kennington, organ case (1911 by T. L. Moore), north side c.1921. [Source: University of Birmingham Special collections Freeman/452]
St Agnes Kennington, chancel screen (1885-9) by T. L. Moore, looking north-east c.1921. [Source: University of Birmingham Special collections Freeman/453]
There is currently no detail about whose job it was actually to hand-pump the organ but by 1912 the organ was described as “blown by electric motors.” (Dictionary of Organs and Organists by Frederick W. Thornsby. London, 1912).
In 1926 the organ was moved to a west gallery and then was eventually broken up as the church was prepared for demolition after the Second World War.
The pipe organ we find in the church today was newly installed in the west gallery in 1960 by the firm of N. P. Mander Ltd. (now Mander Organs). The opening recital – on Thursday 16 February 1961, 8pm – was given by the then organist of Westminster Abbey Sir William Mckie (1901–84) – formerly assistant organist of St Agnes Kennington, 1921-27. Also performing was Harry Barnes (1909–85) a singer from the Westminster Abbey choir. (Musical Times, Feb 1961, p. 106). The same organ is heard here (2016) played by the composer Matt Geer who is also the resident organist.
1880-99. Organist and Choirmaster. Willim Hedgecock (1864-1932) [The Musical Times (MT) 73/1075 (1932) 848] / [Thoresby’s Dictionary of Organs and Organists (1912 ) 286] [Parish Magazine, 1/v May1880. Paid in 1882: £71 13s 4d. [Parish Magazine 3/v May1882]. He was also a Professor at Gulldhall School of Music, and Director of Music at Crystal Palace.
St Agnes Kennington, London. Organist recruitment advert. ‘Musical Times’ 30/671 (1899) 55
1899–1905. Cyril G. Church (1871–?) [The Musical Times (MT) 83/1198 (1942) 376] / [Thoresby’s Dictionary of Organs and Organists (1912) 259]. Salary £91. 16s (Annual Statement for 1899. [P92/AGN/050]).
St Agnes Kennington, London. Organist recruitment advert. ‘Musical Times’ 40/748 (1905) 362
1905.1921. Harvey Grace (1874–1944) [MT 71/1048 (1930) 534] Pioneering editor for Novello and Co. of the organ works of J.s. Bach (1685–1750) and the organ works of Jospeh Rheinberger (1839–1901).
St Agnes Kenning London. Recruitment advert for an assistant organist. ‘[Source: Musical Times’Advert 54/848 (1913) 685]
1921-1927. (Sir) William McKie (idem) [MT 92/1299 (1951) 218], assistant organist at St Agnes Kennington and later organist of Westminster Abbey.
St Agnes Kennington, London. Advert for organist ‘Musical Times’ 61/924 (1920) 78.
1927. Francis J. Kennard [MT 68/1012 (1927) 537]
1935. J. E. Arnold [MT 76/1107 (1935) 442]
?
[1950s?] Ralph Covell. [See ‘Ralph Covell’ below]
1958. M. J. Foley of 8 Wanstead Place, London E11 [MT 99/1385 (1958) 397]
?
[1960s]-1994. Robert Woolley [correspondence with Christopher Smith, 24.06.21]
1994-2011. Christopher Smith [correspondence with Christopher Smith, 24.06.21]
?
2015-21. Matt Geer
2021-. ?
References
British Organ Archive. British Institute of Organ Studies. Online resource, accessed 1 August 2018
Gottlieb Muffat (1690–1770) was a German–speaking subject of the Holy Roman Empire under Habsburg rule. He was born into a family of musicians then living in the Prince–Bishopric of Passau. Gottlieb Muffat’s father, Georg Muffat (1653–1704), was the the Prince–Bishop of Passau’s director of music. Gottlieb’s older brothers – Franz Georg Gottfried (1671-1710) & Johann Ernst (1686–1746) – became violinists at the Imperial Habsburg Court in Vienna, which may explain how in 1711 Gottlieb arrived there to work under the aegis of Johann Joseph Fux (c.1660–1741) the Court’s music director.
The collection of manuscript keyboard music that is known as the ‘Schneeberger Clavierbuch‘ is a three-part volume housed in the Leipzig Municipal Library (D-LEm) at shelfmark Becker II. 6. 22. The last private owner was the Leipzig musician Carl/Karl Ferdinand Becker (1804–77) who gave the manuscripts to the library in 1851. How Becker came into ownership is not known.
Johann Christoph Bach (1642–1703) was an older relative of the great Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750). He is not to be confused with:
![Portrait of a musician [Johann Christoph Bach (1642-1703)]. Anonymous, circa 1700. [Source: Berlin, [https://www.akg-images.de/ 'Archiv für Kunst und Geschichte]' (Prussian State Library)]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/jcphbach.jpeg?w=116&h=166&ssl=1 "Anon. c.1700. Johann Christoph Bach (1642–1703)")
![Title from the Spitta MS as given in the Bärenreiter (Kassel) 1949 edition, ed. Martin Fischer. [Catalog BA 285]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/j-cph-bach-chorale.jpg?w=716&h=259&ssl=1 "Johann Christoph Bach (1642–1703) Chorale")
![St George's church, Eisenach. 1515-20. Interior looking east [Image source: Wikimedia]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/eisemach-int-east.jpeg?w=276&h=368&ssl=1 "eisemach-int-east")
![St George's church. West-gallery organ by Silbermann 1696–1707. Designed by Johann Christoph Bach who died before its completion. [Image source: Wikimedia]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/eisenach-orgel.jpeg?w=276&h=184&ssl=1 "eisenach orgel")
![St George's church, Eisenach. 1515-20. Tower 1898–1902. [Image source: Wikimedia]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/eisenach-ext-1.jpeg?w=556&h=556&crop=1&ssl=1 "eisenach-ext-1")
The set of ‘eight short preludes and fugues’ performed here date to the period 1730–50 (Williams) but for stylistic reasons are no longer judged to be the work of J.S. Bach himself (Durr, Lohmann, William).
This playlist comprises 43 characterful and mostly meditative pieces from the long 20th century.
J. S. Bach’s Orgelbüchlein (BWV 599–644) is a collection of short organ pieces
![The Union Chapel, Compton Terrace, Islington UK. (c. 2015). [Source: http://www.janeostler.co.uk/]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/unionchapel.jpg?w=146&h=225&ssl=1 "union")
![The church of Santa Fosco on the island of Torcello. [Source: Trip Advisor]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/chiesa-santa-fosca.jpg?w=458&h=312&ssl=1 "union")
![The Union Chapel, Compton Terrace, Islington, London, UK (c.2015) [Source: 'Sunday in London': pinterest.com]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/e74f31488e0ee731a5c68dd5a0809c10.png?w=198&h=148&ssl=1 "union")
![The Union Chapel, Compton Terrace, Islington, London, UK (c.2015 [Source: alamy.com]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/union-chapel-london-5-x-15-event-where-neil-gaiman-and-david-mitchell-j0x7p1.jpg?w=345&h=285&ssl=1 "union")
![Roof detail. Union Chapel, Compton Terrace, Islington, London UK. [Source: igx.4sqi.net/]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/23795433_hd6xvlphy853xzd_h1agda09x0t8buj_pyrjdk3uszq.jpg?w=285&h=285&crop=1&ssl=1 "union")
![Compton Terrace c.1806 [Source: locallocalhistory.co.uk/]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/union-2-1.jpg?w=260&h=192&ssl=1 "union")
![The Union Chapel, Compton Terrace, Islington, London UK (c.1820). Engraving by C. Rivers (?-?). [Source: collage.cityoflondon.gov.uk]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/union2-1.jpg?w=572&h=421&ssl=1 "union")
![Opening organ recital, Union Chapel, Islington, London UK. [Source: The Musical Times, 13/297 (Nov. 1, 1867)]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/screen-shot-2020-02-29-at-16.43.00.png?resize=432%2C99&ssl=1)
![Pulpit and organ screed (2020). The Union Chapel, Compton Terrace, Islington, London UK. [Source: iao.org.uk]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/88261183_2987698717953675_6357500343470784512_o.jpg?resize=225%2C300&ssl=1)
![Queens Square Congregational Church Brighton (UK), post 1910, when - according to NPOR - the organ was moved to the chancel. [Source: roughwood.net/]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/postcardurl.php_.jpeg?w=566&h=355&ssl=1 "union")
![Hinckley United Reformed Church, Leicestershire (UK) [Source: http://www.iao.org.uk/]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/1603.jpg?w=266&h=355&ssl=1 "union")
![Church of Our Most Holy Redeemer and St Thomas More Catholic Church. [Source: - geograph.org.uk]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/chelsea-1.jpg?w=278&h=209&ssl=1 "chelsea")
![Church of Our Most Holy Redeemer & St Thomas More, Chelsea, London (UK). [Source: geograph.org.uk]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/4104205_a6f72034.jpg?w=278&h=209&ssl=1 "chelsea")
![Church of Our Most Holy Redeemer & St Thomas More, Chelsea, London (UK). [Source: geograph.org.uk]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/4104200_777f875c.jpg?w=278&h=203&ssl=1 "Chelsea")
![Church of Our Most Holy Redeemer & St Thomas More, Chelsea, London (UK). [Source: taking-stock.org.uk]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/taking-stock.jpg?w=554&h=416&ssl=1 "Chelsea")
![George-Maydwell-Holdich (1816-96). [Source: Organ Historical Society opf Australia ohta.org.au]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/george-maydwell-holdich.jpg?resize=97%2C150&ssl=1)
![St Thomas, Kensal Road, London W10; east end, c.2010; image by John Salmon. [Source: geograph.org.uk]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/1829419_b9ea37df.jpg?w=421&h=274&ssl=1 "St THomas Kensal Road London W10 (UK)")
![St Thomas, Kensal Road, London W10; west end, c.2010; image by John Salmon. [Source: geograph.org.uk]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/1829415_9cf7e245.jpg?w=411&h=274&ssl=1 "St Thomas Kensal Road London W10 (UK)")
![St Thomas, Kensal Road, London W10; The first church building [Source: www.sthomaskensaltown.co.uk]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/thomas_orig.jpg?w=318&h=414&ssl=1 "St Thomas, Kensal Road, London W10")
![Aerial view of the grounds of St Matthias Stoke Newington, London. 2019, [Source: Google Maps]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/screen-shot-2019-07-23-at-17.22.02-1.png?w=230&h=172&ssl=1 "matthias")
![St Matthias Stoke Newington, London N16, looking east, c.1908 [Source: Bumpus]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/untitled.jpg?w=291&h=434&ssl=1 "matthias")
![Kensington Chapel, Allen Street, London W8. Postcard c.1909. [Source: Alamy G3CP58]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/kensington-1.jpg?w=253&h=162&ssl=1 "kensington")
![The Kensington Chapel, Allen Street, London W8 in 2012. [Source: geograph.org.uk]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/3262106_73e77547.jpg?w=383&h=287&ssl=1 "kensington")
![St Mary Newington Church, London (2018). [Source: BBC News https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-35123921]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/87282350_stmary5.jpg?w=375&h=211&ssl=1 "_87282350_stmary5")
![St Mary's churchyard, Newington Butts, London. 2018 [Source: Samantha Pdrrin @misssamperrin]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/screen-shot-2019-03-03-at-21.19.52.png?w=546&h=359&ssl=1 "newington")
![Part of Rocque's Map of 1755 showing Newington Butts. [Source: 'Survey of London' vol 25, p. 53]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/newington-1-1.gif?w=158&h=205&ssl=1 "newington")
!['North east view of Newington Church' (1750) after a painting by J-B. C. Chatelain (1710?-71?). [Source: https://collage.cityoflondon.gov.uk]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/newington-5.jpg?w=158&h=110&ssl=1 "newington")
![A general view of Newington Butts (1792), looking south past St Mary's church. [Source: 'Survey of London', vol 25, p.92]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/figure0741-052-a.gif?w=192&h=135&ssl=1 "newington")
![A view of St Mary Newington rectory (1795). [Source: 'Survey of London', vol 25, p. 93]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/figure0741-052-b.gif?w=192&h=180&ssl=1 "newington")
!['South west view of Newington Church' (1750) after a painting by J-B. C. Chatelain (1710?-71?). [Source: https://collage.cityoflondon.gov.uk]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/newington-4.jpg?w=478&h=319&ssl=1 "newington")
![The site of St Mary's church and its rectory, Newington Butts, London in 1871. [Source: Ordnance Survey, LV (Lambeth St Mary; Southwark) Surveyed: 1871 Published: 1875]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/screen-shot-2019-03-05-at-15.21.29.png?w=261&h=182&ssl=1 "newington")
![The old church being taken down. 'The Church of St. Mary, Newington, London' (n.d.). Watercolour by James Miller (fl.1773-91) [Source: Guy Peppiatt Fine Art]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/newington-9.jpg?w=261&h=161&ssl=1 "newington")
![Interior view of St Mary Newington in Southwark. Watercolour (1823) by C. Yates. [Source: https://collage.cityoflondon.gov.uk]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/newington-7.jpg?w=226&h=347&ssl=1 "newington")
!['St. Mary Newington church, 1827' [Source: 'Survey of London', vol. 25, p. 92]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/newington-6.jpg?w=341&h=347&ssl=1 "newington")
![The clocktower in St Mary's churchyard, Newington Butts, London. [Source: Charles W. Cushman http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/cushman/ with permission]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/p12190.jpg?w=153&h=222&ssl=1 "newington")
![St Nary Newington. Froundplan 1877. Signed by the architect. [Source: Incorporated Church Building Society (ICBS), ref. 7677. http://images.lambethpalacelibrary.org.uk/]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/newington-10.jpg?w=679&h=456&ssl=1 "newington")
![St Mary Newington, London. West front, c.2000. [Source: Exploring Southwark http://www.exploringsouthwark.co.uk/]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/4627735244.jpg?w=551&h=406&ssl=1 "newington")
![St Mary Newington, London. North transept, and organ console, 2018. [Source: ttps://londonchurchbuildings.com]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/newington_st_mary271018_10.jpg?w=304&h=202&ssl=1 "newington")
![St Mary Newington, London. President's chair. 2018. [Source: ttps://londonchurchbuildings.com]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/newington_st_mary271018_22.jpg?w=304&h=227&ssl=1 "newington")
![Some of the church plate at St Mary Newington, in 1955. [Source: 'Survey of London', vol. 25, p. 92]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/newington.gif?w=304&h=186&ssl=1 "newington")
![St Mary Newington, London. Interior looking west, 2018. [Source: ttps://londonchurchbuildings.com]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/newington_st_mary271018_58.jpg?w=307&h=205&ssl=1 "newington")
![St Mary Newington, London. Side chapel. 2018. [Source: ttps://londonchurchbuildings.com]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/newington_st_mary271018_54.jpg?w=307&h=205&ssl=1 "newington")
![St Mary Newington, London. South transept, font and pulpit, 2018. [Source: ttps://londonchurchbuildings.com]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/newington_st_mary271018_11.jpg?w=307&h=205&ssl=1 "newington")
![St Mary Newington, London. Nave, looking west, and organ gallery. 2018. [Source: ttps://londonchurchbuildings.com]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/newington_st_mary271018_15.jpg?w=217&h=145&ssl=1 "newington")
![St Mary Newington, London. Chancel, 2018. [Source: ttps://londonchurchbuildings.com]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/newington_st_mary271018_14.jpg?w=217&h=325&ssl=1 "newington")
![St Mary Newington, London. The east end looking towards Kennington Park Road, c.2018. [Source: ttps://londonchurchbuildings.com]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/newington_st_mary271018_69.jpg?w=217&h=145&ssl=1 "newington")
![St Barnabas Southfields (London UK) Nave looking east. [Source: John Salmon (2012): /www.geograph.org.uk/]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/2818389_cf76825f.jpg?w=331&h=220&ssl=1 "southfields")
![St Barnabas Southfields (London UK). The north aisle, looking east. [Source: Andrew Pink © 2019]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/img_20170830_130922.jpg?w=331&h=442&ssl=1 "southfields")
![St Barnabas Southfields (London UK). The nave, looking west. [Source: Andrew Pink © 2019]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/img_20170830_125953.jpg?w=249&h=331&ssl=1 "southfields")
![St Barnabas Southfields (London UK). The Lady Chapel, north aisle, looking east. [Source: Andrew Pink © 2019]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/img_20170830_130952.jpg?w=249&h=331&ssl=1 "southfields")
![St Barnabas Southfields (London UK). The nave altar, looking east. [Source: Andrew Pink © 2019]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/img_20170830_130413.jpg?w=248&h=331&ssl=1 "southfields")
![St Barnabas Southfields (London UK). The nave, baptistry,, looking west. [Source: Andrew Pink © 2019]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/img_20170830_130359.jpg?w=248&h=331&ssl=1 "southfields")
![St Barnabas Southfields (London UK). North aisle, west end, window. [Source: Andrew Pink © 2019]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/img_20170830_125821.jpg?w=164&h=219&ssl=1 "southfields")
![St Barnabas Southfields (London UK). The chancel, looking east. [Source: Andrew Pink © 2019]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/img_20170830_131018.jpg?w=164&h=219&ssl=1 "southfields")
![St Barnabas Southfields (London UK). The Lady Chapel. [Source: Andrew Pink © 2019]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/img_20170830_125805.jpg?w=332&h=442&ssl=1 "southfields")
![St Barnabas Southfields (London UK). The chancel. [Source: Andrew Pink © 2019]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/img_20170830_125753.jpg?w=332&h=442&ssl=1 "southfields")
![St Barnabas Southfields (London UK) Nave looking north-east. [Source: John Salmon (2012): /www.geograph.org.uk/]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/2818415_b6d1a039.jpg?w=101&h=70&ssl=1 "southfields")
![St Agnes Kennington, London. Design (1975) by George Gilbert Scott Jnr. [Source Alamy Stock Photos https://www.alamy.com/]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/church-vicarage-school-st-agnes-kennington-park-george-gilbert-scott-gk98ne.jpg?w=415&h=347&ssl=1 "Kennington")
![St Agnes Kennington, London, UK. The nave looking towards the chancel screen (1898). [Source. RIBA 58067]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/kennington-chancel.jpg?resize=245%2C300&ssl=1)
![Interior of St Agnes Kennington c.1890. [Source: Architectural Review 5 (1898-99) 63]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/architectural-review-5-1898-99-p63.png?resize=210%2C300&ssl=1)
![St Agnes Kennington, London, UK. The pipe organ specification in 1893. [Source: Musical Opinion, 1 ix 1893]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/3f32e294-426f-4be2-ae02-6c2cccc66a38.jpeg?w=836&h=514&ssl=1 "kennington")
![St Agnes Kennington, organ case (1911 by T. L. Moore), north side c.1921. [Source: University of Birmingham Special collections Freeman/452]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/getimage-ashx.jpeg?w=416&h=538&ssl=1 "kennington")
![St Agnes Kennington, chancel screen (1885-9) by T. L. Moore, looking north-east c.1921. [Source: University of Birmingham Special collections Freeman/453]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/getimage-ashx-2.jpeg?w=416&h=538&ssl=1 "kennington")
![St Agnes Kenning London. Recruitment advert for an assistant organist. '[Source: Musical Times'Advert 54/848 (1913) 685]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/advert-1921.jpg?resize=507%2C98&ssl=1)
![St Agnes Kennington, London. Advert for organist [Source: Musical Times 61/924 (1920) 78]](https://i0.wp.com/andrewpink.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/ad-1920.jpg?resize=436%2C68&ssl=1)
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