Come, all who look to Christ today (Tallis Canon) - Chris Lawton at Portobello Methodist Church, Willenhall
- 10 years ago
Me playing the organ installed at Portobello Methodist Church in Willenhall, West Midlands.
The organ was built in 1965 by the famous John Compton Organ Company Ltd and is the '363' model. It works on the electrostatic principal first pioneered by Compton's in the 1920s and involves the use of 12 rotating tone generators housed within the organ. The organ is located in an alcove at the front of the church on the right facing and the "rotofon" speaker is housed in a chamber behind an ornamental grille directly above the console. The specification reads:
PEDAL
Contra Bourdon 32'
Open Diapason 16'
Bourdon 16'
Echo Bass 16'
Octave 8'
Bass Flute 8'
Violoncello 8'
Flute 4'
Contra Bombarde 32'
Ophicleide 16'
Great to Pedal
Swell to Pedal
GREAT
Double Diapason 16'
Open Diapason 1 8'
Open Diapason 2 8'
Hohl Flute 8'
Gemshorn 8'
Dulciana 8'
Octave 4'
Suabe Flute 4'
Dulcet 4'
Twelfth 2.2/3'
Fifteenth 2'
Mixture III
Sesquiltera II
Tuba 8'
Swell to Great
SWELL
Bourdon 16'
Geigen Diapason 8'
Lieblich Gedact 8'
Salicional 8'
Quintadena 8'
Harmonic Flute 8'
Principal 4'
Lieblich Flute 4'
Salicet 4'
Nazard 2.2/3'
Piccolo 2'
Cymbale III
Acuta II
Contra Fagotto 16'
Trumpet 8'
Clarinet 8'
Clarion 4'
GENERAL
Slow vibrato
Fast vibrato
Reverb
MISCELLANEOUS
4 double touch thumb pistons to Great and Pedal
4 thumb pistons to Swell
1 balanced expression pedal - Great and Pedal
1 balanced expression pedal - Swell
Double touch canceller to each department
Im playing the hymn 'Come, all who look to Christ today' to the tune 'Tallis Canon' which gives the basic idea of how the organ sounds for congregational hymn singing. The 8ft Tuba stop on the great is featured in the fourth verse.
When this organ was first installed, many churches from around the Black Country who were looking for a new organ visited here to see and hear what a Compton electronic organ could do. One example was Kingswinford Methodist Church near Stourbridge which was having a new church built at this time. It was after looking at this organ that they chose an identical instrument for their new church.
These organs are fast becoming extinct with many churches replacing them with digital instruments etc. Modern technology is indeed appealing with its realistic sampled sounds but history is being lost as a result. Opportunities should be taken to see that these unique instruments are preserved for future generations to experience how technology worked in the pre digital era.
Many thanks to my good mate George Evans for opening up the church to enable me to play this fine Compton organ.
NOTE: this is purely my interest in order to make sure that these fine organs are archived forever and I do not make any monetary profit by this video being on youtube.
For more information on the John Compton Organ Company Ltd and to see me play other Compton organs, please click on the following link for my site dedicated to the John Compton Organ Company Ltd:
http://comptonorgans.yolasite.com/
The organ was built in 1965 by the famous John Compton Organ Company Ltd and is the '363' model. It works on the electrostatic principal first pioneered by Compton's in the 1920s and involves the use of 12 rotating tone generators housed within the organ. The organ is located in an alcove at the front of the church on the right facing and the "rotofon" speaker is housed in a chamber behind an ornamental grille directly above the console. The specification reads:
PEDAL
Contra Bourdon 32'
Open Diapason 16'
Bourdon 16'
Echo Bass 16'
Octave 8'
Bass Flute 8'
Violoncello 8'
Flute 4'
Contra Bombarde 32'
Ophicleide 16'
Great to Pedal
Swell to Pedal
GREAT
Double Diapason 16'
Open Diapason 1 8'
Open Diapason 2 8'
Hohl Flute 8'
Gemshorn 8'
Dulciana 8'
Octave 4'
Suabe Flute 4'
Dulcet 4'
Twelfth 2.2/3'
Fifteenth 2'
Mixture III
Sesquiltera II
Tuba 8'
Swell to Great
SWELL
Bourdon 16'
Geigen Diapason 8'
Lieblich Gedact 8'
Salicional 8'
Quintadena 8'
Harmonic Flute 8'
Principal 4'
Lieblich Flute 4'
Salicet 4'
Nazard 2.2/3'
Piccolo 2'
Cymbale III
Acuta II
Contra Fagotto 16'
Trumpet 8'
Clarinet 8'
Clarion 4'
GENERAL
Slow vibrato
Fast vibrato
Reverb
MISCELLANEOUS
4 double touch thumb pistons to Great and Pedal
4 thumb pistons to Swell
1 balanced expression pedal - Great and Pedal
1 balanced expression pedal - Swell
Double touch canceller to each department
Im playing the hymn 'Come, all who look to Christ today' to the tune 'Tallis Canon' which gives the basic idea of how the organ sounds for congregational hymn singing. The 8ft Tuba stop on the great is featured in the fourth verse.
When this organ was first installed, many churches from around the Black Country who were looking for a new organ visited here to see and hear what a Compton electronic organ could do. One example was Kingswinford Methodist Church near Stourbridge which was having a new church built at this time. It was after looking at this organ that they chose an identical instrument for their new church.
These organs are fast becoming extinct with many churches replacing them with digital instruments etc. Modern technology is indeed appealing with its realistic sampled sounds but history is being lost as a result. Opportunities should be taken to see that these unique instruments are preserved for future generations to experience how technology worked in the pre digital era.
Many thanks to my good mate George Evans for opening up the church to enable me to play this fine Compton organ.
NOTE: this is purely my interest in order to make sure that these fine organs are archived forever and I do not make any monetary profit by this video being on youtube.
For more information on the John Compton Organ Company Ltd and to see me play other Compton organs, please click on the following link for my site dedicated to the John Compton Organ Company Ltd:
http://comptonorgans.yolasite.com/