There are of course differences between individual grand pianos, and cellos, and flutes, but of all musicians, organists have to be the most prepared to adapt, often at short notice, to enormous variation in the size, shape and scope of their instrument. This month’s Learning during Lockdown focusses on the instrument and its builders, and how all this variety came about.

THE ENGLISH ORGAN is a series of films and recordings made by Fugue State Films, telling the story of the English organ and its music, over five hundred years.  In these three final films Daniel Moult takes the discussion from the nineteenth into the twentieth century, with performances of Stanford, Whitlock, and Patrick Gowers on historic organs.

THE ENGLISH ORGAN is a series of films and recordings made by Fugue State Films, telling the story of the English organ and its music. In these three films, Daniel Moult looks at the beginnings of English organ building, playing Byrd, Purcell and Handel on three historic organs.

In a series of special films Daniel Moult discusses the history of organ-building in England, and demonstrates the diversity of organ types, with appropriate music.  This first film takes an overview of the development of the English organ, from Tudor beginnings to the present day.

RCO Director Andrew Macintosh gives a guided tour of the National Pipe Organ Register (NPOR), an online database of over 36,000 pipe organs in the UK.

William Reynolds’s thought-provoking, well-documented introduction to early organs and their use in Wales and the Welsh borders is a major contribution to national organ history, opening up a range of organological and musical perspectives about local practices.

Tom Bell explains how organ builders exploit the archetypal organ pipe, the Diapason.

Only one inanimate object has been habitually described as having lungs or as being capable of a kind of mechanical breathing. That the organ lends itself to imagery and metaphor has not gone unnoticed: Francis O’Gorman takes this subject on by investigating a range of nineteenth-century and early-twentieth-century poetry.

Because pipe organs are so long-lived, the need to commission a new one, or renovate an old one, doesn’t arise very often.  However when work is needed, an adviser is required with answers to all the ensuing musical, technical, acoustical, architectural and historical questions. The Association of Independent Organ Advisers (AIOA) exists to provide and accredit these experienced specialists. Organist Tom Bell talks about his own organ consultancy work towards becoming an accredited AIOA member.