Mander Organs

Mander Organs is an English pipe organ maker and refurbisher based in London. Although well known for many years in the world of organ building, they achieved wider notability in 2004 with their refurbishment of the Royal Albert Hall's Father Willis organ.

Mander has completed several famous organs, chief among which is probably the 68-stop four manual and pedal organ in the Church of St Ignatius Loyola, New York – reportedly the largest mechanical action built to date by a British builder. Simon Preston said of this instrument: "It is difficult to do justice to this famous instrument in a couple of sentences; suffice to say that to look at this beautiful instrument is to know the sound that will come out of it."

In keeping with the modern fashion, new Mander organs are generally tracker action, which enables the player to give somewhat more expression and removes the delays which are inherent in many electrically actuated organs.

The company was founded in 1936 by Noel Mander MBE, FSA (19 May 1912 – 18 September 2005). An early setback was the loss of the organ he was working on, along with all his tools, in the first air raid of the Blitz in 1940. Ironically it was the rebuilding of church organs after the war which provided a firm foundation for the company.

The firm is now run by John Mander, Noel Mander's son and pipe organs have been built and installed in Australia, Japan, Middle East, New Zealand, Scandinavia and the United States.

Some Mander organs

• Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury, National Churchill Museum, Westminster College, Fulton, Missouri

Organ of Princeton University Chapel (1928); major rebuilding by Mander in 1991

• Church of St. Ignatius Loyola (New York City)^[1]
• Royal Albert Hall, London, England
• St. Paul's Cathedral, London, England
• Colfe's School, London, England
• Urakami Cathedral, Nagasaki, Japan
• Nigawa Gakuin School, Japan
• Peachtree Road United Methodist Church, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
• West Parish of Barnstable (Congregational Church), West Barnstable, Massachusetts, USA
• St. Andrew's University, Osaka, Japan
• Azuchi Town Seminario Hall, Japan
• Sydney Grammar School, Australia
• St Peter's Church, St Albans, Hertfordshire, England

References

1. ^ Church of St. Ignatius Loyola, NYC, USA

External links

• Mander Organs