Royal Albert Hall Organ

The Grand Organ situated in the Royal Albert Hall in London, is the second largest pipe organ in the UK. It was originally built by Henry "Father" Willis and most recently rebuilt by Mander Organs, having 147 stops and 9997 speaking pipes.

The Willis organ

The original organ was built by Henry Willis & Sons in 1871. It had four manuals (keyboards) and 111 stops and was, at that time, the largest in the world.

Harrisons

The Durham firm of Harrison & Harrison rebuilt the organ in two stages in 1924 and 1933, during which it was increased to 146 stops (including three percussion stops) and converted to electro-pneumatic action. It was still the largest organ in Britain at that time.

In the 1970s, Harrisons refurbished the console and replaced the switchgear in the action, made minor changes to the voicing and added a roof to attempt to project the sound forward, which was not successful.

By the end of the 20th century, the organ was again in a state of disrepair, with an ever-increasing number of stops unusable due to leaks in the wind system, cracks in the soundboards, and other problems. By 2002, it was maintained only through "heroic efforts" on the part of Harrisons and could not be used at all without their staff present, in case of mishap. The wind chests and pipes were leaking noisily and wind pressure was insufficient to support full use. The leatherwork in the actions was also failing.

The Mander rebuild

In 2002, the Royal Albert Hall Organ was taken out of commission for an extensive rebuild by Mander Organs. Some consideration was given to restoring the organ to its original Father-Willis specification, but the subsequent alterations and enlargements had made this impractical. The organ was by now, in truth, a Harrison, not a Willis, instrument, and it was felt that it should remain essentially as-is.

The dryness of the Hall had damaged the soundboards, so these were replaced and new and larger wind trunks provided. The roof was removed, and the reed stops in the Great division were restored to their 1924 wind pressures. The 1970s split of the Great Organ (allowing two independent Great Organs to be registered and played simultaneously on different manuals) was rationalised, effectively offering separate Willis and Harrison choruses and a Fourniture IV was added, with 147 stops and 9997 speaking pipes. In December 2007, Liverpool Anglican Cathedral regained the title of largest pipe organ in the UK with the addition of several stops creating a 'central organ' (now with 10,268 pipes). During the rebuild of the organ, a temporary instrument was installed by Rodgers Instruments LLC.

The organ was re-opened at a gala concert on the evening of 26 June 2004 with David Briggs, John Scott and Thomas Trotter playing, with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Richard Hickox. The organ featured prominently in the 2004 BBC Proms series. The first recordings on the newly rebuilt instrument were by Dame Gillian Weir.

The instrument has also, curiously, been used by progressive rock band Muse when playing Megolomania, originally recorded on another Willis - that of the church of Saint Mary in Bathwick - in a live performance at the RAH on the 12th April 2008: frontman Matt Bellamy commented that "since we're here, it would be rude not to play this beast".

External links

* [http://www.mander-organs.com/portfolio/r-a-h.html The organ rebuild] as described by Mander Organs
* [http://www.gillianweir.com/cds/rah.shtml The Grand Organ of The Royal Albert Hall] by Gillian Weir
* [http://www.willis-organs.com Henry Willis & Sons Ltd. Organ Builders] (United Kingdom)