Last updated:
13 Dec 1998
St Peter and the
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Organist:
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Organist and Master of the
Choristers: David Briggs (1994) Formerly organ scholar at King's College Cambridge, Assistant Organist of Hereford Cathedral, and Organist of Truro Cathedral. (Pictured at the console of Truro Cathedral) The Organist can be contacted by e-mail via the Senior Lay-Clerk, William Armiger. |
Assistant:
Ian Ball (e-mail) (formerly Organist at Clifton RC Cathedral, Bristol) took over as Assistant in September 1998.
Formerly Organ Scholar at St Peter's College, Oxford and Manchester
Cathedral, Ian was Asst at Bristol from 1991-95, before moving to Clifton
Cathedral, where he was Organist & Asst. Diocesan Director of Music and
founded the West of England Organ Academy, together with a Girls' Choir and
Junior Choir.
Organ:
Thomas Harris (1666), most recently rebuilt by Hill, Norman and Beard in 1971 (consultant, Ralph Downes).
4 manuals, 55 speaking stops, sited on the Quire Screen
The Gloucester Cathedral organ, recently heralded by the Organ magazine as "surely ranking as the finest instrument in the country", is to undergo a complete restoration in 1999. David Briggs, the Director of Music at Gloucester and an unashamed devotee of the instrument, summarises some of the work to be carried out.
"We are delighted to report that the firm of Nicholson and Co (Worcester) has been chosen by the Dean and Chapter to carry out a full restoration of the Gloucester Cathedral organ. We are maintaining the wonderful integrity of the instrument as designed by Ralph Downes and John Sanders in 1971, when the tonal scheme adopted a much more classical approach. This rebuild was considered very controversial at the time, but I believe it to have been very forward-looking and one of the best examples from the 1970s.
"The following is a synopsis of the work to be carried out in 1999.
- The ingenious electro-magnetic action, designed in 1971 by John Norman, is to be fully restored, using the most modern silent components.
- The sound boards are to be renovated.
- The pipework is to be cleaned and fully re-regulated.
- A new solid-state transmission system will be installed.
- A replay system, based upon a standard IBM compatible computer, will be included.
- The console technology will be upgraded, to include a stepper, 256 levels of general pistons, 16 levels of divisionals, pedal divide etc.
- New long-draw draw-stop solenoids will be fitted.
- A Swell Sub Octave stop will be added.
- A new 32 foot Bombarde will be placed within the organ screen, with half-length zinc resonators.
- The pedal organ will be augmented by a 32 foot Cornet Separé a la Cavaillé-Coll, to include a new Quint 10 2/3 foot, Tierce 6 2/5 foot, and Septieme 4 4/7 foot.
- The roof of the instrument will be removed, thus allowing the nave vault to act as a sounding board - as it did 1717 - 1971 - thereby considerably enhancing the power and fullness of tone of the instrument.
"The Cathedral Organ should be back in commission by the turn of the millenium. Inevitably there is much excitement about the final result."
One of the great virtues
of the Downes and Sanders 1971 rebuild has been the fact that the entire instrument was
located within the lovely organ screen separating the Nave from the Quire. No element of
the instrument was allowed to spill into the nearby Tribune galleries, as in the past, and
this provided a beautifully focused sound. This new rebuild will retain that neat
disposition of pipework, and will require major reorganisation of the hidden interior of
the Organ screen.
During the 6 months or so during which this major rebuild will take place, use will be
made of a large Rodgers electronic instrument.
(I am indebted to David Briggs and Bill Armiger for allowing me to publish this information.)
Choir:
20 boys (choir school), 3A, 3T, 4B.
The choir toured Australia and New Zealand in April 1997.
Services:
5:30 on Mon (men), Tue (boys), Wed (full) and Fri (full unaccompanied); 4:00 on Sat.
Sunday: Sung Eucharist 10:15, Evensong 3:00
Telephone: 01452 528095
Recordings:
- Priory
- Mayhew: Improvisations
Other
Information:
The annual celebration of the oldest musical festival in the world - the Three Choirs Festival - took place this year, between 15th and 22nd August 1998 inclusive, in the stunning architectural and acoustic setting of Gloucester Cathedral.
On 6 November 1998, the Choir gave the first performance of the Requiem Mass composed by previous Organist, John Sanders. Full details of this performance, and some biographical details of the composer are available here.
Previous
Organists:
Herbert Brewer (1896-1928)
Herbert Sumsion (1928-1967)
John Sanders (1967-1994)
