The Organ
History of the Organ
The Organ at St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, Edinburgh, was built by Henry Willis in 1879. The case was designed by John Oldrid Scott (son of Sir Gilbert Scott, the Cathedral’s architect) and was made by Farmer and Brindley of London. The console was originally situated within the case; however, a moveable, detached stop-key console was provided by Robert Hope-Jones in 1897 when the electropneumatic mechanism was installed, replacing the original tracker (with pneumatic lever) action. Hope-Jones also made preparations for additions to the organ at this point (including extra ranks in the West End and Sanctuary, as well as expanding the existing divisions), however, these were never applied and the original tonal resources remained untouched.
The organ was rebuilt in 1931 by Harrison & Harrison, who have tended to the instrument ever since. This work was done in memory of Dr Thomas Collinson: the Organist of the Cathedral from 1878 (just before the building was consecrated in 1879) to 1928. Most of the original Father Willis pipework was retained, with some revoicing and three additional stops added: the Pedal Dulciana, the Swell Double Trumpet and the Solo Viole d’Orchestre. The Hope-Jones mechanism was entirely replaced, and the Choir Organ was enclosed.
Five new stops were added in 1959, mostly to the Choir: the Nazard, Fifteenth, Tierce and Octavin, as well as the Great Double Trumpet. The Great reeds were also rehoused to the Solo swell-box at this point - the Solo Tuba remains unenclosed to this day. 1979 saw the insertion of an additional three stops to the Great which were prepared for in 1959: the 4ft Principal, 2ft Spitz Flute and Sesquialtera. The most recent addition to the instrument was the Solo Viole Celeste in 1994.
The organ was comprehensively restored in 2020 by Harrison & Harrison, which included the addition of a stepper and a reduction of general pistons from twelve to eight. The current organ has a manual compass of 58 notes, a pedal compass of 30 notes, 256 generals and 8 divisional piston memory levels.
Organ Specification
Pedal Organ
1. Double Open Wood 32
2. Open Wood 16
3. Violone 16
4. Sub Bass 16
5. Dulciana 16
5a. Principal 8
6. Violoncello 8
7. Flute 8
7a. Fifteenth 4
8. Mixture III
9. Ophicleide 16
10. Corno di Bassetto (from 55) 16
11. Posaune 8
11a. Clarion 4
I Choir to Pedal | II Great to Pedal | III Swell to Pedal | IV Solo to Pedal
Choir Organ (enclosed)
12 Open Diapason 8
13 Gamba 8
14 Claribel Flute 8
15 Gemshorn 4
16 Flauto Traverso 4
17 Nazard 2 2 /3
18 Fifteenth 2
19 Tierce 1 3 /5
20 Octavin 1
V Swell to Choir | VI Solo to Choir
Great Organ
21 Double Geigen 16
22 Large Open Diapason 8
23 Small Open Diapason 8
24 Stopped Diapason 8
25 Claribel Flute 8
26 Octave 4
27 Principal 4
28 Harmonic Flute 4
29 Octave Quint 2 2/ 3
30 Super Octave 2
31 Spitzflute 2
32 Sesquialtera II
33 Mixture IV
34 Double Trumpet 16
35 Trumpet 8
36 Clarion 4
VII Choir to Great | X Reeds on Pedal | VIII Swell to Great
XI Reeds on Choir | IX Solo to Great | XII Reeds on Solo (Nos. 34, 35 and 36 are enclosed in the Solo box)
Combination Coupler
XIX Great and Pedal combinations coupled
Swell Organ
37 Open Diapason 8
38 Lieblich Gedeckt 8
39 Salicional 8
40 Vox Angelica (tenor c) 8
41 Principal 4
42 Lieblich Flute 4
43 Fifteenth 2
44 Mixture III
45 Contra Oboe 16
46 Oboe 8
47 Vox Humana 8
XIII Tremulant
48 Double Trumpet 16
49 Trumpet 8
50 Clarion 4
XIV Octave
Solo Organ (51 to 56 enclosed)
51 Viole d’Orchestre 8
51a Viole Céleste (tenor c) 8
52 Harmonic Flute 8
53 Concert Flute 4
54 Concert Piccolo 2
55 Corno di Bassetto 16
56 Orchestral Hautboy 8
XV Tremulant
57 Tuba 8
XVI Octave| XVIII Unison Off | XVII Sub Octave
No. 55 has an extra octave of pipes at the top.
Accessories
7 adjustable foot pistons to the Pedal Organ
6 adjustable pistons to the Choir Organ
7 adjustable pistons to the Great Organ
7 adjustable pistons to the Swell Organ (duplicated by foot pistons).
2 adjustable pistons to the Solo Organ
4 fixed pistons to the Solo Organ: Viole d’Orchestre |
Corno di Bassetto 8ft (55, XVI, XVIII) | Orchestral Hautboy | Tuba
Reversible piston: II; III; VIII; 9
Reversible piston to “Great Trumpet on Solo” (Nos. XII and 35)
Reversible foot piston: II
Reversible foot piston to “Great Trumpets on Pedal” (Nos. X, 34 and 35)
General cancel piston
Balanced expression pedals to Choir, Swell and Solo Organs.
The mechanism is electro-pneumatic; the console is detached. The manual compass is 58 notes; the pedal compass 30 notes.