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NEWSLETTER FOR FRIENDS AND DONORS
OCTOBER 2008
LARGEST PIPES
This is a very busy month for Orgelbau Klais.
The largest pipes to be made for the organ in Bonn have been manufactured,
erected on their windchests and are receiving their primary voicing.
These are the forty four pipes of the Pedal Organ Posaune which will be available
at 32 and 16 foot pitches. The huge pipes are scaled to match the 1906
Norman and Beard equivalent in the Wellington Town Hall Organ. The scale
of the full-length 32 foot pipe is 401 millimetres. (diameter at the top).
The largest pipes of the rank are mitred, or curled up, to lower their height
and to prevent dust settling on the reeds at the bottom of the pipes. The
remainder are hooded, or turned at right angles at the top to prevent dust
problems, and to direct the sound into the hall. Most of the organ's other reed
pipes of the trumpet type that stand in the open, are also hooded for the
same reasons.The very loud, low pitched Posaune pipes are on the organ's highest
wind pressure of 15 inches watergauge.
The crowning rank of the pedal organ, also on this pressure, is the 16 foot
Ophicleide which is modelled on the 1913 Norman and Beard stop in Edinburgh's Usher Hall organ. The Auckland version is however six pipes larger in scale with the 16 foot pipe measuring 349.1 millimetres at the top.
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PLENTY OF WIND
The organ will need a colossal amount of wind. Consider: One finger could activate one hundred pipes at once! With both hands and feet playing, and pipes measuring anything from one centimetre to ten metres in length ...well you do the maths! Four electric blowers located in the Town Hall basement will feed twenty three reservoirs. These will hold the organ's wind at a variety of pressures, ready to blow one pipe or several hundred.
The wind system is currently being assembled at Orgelbau Klais - a mass of supporting framework, bellows, reservoirs, regulators, springs, heavy weights and custom-made interlinking trunking. Most of the 1911 reservoirs have been restored for re-use and are being supplemented by new ones modelled on the originals. Thomas Von Heysen is seen here assembling new reservoirs in the Bonn factory. The whole system is being tested before painting (a dark mahogany colour similar to the 1911 organ) , dismantling and packing for New Zealand.
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FUND RAISING
City Organist, John Wells led an exciting evening of music on Saturday 4 October at St. Patrick's Cathedral. He was assisted by Philip Lloyd (trumpet), Grant Dickson (bass) and Viva Voce (John Rosser). Max Cryer was compere. Seldom has there been a more thrilling performance of Handel's Zadok the Priest, than that which ended this benefit concert for the Town Hall Organ.
ADOPT -A - PIPE
Get your friends to to Adopt-a-Pipe. They'll then enjoy a personal connection to New Zealand's greatest pipe organ! Visit: www.auckland organ.org.nz
FACADE SPRUCE UP
To ensure the organ's visible parts match the gleam of the mostly new organ behind, extensive tests have been made on the facade pipes in an effort to re-capture something of their original appearance. They will be cleaned then painted with a special lacquer. At the same time the oak casework will be cleaned and polished. In the picture below the City's Heritage Manager, George Farrant (right) discusses the options and the process with Klais project manager, Stefan Hilgendorf (left).
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INSTALLATION PROGRAMME
During his recent visit to Auckland, Stefan Hilgendorf worked out installation details
with the Auckland City Council and The Edge. It is no mean task to produce a timetable that allows the complex job of installing the organ to fit around the Town Hall's many bookings and the Civic Carpark re-development.
Stage one, the major installation, will take place during the January
and February holiday period of 2009. A team of ten from Bonn will be joined
by staff from The Edge.
Stage two, the final installation and tonal finishing, will involve shiftwork around the clock from August to November 2009. The organ will then need a period to settle down before its final adjustments in February 2010.
Inauguration is expected in March 2010.
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PACKING UP
This month many parts of the organ are being packed into containers
in Bonn ready for shipping to New Zealand. It is expected seven containers will
be needed for the 35 tonne organ. From the fifth of January next year, they'll be
delivered, one by one, to the Town Hall's Stage Door. Then piece by piece, the organ will begin to occupy the refurbished loft behind the facade.
The photo was taken by Stefan Hilgendorf following the dismantling and removal of the 1970 organ in January this year.
E MAIL PROBLEM
The September Newsletter (the first of this series) did not reach some of the intended recipients due to an email problem. This concerned mostly those who use xtra. If you did not recieve last month's newsletter and would like a copy, please email
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
. Sue is a member of the Town Hall Organ Trust.
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