Meeting with giants – Gerard Brooks and the organ of Westminster Hall

I learned today about what it takes to play a big concert organ, rather than a little parish machine.

Six of us were given the privilege of playing the massive, newly reconstructed Harrison & Harrison organ at Methodist Central Hall in Westminster, under the supervision of Gerard Brooks.  Daunting and exciting – though frustrating to only play a couple of times through a piece, in front of others, when what you craved was half an hour of quiet practice to find your way  around the 4 keyboards and 66 stops.

Walking to the back of the balcony while others were playing told you a lot about what you hear as a player, and what the audience hears.  At the console it’s about 50% less loud than in the hall; which is
 counter-intuitive for most instrumentalists, though organists have to
 get used to it.

Gerard commented that as English organs tend to have fairly feeble swells,
 we get into the habit of just slamming them open and shut.  It’s not necessary here.   This organ
 has an enclosed Solo as well as Swell division, and the effects are 
good, but the pedals are heavy.  Prepare with pressure in
 the bars before.  Gerard also had some things to say about taking our time –  making the pedal line more deliberate, for example, leading into a bar where you want to point up a change of harmony. Be aware, he said, that musical ideas can be there in our heads, but we aren’t actually playing them.

We were allowed to peer at the new innards, which rise the full 32 feet behind the big pedal pipes. The old pipework was in chaos – “a dangerous interior” said Gerard, with
 ranks which couldn’t be tuned for fear the whole thing would collapse
 under the tuner’s weight.

This was the first time I’d seen inside an organ of this size, and I was slightly taken aback by the sheer untidiness of it all.  The serene facade hides a maze of wires, tubing, leather, strange weights on strings, ladders leading tiny platforms, and multiple places where you could bang your head.   Some pipes were shiny brand new; some rescued from the old organ rebuilds looked suitably blackened and battered.  Some ranks were no more impressive than a row of pencils, but the stars of the show were of course the giant 32 footers.  Disconcerting to play: from the console you don’t hear them –  just a strange throbbing in the air.

Westminster Central Hall is the London headquarters of the Methodist Church, and faces Westminster Abbey.  The original organ was built by Hill & Son in 1912.  It was rebuilt and enlarged by Rushworth and Dreaper in 1970.  The 2010-11 reconstruction was by Harrison & Harrison and includes a complete renewal of the soundboards, action and wind system.  (Plus some snazzy LED lighting.)

Gerard Brooks is an international concert organist and teacher.  He gives regular Sunday Matinee peformances on this organ.