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FUGUE:
CHAPTER II
THE
GROWTH OF THE SPECIFICATION
For
details of the growth of the specification, from the small
two-manual and pedal instrument first envisaged, to the large
four-manual organ actually built, we are dependent on the existing
correspondence from Schulze & Sons to Kennedy.
Unfortunately this is incomplete, neither have copies of Kennedy's
letters to Schulze been preserved, if indeed they were ever made.
It is clear from the German letters that Kennedy was expected to
visit Paulinzelle at least once again, and it is probable that the
final specification, of which no record now exists, was arranged
during such a visit, or was confirmed by Kennedy following the
visit.
The
first letter from Schulze & Sons is in quaint English as
follows:
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The
second letter of 13th September, 1866, is written in
German, as are the remaining letters,* but the first specification
is in English and uses mainly English stop nomenclature. Described
as "a new organ for a large house," this instrument
shows several interesting features. The second manual is an
unenclosed Choir organ, there being no mention of a Swell organ.
The Choir division shows an undue preponderance of 8ft. stops the
object being, as stated in the accompanying letter: "to
obtain the richest possible selection of fine solo stops."
The Great organ has a Diapason chorus with the Twelfth and
Fifteenth on a common slider, which is important when comparing
the early specifications of the four-manual instrument with regard
to the Rausch Quinte. The very small Pedal organ is
interesting in that two 8ft. stops of different tone are provided
for use with a single 16ft. Sub-Bass. Three manual stops
lack their own basses, being grooved into the basses of other
stops, and this economy in pipes persists throughout the growth of
the organ. The Schulze firm state in the letter that they
would prefer to make the display pipes silent "as by this
arrangement the mechanism is simplified and the tone improved."
The cost of this organ, including a Gothic case in oak with front
pipes of 87.5% tin and all metal speaking pipes of 62.5% tin,
carriage and erection in Leeds, is quoted as £500.
*All
subsequent quotations from the German corresondence come from
translations made from the manuscripts for
Mr. Iles Pulford,
a former organist of the church, with emendations in consultation
with Mr. and Mrs. R.F.M.Bryn.
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Evidently
this small instrument was not acceptable to Kennedy, who must
also have had misgivings regarding the use of wood
for the bass octave of the Open Diapason 8ft. since, in a
letter of 6th October, 1866, the following passages
occur:
“We
enclose a new specification for the building of the organ you
desire, together with an outline plan and two vertical
cross-sections showing the inner construction . . . we cannot
make the low octave of Principal 8 ft. equally well with tin as
with wood; the high octaves of Bordun, Lieblich Gedact etc.
however, are better made from tin than wood. In this matter you
can rely on our judgement. If well voiced, the change from wood
to tin pipes is inaudible and we guarantee that you will not
find the slightest fualt in this respect when the organ is
completed.
Also, in the Great Organ we have left the
Trompete 8 ft. where it is, whereas you preferred Hautboy 8ft.
We have done this because, by the inclusion of Mixtur 3 ranks
and the Open 16ft. Bass, the organ has gained considerably in
power and consequently the mor powerful Trompete is more
suitable than the Hautboy”
The
pipes in the organ front are again to be dumb and details of
the dimensions, layout and fittings of the room in which the
organ is to be placed are requested to ensure that the case
will be in harmony. Another visit by Kennedy to
Paulinzelle is suggested.
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This
specification, which is again for a two-manual and
pedal
instrument, is the most complete in the German
correspondence.
Further modifications are referred to in
the later letters, but as
already mentioned the final
specification of the four-manual organ
has not survived.
In this two-manual specification Schulze reverts
to the
traditional German nomenclature for the two manual
departments
(Hauptwerk and Oberwerk), but in the list of
couplers
Hauptwerk becomes Grosswerk (i.e. Great Organ) and it
is
noteworthy that the reversed coupler Grosswerk to Oberwerk
is
included in addition to the Oberwerk to Grosswerk
coupler. All
the pipes are unenclosed, there being no
mention of a swell box.
The high proportion of
wooden pipes (25 per cent. if the reeds are
excluded) is
remarkable and the compass has evidently been
extended
from 56 to 61 notes at Kennedy's request.
Three
stops have been added, together with a remark on the tone
of
the Principalbass 16ft., in English, and the Mixtur 3
fach
(i.e. 3-fold) has "4 ranks" written above
it in the same hand. It is
probable that these
insertions were made by Kennedy since, in a
letter dated
23rd November, 1866, the following comments by
Schulze
occur:
“The
addition of a Dulciana 8ft. In the Great Organ will be suitable
for the purpose for which you require it. We are likewise in
agreement with you with regard to the Mixtur. The tone becomes
fresher, especially with the low notes”.
This
last comment may very probably refer to a suggestion by
Kennedy that the Mixtur should be modified by the
addition of a
fourth rank, as indicated by the insertion
in English. If this is so,
it would support the
contention that the final five-rank Mixtur
existed in the
instrument at Meanwood and was not added or
completed
later.
The
suggestion of a Flageolet 2ft. in the Oberwerk, however,
was
not so acceptable to Schulze, who considered that the
4ft. stop of
full compass, played an octave higher, gave
the required effect,
but he was quite willing to insert
the 2ft. stop if it were required
for some special
purpose. This reluctance to include separate 2ft.
ranks
persisted throughout the design of the instrument (see
chapter
IX).
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Schulze
also suggests the addition of a Posaune 16ft. to the Pedal Organ,
which he says would "appreciably increase the sparkle of the
Pedal." He also remarks that: ‘After this we believe
that the organ will be so complete that it will leave nothing more
to be desired as far as range is concerned’
But
in a letter of 31st December, 1866, which was evidently a letter
of introduction from Schulze to an organist friend and which had
been preserved by Kennedy, Schulze says:
‘Mrs Kennedy
is having a house organ built by us. For the present, it will have
2 manuals, and 24 stops and is later to be completed as quite a
large one. (author’s italics)
This,
together with the addition of an open Principalbass 16ft. and the
possibility of a Posaune 16ft. on the Pedal Organ, makes it clear
that at this stage Kennedy was contemplating a very much larger
instrument than initially, and it is probable that the provision
of a separate structure to accommodate it was being considered at
that time.
This
letter of introduction was written by Schulze to enable Mr.
Kennedy and Mr. Broughton, the chorus master of the Leeds Musical
Festival, to see and to hear two organs built by Schulze &
Sons in Düsseldorf. The instrument in the concert hall
evidently pleased the visitors greatly and included a swell box,
mention of which appears in a letter from Schulze of 7th June,
1867.
“We
ourselves are not satisfited with the Swell in Dusseldorf,
although we cannot account for its weak effort with any degree
of
certainty . . , we shall make every endeavour in your
organ to make a more efficient swell box than we managed in
Dusseldorf”.
It
is therefore probable that Kennedy was contemplating the addition
of a Swell Organ to his instrument after the visit to Düsseldorf
and that by June, 1867, his organ had grown to be a three-manual
and pedal instrument.
On
16th January, 1867, Kennedy evidently wrote to Schulze suggesting
a Principal 8ft. similar to that by Father Smith in the Temple
Church, London. Schulze replied on 31st January that he was
willing to make such a stop:
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In
a letter of 31st January, 1867, Edmund Schulze suggests that, to
satisfy Kennedy's wish for a separate 2ft. rank in the Echo Organ,
a Nasard 2⅔ft. and a Flautino 2ft. should replace the
Harmonica 2-3 ranks. This is the first mention of an Echo
division and it seems that at this stage the original Choir Organ
had been abandoned in favour of an Echo Organ containing a 2-3
rank mixture. The Nasard and Flautino appear in the present Echo
Organ. Schulze requests "drawings of the place for the organ
as soon as possible." These were received by 16th
March, 1867, and were approved by Schulze as giving adequate space
for the instrument. He requests that the walls and ceiling
of the organ chamber be plastered to improved the reflection of
the sound since "Wood absorbs the sound and allows it to
escape through the joints." This strongly suggests that
the organ had now outgrown its original intended site in Meanwood
Towers, and that the wooden structure which finally housed it in
the grounds of the mansion was already in preparation.
By
14th May, 1867, the main components of the organ, including the
soundboards, bellows and pneumatic motors were being made,
and drawings of the internal arrangement were forwarded to
Kennedy, whilst in a letter of 7th June, 1867, mention is made of
Edmund Schulze's impaired health as a cause of delay.
Mention is also made of the Echo Oboe as being a flue stop of
beautiful tone just invented by Edmund Schulze, and the swell box
is about to be made. At this stage the organ was evidently a
three-manual instrument with Great, Swell and Echo
divisions.
During
the next six months progress appears to have been slow, partly
because Kennedy had requested Schulze to add a peal of bells to
the organ, which never materialised. In a letter of 3rd
December, 1867, Schulze agrees to the addition of a new Choir
Organ as suggested by Kennedy and encloses the suggested
specification.
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By
18th January, 1868, the design of the hydraulic blowing plant is
under consideration, using two of Joy's water engines, each
operating two double feeders, the calculated output being 1,200
cubic feet of air per minute. The mechanism, together with
the main reservoir, is to be placed in an annex to the organ
house, with central heating pipes to assist in maintaining
constancy of temperature. Evidently by 26th June, 1868, the
organ house was under construction, since Schulze is concerned
about the plastering of walls and ceiling and the necessity for
completion of building operations before the organ is erected and
finished. Unfortunately, an error had been made regarding
the dimensions of the organ chamber, the breadth of which was only
20 feet, whereas 24 feet had originally been stipulated.
This caused consternation at Paulinzelle and an urgent request was
sent to Kennedy for an accurate drawing of the space
available. This was received on 1st July and Edmund Schulze
was occupied with alterations to the building frame of the organ
in order to accommodate it to the new dimensions, without
discarding too many of the already finished parts of the
mechanism!
On
12th September, 1868, Kennedy was informed that the soundboards
and bellows had been dispatched to Leeds, the transport being
arranged by H. A. Kirsten of Hamburg and by Gee & Co. of Hull.
The second load followed on 16th September and included the
pneumatic machine. A long delay followed, due to the
incomplete state of the organ house at Meanwood, during which
Schulze & Sons were occupied in building several instruments
for German churches. By 7th May, 1869, the structure at Meanwood
was complete and Kennedy invited Edmund Schulze to stay at
Meanwood Towers during the erection and finishing of the organ.
On 20th July, 1869, Messrs. Schulze wrote to inform Kennedy that
the last load of organ parts was about to be dispatched and that
Edmund Schulze and his workers would set out for Leeds to commence
erection of the organ.
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