A new organ for S Nicolas

A considerable amount of time had been taken in considering the future of the ailing Wood Wordsworth pipe organ installed in 1965. The pipework apparently came from various sources, resulting in the instrument being something of a hybrid. Part of the action appears to have been built for a former organ by Walker, some by Hill and some by others unknown. Over the years the action had deteriorated to such an extent that some of the stops had become unusable and significant remedial work, including replacement of unreliable and dated electric action, had become inevitable.

Various reports and quotations were obtained as a result of which it became clear that the state of the action, the unsatisfactory disposition of the organ in the chamber, the failure of the irreparable swell box mechanism, the inadequacies of the specification and its construction, including parts of various organs which did not entirely match, put a satisfactory rebuild outside the present resources of the parish. It became clear that if a new pipe organ was planned for the building today, it would be something other than the present configuration and specification.

Faced with imminent failure of the instrument, after research and in consultation with the Diocese, as part of the vision for future worship and parish life, it was agreed that the pipe organ should be mothballed, leaving the existing parts as they are within the chamber but dismantling and removing the existing failing pipe organ console to be replaced by a new Viscount Envoy 350 De Luxe Digital Organ with a full and sophisticated amplification system

Viscount Envoy 350 De Luxe Organ Console

We were anxious to install an instrument suitable for our Grade 1 Listed building which would unobtrusively provide for development of liturgical and concert repertoire providing for subtlety of sound but with appropriate presence and power when needed. The Viscount organ is basically specified to emulate all British pipe-organ conventions and player’s expectations. The Viscount state of the art ‘Physis’ technology enables a wide choice of voice models for every stop on the instrument enabling the sound of the organ to be authentically tailored, both to enable performance of a vast repertoire of music from ancient times to the present and in a way which makes the best use of the latest technology matched to the fine acoustic of the building.

The organ has now been with us for a year and we remain delighted with it. It was formally dedicated at the 11.30 a.m. Sung Eucharist on Sunday 19 March 2023.