| The Parish Church of St James |  |
| St. James's Road, Hampton Hill, TW12 1DQ (Parish Office 020 8941 6003) | |
| MUSIC IN St. JAMES'S | |
| Section
Contents: Music | Choirs
| Music Through the Years
| Organ | Recitals and
Concerts | St. James's Players | St. James's Young Musicians |
|
 |
|
The Organ
 |
The organ is situated
in the chancel and contains hundreds of pipes of all sizes. When the
organist plays a note, air travels by means of bellows to a certain
pipe. The air vibrates in the pipe, making a sound that may be anything
from a high-pitched whistle to a deep, low-pitched note, depending on
the size of the pipe - the largest pipe producing the lowest note, and
so on. |
| The organist uses his
hands on the three keyboards, and his feet on the pedals beneath the
keyboard. The 'stops' beside the keyboards control the varieties of
tone so that the organ may imitate various musical instruments, both
wind and string. The stops have names, like 'diapason', 'vox humana',
'flute', 'celeste'.
Originally built by Bishop & Son, the
organ is now in the care of John Males of Eastbourne (formerly
of Hill, Norman Baird). The instrument is a 3 manual and pedal organ.
Originally built in the 1830's for St Peter's, Eaton Square, it was
purchased for £150 and installed in the new organ chamber in 1874.
|
 |
 Organ keyboard |
 Organ stops |
 Organ pedals |
 |
In 1901 the organ builders
thoroughly cleaned, and in various ways improved the organ at a total
cost of £63. According to the report of the builders, this rendered
the instrument almost as complete and, perfect as it could be made which
added to the enjoyment of the services. The organ has since been rebuilt and augmented in 1912 and 1951. In 1997, it was refurbished again with the addition of clarinet and trumpet stops, the pipes being salvaged from a neighbouring church. |
|
In 2006 work was done
in the organ chamber to prevent the entry of dust particles from the
original mortar into the operating mechanism.
See pictures of the organ pipes. These images give an opportunity to see behind the console. The registration is as follows:
Six General Pre-Sets, Six Pre-sets per manual, 4 pedal, General Cancel |
| Our Organist |
Our
Organist is Matthew O'Malley who began life as a chorister at
Peterborough Cathedral. He was also organ scholar of All Saints Parish
Church, Peterborough, and, in his gap year, organ scholar of St James
Church, Grimsby, and its nearby choir school. He was organ scholar (and
briefly Music Society President) of Hertford College, Oxford, where
he studied music from 2001-2004. Matthew was subsequently a choral scholar
at Wells Cathedral, conducting and accompanying choirs in the Bristol
and Bath area. He was a member of Jesus College Choir, Cambridge, where
he completed his PGCE in 2006. |
 |
| Matthew is now Assistant Director
of Music at the Royal Grammar School, Guildford. He performs with a
variety of occasional choirs, including Contrafactum, the Orpheus Singers
and Voce in London, Sarum Voices in Salisbury and the Exon Singers in
Devon. He also plays the clarinet and previously belonged to his university
and county youth orchestras. |
 |
 |
 |
| Further Information |
|
 |
Contact
the Organist
01483 306 260 |
 |
Music 2006 APCM Report | Music 2007 APCM Report |
 |
Associated pages on this website: Images of the Organ Pipes Through the Years: Repairing the Organ (1885 May) | Painted Organ Pipes (1894 April) | Re-Building the Organ (1912) | Organ Renovations (1951) | In Appreciation of Geoffrey (2001 September) | Our New Organist (2002 March) | The Organ Chamber (2006 February) |