The Parish Church of St James
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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

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The Organ

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.
The organ

Organ keyboards

Organ keyboard
Organ stops
Organ stops
Organ pedals

Organ pedals

Organ Console
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:

Choir

Gemshorn 2
Salicet 4
Flute 4
Clarabella 8
Dulciana 8
Clarinet 8
Trumpet 4
Trumpet 8
Swell to Choir
Choir to Pedal
Great

Fifteenth 2
Principal 4
Flute 4
Open Diapason I 8
Open Diapason II 8
Trumpet 8
Clarabella 8
Mixture 3
Oboe 8
Oboe 16
Choir to Great
Swell to Great
Swell

Fifteenth 2
Geigen Principal 4
Oboe 8
Gamba 8
Horn 8
Voix Celestes 8
Open Diapason 8
Stopped Diapason 8
Mixture II
Octave, Sub Octave, Tremulant
Pedal

Octavin 2
Fifteenth 4
Octave 8
Bass Flute 8
Open Diapasson 16
Bourdon 16
Oboe 4
Oboe 8
Oboe 16
Great to Pedal
Swell to Pedal

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 O'Malley
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.

The Organ
Sing Unto the Lord and Praise His Name
The Organ

Further Information
Contacts
Contact the Organist 01483 306 260
APCM Report Music 2006 APCM Report | Music 2007 APCM Report
Associated pages on this website 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)

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