The Organ

St Olaf’s organ was built by George Sixsmith in 1984 and gifted to the church by Reginald Case-Newton in memory of his late wife.

The organ has a standard size manual of 56 keys C-A compass finished in a less conventional style of black natural keys and white topped sharp keys. The action is tracker, meaning that when the keys are depressed, a wooden dowel is pushed down and opens the air valve to the pipes corresponding to that note.

Although being quite small, the organ boasts three complete ranks of pipes. These comprise of stopped flue pipes in 8’ and 4’ pitch and a third open flue rank in 2’ pitch. All the pipework is housed within the organ behind oak case work. The bottom octave of the 8’ rank of pipes make up the rear panelling of the organ’s case and their mouths can be seen at the very bottom of the organ. The larger of these pipes are cut at 90° and extend backwards into the organ in order to obtain the correct length of pipe to allow the correct pitch whilst fitting inside the case. The organ is electrically blown – the only item within the organ that requires electricity.

The style of the instrument is of a chamber organ which can easily accompany a small congregation or choir and can take part in chamber music. Organs similar in size have been known to tour to give concerts owing to their comparatively small size compared to a more traditional pipe organ. It is a high quality instrument, and with no foot pedals it is ideal for pianists as well as organists.

We welcome visiting musicians at St Olaf’s, so do get in touch if you would like to play for us.