A cinema organ in a church! Me at Beer Congregational Church, Devon playing "Puff the magic dragon". This is actually a Wurlitzer organ originally built for the Picture House cinema in Walsall, West Midlands - the very first Wurlitzer to come to the UK! The organ was installed here in about 1957 and is now being restored to its former glory.
Me at the organ of St John Vianney Catholic Church in Clayhall, London. Im playing the old tune "If I could help somebody" and using the organs electrostatic melotone unit blended with the Tibia for most of the melody and to round it off I use the Triangle! The organ was originally installed at the Ritz Cinema in Nuneaton and has 3 manuals, 6 ranks of pipes and of course the melotone unit. It was designed by organist Harold Ramsay. When this church was built in the late 1960s, rather than spend large sums of money on a new organ the priest at the time was a cinema organ enthusiast and had this organ brought and installed here. The organ is used for the sunday services, weddings, funerals and other church activities and regular concerts are organised by the cinema organ society.
Me at the Burton-on-Trent Wurlitzer theatre organ playing "The first time I saw you" which makes use of the Glockenspiel and Xylophone used together.
The organ was originally installed at the Forum Cinema in Wythenshaw - a suburb of South Manchester - not far from the airport. There are 8 ranks of pipes and as standard on British theatre organ layouts, these are divided into 2 enclosed chambers as follows:
CHAMBER 1: Open Diapason, Flute, Violin, Violin Celeste
CHAMBER 2: Tibia, Tuba, Trumpet, Vox Humana.
And of course there are the usual percussions and novelty sound effects such as Fire Bell, Bird Whistle etc. This instrument does not feature a piano.
Me playing "Summer Nights" from Grease on the 3 manual 17 rank Wurlitzer organ installed at the New Victoria Centre in the village of Howden-le-Wear in County Durham. The organ was originally built in 1930 for the New Victoria cinema in Bradford. It is now lovingly cared for by the North East Theatre Organ Assocation (NETOA). The welcome I received here was perfect! For anyone who sees the keys moving on the grand piano be assured it is not a ghost doing a duet with me - I am playing the piano from the organ!
Me at my "local" - the Wurlitzer organ at the Theatre Organ Heritage Centre in Peel Green, Manchester playing the beautiful "Autumn leaves". The Wurlitzer organ here is one of the smallest in the country with 6 ranks of pipes (Diapason, Flute, Salicional, Tibia, Vox Humana and Trumpet) and originally built for the Trocadero in Liverpool. Unfortunately I placed the microphone a bit to near to the organ grilles so the sound is a bit harsh in this video. I recommend listening to this on a modererate to loud volume setting and your speakers about 180cm away from you if possible. Being a public place of course there were other visitors in the building so I expected some background noise. My thanks must go to Pete Taylor for allowing me use of this little gem of a theatre organ and for a tour of the museum afterwards! The Lancastrian theatre organ trust must be congratulated on their work in making this organ and all the other artefacts in the museum look like they were only built yesterday.
