Me playing the organ at St Cyprian's Church in Hay Mills just outside Birmingham city centre.
The organ was installed in the late 1960s by 'Compton Organs Limited' (which was the new name given to the famous John Compton Organ Company Ltd after they had been financially wound up) where it replaced a pipe organ built by Bryceson. It is the 'model 363'. The console was installed in the place of the previous one and the 'rotofon' speaker stands in the previous pipe chamber.
For this first video im playing the hymn 'Praise to the Holiest in the height' to the tune 'Gerontius' which gives the general idea of what the organ sounds like for congregational hymn singing. The Compton patent 'rotofon' speaker can be clearly heard throughout. In the next video I have switched this off so that the difference can be heard.
These organs are fast becoming extinct with many churches replacing them with digital instruments etc. Modern technology is indeed appealing with its realistic sampled sounds but history is being lost as a result. Opportunities should be taken to see that these unique instruments are preserved for future generations to experience how technology worked in the pre digital era.
Many thanks to Reverend Roy Anett for not only allowing me access to this wonderful Compton electrostatic organ but for such a wonderful welcome!
For more information on the John Compton Organ Company Ltd and to see me play other Compton organs, please click on the following link for my site dedicated to the John Compton Organ Company Ltd:
http://comptonorgans.yolasite.com/
