This is an archive of news articles from August 2004. Current news articles can be found here and an archive index can be found here. Information in this archive may no longer be valid.

• New CD-ROM archive from the International Society of Organbuilders
  Readers may be familiar with ISO Information, published by the ISO between 1969 and 1990, and mostly out of print. All 32 issues have now been carefully scanned into PDF format, with almost full text transcription to permit full text searching of articles and indices. The resulting CD-ROM isn't cheap at about 39 (or 59 / $66), but will make a worthwhile addition to the library of anyone seriously interested in the technical side of organbuilding. More information can be found at www.mensuren.de/indexe.html, where you can also order the CD-ROM online. Look out for a review of this publication in the November 2004 edition of The Organ.
  
  
• Organ tours and masterclasses from Organ Promotion
  German organisation Organ Promotion has sent us details of 2004 organ tours and masterclasses that may be of interest to readers. On September 11th 2004 there is an organ tour by train along the Donau River from Ulm to Beuron. Olivier Latry give a masterclass on a theme of Gregorian influence in the music of French composers, along with concerts and an organ tour in the Ottobeuren Basilica between September 22nd and 26th. More masterclasses include Ben van Oosten in Waldsassen Basilica on improvisation and the Romantic French repertoire (6th to 10th October) and Joris Verdin and Frdric Blanc in Regensburg. Finally, Paris will be visited between October 29th and November 1st. For more details see www.mg-music.com - an understanding of German is probably necessary to get the most out of these opportunities.
  
  

• Specification: Gillingham Methodist Church
  Great (C-g3, 56 notes)		Swell (C-g3, 56 notes)
  Open Diapason Dulciana Clarabella Principal Harmonic Flute Fifteenth	8' 8' 8' 4' 4' 2'	Open Diapason Lieblich Keraulophon Voix Celeste Principal Cornopean Oboe	8' 8' 8' 8' 4' 8' 8'
  Accessories		Pedal (C-f1, 30 notes)
  Tremulant Great to Pedal Swell to Pedal Swell to Great Swell Octave to Great Four combination pedals		Bourdon	16'

  Sweetland organ restoration appeal
  

  Gillingham Methodist Church in Dorset has launched a restoration initiative for their 1890 organ by William Sweetland of Bath with a concert series featuring organists both local and internationally known. The organ is little altered from its installation, retaining its trigger Swell pedal but with an electric blower added in 1936. Griffin and Stroud made minor alterations in 1895, probably adding the Voix Celeste, possibly in place of a Piccolo 2' or Mixture.

  A sympathetic restoration is planned of this increasingly rare survival, as although the instrument remains playable, the mechanical action and Swell reeds in particular are showing their age. The fortnightly Sunday afternoon concerts are listed in our events diary.

  
  
• New Cornell fellowship to study corrosion in Baroque pipe organs
  Catherine Oertel has won a fellowship from the National Science Foundation in the United States to study corrosion in Baroque pipe organs at Cornell University, New York. Cornell's press release quotes Oertel: "In the early 1700s, these organs were the highest of high technology. They are the instruments on which Johann Sebastian Bach wrote much of his music. In the centuries since then, however, most of these organs have been lost to war or ill-conceived restoration attempts. Today, the few organs that remain are corroding badly, but for reasons that aren't completely clear."
  
  
• 2005 organ calendar from Harrison & Harrison
  Harrison & Harrison have published a new calendar for 2005 (pictured right) to celebrate the centenary of their rebuilding of the Durham Cathedral organ. Proceeds from the calendar go to the Cathedral Choir Association, and it is priced at 14 including shipping from: Harrison & Harrison Ltd., St.John's Road, Meadowfield, Durham DH7 8YH. Look out for another picture from this calendar in the August 2004 issue of The Organ.
  
  
• BIOS receive funding to record historic organs
  The British Institute of Organ Studies has recently been awarded 50,000 for a new project to record historic pipe organs. The Historic Organ Sound Archive Project will initially record organs in East Anglia whose sound has previously not been documented. It is intended to have the recordings available through the National Pipe Organ Register.
  
  
• The earliest Irish pipe organ?
  During excavations of a site near Greystones shortly to have new homes built on it, six wooden pipes were discovered earlier this year by Irish archaeologists. The pipes have been carbon dated to between 2,120 BC and 2,085 BC. The pipes measure between 30 and 50 centimetres long, and are tapered at one end with no perforations or finger holes. Made of yew, they may be the oldest wooden instrument yet discovered. While it is unlikely that they would have been part of something resembling a modern pipe organ, the lack of finger holes and number of differently pitched pipes suggests that they belong to some primitive ancestor of the pipe organ, possibly similar to the sheng or panpipes.