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The Grade II listed building which is St Anne’s, Derby, sits like a stranded whale in the middle of a wide but well kept housing estate. Under other circumstances this might have been the means of renewal for the congregation but social engineering over recent years has removed the younger families with the result that most of the congregation is enthusiastic but elderly. It is also true to say that there is not a lot of money to spare for an organ.
When opened in 1878 the church had a two manual Brindley & Foster, replaced in 1938 by a three manual instrument by J H Adkins. A Tromba was added in 1969 and Reeves & Reeves restored the instrument, reducing it to a two manual again in 1974. By the end of the century the cost of a full rebuild, given the size of the congregation, was out of the question. An electronic instrument was the only practical answer. However, such are the developments over recent years that it would be hard to believe, even two of three years ago, the quality of sound that can now be produced through sampling.
I spent some time with Ron Keeping as he began to make the final voicing adjustments to the three manual and pedal electronic organ he has installed in St Anne’s. The console is placed on the north side of the choir, facing the case and front pipes of the pipe-organ. The speakers have been installed to allow for two separate instruments, one from within the old organ case and the other from the west wall. They are voiced independently and are not intended to be played together, though the organist can move from one to the other at the flick of a rocker switch.
Though the high wooden ceiling and dark red-brick walls would imply a warmly resonant acoustic it is in fact rather dry, but of course this is no difficulty for a sampled instrument and there are 63 possible levels of reverberation. This means that not only can the organist gently support the sound s/he is creating, s/he can also adjust the resonance to suite the size of congregation/audience.
As with most electronic organs today voicing can be altered from the console. Ron Keeping regards the quality of voicing as probably his major contribution to any new installation. Like any organ builder it is the quality of sound – the impact of the music upon the listener – which is all important. Ron Keeping applies the same level of professionalism to voicing the instrument for the building as would any pipe-organ builder. Each note, each rank is voiced separately and then against each other to ensure harmony and balance. The result if not blandness but beauty of sound which works specifically for this building. “The organ must sing”, he says. Ant being sung to is of course one of its major functions. To assist the organist, the instrument has a recording unit which allows either recitalist or accompanist to perform a work, then play it back while listening in various parts of the building to ensure it is what s/he wants the listeners to hear.
The sound Ron Keeping has produced is essentially English liturgical but he gives the Tierce and Sifflote just enough bite to allow a more steely tone for baroque works. By contrast the Krummhorn on the Positiv has depth and warmth without an uncomfortable snarl to it. The Vox Humana is placed next to the tremolo for ease of access during French repertoire.
And the sound? I know there are readers who claim that they can always tell an electronic instrument from a pipe organ and that they will never be ‘fooled’ into accepting anything other than the ‘real-thing’. I can only say, as I have before, come and listen, come and play. If the sound was poor or un-musical I would say so, as I have done on many occasions before. It is not. If anything it is far more versatile than many smaller pipe organs at a fraction of the cost. I have no wish to lose pipe-organs or to put organ builders out of business but unless there is a sea-change in the financial arrangements within the church, then church councils are going to opt with their purses to say nothing of their ears.
If you doubt the quality of sound, get to hear it for yourself. I understand that a number of churches in the Derby area have already done so and more orders have been placed.
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