Are there any other reed organ lovers here? I have always loved them and have adopted three over the years. They are really unpopular in the churches and chapels in my area at least and probably country-wide. Many are being thrown out or placed in the local auction room where they will be sold for £5 on a good day. Often they are bought for the wood only. I have one set up in my studio and always let the pupils play carols on it as Christmas approaches. I had an article published about them a few years ago in a Welsh magazine and had lots of feedback from readers about it. To many they are a part of chapel life and the new small electric machines that are so often bought as a replacement just aren't the same. Some of these have the wedding marches and the funeral march plumbed in. They are just as prone to mice and damp as the harmoniums were too, and if the little beasts happen to eat the wiring they are more costly to repair.


Members:
petrat
mwl1
Skylark (She will be after visiting the museum, if she isn't already.)
Diapason
Jod

Wonderful!!!

As you know, I now have a reed organ. I've had it less than 24 hours, and already I can feel that I will be collecting them for years to come...

They remind me of Miss Bat from The Worst Witch

Do any of your harmoniums have electric blowers, Petra?

Count me in as a member of the society!

No electric bits anywhere! They are all worked by foot operated bellows. There used to be a harmonium museum just outside of Bradford. I must find out if it is there still.

Now is a very good time to start a collection as they are plentiful and many are being given away rather than sold. It is rather like the situation was with square pianos when I was in my teens. They were sold for a pound or two and many were destroyed. An eccentric uncle of mine with a mansion used tham as dressing tables! I think that he ahd about fifteen of them. One in almost every bedroom. Now they can fetch high prices.

I see. Do you have an opinion on electric blowers? Are they not the done thing?

Any chance of posting photos of yours? Here is mine:

Wow! That looks lovely. I will spend some time in a day or two posting photos of mine if I can. I like instruments to be as authentic as possible so I would not want a harmonium to be electrically blown. It is possible to add a sort of hocket style vibrato when using foot bellows. Did you know that they were invented for domestic use first of all and not for church or chapel use? It was a Monsieur Debain of Paris who invented it back in the 1840's although there was a similar free reed instrument developed in Denmark around seventy years earlier. The churches liked to use them rather than the bands of drunken and unruly musicians who often used to accompany the services, and who often turned up a little the worse for wear after a boozy saturday night. There is a brilliant set of bagatelles by Dvorak for two violins, a cello and a harmonium. We should try to do it in a forum concert.

I havent heard many but ones like mwls look really charming and handsome. I think you would need to work with the sound because of the timbre and shape of it, perhaps in a band (like your carol singing) but then I've only heard a few examples on Youtube and the sound was bad.

You just need to add a silver-backed hairbrush and a bottle of smellling salts....

I wonder whether the mirrors were built in for the sake of seeing the church warden/cleaner approaching you, or whether these things were actually novelty dressers for the rich.

I have a feeling that the very high backed, ornate ones were made for the home rather than for the church. I saw a lovely one once with a small rank of organ pipes on the top above the case. In chapels at least it helps to be able to see over the top as these were often placed infront of the pews with the player's back to the congregation.

I have an old tutor for the harmonium in my collection by a Mr. Farmer.

Did you know that the London College of Music used to hold grade exams in harmonium playing? I have an old syllabus of theirs dating from the second world war and they were still being held then. .

As a child, it was a great treat to visit old Great Aunt ANNIE (A REAL old Great Aunt ) who had a front room in her bungalow that, to me, was a mini-museum - stuffed birds under glass domes, china figures etc., and a HUGE "american organ" built by Mason and Hamlin. It had a facade of organ pipes (non working) and shelves and mirrors. I was allowed to play this whenever I visited. I found out that in later years, the organ had been relegated to the garage and eventually "disposed of" which I find out is a euphemism for chopped up.
Until recently, I had an Estey organ. A very small instrument that had it's origins on a train (in the USA) and was used to accompany services on board when the lon trans-continental journeys involved a SUnday. It had only 5 stops and two knee swells but was a very sweet tone. I sold it to a pupil who is now undertaking a full restoration - and up to press making a very nice job of it.

As far as I know the Reed Organ Museum is still at SALTAIRE near Bradford. The latest news is that there is likely to be a Wurlitzer Cinema Organ installed in a hall in Saltaire - possibly in with the Reed Organs. A very nice couple are the curators there. If one can play, they are happy for you to play the instruments. Absolutley FASCINATING
In France, the Harmonium is a vital part of the various forms of service and mass.....the pipe organ simply will not do in many cases. Boehllman and other french organist/composers wrote some wonderful pieces expressely for the harmonium - The "Heures Mystiques" for example.

Beautiful instruments with a very interesting history. Luv'em!

(ps The difference between an "American Organ" and a "Harmonium" is that one sucks air through and the other blows are through. Can never remember which is which)

Your place or mine? Are there many string players coming to Anglesey do you know? If not, we had quite a lot of string players at the last Leeds concert who may be up for it. Let me know if you want me to put something in the pipeline



I've never heard of it! Now that the EMS has moved to Saltaire as well, it seems as if it's becoming quite a mecca for musicians

I did a google for it and it's had a very positive feedback from a member of the Mander Organs forum.

I lovel playing Harmoniums. Once I've got my feet going It's great fun. At the junior church I helped with they didn't have a piano but they did have a working harmonium, much more fun! The Rural Dean has a Harmonium [note to self must invite myself over ther to play it]

I remember having harmoniums in the churches when I was young. One of them was particularly hard work to pump and we had a nasty feeling that it helped to shorten the life of the moderately elderly organist

At home we used to have a portable one that my grandfather, as an army chaplain, had used in Flanders during WWI. It had a good bright sound for playing out of doors. If you remember the film "Oh what a lovely war" there is an identical harmonium in the scene where they are singing "Onward Christian soldiers" in a ruined church.

Sadly it had a bit of woodworm, and though we treated it we couldn't get rid of it entirely, so my husband insisted on throwing it out a few years ago.

American Organs suck (!)

John

Leeds would be better as then those who want to could visit the museum too. One of mine is quite portable.

I've emailed you....

This morning, I went to collect my second harmonium! It had been in the church where I play for Evilsnog Evensong for many years, and wasn't used. It had been left behind the organ to deteriorate. It was in a rather inconvenient position against the wall. I was inspecting it after the service on Sunday evening, and then had a conversation with the vicar.

"What's going to happen to this harmonium?"

"You can have it - take it when you want!"



So this morning, we did just that. It's smaller than my other one, and doesn't have any stops. It could do with cleaning up a bit, and some notes that don't work need to be looked into. Not bad considering I was given it! It can be a project for the summer (as if I need one...)

Where it was before...



...at the church door...



...home!

I used to have a harmonium in my bedroom in pre-uni days (early 60's), it looked quite similar to mwl1's, with about 10 stops in a row, and foot bellows. It came form a Spiritualist chapel in Keighley, and I paid 30 shillings (£1.50) for it
When I went away to uni in 1965 , my Dad broke it up and used some the wood. Im seeing him this evening, I'll remind him about it !

Yup...they have their uses! I hope it kept him warm!

Do you not like reed organs, HG?...

My tongue was slightly in my cheek, but only slightly!

Perhaps I was put off by a concert many years ago. I agreed to play the harmonium part for the Rossini Petite Messe Solennelle. The harmonium was lent by a local GP, and was a bit of a wreck. I remember during the rehearsal the conductor repeatedly asking me for more volume. Well, I had all the stops out, was pumping for all I was worth and couldn't provide any more!

In the end, I played the organ for the concert and made it sound more harmonium like than one would have believed possible....

But, for a while, I found it difficult not to repeatedly pump the swell pedal!

Because of the interest in these instruments on this thread I'd like to mention that The Reed Organ Society exists as an international society for people interested in Reed Organs / Harmoniums. The society issues a quarterly magazine and has a website at http://www.reedsoc.org/.

I hope this helps others enjoy these 'pedal' organs.

Hello mwl1. I hope you don't mind me responding to you, though you don't know me, and your post is a year old! ;p But I came across this page in a pump organ google image search, and when I saw your question, I had to register to offer my thoughts! :)
Accordion players don't usually complain of having to pump; they enjoy all the nuances of tone color and dynamics, and the intimacy it affords. We have that available on our instruments as well. Especially the European air pressure kind, though on my American suction ones, which are all I have as I'm an American, I can get dynamics and emotional tone colors too, though not as quickly.

With an electric blower, you get the opposite of musicality to some extent. Single notes and thin textures would blare, while the more notes played at once, the bigger the chords, the less volume you'd have. The large chords would drop in pitch a bit, and be ever so delicate and gentle, when THEY'RE the parts that are supposed to blare.
With pumping, you can make big chords blare, then drop down to barely pumping for thoughtful solo passages. I would NEVER have a blower, and not for authenticity's sake either! :)
I hope you're enoying your reed organ, and that you're legs have gotten used to pumping. I remember when I was seventeen and my mom bought me my first reed organ, how tired my legs would get in the beginning!! And how I'd forget to pump sometimes!

I have a youtube site with some reed organ things of mine on it, if you or anyone is interested -

http://www.youtube.com/Lifecomesfromwithin

Best wishes,

John.

I don't venture into this forum often and have only just seen this. Thank you for posting. Nice to find another Early Music fan.

And I'd somehow managed to miss this post! Thank you very much for that - most useful. Of course, I now realise that electric blowers are bad! My harmonium, incidentally, is still going strong, and has been wonderful thus far!

If the Reed Organ collection is still at Saltaire, there is soon to be another attraction of organ interest. In the Victoria Hall (am I right there?) in Saltaire, a 3 manual 10rank Wurlitzer Theatre organ is being installed as we speak..... official opening sometime in spring this year
Originally from the Gaumont in Oldham, the instrument was last installed in the Ritz Ballroom, Brighouse, but re-development forced its move.

Saltaire is fast becoming of great interest to organ lovers of all persuasions!!

Hi

I came across this the other day whilst looking for something else! I can tell you that the Reed Organ Museum aty Saltaire is still open (but not until after Easter now). I played some demonstration recitals there last Septemebr. I own an Alexandre harmonium, and have been playing reed organs for more years than I care to remember!

Every Blessing

Tony

Welcome to the board, Tony. You'll find a few familiar faces from 'the other place', me, Holz and a couple of others.

I might be getting one soon oooh i hope i do!
Its got 9 stops, and two knee levers also. I dont know what the knee levers do, but i think they are normaly Tuttis and Cor Anglais stops?
Im not sure, but i hope we can get it

You mean you didn't need a Faculty?

It took us months to get rid of ours. I think we eventually got eighteen quid on Fleabay, but that was not quite the story that we gave to the diocese.

It didn't need a faculty because it wasn't listed on the doings.

I hope you enjoy yours, HC! You must post a photo of it!

thats what im hoping to get!

That looks like it'll make a jolly noise! Let me know how you get on!

"You mean you didn't need a Faculty? "

You almost certainly did need a faculty.

It is irrelevant whether an item is listed in the terrier or not. Similarly, moveable items are not exempt from the faculty jurisdiction. Only items within the Diocesan de minimis list do not need faculties. Even items introduced illegally i.e. without a faculty, need a faculty for their removal.

The need for a faculty is often misunderstood. If an item is sold without a faculty, the purchaser acquires the item but not the title. This can (and has) given rise to complicated legal actions.

Barry Williams

Bah! Faculties!

We could have a Faculty Appreciation Society!

Try the Ecclesiastical Law Society!

Barry Williams

Indeed!

I have sinned. On Saturday I ended up buying a lovely old French Alexandre et Fils harmonium at the same auction the first one came from. It needs a bit of work, but cost me £5 and so there is suitable margin for repair money. It has the usual expression stop, but also it has a percussion stop! It'll keep my occupied for a bit, as it's not in A1 condition. I was just glad I saved it from the pillock who said he wanted to buy it to break it up for the wood...

Never mind about the stops, does it smell OK


(only joking... congratulations on your new baby )

Thanks! It's a rather large baby - looks like a big chest.

The smell is fine. Needs a good clean though! I ought to speak to the man at Saltaire about it!

Pictures please!

I never did get that one...
Mum said ''You're living in the wrong era''

Perhaps we could fit in a trip to Saltaire as well as Doncaster when Flossy's down

Pictures to follow!

We're just ahead of them all...
That would be good! I'll speak to The Management...

J and I were at Saltaire yesterday (Wednesday) - playing the beautiful 3 manual 11 rank Wurlitzer recently installed in the Victoria Hall (Main Hall)

We shall be there again on Sunday for a concert.

Thank you! I don't venture here often either!

Thank you! ;p I'm so glad your harmonium is going strong. I'm glad you got something from my offerings. It's important to have good bellows, otherwise you'll really wish for a blower! If I had a reed organ with ten reeds per note, and a full pedal keyboard, I'd want a blower, for sure! Then I'd just use registration for different effects, and it wouldn't be any worse than a pipe organ. It would be used for grand music mostly, I would think. With a small one though, the foot pumping gives an intimacy. I love the description of your new organ, the one like a chest! Those are wonderful! Belgologies and harmoniumenperil on Youtube have those kind. Thank you for your kind reply, and I hope you have fun with your instruments. Why don't you do a youtube post so I can hear them?