Bristol H&H organ restoration completed

[french frank]

The restoration of the pipe organ in the Bristol Beacon has been completed (nicotine provided by Wills tobacco no doubt):

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj3j2dkkr5xo

[Roger Webb]

The restoration of the pipe organ in the Bristol Beacon has been completed (nicotine provided by Wills tobacco no doubt):

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj3j2dkkr5xo

I've said elsewhere that a protest was held outside the Hippodrome during the WNO Ring Cycle which was sponsored by John Player, where placards were held aloft proclaiming 'Götterdamagedlung'. !!!

Perhaps now the organ has had any trace of connection with the tobacco trade removed......and the renaming of the hall to obliterate any connection with the slave trade, we can have a hall that is a Beacon of rectitude.

[french frank]

Perhaps now the organ has had any trace of connection with the tobacco trade removed......and the renaming of the hall to obliterate any connection with the slave trade, we can have a hall that is a Beacon of rectitude.

A connection I failed to make

[Keraulophone]

A classic recording of Elgar's Organ Sonata and other major English organ works made in Colston Hall in 1967 by the great Simon Preston (R.I.P.) when the organ was just over ten years old.

It was an LP that I played to near destruction while preparing for Grade 8 organ at school as the Allegretto movement of the Elgar was one of my three pieces.

Originally on the Argo label, it's now available on Decca Eloquence.

Very glad to hear of the rebirth of the H&H instrument - specification here: https://www.harrisonorgans.com/wp-co...-2025-Full.pdf

[smittims]

I have that LP and CD, a lovely performance and recording.

Sir Adrian Boult made his first Vaughan Williams recording in Colston Hall in 1940, when the BBC S.O. were evacuated there: Fantasia on a Theme byThomas Tallis, notable for the use of the hall's acoustic to effect a nice separation of the second orchestra. The other work at the session was Sibelius' Romance in C.

[Roger Webb]

The organist 'with rock star status' Anna Lapwood is coming on Wed 17th June 2026 (that what it says!) with the BSO to play the Poulenc Organ Concerto and the Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony.....should give it a good workout!........eventually!

I'm sure I remember the organ being restored when the Colston (oops!) Hall was refurbished and was reborn/purified as the Bristol Beacon.....and, if I remember correctly, it was inaugurated with a performance of the Saint-Saëns. Can't find any record of it!

[ASB1956]

The organist 'with rock star status' Anna Lapwood is coming on Wed 17th June 2026 (that what it says!) with the BSO to play the Poulenc Organ Concerto and the Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony.....should give it a good workout!........eventually!

I'm sure I remember the organ being restored when the Colston (oops!) Hall was refurbished and was reborn/purified as the Bristol Beacon.....and, if I remember correctly, it was inaugurated with a performance of the Saint-Saëns. Can't find any record of it!

Do people gove a new trumpet, oboe or piano, a "workout"?

[AuntDaisy]

Do people gove a new trumpet, oboe or piano, a "workout"?

Like this?

[Roger Webb]

Do people gove a new trumpet, oboe or piano, a "workout"?

I'm sure they do! Anna Lapwood being the glamour-girl of the instrument.......she'll give it a good Jane Fonda of a Workout!

[Roger Webb]

Like this?

brilliant!!!

[mopsus]

The organist 'with rock star status' Anna Lapwood is coming on Wed 17th June 2026 (that what it says!) with the BSO to play the Poulenc Organ Concerto and the Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony.....should give it a good workout!........eventually!

I'm sure I remember the organ being restored when the Colston (oops!) Hall was refurbished and was reborn/purified as the Bristol Beacon.....and, if I remember correctly, it was inaugurated with a performance of the Saint-Saëns. Can't find any record of it!

The original closure of the hall was planned for 2017-19, but in the end ran from mid-2018 to November 2023, when it reopened with its new name. Only some of the delay was due to the pandemic. There wasn't a thorough enough survey of the site beforehand, and many of us were unsurprised that they found much more in the way of historic remains, missing foundations and asbestos than they'd budgeted for. The project came within an ace of being mothballed while in progress as some on the Council felt its money was better spent elsewhere.

Restoration of the organ wasn't in the main budget and there was a separate appeal. I hope now it's back it will be used more than before the hall closed. I'm told it had got into a poor state by about 2010, and was only used for one recital a year, plus sometimes accompanying concerts.

[Roger Webb]

The original closure of the hall was planned for 2017-19, but in the end ran from mid-2018 to November 2023, when it reopened with its new name. Only some of the delay was due to the pandemic. There wasn't a thorough enough survey of the site beforehand, and many of us were unsurprised that they found much more in the way of historic remains, missing foundations and asbestos than they'd budgeted for. The project came within an ace of being mothballed while in progress as some on the Council felt its money was better spent elsewhere.

Restoration of the organ wasn't in the main budget and there was a separate appeal. I hope now it's back it will be used more than before the hall closed. I'm told it had got into a poor state by about 2010, and was only used for one recital a year, plus sometimes accompanying concerts.

Thanks Mopsus, good to have the lowdown from someone on the ground, as it were. I thought that at least the proposed date of reopening was quite a long time ago....now that I've moved from Bristol I don't keep up much with the cultural side....but good to see it still has one - if somewhat diminished!

My favourite music venue in Bristol, St Georges, seems to have acquired a-bit-on-the-side!

[mopsus]

My favourite music venue in Bristol, St Georges, seems to have acquired a-bit-on-the-side!

Yes it had a major extension built about 10 years ago. Rather controversial when it was proposed although it seems to have been a success. Another venue that would benefit from a good organ - it must have had one when it was a church but I've never found out what happened to that instrument or why it wasn't retained in the building when it became a concert hall.

[Keraulophone]

Another venue that would benefit from a good organ - it must have had one when it was a church but I've never found out what happened to that instrument or why it wasn't retained in the building when it became a concert hall.

I'm guessing the previous organ may have been destroyed in the fire of 1978. A new organ was proposed but (presumably) not built. The specification of this 3-manual & pedal instrument is here: https://npor.org.uk/survey/N03832
The NPOR notes there is a 2-manual chamber organ there.

[Roger Webb]

I'm guessing the previous organ may have been destroyed in the fire of 1978. A new organ was proposed but (presumably) not built. The specification of this 3-manual & pedal instrument is here: https://npor.org.uk/survey/N03832
The NPOR notes there is a 2-manual chamber organ there.

I'm sure the fire in 1978 refers to another church in Summerhill Rd, St George (a suburb of Bristol)...I don't remember a fire at Brandon Hill in 1978 (it received a bomb through the roof during the war...the spot is marked by a star shaped light fitting!!)...from about mid 70s it was used regularly for lunchtime concerts, without a break as far as I can remember and from the early 80s for evening concerts....I was a regular attender there, and advertiser in their programmes! From that early period several record companies hired the hall/church for recording, as it has superb acoustics...Andrew Keener made many recordings there for Hyperion and later Decca.