A temporary instrument for Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford

Late in 2023 we were asked to visit Christ Church Cathedral and advise on options for an instrument to replace the Quire pipe organ that was on loan from Martin Renshaw.

The main west end Rieger organ, a versatile instrument of great beauty which was commissioned in the 1970s, accompanied the Cathedral Choir which was located directly beneath the organ case at the west end of the Cathedral.

About five years ago the Cathedral took the decision to relocate the choirs to the Quire stalls, from where they would have sung when Christ Church was first founded in 1525.

 

Organ placement to compliment the outstanding choir

So, the small two manual pipe organ we are replacing was set up at the east end and with choir now returned to their stalls it has been accepted that additional resources are needed for Christ Church to have an instrument worthy of the choral quality that resides in Oxford’s Cathedral Church.

 

Archaeological investigations may delay the commission

Before a brand-new pipe organ can be commissioned significant archaeological investigations must take place in the area where it is hoped it can be built. This work requires the removal of the small loan pipe organ, and something was needed to fill the gap between its departure and a new pipe organ arriving – a gap that may be up to 10 years depending on what will be found beneath the north side floor.

 

Dual usage for our digital organ

The instrument chosen was the Envoy 35-F with upgraded AWK keyboards to provide the best quality of touch. Student practice on the Rieger is very restricted due to the large visitor traffic through the college chapel so it is intended that the Envoy, played with headphones, will provide a near full time practice facility in addition to its service roll.

At last, I can say the Oxford-Cambridge Viscount Organ score board is Oxford 1 – Cambridge 4. A picture that I hope will see both figures rise over the years to come.

Anticipating a long-term requirement Christ Church have purchased the instrument and when retired from service use, it will be relocated to a shared practice room.

 

Setup for the best sound and a possible future move

As ever with these installations getting the speakers into the best position that combines height with invisibility and unobtrusive cable routes was a major concern. And so it was that we were working in our second triforium of the month after high level work at Southwell Minster just the week before. 8 speakers are placed on the south side clerestory level speaking across the choir while the sub bass is in the nearby vestry loft.

The console has been set up on the south side of choir stalls but anticipating that at some future point the console may move to the north side a compact plinth has been provided that splits in half and allows the organ to be wheeled around the building.

In the weeks to come I very much look forward to popping into the Cathedral and playing our instrument but far more interestingly getting an introduction to the Rieger which I have never so far played.

I will then have a far better idea if the evensong challenges this instrument is said to present are more fact than fiction. After all we all blame our tools from time to time!

Please come back to this post in a few weeks when we’ll have more photos of the instrument in situ to share with you.

 

You can enjoy Christ Church’s Choral Evensong – Recorded live Wednesday 26th June 2024 featuring our Envoy 35-F in this video