organ201
Organs
organ 201
March 2019
2 manuals
27 speaking stops
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Sidney Sussex
College
Cambridge
Builders
Flentrop, 2016
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Organ of the Month archive
(contains over 180 organs)
Our sequence of organs visited during the IAO's 2018 Music Festival continues with one of the college chapel organs used for the IAO/RCO organ competition, which was an innovative feature of the 2018 Festival. Three of the six competition finalists played here in the semi-final round, including the eventual winner Callum Alger.
This is a brand new instrument by the famous Dutch firm of Flentrop Orgelbouw, replacing an earlier (1963) Harrison organ. The inaugural recital was given on 20th November 2016 by Professor David Titterington, who also acted as expert adviser for the project.
The organ is situated high on a side gallery, from where the sound has to escape through existing panelling (see central photo). So unsurprisngly, in order to make an impact on the floor of the chapel (which it certainly does), the forte sound at the console is devastatingly loud and bright. In fact the Principal chorus pipes at 8, 4 and 2 are double in the treble to achieve this effect.
The Great and Pedal Organs are divided into two separate cases, left and right of the console, with the Swell in the centre. The latter's shutters are built not only at the front of the box but also at its sides.
You can hear the rather larger Flentrop organ in Dunblane Cathedral as March 2019's Music of the Month.