Christian significance
At St. Helen’s we love to sing ! The organ accompanies most of our singing in worship, although we also use the piano and other instruments too. We even have a musical setting of the Communion service which was written specially for us by the composer Joanna Forbes L’Estrange. The Walker organ was installed in the chancel as part of the Victorian renovations, although previously different instruments may have been played to accompany singing in what is called the ‘West Gallery’ tradition.
The present organ was installed at the west end in 1969 and has recently been restored. Since the late 19th century, St. Helen’s has had a traditional, four-part choir to lead worship, and music from the Anglican choral tradition sounds very good in our building. Currently we do not have a weekly choir, but a group of St.Helen’s Singers lead the congregation in music from a variety of traditions on special occasions
Do you have a favourite hymn or piece of music used in worship? When is the last time you had a chance to sing it?
Historical & technical
The organ, a 1969 Hill Norman & Beard 2 manual pipe organ replacement of the previous 1908 Walker organ, has been in use for over 50 years. A plaque nearby commemorates Patrick Ogden who supervised the 1969 installation. A Dedham Organ Systems combination capture system was added in 2001.
In 2016 the organ was fitted with a SolidState transmission & control system by F H Browne & Sons, the 2′ Gemshorn was revoiced and the 8′ Gemshorn added to the Great division. The SolidSate system replaced the previous Dedham system and links the console and pipes with a single ethernet cable, thus allowing a more flexible siting of the console. (The console has been in two new positions since this change!)
The organ has 660 pipes in 3 divisions: Pedal (32 keys, 4 stops), Great (56 keys, 5 stops) and Swell (56 keys, 5 stops), including an unusual Tremulant in the Swell. Further details are available in our entry of the National Pipe Organ Register—https://www.npor.org.uk/survey/N14176
… With psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, sing from the heart in gratitude to God.
Colossians 3.16
