St Barnabas Church

St Barnabas Organ – Details and Specification

The organ was previously at St Judes Church, Southsea, and was originally built by Gerard Smith as a 2 manual instrument, and opened by S.S.Wesley in 1851.   It was rebuilt and enlarged to a 3 manual, 45 ranks instrument by Hill & Son in 1877.  The organ was removed from St Judes  in 2007, and rebuilt in St Barnabas in 2011 by Nicholson & Co of Malvern.  The stop specification still remains as Hill left it in 1877, but the action has been converted to electro-pneumatic, the pitch lowered to A=440, and modern playing aids incorporated.    The end result is one of the finest organs in West London. Although an English Romantic Organ, it copes very well indeed with all types of organ repertoire, and is ideally situated in the West End gallery, ‘speaking’ directly into the nave. It is considered by everyone who has heard or played it to be an outstanding instrument.

This momentous project, costing over £400,000, was made possible by a generous bequest from the late Hazel Baker, who was Organist and Director of Music at St Barnabas for forty years, and who passed away in 2010.  The organ is a fitting memorial to a much-loved lady.   Acknowledgement is also due to John Hudson, Chair of the Organ Committee, for leading the project through many hurdles to a successful conclusion, to Paul Joslin our Organ Adviser who first alerted us to the St Jude’s organ, to Hugh Mather for raising over £100,000 in concerts for the organ, and to the many parishioners of St Barnabas who gave donations.

GREAT ORGAN			CHOIR ORGAN
Double Diapason	16	1851	Lieblich Bourdon	16	1877
Open Diapason no 1	8	1877	Lieblich Gedackt	8	1872
Open Diapason no 2	8	1851	Dulciana	8	1872
Stopped Diapason	8	1851	Gamba	8	1851
Claribel	8	1877	Gemshorn	4	1872
Gamba	8	1872	Suabe Flute	4	1872
Principal	4	1851	Flageolet	2	1851
Harmonic Flute	4	1851	Clarinet	8	1877
Twelfth	2 2/3	1872
Fifteenth	2	1851	PEDAL
Mixture III	15,19,22	1851	Open Diapason	16	1851
Mixture II	26,29	1877	Violone	16	1877
Posaune	8	1877	Bourdon	16	1851
Trumpet	8	1851	Quint	12	1877
Clarion	4	1851	Principal	8	1851
			Bass Flute	8	1877
SWELL ORGAN			Trombone	16	1851
Bourdon	16	1851
Open Diapason	8	1851	COUPLERS
Stopped Diapason	8	1851	Swell to Pedal
Keraulophon	8	1851	Swell to Great
Salicional	8	1877	Swell to Choir
Vox Angelica	8	1877	Swell octave
Principal	4	1851	Swell suboctave
Fifteenth	2	1851	Choir to Pedal
Piccolo	2	1877	Great to Pedal
Mixture III	15, 19, 22	1851	Great Reeds to Choir
Double Trumpet	16	1877
Cornopean	8	1851
Oboe	8	1851
Vox Humana	8	1877
Clarion	4	1851
Tremulant