Pipe Organ
Ηave you ever seen or heard of an instrument, which you play with your feet?Don’t be surprised. This is what a Pipe Organist does. A pipe organ has a keyboard, just like the piano but not just one like the piano but more than one – sometimes four or five, one above the other in layers. Unlike the piano, the pipe organ has about thirty large-sized keys, called the pedal clavier, to be played with the feet. The black pedal keys are as long as one’s palm, while the white ones as long as one’s arm and the pipe organists play these pedal notes with his heels and toes.
There were about a hundred off pipe organs in India – some scrapped, some others sinking into decadence and oblivion and a few of them maintained by zealous church organists and church committees with whatever little expertise the repairers in their city have. In the twin cities (Hyderabad and Secunderabad) there are four such pipe organs in four Churches –St John’s Church, All Saints Church and Holy Trinity Church in Secunderabad and one in Hyderabad at St. George’s Church. There is one in the Medak Cathedral too. Regrettably, the pipe organs in St. George’s and All Saints churches are non-functional for some years and the one in Holy Trinity Church is barely functional. The pipe organ in St John’s Church was also in a state of disrepair for some decades due a host of reasons – the primary reason being non-availability of pipe organ repairers and tuners in the twin cities for its regular upkeep.
St. JOHN’S CHURCH PIPE ORGAN
The pipe organ in our Church was originally built by M/S Misquith & Co., Madras in the year 1908. This firm has closed down since long and there is no trace of any other firm having taken over this important facet of pipe organ repair and upkeep. A handwritten inscription by the original builder Mr. Mohamed Habibullah has been sighted inside woodwork of the bellows with the date clearly written “24 Jul 1906”. A brass plaque on the Organ console states that “This organ was erected by voluntary subscription in the year 1908 – W.A.H. Parker – Chaplain”. There are other brass plaques, which outline the augmentation work and re-building work done in the years 1916 and 1925 with some addition of pipe ranks. The pipe organ adorns the chancel with its ivory coloured façade pipes and its tonal colour and timbre reaches the far end of the church.
PIPE ORGAN RESTORATION PROJECT
The Pipe organ restoration project was launched by St John’s Church, Marredpally in June this year with Commodore TMJ Champion, VSM, spear-heading this project. A senior naval officer, an electrical engineer and a Church organist, all rolled in one, Cmde Champion had done an in-depth study of the pipe organs in India.
Technically speaking, the pipe organ at St. John’s Church has two manuals and a pedal board. The organ on the whole has 10 ranks of pipes arranged in 12 registers. There are a total of 590 pipes in the entire pipe organ. The air is supplied by an electric-blower designed, fabricated and installed by M/S Perfectem Industries, Hyderabad, with the specifications drawn up by Cmde Champion.
Talking about pipe organs in today’s age of versatile electronic keyboards which produce music at the flick of a button one website aptly puts it like this – “Trading in an existing pipe organ for an electronic substitute can be much like tossing out an heirloom gold watch bequeathed by your grandfather and replacing it with a plastic digital watch.” Most pipe organs, even those that are neglected and in greatest need of repair, have parts of considerable value.
PIPE ORGAN RESTORATION SERVICE
There was a service of thanksgiving and rededication on Sunday the 14th Sep 2003 at St John’s Church, Marredpally. Rt. Rev Dr. B.P. Sugandhar, Bishop Diocese of Medak presided over the dedication ceremony. It was planned to be an evening not only of thanksgiving prayer and dedication but the choral group in the city and some organists were to give an organ recital – something the city had not experienced for over several decades. For music lovers in the twin cities who have been treated to a organ recital for very many years it was a rare musical treat. The famous Bach’s fugues, other contrapuntal pieces and some classical choral compositions were part of the programme.
The entire church reverberated with a 40-voice augmented choir singing the “Gloria in excelsis” from the 12th Mass by Mozart. The rich harmony of the choral rendering punctuated right through by brief organ interludes was indeed a brilliant opening piece which brought the best out of the augmented choir and the grandeur of the full organ. No choral progamme is complete without Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s famous Oratorio – Messiah – a brilliant contrapuntal choral piece. Commodore TMJ Champion, VSM was at the organ and the choir was under the baton of Kenneth Gibson.
Dr. Theodore Comfort, the octogenarian organist at St. John’s Church, played two pieces – Evensong by Easthope Martin and Jesu, joy of man’s desiring from Bach’s Cantata. The other city organists who participated in the programme were H.W.A. Hartwig and Stephen Koshy. Mr. Ravi Joshua, Organist of the St. Thomas Cathedral, Mumbai, also gave organ recitals.
The programme also included a child’s prayer in song with the 8-year old Jacinth Akila rendering the solo flawlessly to the accompaniment of the pipe organ.
The service came to an end with the famous closing hymn “Abide with me”. The full and perfect harmony one could hear from the pews in the singing of this hymn speaks enough of the musical acumen and spiritual yearning of the congregation to participate in the dedication service and not merely listening to the organ and the choir for its musical value, per se. A beautiful tradition of descant voices embellishing the congregational singing, which had been long forgotten in churches, was brought back to the fore by a few high sopranos rendering the second melodic line great ease an elan. The descant was composed by Commodore Champion, the church organist.
BRIEF PROFILE OF CHURCH ORGANISTS
Late. Dr. Theodore V Comfort (Church Organist)
Theodore Comfort started his musical career with a one-string fiddle to play folk music to his tribal friends locally at Banjara Hills, Hyderabad. It was a surprise to see the joy it produced in the lives of those simple folk. This produced the same effect with the Bhills & Gonds of Madhya Pradesh. The tribals of the Nilgiri hills (Todas) enjoyed the simple folk music with enthusiasm.
Later Comfort took a fancy for four-part music and switched on to the Organ and had regular music instructions from Mr. W.H. Morris, an Englishman, an Engineer and an accomplished Organist. Mr. Morris took a special interest in teaching and guiding with a thorough grounding. Comfort gained sufficient confidence in playing the organ and music was his avocation.
Comfort then traveled to Rekjavik in the Artic Circle to do a course on Radar under working conditions. His interest in music continued. He was invited to play the famous COMPENIUS ORGAN at the Royal Chapel of the Prince of Denmark at Elsinor Castle.
His close association with Dr. Henry Lucshwitz, director of Music, Nizam’s Symphony Orchestra, got him interested in Oratorios, operas and orchestral music, which he pursued with great interest.
He received awards from the former Archbishop of Canterbury Rt. Hon’ble Most Reverend Runcie and also from Dr. Lionel Daker, O.B.E., Director of Music, Royal School of Church Music, London. He also played the Organ for her Majesty Queen Elizabeth-II during her visit to India in 1982. This octogenarian was born on 21 Dec 1915.
Mr. HWA Hartwig (Church Organist)
H.W.A. Hartwig received his early musical training during his school days from his schoolteacher Mr. Michael Gopal, who primarily exposed him to rudiments of music. Thereafter he developed on his own by sheer dint of hard work, given the environment of Christian Education Institutions, where his scholastic & collegiate education was. It is no surprise that, as the son of an accomplished organist, Hartwig had a natural flair for church music and soon he became a chorister and an organist himself in his college days. Later during his work life at Kuglar Hospital where he served in the pathological & radiological laboratory, he became the organist in Kugler Hospital Chapel and also at St. John’s CMS Church Guntur. He was also the organist at the church in Guntakal for 22 years.
He started playing the pipe organ at St. John’s Church, Marredpally more than a decade ago when it was in perfect order. He is presently one of the regular organists of the Church and he is glad to be back at the console of the pipe organ once again, now after its restoration.
Commodore TMJ Champion, VSM (Church Organist)
Commodore TMJ Champion started his musical career from his school days in the small town of Tanjore (now Thanjavur) playing the organ for his school anthem and mass drill. He was also the organist at the Holy Comforter’s (Lutheran) Church, Tanjore for a short period. Later he became the Organist & Conductor in the Annamalai University Chapel during his engineering graduation. Being a Naval officer he has been posted in many states of India and has been fortunate to be the organist at Wesley Church Mumbai, St. Christopher’s Church, Goa and Redemption Cathedral, New Delhi. A self-taught musician, he played ensemble with the diplomatic staff of the Embassies & High Commissions as Cathedral Organist & Choir Director in the Cathedral Church of the Redemption New Delhi, which has the largest 3-manual pipe organ in the country.
He has written quite a few small compositions – fanfare, preludes, ritornello etc. but his forte is composing descants and obbligatos for high soprano voice as well as trumpets. His most favourite composition is the descant for “Abide with me” both for voice and trumpet. The trumpet version is invariably played during the Beating Retreat Ceremony by the services band.
Study of pipe organs and executing restoration projects has been his intrinsic strength. He successfully executed such restoration project at Delhi Cathedral through the British High Commission. He came to Secunderabad on posting and immediately thereafter took up the Organ restoration project on a turn key basis from concept to completion.
Mr. M. Vivek Anand (Church Organist)
Ms. Megha Wilson (Associate Organist)
Mr. Joshua Virender (Associate Organist)