ON WHAT BASIS IS IT DEEMED THAT THE CURRENT ORGAN WILL FAIL & WHEN ?
When it stops working. No one can tell us definitively when it will fail. Jewkes has said it will fail, but he is not willing to give a time frame, for he and others do not have that ability to accurately predict the failure.
Is there a fixation on a single builder (SIOC) And if so WHY?
No, it is the only one that has been forthcoming in any quote. My understanding is that expressions of interest were sought, only SIOC presented a full proposal.
ARE PARISHIONERS CLEAR THAT THE REPLACEMENT ORGAN IS LIKELY TO BE NOT ONLY SECONDHAND BUT OVER 80 YEARS OLD?
The statement is not quite true. The pipes are certainly going to be second-hand, that is absolutely correct, the console will be refurbished, and be like new, however, the action will be new. I have had a long conversation with the organ builder, John Hargreaves (14 Feb) and ascertained from him what will be new and what will be old. What will be old will be the organ console case, everything in it new, the pipes will be old, everything else, except where refurbishing things like timber which is no longer available today will value add to the organ will be retained.
HAS ANYONE EXAMINED THE ACTION ?
No because it will all be new.
HAS ANYONE SEEN THIS ORGAN ?
Yes, the organ builder, and Brett has been given photos.
WHAT IS THE DATE OF ORIGINAL CONSTRUCTION ? (or is it a hybrid ?)
Yes it is a hybrid, but from my conversation with Hargreaves the core is about 1935.
Daniel Moult, a renowned UK organ Scholar indicates that pipework in storage or in neglect, can deteriorate and become extremely expensive to rectify.
I take this to be a comment, but I have asked John Hargreaves about this. His response is that there is almost certainly some damage due to storage but that is his concern and should not be ours, as when the pipes go in they will have been repaired.
The Music Association per se, appeared to have little input into directions but an Organ Committee did.
That observation is true.
A project of this size needs a funded EXTERNAL CONSULTANT
Disagree. Brett is competent enough to know what we need for Anglican Liturgy. The question then becomes, who do we get? If we get Peter Jewkes, then we don’t have an external consultant, and my view on consultants is they are usually a waste of time, especially when we have limited funds.
There are ranks of pipes and casework In the current instrument that would be worth keeping. The console developed in the 1970’s is adaptable to additions.
With respect to the case work, totally disagree. One of the reasons Jewkes asked for engineering diagrams was he recognised that there would need to be new case for the organ, and the old case unusable. The ranks from the current organ that will be recovered will be stored for use in an antiphonal organ. Please be under no illusion about this next comment. The organ project DOES NOT INCLUDE AN ANTIPHONAL ORGAN. I can write it again if necessary. The organ project DOES NOT INCLUDE AN ANTIPHONAL ORGAN. It is so vital that everyone understands this. The antiphonal organ is nice to have but not necessary. It will not happen while I am rector, unless someone comes along and fully funds it themselves. There will be no call on the parish to do this. The antiphonal organ is the only appropriate location for any recoverable pipes from the current organ. The current organ has NO HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE despite what people might think or it being in an historical book. It is simply not significant. The pipes will not match with the pipes from the SIOC organ.
The current console is modern. It Has a concave, radiating pedalboard
I will take that as a comment.
Bearing in mind the terrible case of St Luke’s Mosman, there will be Blow-outs and overruns .
I am so delighted that someone has referenced what happened at Mosman. I can tell everyone here at St. Johns that the experience of the organ at Mosman was upper mind in my thoughts when we went down this path. I am in the happy position to let the parish know that there is a difference between the cost of the Organ Project, and the organ its self. Please don’t hold me to the exact dollar figures, but in rough terms the breakdown of the project is;
Organ (SIOC) $850K
Engineering works $180K
Interest $190K
Contingency of 10%
They are rough figure, because we will have to go back to SIOC and they will have to re quote if we get the go ahead for the project in March.
This then becomes effectively a fixed price contract, and Bill Killinger will be going through the details in the scoping phase in due course. I have every confidence in his ability to get this done on budget. I have every confidence that we will not have the cost over runs and blow outs that Mosman experienced.
The Mosman experience was quite different because they did not have a Bill Killinger to help them out.
Will or is, the old committee still having Control ?
No
Has a clerk –of-works been considered?
Yes, John Brandon will be the Project Manager. He has experience in doing such projects up to about 20M
Are the Parish(ioners) willing to allocate the St John’s Foundation funds for the structural Work required and therefore reduce the actual organ construction costs?
Don’t know but that is one of the questions we can put to the AVM in March, the AVM will make up its own mind.
What provision has now been made to retain these items and artifacts and Where would they be stored?
I am not sure I understand the question, but if you mean the pipes etc from our current organ they will be stored here in Australia. We will consult with relevant people to do that effectively and properly.
Will a 1920’s console have this same facility?
The console we will have for the new organ will absolutely cope with all that we need it to do.
Please keep the questions coming
Fr. Keith
