It was originally built by
Henry "Father" Willis and most recently rebuilt by
Mander Organs, having 147 stops[1] and, since the 2004 restoration, 9,999 pipes.[2]
The Willis organ
The original organ was built by
Henry Willis & Sons in 1871. It had four
manuals and 111
stops and was, at that time, the largest in the world.[1]
Harrisons
The Durham firm of
Harrison & Harrison rebuilt the organ in two stages in 1924 and 1933. The organ was extended to 146 stops (including three
percussion stops) and converted to
electro-pneumatic action. It was still the largest organ in Britain at that time. The 2014
Pink Floyd album The Endless River, includes a track, "Autumn '68", features band member
Richard Wright playing the organ in 1969.[3][4] The recording was made on the afternoon before a Pink Floyd concert at the hall. "Rick asked could he have a go on this great big pipe organ that was built in. So we set him up, set up a couple of mics up and recorded him playing, just jamming away on his own", fellow band member
David Gilmour later recalled.[5]
In the 1970s, Harrisons refurbished the console and replaced the switchgear in the action, made minor changes to the voicing and added a roof in an unsuccessful attempt to project the sound forward. Composer
Wendy Carlos featured the organ during the closing title sequence of the 1982 Disney science fiction film Tron, performed by organist
Martin Neary.
By the end of the 20th century, the organ was again in a state of disrepair, with a number of stops unusable due to leaks in the wind system, cracks in the soundboards, and other problems. By 2002, it was maintained only through "heroic efforts" on the part of Harrisons and could not be used at all without their staff present, in case of mishap. The wind chests and pipes were leaking noisily and wind pressure was insufficient to support full use. The leatherwork in the actions was also failing.
The Mander rebuild
In 2002, the organ was taken out of commission for an extensive rebuild by
Mander Organs. Some consideration was given to restoring the organ to its original Willis specification, but the subsequent alterations and enlargements had made this impractical and it was felt that it should remain essentially as-is.
The dryness of the Hall had damaged the soundboards, so these were replaced and new and larger wind trunks provided. The roof was removed, and the reed stops in the Great division were restored to their 1924 wind pressures. The 1970s split of the Great Organ (allowing two independent Great Organs to be registered and played simultaneously on different manuals) was rationalised, effectively offering separate Willis and Harrison choruses; also a Fourniture IV was added, bringing the total to 147 stops and 9,997[citation needed] speaking pipes. For a few years the organ was once again the largest in the UK, until in 2007 the distinction passed to the organ in
Liverpool Anglican Cathedral (10,268 pipes).
In 2020, during the
COVID-19 lockdowns, the organ was sampled by a recording team led by film composer James Everingham. Microphones were placed around the auditorium, including a binaural microphone placed inside the royal box. These recordings were then edited and developed such that composers can play the pre-registered organ as a virtual instrument within a
digital audio workstation, using the
Native Instruments Kontakt platform. Royal Albert Hall Organ[7] was publicly released on 5 April 2022.
Second Division (Bombard) 138-144 enclosed in Solo box
138
Bombardon
16′
139
Tuba
8′
140
Orchestral Trumpet
8′
141
Cornopean
8′
142
Quint Trumpet
51/3′
143
Orchestral Clarion
4′
144
Sesquialtera12.15.17.19.22
V
145
Contra Tuba
16′
146
Tuba Mirabilis
8′
147
Tuba Clarion
4′
Pedal C–f1
1
Acoustic Bass (from 7)
64′
2
Double Open Wood (from 7)
32′
3
Double Open Diapason (from 9)
32′
4
Contra Violone (from 64)
32′
5
Double Quint (from 9)
211/3′
6
Open Wood I
16′
7
Open Wood II
16′
8
Open Diapason I
16′
9
Open Diapason II
16′
10
Violone
16′
11
Sub Bass
16′
12
Salicional
16′
13
Viole (from 48)
16′
14
Quint
102/3′
15
Octave Wood (from 6)
8′
16
Principal (from 8)
8′
17
Violoncello
8′
18
Flute
8′
19
Octave Quint
51/3′
20
Super Octave
4′
21
Harmonics 10.12.15.17.19.21.22
VII
22
Mixture 15.19.22.26.29
V
23
Double Ophicleide (from 25)
32′
24
Double Trombone (from 27 in Swell)
32′
25
Ophicleide
16′
26
Bombard
16′
27
Trombone (in Swell)
16′
28
Fagotto
16′
29
Trumpet (from 116)
16′
30
Clarinet (from 60)
16′
31
Bassoon (from 130)
16′
32
Quint Trombone
102/3′
33
Posaune (from 25)
8′
34
Clarion
8′
35
Octave Posaune (from 25)
4′
36
#Bass Drum
Couplers: I Choir to Pedal, II Great to Pedal, III Swell to Pedal, IV Solo to Pedal, V Choir (unenclosed) on Solo, VII Octave Orchestral, VIII Sub Octave Second Division (Orchestral), IX Unison off, X Swell to Choir, XI Solo to Choir, XII Reeds on Choir, XIII Great Second Division on Choir,[Ann. 3] XIV Choir to Great, XV Swell to Great, XVI Solo to Great, XVIII Octave (16′, 8′, 4′ stops only), XIX Solo to Swell, XXI Octave, XXII Sub Octave, XXIII Unison off, XXIV Octave Bombard (16′, 8′, 4′ stops only), XXV Bombard on Choir, XXVI Tubas on Choir.
Annotations
^The character ′ stands for "foot"; one foot is 0.3048 m.