King of Instruments ep. 258, May 19, 2024 - Mander Organs

The King of Instruments is a weekly show about the music of the classical organ. This episode is from May 19, 2024 and features music played on organs by the British Organbuilding firm of Mander. Everything in this episode can be found at www.kingofinstruments.show/2024/05/19/.

[@danjohnson7479]

Mander was an extraordinary builder and re- builder. Fairly recently, I heard their St. Ignacious NYC instrument again. It seemed like the Gr 8' Montre has been made less strong. I hope that wiser minds restore the original voicing in the near future! Dan Johnson

[@HobbyOrganist]

"It seemed like the Gr 8' Montre has been made less strong" THat's from your loss of hearing over time ;) When I remoeved the 9 rank Moller from a church on Long Island around 1997 which formed the core of my residence organ, Malcolm Wechsler and his partner Hip came to help but were delayed by the ferry and arrived after I had loaded up all the organ but the main chest in a Uhaul truck, he invited me to stay over at his place, and attend an event at St. Ignacious which was scheduled for the next day. I don't remember what the event was exactly, it was something like a dedication and started with a tour of the organ inside, It was very cool.

[@TheProsaicCult]

it hasn't been revoiced in many years

[@danjohnson7479]

My recent hearing of this wonderful instrument had me thinking that the Gr 8 Montre wasn't quite enough to support the Gr mixture. I didn't feel that way when I heard it many times previously - all I am saying is that maybe the Gr 8 Montre needs a little more weight (in my opinion) and someone should look into this possibility. Good luck and best wishes

[@classicalmidiorgans]

Hi. Would it be possible to show some more pictures from the organs being discussed here ? Or at least some links to these organs ? Thank you.

[@OrganMediaFoundation]

Complete information about everything in the episodes is available at www.kingofinstruments.show.

[@drbobdrake]

The organ shown is the NP Mander at St. Ignatius Loyola,NYC

[@johnspeller3666]

The Mander organ at Magdalen College, Oxford, is no longer there, having been replaced by a new 4-manual Euler organ in 2022. The Mander organ is being rebuilt at the University of Debrecen in Hungary. The organ at St. John's College, Cambridge, is also being replaced.

[@richardharrold9736]

Good to hear the Hungarians are making good use of the old Magdalen organ. The Eule is a stunner, and a massive improvement. The John's organ was never really a success, certainly not mechanically. It is being moved to St John's Kennington, I believe by Harrisons.

[@bertspeggly4428]

I almost applied for job at Mander's. I didn't do it, I always wonder if I made the right choice.

[@richardharrold9736]

I think you did. I looked at trying to get in once or twice too, but I never got the feeling that I'd be entirely welcome there. John Mander can be a prickly individual, though not wholly without warmth, and the transfer of the firm (but not its premises, which JPM retained and rented back) into an employee-owned trust was *not* a good move financially for the workers. Allegedly. I'm not party to the full horror story, but something clearly went very badly wrong very quickly after JPM's retirement, and I don't think it was either just a lack of visionary leadership or the pandemic - the firm's order book should have been full well in advance (three to four years of work), and there should have been a decent amount of money in the bank - instead, I wonder if JPM's retirement was a very well-timed jump off an already sinking ship. The Waltham Abbey job wouldn't have brought in that much revenue, being more a rebuild than a new organ (much of the pipework, the console shell and some chests being reused from the previous Walker organ). After that... nothing. Even with Goetze & Gwynn suffering the loss of both its founders, in 2015 and 2024 respectively, after long illnesses in both cases, and William Drake's death in 2014, Mander didn't seem to capitalise on this - and both firms have bounced back and diversified under new leadership. Meanwhile, Harrisons have continued to land big contract after big contract (despite some conspicuous rebuilds requiring further remedial work afterwards), and Nicholsons are really the rising star of the UK organ scene now, under the capable leadership of Andrew Caskie and James Atherton. The rebuilt Lewis they've just finished in St Mildred's Addiscombe is an absolute stunner. Oh, and I mustn't forget Willis, who've just done a stunning job of rebuilding and restoring the mangled Tuba Magna from Liverpool Cathedral... although again, they're under the leadership of a very prominent, charismatic (and relatively wealthy) Managing Director, who I believe owns the premises, and who, sadly, has recently been diagnosed with cancer. So it remains to be seen what will happen if/when he retires (or worse, heaven forbid).