The Renatus Harris proposal for St. Paul's Cathedral

This essay first appeared on the electronic mailing list Piporg-l

No stop list survives of Harris's proposed six-manual and pedal organ for the west end of the building. The only copy of the proposal is in St. Paul's Cathedral library, but it is referred to in a newspaper of December 1712 and probably dates from about then:-

_____________________________________

A PROPOSAL (by RENATUS HARRIS, ORGAN-Builder)

For the Erecting of an ORGAN in St.Paul's Cathedral, over the West Door, at the Entrance into the Body of that Church

[...]

This ORGAN shall contain a double double Diapason, the Profundity of which will comprehend the utmost Notes of Sound. In this Stop shall be Pipes forty Foot long, and above two Foot Diameter; which will render this Organ vastly superior in Worth and Value to the other Diapason Organs; and that the rest of the Work may bear a due Proportion, it shall consist of six entire Sets of Keys for the Hands, besides Pedals for the Feet.

The first Set to be wholly appropriated for a grand Chorus, intended to be the most strong and firm that ever yet has been made.

The second and third Sets to answer all Sorts and Varieties of Stops, and to represent all Musical Instruments.

The fourth to express the Eccho's

The fifth to be a Chair or small Organ, yet to contain more Pipes, and a greater Number of Stops, than the biggest Organ in England has at present.

The sixth to be adapted for the emitting of Sounds to express Passion by swelling any Note, as if inspir'd by Human Breath; which is the greatest Improvement an Organ is capable of, except it had Articulation. On this Set of Keys, the Notes will be loud or soft, by swelling on a long Note or Shake, at the Organist's Pleasure. Sounds will come surprizing and harmoniously, as from the Clouds, or distant Parts, pass, and return again, as quick or slow as Fancy can suggest; and be in Tune in all Degrees of Loudness & Softness.

By means of the Pedals, the Organist may carry on three fugues at once, and be able to do as much as if he had four Hands, for the Feet would act upon the Pedal-Keys, when the Hands were employ'd above, and the Sound would be proportionably strong; which, in the grand Chorus in so vast a Church, ought to be as strong and bold as possible; and therefore Pedals are us'd in all the great Organs beyond the Seas.

IF at the Charge of the Publick, such an Organ were built in the Place propos'd, which is the most proper to give this Design its full and desir'd Advantage, such an Instrument, containing more Beauties and Variety than all the most celebrated Organs, as it would be by far the compleatest in its Kind, so it would be suitable to the Grandeur of so stately a Fabrick.

SIR, THE inclos'd Proposal takes its Rise from the Organ I set up in Salisbury Cathedral in 1710, which was begun some Years since for a Church in London, as a Master-piece of great Value, to have been paid for by Subscription, and was made capable of emitting Sounds to express Passion, by Swelling any Note, as if inspired by Human Breath. But the Place where it is now fix'd, not being proper for that Performance, which requires the Situation to be against a Wall, for the Sound to strike but one way, it loses that Advantage; and yet being prepar'd for that Intent, there may be more Varieties express'd thereon, than by all the Organs in England, were their several Excellencies united. You are desir'd to observe, that the propos'd Organ for St. Paul's, is intended to be plac'd at a great Distance from the Choir, and not to interfere with the present Organ in the Performance of the Service, being chiefly consider'd in its Situation for the benefit of Swelling the Notes, and study'd to be in all Respects made the most artful, costly, and magnificent Piece of Organ-Work that ever has hitherto been invented. The Use of it will be for the Reception of the Queen on all publick Occasions of Thanksgiving for the good Effects of Peace or War, upon all State-Days, St. Cecilia's-Day, the Entertainment of Foreigners of Quality and Artists, and on all Times of greatest Concourse, &c. And by the Advice and Assistance of Sir Christopher Wren, the external Figure and Ornaments may be contriv'd so proportionable to the Order of the Building, as to be a Decoration to that part of the Edifice, and no obstruction to any of the rest. This instrument will be of such Reputation to the Kingdom, as will far surmount the Expence of it, which will be easy whenever her Majesty and the Parliament shall farther think fit to enlarge their Bounty to St. Paul's Church, by appointing a Sum out of the same Revenue which built it, or any other way, as they in their great Wisdom shall judge proper for the Ornament and Grandeur of the State-Church of that City which is the chief of her Majesty's extensive Dominions.

Several Cities, Corporations, and Gentlemen, have wrote to their Representatives, to vote and use their Interest for promoting this Design. Sir Christopher Wren approves it, and I have promis'd him, Dr. Battle, Sub-Dean of her Majesty's Chappel-Royal, Mr. Crofts, and Mr. Weldon, the Queen's Organists, and others, a Specimen, as Mr. Philip Hart had five Years since, of swelling of the Note, before I reap any Benefit, or that the Work begins, which shall be as soon as the Parliament determines to put this Proposal in Practice. ...

_________________________

What kind of organ did Harris actually have in mind? We can get quite a long way by examining what he says, comparing it with what he achieved elsewhere, and looking at contemporary evidence. The quotes are here interpolated with my suggestions, which are of a necessarily fantastic nature, but informed by historic evidence and, as far as possible when dealing with a mad scheme, by what was technically feasible in 1712.

_________________________

Six sets of keys! This immediately presents some practical problems. In the French classical organ the keys tend to get progressively shorter and shorter for the upper manuals, and thus five manuals was possible (Positif, Grand Orgue, Bombarde, Recit, Echo) .... but let us assume six is possible. The general scale of the organ? - a 'double double Diapason' 'forty Foot long' is presumably two octaves below a pipe ten foot long, the pitch standard of English organs in the early 17th century. I think Harris is saying 'two octaves below our normal practice', and I assume that in this instance 'forty Foot' = 42 2/3' GGG. Wow!

_________________________

The first Set to be wholly appropriated for a grand Chorus, intended to be the most strong and firm that ever yet has been made.

_________________________

With Harris's French training it seems likely that he would have envisaged a true 40' Plein Jeu for his grand chorus, rather than using the extra-low basses for the Pedal only. With other manuals to provide the reeds and so on, we can take Harris at his word and devote the entire department to a Grand Plein Jeu with an English accent. How about this:

GRAND CHORUS (GG, AA - d''', 55 notes)

32 Double double open diapason (i.e. bottom note GGGG 42 2/3')
16 Double open diapason
16 Double stopped diapason
8 Open diapason
8 Open diapason
8 Stopped diapason
5 1/3 Great twelfth
4 Principal
3 1/5 Great tierce
2 2/3 Twelfth
2 Fifteenth
II Great Furniture
V Sesquialtera
V Furniture
IV Cymbal

_________________________

The second and third Sets to answer all Sorts and Varieties of Stops, and to represent all Musical Instruments

_________________________

These two manuals seem to be defined only as a catch-all category. But let us make a sensible guess - if the Chair, Echo and Swell are taken (see below) then manuals two and three must surely be the Great and the Bombarde. (It is just possible that Harris actually intended to do what he did at Salisbury in 1710, which was to have the Great Organ entirely duplexed, on mechanical action, to another set of keys - but for the sake of variety, let's assume the luxury approach).

GREAT ORGAN (GG, AA - d''', 55 notes)

16 Double stopped diapason
8 Open diapason
8 Stopped diapason
4 Principal
4 Flute
4 Recorder
2 2/3 Twelfth
2 Fifteenth
2 Cart
1 3/5 Tierce
1 1/3 Small twelfth or Larigo
IV Sesquialtera
IV Furniture
III Mixture
8 Trumpet
8 Bassoon
8 Vox humana
4 Clarion
4 Regal or octave Voice humane
V Cornet (c)

BOMBARDE ORGAN (GG, AA - d''', 55 notes)

8 Open diapason
8 Great flute Almain
8 Stopped diapason
4 Principal
16 Bombarde or sackbut
8 First trumpet
8 Second trumpet
4 First clarion
4 Second clarion
2 Octave clarion (treb. returns to 4')
VII Great cornet (g; open 8', stopped 8', then 8 12 15 17 19)

_________________________

The fourth to express the Eccho's

_________________________

I think we can manage this one quite easily, literally providing an echo to the most significant effects available elsewhere in the organ.

ECHO (g - d''', 32 notes)

8 Open diapason
8 Stopped diapason
4 Principal
4 Flute
2 2/3 Stop'd twelfth or nazard
2 Fifteenth
2 Cart
1 3/5 Tierce
1 1/3 Small twelfth or larigo
III Sesquialtera
8 Trumpet
8 French horn
8 Cremona
4 Clarion
V Cornet (g)

_______________________

The fifth to be a Chair or small Organ, yet to contain more Pipes, and a greater Number of Stops, than the biggest Organ in England has at present.

_______________________

Well, I think Renatus is getting a little bit unnecessary and boastful here (as was his habit). If he had stopped to think for a moment or two he would have realised that he was unlikely to outdo his own organ at Salisbury (1710) on only one manual division, nor do I really imagine him being spirited enough to try a Chair Organ with a double .... but lots of silly stops, yes, by all means. Perhaps he simply meant that this should be the largest single organ ever in England - i.e. a larger manual department than found in any other instrument ..

CHAIR ORGAN (GG, AA - d''' 55 notes)

8 Open diapason
8 Stopped diapason
8 Quintadene
4 Principal
4 Flute Almain
4 Flute
4 Nason
2 2/3 Stop'd twelfth or nazard
2 Fifteenth
2 Cart
1 3/5 Tierce
1 1/3 Larigo
1 2 & 20
1 Flageolet
III Sesquialtera
II Mixture
16 Double curtal
8 Trumpet
8 Cremona
8 French horn (d)
8 Hautboy (d)
4 Clarion
V Cornet (c)

______________________

_______________________

Well, dull though it sounds, this department is likely to have been almost a duplicate of the Echo, as seems to have been the case in the four-manual Jordan of 1712 in which the Swell was introduced - alongside a conventional Echo division. However, one might assume that the Swell was to be at the top of the organ, and the Echo hidden in the base. Slight variations in the stoplist would emphasise the solo and expressive nature of the Echo department, but it is likely to have been the smallest division of the six:

SWELL (g - d''', 32 notes)

8 Open diapason
8 Stopped diapason
4 Principal
4 Flute Almain
2 2/3 Stop'd twelfth or nazard
2 Fifteenth or cart
1 3/5 Tierce
III Sesquialtera
8 Trumpet
8 Hautboy
8 Vox humana
8 Bassoon
V Cornet (g)

_______________________

A French-trained (or at least French-influenced) organ builder of c1710 might have any one of a number of views on a proper pedal division for a Great six-manual organ. I would suggest the simple and obvious: -

PEDAL ORGAN (GG, AA - g, 24 notes)

16 Great double flute
8 Great flute
4 Flute
32 Great double sackbut (i.e. to 42 2/3 GGGG)
16 Great trumpet or sackbut
16 Bombarde or sackbut
8 First trumpet
8 Second trumpet
4 Clarion

Accessories? - a few.

Tremulants; Great (two, 'fort' and 'doux'); Chair; Echo; Swell

Couplers (shove-couplers): Great to Grand Chorus, Bombarde to Grand Chorus, Chair to Great

Pedal pulls down keys of Grand Chorus and therefore any manual coupled to it.

Ventil to Grand chorus

Nightingale

Drum or thunder effect

Could it be built? To make it practical a few judicious changes might be necessary.

1) It might be advisable to continue the Double double open diapason to 32' C only, the low 4 notes playing a quint 10 2/3. I Chair Organ
II Great Organ
III Grand Chorus
IV Bombarde
V Swell

The bottom note of the pedal Great double sackbut, sounding 42 2/3' GGGG, is perfectly practicable and should undoubtedly be full-length.

Piporg-l

Essays