Tudor Organ – by Hupalo & Repasky
Because there are very few surviving organs of sixteenth-century England, Hupalo & Repasky built their Tudor-style organ is based on a 1995 rediscovery of a grid, table, and upper boards of an organ that once played at the collegiate church of Wingfield in Suffolk, England. Hupalo & Repasky were guided by the recent work of “The Early English Organ Project”, Martin Goetze, and Dominic Gwynn of Nottinghamshire, England. At present, there are only three of these five rank Tudor-style organs in existence. One organ tours England educating the music world on Pre-reformation organ playing, the other at St Fagans National History Museum.
Hupalo & Repasky built their version of the Wingfield organ utilizing metal pipes. These pipes were fashioned of metal with high tin content. The façade pipes were embossed and gilded. The center façade pipe is painted en grisaille.
The case is made of stained quarter sawn white oak and features hand carved panels of linen fold and Tudor rose carvings. This form of case decoration was inspired by the organ cases at St. Nicholas Church, Stanford-on-Avon and the organ case at the Parish Church of St. Stephen, Old Radnor, Wales. The Tudor rose carvings on either side of the case are modeled after the Tudor rose on Shrewsbury Tower, St. Johns College, Cambridge
Keys are made of European pear wood with the sharps made of ebony. The keyboard range is 40 notes from low F to high A, minus high G#. Therefore, there are 40 pipes per rank for a total of 200 pipes for the organ. To supply wind to the organ, it is equipped with two large feeder bellows. From historical data, these somewhat small but tonally versatile organs were the norm in Tudor times.
The organ is tuned in Pythagorean tuning and is pitched a 5th above modern pitch. The specification of the organ is as follows:
- Principal
- Octave
- Octave
- Superoctave
- Superoctave
The Principal is permanently on with the other four stops controlled by sliders.
The sound of the organ is surprisingly full and has a singing bell like quality. The hope is that this organ will bring the large amount of sixteenth-century English organ music to life and the public will once again be able to experience the sound of these marvelous musical machines. The organ has been on loan to Memorial Church since September 2010.