Keble's New Organ

I sat in the chapel of Keble College, Oxford, every day for three years. It was, as we organ scholars used to say, 'our toy cathedral'. But at that time, William Butterfield's vast barn of a building, based on the upper chapel of the basilica at Assisi, lacked a real organ. Instead we had a Copeman Hart, a digitised thing which, while making a loud and often impressive sound in the roomy acoustic, slowly undermined technique and became increasingly tinny. How glorious, how counter-cultural, then, for the college to commission a brand new organ from Kenneth Tickell, which I was able to play yesterday afternoon. Rich, Romantic, with one of the finest solo clarinet stops I've yet heard, the organ is a dream to play. The delicacy and individuality of the flutes and strings are paralleled in the feral boom of the full organ coursing its way through the generous Keble acoustic, all evidence of the finest craftsmanship both on show and within the case. I try not to look back, though playing this instrument yesterday I immediately wanted my three years in the chapel all over again. You can hear the organ in action most days in the chapel. Click here for further information.

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