The Pipe Organ was described by Mozart as "The King of Instruments" and it was the favourite instrument of the all time King of Sacred, Baroque and Contrapuntal music and the greatest harmoniser of all the great composers - Johann Sebastian Bach.
The facts below on our Organ will show you just why this is the case:
The St. John's Organ is one of the finest in the region.
It was originally built by Peter Conacher & Co and then refurbished by P Wood & Co of Huddersfield.
It works by electro-pneumatic action whereby air pressure, controlled by an electric current and controlled by the keys and pedals on the Organ console open and close valves within wind chests, allowing the pipes to speak. And speak they do!
The Organ "horseshoe" shaped console is physically detached from the casework with the console being located in the North East nave and the pipes being located in the West end balcony.
It has three manuals and a concave radiating pedalboard, has 12 couplers, 28 stops, 183 keys, 30 pedals with an additional 2 expression pedals and around 1,500 pipes ranging from pipes as small as whistles to those of up to 16 feet in length.
The enclosed Swell division is made up of Double Diapason, Violin Diapason, Rohr Flute, Salicional, Voix Celeste, Gemshorn, a 3 rank Mixture, Cornopean and Oboe with the Great division including Open Diapason, Lieblich Gedackt, Gamba, Principal, Harmonic Flute, a Fifteenth and Trumpet. The enclosed Choir division, which is so called due to its usage historically as a quieter backing for choirs, consists of Flute, Dulciana, Flauto Traverso, Flautina, Clarinet and Tromba.
Lastly, the powerful Pedal division, played by the feet, which produces the typical Organ bass rumbling sounds, consists of a 16 foot Open Diapason, 16 foot Bourdon and 16 foot Trombone as well as Octave Bass, Flute Bass and Trumpet, all at 8 foot.
The Organ also has a Tremulant stop which is a device used to vary the wind supply to the pipes which causes the pitch to fluctuate, thus producing the sound of a typical electric or theatre Organ such as a Wurlitzer.