Pianos and Pipe Organs
Pianos and Pipe Organs have one thing in common… no one wants them!
Just a few months ago we set about removing the piano that sat in the Duncanrig hall unused for years. We tried every avenue to sell it, but no one wants a piano. Too big, too heavy, too expensive to have it moved and of course there’s the maintenance cost of getting it regularly tuned. We eventually found a charity project “The Glasgow Piano Project” who were glad to take the piano. We paid for the removal costs of £150 – a bargain really as most companies charge £300 and upward for removal of a piano.
The Rushworth and Dreaper Pipe Organ that sits in the sanctuary of our church is now unused (other than the very occasional use for a funeral service) due to the fact that we don’t and very probably won’t have an organist. Yet, we continue to pay the maintenance cost on the organ whereby it is serviced and tuned twice a year at a total cost of around £600.
Rushworth and Dreaper were a Liverpool based Musical Instrument Manufacturer and Organ Builder. They ceased trading in 2002 having plied their trade from the 1800’s. The model which graces the sanctuary is an “Ardeton” which was a kind of “off the shelf” product marketed in the 1960’s, rather than the bespoke organ builds that went into some of the grand Victorian churches. The Ardeton was designed to be quick and simple to build with electrically operated actuators for each pipe. It was not unknown to use pipes from decommissioned cinema organs.
The union with Greenhills has presented us with the opportunity to bring the Allen Digital Organ from Greenhills to Westhills. Allen organs are high quality instruments. As these digital organs do not require tuning or servicing it represents a financial saving – resources that can be directed elsewhere. Aesthetically, the Allen digital organ blends with the lighter coloured wood of the Communion Table and Font better than the mid-oak colour of the Pipe Organ.
What we don’t have is space within the church to accommodate both organs. We have to make a choice. And not all choices are easy to make. This one certainly isn’t. The Trustees have taken some time to mull this over and concluded that it would be the preferred position to remove the Pipe Organ in favour of the Allen Digital Organ, which is aesthetically more pleasing, a better quality instrument, easier to play, and carries no ongoing maintenance costs. The Trustees are under no illusion that this may not be a popular move. We grow attached to those things which have become familiar and part of the make up of the sanctuary. Inevitably through times of change by virtue of the union of congregations and the overall situation the Church of Scotland finds itself in difficult discussions come our way. The Trustees have the unenviable task of furthering those discussions.
We have no plans to discontinue the use of our digital music system which plays our hymn music over the PA system. The Hymnal Plus digital system was an expensive purchase at the time (2022), around £2,500 which equated to the annual salary for the church organist. After its first year in use it effectively paid for itself and over time has saved around £7,500 in salary costs. I’m sure we would all love to have an organist play for us on Sunday mornings but sadly that’s just not the world we live in now. We can’t have that which cannot be found.
Nothing is going to happen until we have all the permissions in place from the Church of Scotland and if it should be the case find a solution for removing the pipe organ. Like pianos they are not instruments that are in demand, essentially it has no market value, it won’t fit in your front room and with so many church buildings closing there is a surplus of redundant pipe organs many of which are far grander than this humble R&D Ardeton.
We would hope to avoid the costs of removal. The Organ Tuners who service the “Ardeton” have indicated it would be a day and a half’s work to dismantle and remove the organ. Now knowing what the hourly rate is it is hard to estimate exactly what the cost would be but it doesn’t sound cheap. The Organ Tuners are not interested in using the “Ardeton” for spares they would simply scrap it, which seems a great shame when it has served us well over the years. If possible, and if it comes to it, we would consider dismantling it ourselves.
We have wondered if the “Ardeton” could be recycled or repurposed in some way or maybe partly refashioned into something artistic that might enhance the church or sanctuary and provide something symbolic of the musical heritage of Westwood Church. We are simply trying to be open to ideas.
Presently, we are waiting on Matthew Hynes, the Church of Scotland Organ Adviser, to come to Westhills Church and offer his advice. We’ll see what unfolds and hope that his advice offers clarity to our thinking.