Recordings

CD Organ recitals

Ian Clarke studied in London and as Organ Scholar of Trinity College Cambridge. He was Director of Music at All Saints' and St Matthew’s churches in Northampton. In addition to teaching, he conducts three choirs and plays with several ensembles as solo harpsichordist and organist. He has appeared on radio and television, both as player and conductor. He is an Examiner for the Associate Board of the Royal Schools of Music, whose work takes him far afield.

About the Organ Builder

John Turnell Austin (1869-1948) enjoyed a childhood of choral singing and amateur organ building with his father, a farmer at Irchester, Northamptonshire. John emigrated to the USA in 1889, where in 1893 he developed the revolutionary Universal Air Chest System with its valve mechanism on the ceiling of the windchest, allowing ready access for maintenance and adjustment. In association with the organ builders Warren & Clough he built organs to his new design until, in 1898, he founded, with his brother Basil, the Austin Organ Company of Boston (now of Hartford, Connecticut).

The Austin Organ of the Baptist Chapel, Rushden, England

Opus 25 was the first to be exported from the USA, to England in 1897, where it was assembled in the loft of father Jonathan’s barn at Knuston Lodge Farm in Irchester. Austin’s archives show that the instrument had two manuals with 14 stops, and was indeed designed according to John’s Universal Air Chest System. It was installed in 1897 in the Baptist Chapel in Little Street for £400, half the cost coming from an anonymous donor. On completion of the new Baptist Church on Park Road, the organ was moved to this new location, when it seems that some additions were made - the 16’ Open Diapason and 8’ Octave pedal stops noted in a Nicholson inspection of the late 1930s. By then, the instrument had developed major problems, and Nicholson recommended a complete rebuild, with the addition of 5 further stops and a new console at a cost of £1,825. Work began in October 1949 and was completed for the dedication service in December, just in time for Christmas.

The organ’s pitch was adjusted down a semitone from 540 to 523Hz shortly afterwards, and ventils were fitted to the trombone and tromba chests. Cleaning, overhaul and repair took place in 1973, and in 1986 the main organ console was moved from the choir stalls in front of the instrument to the right hand side on a platform at floor level. At this time a solid state switching system, supplied by Kimber-Allen, was installed by Kenneth J Canter. It remained in this position until 2008, when the refurbishment of the church required that the organ console be turned through 90 degrees so that the organist faced the congregation.

The instrument continues to give reliable service in worship and concerts: a tribute to John Austin’s ingenious design and Nicholson’s sound craftsmanship.

Specification after 1949 restoration

GREAT SWELL

Open Diapason 8 Bourdon 16

Clarabella 8 Violin Diapason 8

Gamba 8 Stopped Diapason 8

Dulciana 8 Salicional 8

Octave 4 Harmonic Flute 4

Wald Flute 4 Oboe 8

Tromba 8 (1949) Cornopean 8

Octave Tremulant

Suboctave Octave

Unison off Suboctave