York Minster organ pipes set to play for the first time in a century

Specialist organ builders Harrison and Harrison returned some of the recently restored case pipes along with the more decorative pipes, dating from the 1800s, to the York Minster's Grand Organ.
Picture James Hardisty. — Specialist organ builders Harrison and Harrison returned some of the recently restored case pipes along with the more decorative pipes, dating from the 1800s, to the York Minster's Grand Organ. Picture James Hardisty.

But now, after an extensive refurbishment, these pipes are set to play once more after specialist restoration experts began reinstalling the pipes, which date from the 1800s but have not played a note since 1903, into the organ’s case.

Planning for the restoration of the huge instrument, which is one of the largest in the country and included 5,403 pipes, has taken years.

With just one restorer capable of the £2m job - Harrison and Harrison in Durham - and the specialists there already juggling huge workloads, the Minster knew the once-in-a-century job was a long-term commitment.

Specialist organ builders Harrison and Harrison have returned some of the recently restored case pipes along with the more decorative pipes. Picture: James Hardisty

Contracts were signed in February 2017, the organ was removed in October 2018, and the painstaking job of cleaning, repairing and replacing parts began. Parts of the organ began arriving back in York towards the end of last year, and the final rebuild is expected to be finished by the end of October, ready for the scaffold to be removed.

“Then, in November, the voicing period - or the tuning - can begin,” Robert Sharpe, director of music at York Minster said. “Part of the organ will be able to be played in December, but it won’t be completely ready until early next year - hopefully in time for Easter.”

Having the organ back and working will be both a relief and a delight for Mr Sharpe and his assistant director, Ben Morris, who both play the organ in services - especially with its newly improved sound quality.

“When you come to the Mister for big occasions, where there are 1,000 or more people here, the sound quality will be noticeably different,” Mr Sharpe said.

“We are both very much looking forward to playing it once again. It’s when you play an instrument of this scale in the Minster, that the magic happens.

“Organ music has been at the heart of worship at York Minster for nearly 1,000 years and we hope this project will allow us to continue that tradition throughout the 21st century and beyond.”

The decorative pipes that have been returned to the Minster this week are some of the oldest surviving pipes in the organ dating from 1832, when a new organ was built following an arson attack in the Quire in 1829 which destroyed the previous instrument.

Silent since 1903, when the last refurbishment took place, the majority have now been brought back into use. However, during the refurbishment it was found that around 30 of the original case pipes were beyond economic repair and they have been replaced, with the originals auctioned last autumn to help raise funds for the project.

The remaining originals were cleaned and repainted last year by graining and marbling specialists Robert Woodland & Son, who also decorated the new pipes to match the originals.

The huge restoration project has also included replacing the organ’s mechanism and extensive work to clean and overhaul the instrument.

A new music library has also been created underneath the organ, inside the screen which separates the cathedral’s Quire from its Nave.

Mr Sharpe said he was delighted to see “all the amazing craftsmanship which has gone into refurbishing the Grand Organ coming together”.