THE PIPE ORGANS OF THE R.C. CATHEDRAL OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD, SINGAPORE

by
Jonathan Y. Tan, Ph.D.
formerly Assistant Organist of the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd, Singapore

IMPORTANT NOTE:
The information here appears as a matter of archival record only. It is accurate as of 1996, and does not include additions or changes after 1996. For the latest information on these two organs, please consult Mr. Robert Navaratnam, Titular Organist of the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd (E-mail: hannover@singnet.com.sg).



The R.C. Cathedral of the Good Shepherd in Singapore is the proud owner of two pipe organs: the Grand Organ in the gallery above the West Door and the Choir Organ in the North Transept.

THE GRAND ORGAN



The Grand Organ was originally built by Bevington & Son in August 1912 for $5,894.61. It was installed by a local builder, W.J. Garcia and dedicated on 20 October 1912.

The Grand Organ became silent in the late 1960s for want of maintenance and remained so for more than two decades until Easter 1983, when Mr Hugo Loos, a Belgian engineer and the then Organist of the Cathedral, partially restored it. The major restoration works began when Mr Robert Navaratnam, Singapore's first local organ builder and the present Organist of the Cathedral, was hired to restore the organ. The cost of the restoration came up to be about S$40,000. An American businessman, Mr Robert Coleberd, donated the missing pipes to complete the Cornopean 8' register on the Swell Organ. The Grand Organ was re-consecrated in an Advent Organ Recital on Sunday, 16 December 1984.

The photo on the left shows the Grand Organ in its original state. The photo on the right shows the Grand Organ after the repainting of the facade pipes in silver

Since then the Grand Organ has been under the care of Mr Navaratnam, who has also undertaken further renovation works. In June 1991, the entire organ was upgraded from a tubular-pneumatic to an electro-pneumatic action. A Bass Flute 8' register was added in December 1992 and a Bombarde 16' register was added in May 1993 using pipes salvaged from the old Hill Norman & Beard organ in Victoria Concert Hall, Singapore, which was dismantled to make way for the new Klais organ. A new case was constructed to house these new registers. A new bellow with its own Laukhuff Ventus blower was constructed to supply the wind for these two registers. The period June to August 1993 saw the installation of a new pedal-board, a refurbished set of manuals, a new balanced swell pedal, a re-furbished set of stoptab keys, the Vogelgesang and the 2-octave Glockenspiel on the Great Organ. A second Laukhuff Ventus blower (which was installed in July 1993) together with a third Laukhuff Ventus blower (which was installed in July 1994 as a replacement for the original Watkins & Watson Discus blower) feed the two bellows which collectively supply the wind for the Great, Swell and Bourdon windchests.

February 1994 saw the commissioning of the new Trompete and Krummhorn registers. July 1994 saw the commissioning of the Mixture IV register on the Great and the repainting of the facade pipes in silver. November 1994 saw the commissioning of the Rohrquinte and the Terz registers on the Swell. The pipes for the Trompete register together with the third Laukhuff blower were donated by Mr Alexander Charles Louis of Madhavan Louis & Partners, Singapore. The pipes for the Krummhorn, Mixture IV, Rohrquinte, Terz and Cymbel registers are used pipes donated by Orgelbau Johannes Klais (Bonn, Germany).

The photo on the left shows the new Trompete pipes from Laukhuff before the facade pipes were installed. The photo on the right shows the view from behind the facade pipes, with the Trompete and Krummhorn registers on a direct electric unit windchest.

GREAT ORGAN
(C-a''' for stops no. 1-7; C-g''' for stops no. 8-10).
 1. Open Diapason    8' (original) (facade)
 2. Violin Diapason  8' (original) (facade)
 3. Dulciana         8' (original)
 4. Hohl Flute       8' (original)(1st 12 pipes stopped, rest open)
 5. Principal        4' (original)
 6. Lieblich Flute   4' (original)
 7. Gemshorn         2' (original)
 8. Mixture          IV (addition/1994)
 9. Krummhorn        8' (addition/1993)
10. Trompete         8' (new, pipework by Aug. Laukhuff/1994)
11. Vogelgesang         (new/1993)
12. Glockenspiel  f-g" (new/1993)

SWELL ORGAN
(C-a''' for stops no. 13-19 & 23; C-g''' for stops no. 20-22 & 24).
13. Geigen            8' (original)
14. Gedeckt           8' (original)
15. Viole d'orchestre 8' (original)
16. Celeste (tenor C) 8' (original)
17. Gemshorn          4' (original)
18. Harmonic Flute    4' (original)
19. Flautina          2' (original)
20. Rohrquinte    2-2/3' (addition/1994)
21. Terz          1-3/5' (addition/1994)
22. Cymbel          III  (addition/1995)
23. Cornopean        8'  (addition/1984)
24. Trompete         8'  (transmission from no. 10)

PEDAL ORGAN 
(C-f', 30 notes)
25. Bourdon          16' (original)
26. Bass Flute        8' (addition, Dec 1992) 
27. Bombarde         16' (addition, May 1993)
28. Trompete          8' (transmission from no. 10)
29. Trompete          4' (transmission from no. 10)

COUPLERS
Swell/Great
Great/Pedal
Swell/Pedal
Swell Octave/Great
Swell Octave/Swell

STOP ACTION
electro-pneumatic (originally tubular pneumatic) for stops 1-7,13-19,23,25.
electric for stops no. 8-12, 20-22, 24, 26-29.

MANUAL, COUPLER & PEDAL ACTION: electric (originally tubular pneumatic).

TUNING: a'=440 (at room temperature)
TEMPERAMENT: equal
REMARKS:
Stops no. 1 to 7, 13 to 19, 23 & 25 are mounted on kegellade (cone) windchests. Stops no. 8 to 10, 20 to 22, 24, 28 to 29 are mounted on direct electric unit windchests. The wind for these kegellade windchests and direct electric unit windchests are supplied collectively by 2 new Laukhuff Ventus blowers feeding into 2 bellows at a wind pressure of 100mm. Stops no. 26 to 27 are mounted on direct electric unit windchests with the wind supplied by a separate Laukhuff Ventus blower feeding into a separate bellow at a wind pressure of 110mm. The electromagnets and relays are supplied by Kimber-Allen Ltd of Swanley, England.


THE CHOIR ORGAN

The Choir Organ was built as a replacement for an aging Conn electronic organ. The console of the Conn organ was stripped of its electronic components, refurbished and is now used as the console of this organ.


MANUAL I (lower, unenclosed, C-g''', 56 notes)
1. Holzfloete    8'
2. [prepared]
3. [prepared]
4. [prepared]

MANUAL II (upper, unenclosed, C-g''', 56 notes)
5. Gedackt       8'                                               
6. Prinzipal     4'
7. Waldfloete    2'
8. Larigot     1-1/3'

PEDAL (C-f', 30 note)
9. [prepared]

COUPLERS.
Manual II/Manual I
Manual I/Pedal
Manual II/Pedal

STOP, MANUAL, COUPLER & PEDAL ACTION: electric

TEMPERAMENT: equal

TUNING: a'=440 (at room temperature)

WIND PRESSURE: 80mm
(Wind supplied by a Laukhuff Ventus blower)

BUILDER: Robert Navaratnam, organ builder (1st March 1994)

REMARKS:
The pipes for stops no. 5 to 8 are supplied by August Laukhuff and are mounted on a slider windchest. The pipes for stop no. 1 are used pipes from the old Hill Norman & Beard organ at Victoria Concert Hall (Singapore) and are mounted on a direct electric unit windchest. The electromagnets for the slider pallets are supplied by August Laukhuff. The other electromagnets and the relays are supplied by Kimber-Allen Ltd of Swanley, England.









Created & maintained by Jonathan Y.K. Tan
Originally created: 21 January 1996. Last Updated: 01 August 1996.

© Copyright Jonathan Y. Tan 1996. All rights reserved.