2011 Expansion of the Rieger pipe organ in the Christchurch Town Hall - and its condition post-earthquake

For latest updates please visit my organ Blog

Each of the thumbnails below link to a small slideshow of work being done on the organ in January-February 2011; the updates are being added with the most recent at the top. The three most recent are views taken of inspections post-quakes, minus electricity.

Town Hall organ has only ‘minimal’ earthquake damage

The organ in Christchurch Town Hall’s main auditorium has sustained ‘unbelievably minimal damage’ following recent earthquakes, a report says.

The report for Christchurch City Council by Wendelin Eberle, president of Austrian company Rieger-Orgelbau, which built the organ, says the 14-year old organ’s structure, and its delicate mechanisms are undamaged. It recommends some of the organ’s pipes will need to be replaced or repaired as they are damaged. The organ will also need to be cleaned, revoiced and tuned. It is expected that this work will be covered by the Council’s insurance.

The report says, “Compared to what happened in general, the damage to the organ is unbelievably minimal. There’s nothing which can’t be repaired or restored and only a few pipes have to be replaced.”

During his visit from Austria to inspect the organ this month, Mr Eberle also stabilised it and its damaged pipes to prevent any more damage occurring. The organ has been housed in the Town Hall since 1997 after the public raised most of its $1.2 million purchase price.

Christchurch City Council Community Services General Manager Michael Aitken says it is wonderful news that the valuable organ has sustained so little damage. “We are still working through a process which will help us to make a decision about the future of the Town Hall, after it was badly damaged in the 22 February earthquake. However, it is great that the organ, which holds a special place in the heart of so many Cantabrians, has survived so well.”

Martin Setchell, the Town Hall organ’s curator, says the world-renowned organ belongs to the people of Christchurch. “We are relieved and extremely thrilled that the organ will be preserved for generations to come. With so many of our city’s church organs damaged in the recent earthquakes, this news about the Town Hall organ is even more special.”

September 09, 2011: First access gained to the Swell and new Oberwerk divisions revealed surprisingly little damage; the Swell just fine, the Oberwerk a few larger pipes toppled sideways.

- see for yourself!

See inside the organ since the earthquake

May 18th: Earthquake damage: Just a few days before the work on the korgan was to have finished, the 6.3 earthquake in February knocked Christchurch to the ground and closed the town hall, and the organ, to everyone. Nearly 3 months to the day we were able to go quickly inside the hall to inspect the organ for damage. Thanks mainly to Rieger's fine workmanship, the organ has survived remarkably well, with pipes toppling but the main wooden frame taking the brunt of the upward thrusts extremely well. View the slides of the exterior and the pedal department and the Great Division here. We were unable to access the Swell and new Oberwerk because the ladder had come adrift.

Slideshow #5: Last days (but still unfinished thanks to Feb 22 earthquake!) Voicer Gerhard Pohl and Marianne Kort of Rieger had just a few more days to go before the aftershock struck Christchurch and once again, the town hall was out-of-bounds. We are still unable to check on the organ so these pictures taken on Saturday, Feb 19th are the last available. Stay posted!

Slideshow #4: Nearing the end of the first stage. As Dominik and Kaspar prepare to leave, to be replaced by the voicers, things are falling (well, not literally, we hope) into place. The new console, simplified and upgraded with a slide-out drawer for the sequencer, looks very sleek and 21st centuryish.

Slideshow #3: From one terror (dentist) to another: straddling the boardwalks up in the Swell and alongside the new enlosures awaiting their pipes. Kaspar and Dominik shinny up these like monkeys but I ascend with one nervous trembling hand after the other, clutching each rung, bit by bit. The manuals now have the new piston layout, and work, well, continues happily.

Slideshow #2: The progress made by just two men is staggering - windchests are already in place, the swell boxes on either side of the existing swell box just await their pipes, and the console has been dismantled and the pistons are being re-wired. And much more besides..

Dominik and Kaspar have also had to contend with the earthquake aftershocks; moments after I had taken this photo before scaling the dizzy heights of the swell to join Kaspar, a shallow magnitude 4 centred close to the town hall hit with a thump. The first shot shows Dominik's reaction. . .

Taken Jan 18 & 19

Slideshow #1: The work, begun in Austria months ago, continues in New Zealand. Rieger workmen, Dominik Mätzler and Kaspar Eiler, seen with organ curator Martin Setchell, prepare to give Babe a facelift - a BIG facelift. See the slideshows of progress by clicking on the thumbnails at left.

Images in the slideshow can be enlarged by clicking on them at any time.

(To view the stoplist of the organ, click here)