The use of
slider windchests means that twin consoles are not independent
of each other. A register drawn on one sounds on both and a player
who fails to cancel every stop when leaving can cause problems
when the other console is in use.
Pistons "Other
Console Cancel" are
sometimes introduced as safeguards. Technical failures can be more
of a problem, as an audience at Melbourne Town Hall discovered
in 2006, when a master-class by Frederick Swann was interrupted
by a "glitch" of
this kind. (Thanks to Joy Hearne who reports that the resourceful
Dr Swann turned out to be as entertaining and informative without
an organ as with one! ).
Pic 1 shows the Town Hall with its two consoles.
When Walford
Davies supervised rebuilding of the instrument in St George's Chapel,
Windsor (1930), he wanted two consoles with a more flexible system.
Walkers applied an action devised by Frederick Rothwell that gave,
in effect, two completely independent actions to the same organ.
Two players could use different registrations, even while playing
on the same manual. (Such independence could not, of course be
applied to swell shutters). Stephen Keeble* quotes ; "When
large choral works were performed [Walford Davies and George Thalben-Ball]
would together provide the orchestral parts, often with one taking
the brass [and woodwind?] and the other the strings". A former
lay-clerk at the chapel claimed that they usually played from full
orchestral score!
The same man recalled the tremendous effect of extemporisations
with Sir Walford at one console and Henry Ley, then Director of
Music at nearby Eton College, at the other; the players appeared
to read each the others' mind. It's a pity that this happened too
early to be captured on a portable sound-recorder.
The two consoles,
placed side-by-side (picture 2) were a curious sight with their
swivel chairs; plain benches were available as alternatives. The
stop control was Rothwell's own. Stop-keys were placed above the
manual they controlled, as may be more clearly seen in picture
3. The right hand group in each case governed speaking stops of
the manual concerned; those in the centre, sprung to return to
the "off" position,
were, in effect pistons.
At the extreme
left of Great, Swell and Choir were keys controlling the pedal
stops. These were repeated for each manual - except Solo - and
were linked in such away that movement of any key - say the Bourdon
- on one manual moved the corresponding key on the others. Examination
of the picture shows how identical pedal combinations are registered.
This arrangement lasted until 1966, when standard action and a single
console replaced the work of 1930. The Rothwell stop system was
very much liked by those who knew it well, though its relative
complexity and non-standard nature means that few examples survive.
One that does and is in regular use is at St George's church, Headstone,
Harrow, near London - see picture 4.
