The church’s large choir in the 1930’s was disbanded at the outbreak of the Second World War, but revived again in 1955 by Edward de Rivera the Director of Music, who could boast that a different Mass setting would be heard each week over a three-year cycle. This was when many new works received their first performance here. Two such composers included John McCabe and Malcolm Williamson. The late Sir Malcolm Williamson, Master of the Queen’s Music, was organist at St John’s in the late 1970’s and early 80’s.

Vatican II in the 1960’s saw the disbanding of the choir once more, and later the formation of a ‘folk group’ appeared. More recently there has been an amateur choir singing each week with a cantor for the 12noon mass. Thanks to the generosity of our parish and parish priest, there has been a professional choir singing for the Holy Week Triduum and Christmas Midnight Mass when music plays such an important role in the liturgy of the church. I myself was appointed as organist in 1986 with responsibilities as organist for weddings and funerals and playing for the Noon Mass on Sundays, and any other important ceremonies. I’ve also overseen the gradual restoration of the unique and famous 1963 Walker organ in St John’s, and the revival and continuation of the organ concert series, which began in the early 1960’s, and now continues every month from April to September. 

The Organ that got away

During the 1860’s Fr Boyle, a priest at St John’s, decided it was time for a grand instrument to be installed. It is recorded that an order for a new instrument was made from the famous London firm of William Hill & Son in York Way, Islington. Their most famous organ is the one still playing at Sydney Town Hall in Australia containing some of the largest and longest pipes in the world.

The Islington organ was placed in a chapel towards the front of the church, but then something rather untoward happened. According to the church archives, Cardinal Wiseman appointed Canon Frederick Oakley as Parish Priest to St John’s. Oakley, and being a convert to Catholicism, found that some parishioners were unhappy with this arrangement including Fr Boyle, and a legal battle subsequently ensued between Fr Boyle and Wiseman over the appointment. Fr Boyle had possibly thought he would be in the running for the position of Parish Priest and so Fr Boyle’s organ project was put on hold while the situation could be resolved. Fr Boyle was most uncomfortable with the situation and it is recorded that Oakley and Boyle refused to speak to each other, and eventually even used different rooms to dine in. The situation was hopeless, and Fr Boyle was asked to leave and then moved to St Philips church, Arundel, Sussex (then a new church, completed in 1873). In the circumstances Fr Boyle decided that his ‘gift’ of an organ would be better suited to Arundel, and once he was installed, had the organ built for Arundel instead. This church, (now Arundel Cathedral), is also the date given for the new Hill instrument there. Being a much larger building the organ was made bigger (see illustration). This instrument has just had a major restoration and a full documented history was recently published by Nicholas Plumley.

Other instruments at St John’s

At the opening of the church in 1843 an organ was hired (possibly the Hill instrument just mentioned, and placed in one of the chapels facing into the church though the records regarding this are vague). This temporary arrangement became a great financial burden on the parish. So it was decided to purchase an instrument, which was placed to the right of the altar where it remained until the early 1960’s. The organ was built by J C Bishop & Son, a London firm still operating in Beethoven Street, near Paddington, and subsequently enlarged by Bishop, Starr and Richardson in the late 19th century (see picture).

The Present Day

By the late 1950’s the choir had expanded a great deal at St John’s and the choirmaster, Edward de Rivera, and organist Shaun McCarthy decided it was time a new, much more modern organ should be installed in the church, to accompany the expanding choir as well as concerts performed in the church.

The Organ we see and hear today was built by J.W.Walker & Sons in 1963, in consultation with Shaun McCarthy who was organist at the time. Douglas Mews, then organist of Southwark RC Cathedral, gave the opening recital in February 1963.

Some of you may not even be aware of the historical importance of the instrument we have in our church. If you prefer to attend other masses other than the Sunday 12noon mass then you might not have even heard the organ! During the week it is used by many for rehearsals and teaching for the benefit of young students from various colleges in London and elsewhere. In the evening the church, which is fortunate in being situated in a quiet residential area, has been favoured by many recording companies including the BBC for recordings and broadcasts.

This organ from 1963 turned out to be one of the wisest purchases St John’s church has ever made. It was completely up to date for the time, and conceived in a style that had not been seen in this country before, but was found in Northern Europe, principally North Germany and the Netherlands. It differs from conventional British instruments in its tonal make up and appearance. The Ruckpositive division, which hangs over the gallery and can be seen above as you enter the church, was unique for this country in 1963. This section of the organ was not to accompany the congregation but to solo out lines of music and chorale melodies found in the 17th and 18th centuries like Bach, Bruhns and Buxtehude, and to some extent the playing of French Classical music from these centuries. What in fact was produced was an eclectic sounding organ, which could adapt to many areas of the organ repertoire, though it does not suit the late English Romantic style well.

Having continental voicing of the pipes with French style reed stops, the St John’s organ was the ‘talk of the town’ in the 1960’s and many people came to hear and play it. The BBC regularly used it for recordings and live Radio broadcasts until the 1970’s, when suddenly it was decided to sell the organ because of outstanding debts from its initial installation. Because of the changing fashion of music in the church at the time, it was felt an organ was no longer required! The Royal Academy of Music in the Marylebone Road very nearly bought it for installation in the Dukes Hall. The great change in mood, coupled with Vatican II (although this never stated that the traditional instrument of the church should be given a back seat) and the priest at the time, meant difficult times for the music tradition of the church. Thankfully, pressure from various organ bodies that understood the organs importance as an instrument helped to save the day, and we now have it here to enjoy each week.

The contribution of J. W. Walker & Sons Ltd to the ‘organ reform movement’ (the new continental sound) can be said to have begun in 1952, when Ralph Downes had a new organ built at the London Oratory and designed the tonal scheme for the famous Royal Festival Hall organ by Harrison and Harrison builders. Almost all ‘un-nicked’ pipes in the voicing process were used alongside French-style reeds that have a full throttled brassy tone. A great deal of experimentation, accompanied by trial and error, was involved, but the end-effect was original, exciting and musical. This ‘neo-classical’ formula or rather ‘new classical’ style, fashionable in the mid twentieth century, particularly in France and America, aimed at an ideal fusion of French reeds and classical flues

Walker’s produced a plethora of instruments in the 1960s which reflected this new ethos and took on board new ideas brought about by this new organ reform movement (which had arrived in Britain some thirty years later than in other countries). New materials were available and used in the building process. Although not all of these proved long-lasting, the drive and vision of the Ruislip Walker firm was laudable. Major instruments from this firm, such as those at Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral, Blackburn Cathedral, St Peter’s Clerkenwell, The London Oratory and St John the Evangelist are but a few of their large output. They were voiced by the epoc making Dennis Thurlow. Others involved were Michael Broom, Michael Butler, Keith Bance and Arthur Jones.

St John’s was used by the BBC and others for recording companies in the 1960s and 70’s. A memento of those times, the console indicator ‘BBC broadcast’ still exists at St John’s. Recordings and broadcasts were given by (to name a few); Simon Preston, Nicolas Kynaston, Flor Peeters, Jane Parker Smith, Dame Gillian Weir, Sir Nicholas Jackson, Alan Harverson, Jeremy Filsell, The Vasari Singers, The London Oratory Choir, John McGreal, Adrian Gunning, Joanna Paul, Martin Stacey and Jennifer Bate.

Through these recordings, organ lovers and music-lovers generally could grow accustomed to the sounds of the Organ Reform Movement, or the ‘continental’ sound, in the comfort of their own homes.

I have been in contact with the original builders of the instrument and asked them to send me details of the original purchase price and specification. I found that the initial cost of the organ in 1963 was £15,000. To replace our organ now with a similar-sized instrument would cost in the region of over three quarters of a million pounds. So yes, a sound investment! It will hopefully continue to give good service for many years to come. The instrument was awarded a BIOS (British Institute of Organ Studies) certificate of historic importance in 2007; …. “in recognition of it being an important instrument by J W Walker in 1963 from a changing phase of British organ building and associated with eminent organists of the time”.

Like all things with moving parts, renovations and repairs have to take place. An excellent example from this period, with many years of service, the organ at St John’s needed a comprehensive renovation by the end of the 1990s. This has now been completed. It has been a lengthy process, due mainly to the restoration work on the churches fabric. Also progress was hampered by the discovery of asbestos round the RSJ beams supporting the organ. From dismantling to completion, the work took over a year.

Our present major restoration coincided with the church redecoration. Keith Bance Organ Builders, who have looked after the organ for nearly twenty years, worked throughout 2005 and 2006 and the project took a year to complete. The organ was silenced after mass on Easter Day 2005. The opening of the restored organ took place on Saturday 24th June 2006 and a concert to mark its restoration was given by arguably the greatest recitalist in this country, Dame Gillian Weir. We were very honoured to have her give this important opening concert to a full church. Last year a generous donation meant we could proceed with updating the electrical wiring and stop mechanisms in the console where the organ is played from its three keyboards and pedals and 46 stops. 

The organ at St John the Evangelist, Islington, celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2013.

Adrian Gunning – organist at St John’s