Specification

Transposing keyboard to allow A at 392 hz, 415 hz, 440 hz, 460 hz.

A Year in the Life of Opus 66

Continuo or 'chest' organs are designed to be easily moved and transported. Our design allows the organ to be separated into two parts which, together with the organ bench (and piano wheels, if they are needed) can be loaded into an estate car.

The upper case contains the keyboard, stop and playing actions, soundboard and all pipes apart from the lowest three bass pipes of the 8' register. It also has fold-down lifting handles, allowing two people to easily lift the upper case from the lower case (there are no fixings or wind linkages etc to dismantle first!).

The lower case contains the blower motor, wind stabiliser and the lowest three bass pipes – BB, C and C#.

Opus 66 was purchased by Bexley Harpsichords Ltd as a hire instrument for the London area and beyond. It has to earn its keep. After its inaugural concert on 28^th May 2015 in The Church of St Edmund The King, London, it was off to a flying start and, in its first year, it fulfilled the following programme:

St Edmund's, London –  Okuda/Foster – inaugural concert

BBC R3 'In Tune' –  London Handel Orchestra – Handel arias (BBC Live)

Spitalfields Festival –  City of London Sinfonia/Polyphony – Dettingen Te Deum (BBC Live)

BBC R3 'Early Music Show' – HMSC, Manchester Festival – 17^th c English (BBC Rec)

Wigmore Hall –   Brook Street Band – Bach cantatas (BBC Rec)

Pimlico –   Dunedin Consort, rehearsal – Monteverdi Vespers

BBC Proms –   BBC Singers/AAM – Bach Magnificat (BBC Rec)

Christchurch, Bexleyheath – Bexley Organists Association – demonstration concert

St Edmund's, London –  Okuda/Foster – Bach, by arrangement

Southwark Cathedral –  Florilegium – Christmas Oratorio

St Michael's, Highgate – Florilegium – Telemann cantatas (BBC Rec for CD)

St John's, NW3 –  Bach Players/Moonen – German cantatas

St George's, Bloomsbury – Spiritato – Zelenka concertos and Mass

St John's, Smith Square – Spiritato – Zelenka concertos and Mass

Bury Court, Farnham –  Spiritato – Zelenka concertos and Mass

St George's, Bloomsbury – London Handel Festival/Cummings – Ode for St Cecilia's Day

St Michael's, Battersea – Pawel Siwczak – Croft, Blow

Christchurch, Bexleyheath – Service of Nine Lessons and Carols

St Paul's, Knightsbridge – BBC Singers – Latin-American music (BBC Rec)

Purley –    Private Church service

ORNCC, Greenwich –  Trinity Laban/Devine – music by Gabrielis

St John's, Smith Square – Amade Players – Vivaldi Gloria

St John's, Smith Square – La Nuova Musica – Vivaldi Gloria

Corn Exchange, Ipswich – Ipswich Choral Society – Messiah

Cadogan Hall Ealing – Choral Society – Messiah

St John's, Smith Square – London Baroque Choir – Bach St Matthew Passion

BBC R3 'In Tune' –  AAM – Bach arias (BBC Live)

Sheldonian Theatre –  Oxford Bach Choir – Messiah

St Mary's, Ascot –  Pergolesi Stabat Mater

BBC R3 'In Tune' –  Red Priest (BBC Live)

St John's, Smith Square – London Handel Festival – Alexander Balus

Royal Festival Hall –  The Bach Choir/Hill – Bach Mass in B Minor

Tilford Bach Festival –  RCM players/Butterfield – Bach cantatas

Tilford Bach Festival –  London Handel Orchestra/Butterfield – Bach Mass in B Minor

St John's, Smith Square – London Handel Orchestra/Butterfield – Bach Mass in B Minor

Quite a year!