Chris Lawton at the organ of Southampton Guildhall: In the gloaming

My final video of me playing the magnificent Compton organ at the Guildhall, Southampton.

One of the things I like about Compton organs is there interesting and unique devices which you do not find on other instruments. One such example is the 'melotone' unit - an early electronic device which was later developed into a complete electronic organ. Im playing the tune 'In the gloaming' and the distinctive sound of the melotone can be heard in the first part of the first verse and again in the last verse. The Guildhall Compton also has a most beautiful 'Harmonic Flute' rank so in the second half of the first verse I use this by itself to show its beauty.

For a full specification of the 'variety console' please click this link:

http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=N18285

To find out what a Compton 'melotone' unit is and how it works, click this link:

http://www.zyworld.com/IvorBuckingham/Melotone.htm

At this point, I would like to share a poem written by a lady from Cumbria by the name of Norma Singleton and its called 'Ode to the Redundant Church Organ':

ODE TO THE REDUNDANT CHURCH ORGAN
They stand rejected, but still proud - a relic of the past
Silent now, but full, for some, of memories of the past
They make no noise, but in their day, there was such a grandeur then,
Music to transport to heaven, to lift the hearts of men.

Norma Singleton

NOTE: this is purely my interest in order to make sure that these fine organs are archived forever and I do not make any monetary profit by this video being on youtube.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• organ
• southampton
• hampshire
• cinema
• theatre
• church
• chapel
• pipe
• compton
• melotone
• electrone

[oldbear52]

Very fine and sweet sounds, sir!!!

Thank you for sharing!

[ChrisLawtonorganist]

@oldbear52 thank you for your encouragement Dave!

[007vauxhall]

What a lovely sound Chris, the acoustics of the building too are just right for it I thought, and very well played. Nice tune . Many thanks :-)

[ChrisLawtonorganist]

@007vauxhall Thank you Paul!  The acoustics are just super and the melotone......there is no sound quite like it!

[cornwall59]

This is a very nice sound here Chris.....

[ChrisLawtonorganist]

@cornwall59 thank you! The patent Compton melotone unit was such an advanced thing at the time - a sound without pipes! It was this which was used in the developement of the 'electrone' which is what I have in my front room!

[RobCharles1981]

@ChrisLawtonorganist Your Welcome :-)

[ChrisLawtonorganist]

@goodchappy quite a thought of how much space would have been taken if it had been built on conventional principals!

[ChrisLawtonorganist]

@RobCharles1981 Thanks mate as always!

[goodchappy]

I believe this is the largest Compton in terms of ranks (50) in the UK which is double the size of the largest Wurlitzer in the UK.