The Club of Queer Crafts

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 80, 25 June 1927, Page 8

The Club of Queer Crafts

No. 6 - The Organmake

p’IRST —days of patient thought and ■*- design and then weeks of toil in construction. Then, the organmaker’s handiwork perfected, the great voices of the masters speak and lead the world in thrall at the loveliness of a Bach fugue or the bright melodies of Mozart. Pride is natural to the organmaker’s calling, for he makes the heart that bursts with the songs of songs; the most magnificent instrument of musical expression.

In this city there is but one maker of organs, Mr. George Crofts, of Kendall Place. More than 30 organs he has made. His work, filling the dim Sabbath light of 30 churches with majestic music, must have an inseparable connection with the inner life of thousands. Looking at the work of a modern organmaker one marvels at the crudity of the instrument of Bach's day and earlier days, when the keys were depressed by striking them with the clenched fist. And in that medium Bach composed and left his personality imprinted ill the present system of equal temperament tuning which he demonstrated and justified by writing the 48 preludes and fugues to show its operation in each key. Croft organs are to be found in St. Mary’s, Pitt Street, the Tabernacle, St. Andrew’s and Knox Churches to mention only a few. The humid climate of Auckland is particularly severe on organs. It is necessary for the maker to allow for the swell of the woodwork of the action and to use special materials. In organ building New Zealand woods have been largely displaced by American cedar, redwoods, pines and mahogany which, if it were not so dear, would be an ideal wood. As it is not absorbent of moisture it is used a great deal in the delicate action work. Not only does the climate affect the mechanism. Cold weather flattens the. notes, so that constant attention must be given to tuning. Pew folk perhaps notice the fact that there is a seasonal variation in pitch in organs. The pitch is much higher in summer. The pipes are built, variously, of wood and metal. The largest are usually made of zinc, and smaller ones of lead and tin alloy, the best metal being known as spotted metal. For the flutes, clear pine is used and for the 16-feet pipes New Zealand timbers give a notably sonorous tone. But the delicate task of tuning, voicing and regulating .the pipes is the field of an expert.