ST. MATTHEW'S ORGAN.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 3147, 26 March 1909, Page 5

ST. MATTHEW'S ORGAN.

DEDICATION SERVICE. Last night the dedication of the enlarged organ in St. Matthew's C -urch took place. Tne service took tie form of festal evensong—yesterday being the Feast of the Annunciation —with the dedication of the organ a"d prayer for all by piins, care and cost the -ok is oeing done. The service was fcy the "Vicar, and the lessons, which •were taken fr >m the 2 Chron. v. 2 and Rev. VL.9—l3, were read by the Rev. W. Raine and the Rev. R. Young, Vicar of Carterton. A special hymn, "Hark! Hark! the organ loudly peals," co music by J. W. Elliott, was sung as a processional. The anthem "Praise ths Lord, O My Soul." was by the same composer. Towards the cl <se of the strvico the 'orgm ist, Mr H. S. Claughron, played the following selections.-—"Prelude •in G," (Mendelssohn); Moment Musical.-; (Schubert); Grand Choeur, (Guilmant); (a) Andante in F minor, (b) Andante in G major (Batiste); Adagio in Prte Style, Organ Concerto. (Gnstav Merkel). Mr F. Hunn was the vocalist, and sing i i rood form "Lord God of -Abr_-inarr\" from Mendelssohn's "Elijah." Before the blessing the chiir sang the Te Deum and the hymn "O Praise Ye the Lord" as thev left the church. ; The orjan originally built by Mr Arthur Hobday, of Wellington, about 'ten years ago, consisted of one manual ai d nine stops. It has now been entirely rebuilt by Mr Hobday, and con?ist3 of two manuals and twentyfour stops. The organ contains on the great manual seven stops:—Open Diapason Bft, Claribel Bft, Dulciana Bft, Principal 4ft, Flautina 2ft (BourJon and Trumpet prepared for ■on sound board). Swell Organ:— Opsn Diapason Bft, Rohe Flute Bft, Gamb;t Bfr. Celeste Bft, Oboe Bft, Principal 4ft (horn and mixtures and ■double diapason prepared for on sound hoard). Pedal Organ.—Bour-

dor. 16ft. The coupling is very comlete. arid consists of swell to great, "great to swell super-octave, great to swell sub-octave; great to peJal and swell to pedal. There is al:o a stop for tremulant and six composition pedals controlling the various stop?. The crescendo on the swell organ is obtained by means of a halance pedal. The action is tubular and pneumatic of an approved type, and in this the builder has achieved a great .■•success. The touch id both light and responsive. Of the new stops, the Dulciana and Claribel are particularly good, the quality of the latter especially is sweet and round In tone. The new open diapason and the principal on the swell organ highly satisfactory. The ■ power andjvariety of the instrument has been more than doubled arid enlarged, and the renovated organ should prove of great value to the services of the church Unfortunately the wurk has taken the builders longer than they expected, and though they have been working day and night, the work was hardly finished in time for last night's service. The organist v;as thus unable to obtain the necessary practice on the new instrument, but in spite of this he was able to show . that S. Matthew's Churc'i possesses a very valuable instrument. It is proposed to continue the festival services on Sunday next. The Rev. R. Young has promised to preach at the evening service, after which a ishort recital will be given.