The concert organ of Wolverhampton Civic Hall.

The late Steve Tovey, Wolverhampton City Organist gives you a brief off the cuff demonstration of the 4/57 Compton pipe organ at Wolverhampton Civic Hall.
The Compton at Wolverhampton Civic Hall was installed in 1938. It is suspended from the roof above the stage in two chambers and is entirely enclosed behind five sets of swell shutters. Compton claimed, "as a recital instrument, it is second to none in the Midlands.
In 2001 it went through a major refurbishment and rebuild, however, the entirety of the original voicing and ranks remained completely original. A brass Sax, Kinura and English Horn were added as well as a Moller tibia to enable the organ to be better used for theatre organ concerts, as well as classical, and also for the organ to be used for dancing.
Two Borough Organists have served Wolverhampton at the Civic Hall, Arnold Richardson (1938--1973) and Steve Tovey (1991--2016), the latter becoming City Organist in 2001. Prior to Steve being appointed organist, the organ was destined for the scrapheap after making no profit to the hall for many years. Steve turned this around when he proved that it could be profitable by holding theatre organ concerts on the organ, which subsidise the classical organ concerts.
Steve rescued over 30 theatre organs during his 52-year career.
He performed for and alongside big names such as Slade, Carry Grant, Ken Dodd, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Bob Monkhouse and many others.

Steve Tovey passed away in September 2016 after a long battle with ill health.

In September 2018, Wolverhampton pass planning permission to remove and scrap the Civic Hall organ, one of the largest ever built by the John Compton Organ Company.

#pipeorgan #churchorgan #organ #music #wolverhampton

[FCE-dogs]

- 2 Aug 2018: Planning Applications 18/00912/LBC "Removal and disposal of the organ loft and organ pipework, wind chests and other associated organ fittings" and 18/00913/LBC (removal of Civic and Wulfrun Hall ceilings) opened simultaneously, with the EDP, Jacobs and Robothams reports appended as supporting documents.

- 8 Aug 2018: Historic England’s response via Sarah Lewis (Inspector of Historic Buildings and Areas): “…Historic England is persuaded by the argument that asbestos contamination renders fund raising for the future repair and reinstatement/re-use of the organ a task that is, in all probability, unachievable. The organ does not appear to be unique… Historic England has no objection to the application on heritage grounds…” - this is in spite of no confirmed asbestos contamination of the organ components and no apparent attempt at testing any of the organ itself.

- 3 Sep 2018: Application 18/00912/LBC approved by Andrew Johnson, City of Wolverhampton Council, organ subsequently dismantled and disposed of in early February 2019.

Organ's 6, 241 pipes have been scrapped

The organ, the largest of its kind built by British firm John Compton and Company, had been in-situ at the Civic Hall since 1938 but is no more after the 6, 241 pipes, paid for by taxpayers eight decades ago, were taken to a landfill site over asbestos fears.

Wolverhampton Council insist the organ has not technically been scrapped as the console has been preserved, but experts say it is the pipes that are at the heart of an organ and make it what it is – adding that a console makes up less than five per cent of an organ.

One expert said: "It is like a priceless, rare car has been sent to the scrapyard, and they've offered the steering wheel in return."

"All of the organ pipes have now been removed and taken to a contamination landfill facility that has a specific permit to accept asbestos waste."

As part of the botched multi-million pound Civic Hall work, the organ was due to be restored and moved to a new home – which had yet to be found.

Renowned organ specialist Steve Tovey had been appointed to supervise the removal of the organ and find it a new location.

But Mr Tovey died shortly after the announcement was made and Wolverhampton Council later baulked at the £2 million revamp cost, instead opting to scrap the pipes, which were said to have asbestos in them.

Wolverhampton Council spokesman Oliver Bhurrut said: "The Civic Hall organ console has NOT been disposed of.

"We have started dialogue with an organ society and they have been offered
the opportunity to take ownership of the organ console, which will be
preserved. "




WOW, they saved a pretty USELESS console, that without the PIPES and windchests does NOTHING! The console was custom built specifically FOR that organ, now it's nothing but a glorified end table to look at and ponder "my goodness, what we LOST!"

[wurcom]

So greatly missed, a great man. We owe Steve a great deal of gratitude for the great legacy he left in organs he restored and saved. Thank you for your entertainment!!!

[fluteceleste]

I love him saying at the end "Entertainment!" great demonstration, thanks

[MrBlofts]

Absolutely great to see Steve demonstrate this fine dual purpose Compton organ.
It has never received the publicity it deserves and so far there are no commercial recordings.

[EddieEarle]

Legend!

Great to see Steve on Youtube, and to see (and hear) the Colossal Compton I have heard so much about. I agree wholeheartedly with the other comments; we should see more of the Organ and of course the City Organist!

[Organsker]

Wow...what a sound! I love it! I'd definitely buy a recording of this organ...and I'd love to have a crack at it one day!

[OrganMusicYT]

@x8lover When not in use, the organ console is kept in storage. All the pipe work is above the stage, in the roof space.

[irkibby]

My hair got indubitably parted last Saturday.... fantastic instrument, will be back for more!

[mainaccount]

Super excellent with very good interesting video

[wordsmith]

Very informative - would like to hear more from Mr Tovey.

[atcomower]

i met steve when he was organist at the odeon birmingham a really nice bloke i must be the only person when he played the organ once i fell asleep in the front row ha ha

[OrganMusicYT]

Steve has been Civic Organist at Wolverhampton Civic Hall since 1991. If you click the show more button below the video, you will see a fuller description.

[pauljtonehead]

Wouldn't it be grand if every civic hall had 44 ranks in the rafters and a console that could be rolled in? Awesome organ and the 4th try was a charm- tibia sounds very sweet.

[comptonplus]

@AnOrganCornucopia The Theatre organ additions are to make the organ FAR more versatile. It enabled the organ to be used for dancing, theatre organ concerts and shows in general. 25 years ago this organ was destined for the scrapheap, it was used once or twice a year at the most, it is now used approx 35 times a year. The original specification is still there. Classical organ concerts in the past have cost us to run, theatre organ concerts do not as we get better attendances.

[furrypeanut]

In theatre organ terms, English Horn and Post Horn are synonymous. A Post Horn does not always have a ripping metal sound. Barton Post horns are a fantastic example of a rank that does not have that sound. It is still a very useful rank, and I personally prefer Barton post horns to those of other organs..

[comptonplus]

@AnOrganCornucopia in addition, our Classical organ concerts are now FREE of charge including tea and biscuits subsidised by the council, and attendances are still very poor. Put one of the theatre organists on and you can get a crowd of 200 in!

[NICK]

ooh arr....Goo on Steve...!! lol...

[JoePeterzak]

Excellent! Thanks for posting. Great sounding organ.

One thought though... Where's the Post Horn ?

Every good Theatre organ has to have a loud bright Post Horn for second touch and counter melodies. You demonstrated an "English Horn" but it did not have the right "ripping metal" sound. So, I assumed it was just an plain english horn, and not a post horn.

Can you comment ?

Thanks.. Joe. Phoenix Arizona USA

[comptonplus]

@JoePeterzak as far as Post Horns go, ours is what would be classed as a Post Horn, modelled after the one at the Gaumont in Manchester. There are many variations on the voicing of the English Horns that came over here, some more tubby than others. The 'ripping metal' sound personally, I think is awful and none of the Post Horns to come over here originally sounded that harsh, some have now been re-voiced. This one fits in nicely without being vulgar. There is no second touch on this organ.

[risvegliato]

I believe the City council have now removed this instrument from the Civic Hall.