St Paul's Church, Tai Tapu, the organ

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St Paul's Church, Tai Tapu, the organ.

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The church has a hidden organ as explained in the comments below.

St Paul's Tai Tapu, on the plains of the South Island just outside Christchurch, is that rarity in rural New Zealand, a church built of stone that might have come from an English village. Surely so small a building has no space for a pipe organ? There are no pipes to be seen and surely that is a harmonium in the choir stalls. A harmonium in a richly carved case, it is true, but then everything about this building displays craftsmanship of a high order. Only when we look closely do we see standard pedal board, and, on opening the lid, stop keys and the plate of Hill, Norman & Beard. Sounds ~ unmistakably from pipes ~ descend from roof level, directing attention to screened at the West end. They are not unlike those sometimes found in cinemas. Further investigation reveals that the organ, together with its blower, is in the tower, an unusual if not unique position. Swell shutters separate organ chamber from nave. Voiced with typical HNB refinement, this instrument was clearly designed to accompany Hymns Ancient and Modern with, perhaps, Handel's Largo as a voluntary; the popularity of Widor's toccata was far in the future when it was built. http://www.nzorgan.com/vandr/invisibleorgans.htm

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Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 New Zealand License
St Paul's Church, Tai Tapu, the organ by Selwyn Library is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 New Zealand License