St James Anglican Church in King St in the centre of Sydney is the oldest church building in the city, currently celebrating 200 years of history. The exterior is a timeless, classical style whilst the interior has been redesigned several times over the many decades. Rather than keeping the space to themselves, the rector and congregation have opened their doors to the public, regularly offering classical and choral concerts or as a space for hire for Christian weddings, funerals and baptisms.
It’s a large church, which requires strong musical leadership from its organ to keep the choir and congregation in unison. The original organ was recorded as being installed in 1827 built by John Grey of London. Much smaller in comparison to the modern instruments, it was shunted around to various areas of the church in an attempt to find the most suitable spot. This included the rounded “Chapel of the Holy Spirit” at the east end of the church where, in the historic photo, it looked picture perfect.
There is an old saying: “My axe is fantastic. It’s lasted for 30 years, only having 3 new heads and 7 new handles.” With a church organ and it’s many moving parts, the maintenance and repair work is continuous and by the 1900’s many parts of Grey organ was in need of replacement. There was a major rebuild in the early 1970’s to the point that it might have been like the aforementioned axe with very little of the original equipment remaining.
This rebuild did not give the desired effect. Installed on either side of the church at the East end, the pipes stuck up out and above the wood casework. Many parts were needing replacement too soon, perhaps showing a lack of quality compared to the original parts from the 1820’s.
In 2015, during the tenure of Reverend Andrew Sempell, a strategic plan was set in place to completely start from scratch, commissioning the building of a brand new, high quality organ, fit for purpose and better than any of the previous versions.
It’s been a long and challenging project drawing on sponsors, funding bodies and general fund raising but St James were finally able to place their order. After much deliberation over organ building firms around the world, they decided on Dobson Pipe Organ Builders of Lake City, Iowa, USA.
“From St James’ long-established choral tradition, and indeed even from the very acoustical environment of the building, there emerged a concept of a modern-day Romantic style instrument, embracing the Symphonic elements of both English and American organs.”
— Peter Jewkes, former St James Organist and Consultant for the replacement of the organ.
The Dobson team paid great attention to detail in the audio and visual design. It was decided by the heritage authorities that the casework should be modern and complimentary to what was already in the church rather than trying to mimic historic woodwork. The 3,000 pipes would be laid out so they are all easily accessible for maintenance. They also gave priority to making an instrument that would support singing within the church, rather than one designed for solo performance.
Alongside the Dobson organ builder team were architects from the Design 5 team lead by Alan Croker and Joseph Myers from the American consulting firm Kirkegaard to improve the acoustics of the church. Kirkegaard have previously worked for the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.
If you visit the church now, you will see the organ looking as magnificent as it will ever look. The visible pipes are highly polished tin with gilded detail of 22 karat gold leaf neatly enclosed in beautiful, detailed casings. The console, which holds all the organ stops, keyboards and everything for the musician; is made of white oak, black walnut, Carpathian elm burl, ebony, maple and rosewood.
During the building process, there were some heavy challenges to deal with. A workshop fire in Iowa 2021 destroyed all the project when they were 20% of the way through. This included some historic pipes from previous organs which were meant to be incorporated. Luckily, 12 pipes from the previous St James organ were still in Australia at the time.
Intermittent lockdowns over the past few years and delays at the shipping wharf extended the wait time but the boxes finally arrived in Sydney and construction inside the church could finally begin in 2024.
“In today’s throw-away society, almost nothing is designed with the same sense of purpose and goal of longevity as a pipe organ. Of course, it can be a striking art object, but its true beauty is displayed in its musical service to the people of God…. It has been our joy and delight to design and build St James’ Bicentennial Pipe Organ. Long may it inspire God’s people in this place and in the greater Sydney community.”
— John A. Panning, President of Dobson Pipe Organ Builders Ltd.
26th July 2024 was the opening recital of St James’ International Organ Festival and the inaugural performance. As featured organist, the church invited James O’Donnell. Originally from the UK, O’Donnell was Master of Music and director for the Choir of Westminster Cathedral. In 2000 he was appointed Organist and Master of the Choristers at Westminster Abbey responsible for all music including royal weddings and funerals. O’Donnell is currently Professor of Organ and Sacred Music at Yale in USA.
He chose a mostly modern program. Aside from one piece by J.S. Bach, the first three pieces were contemporary and the final piece, a symphony by Charles-Marie Widor.
St James thoughtfully provided an “organ-cam” projected onto a large screen so the audience could appreciate O’Donnell’s work at the keyboard and watch his feet glide over the foot pedals. It was a treat to be able to fully appreciate the playing of this wonderful musician visually as well as audibly.
The opening work “Fanfare: Resurgam” was commissioned from composer Francis Pott for the occasion. “Prélude et Fugue sure le nom d’Alain” by Duruflé began like the opening to an opera scene and grew to a satisfying crescendo. “St Bride, Assisted by Angels “ by Judith Bingham seemed the least like it’s namesake who was said to be a saint and a healer. The Bach piece was a useful vehicle to show up the many vocal and instrumental sounds created by the organ stops and the Widor Symphony was a great way to allow the organ to open up and use its full voice. (Yes, there were times when you could literally see all the organ stops pull out.)
The concert lasted well over an hour which caused some fidgeting by those not fully acquainted with wooden pews. However, the audience was delighted by the close to have witnessed this historic occasion. We were encouraged by the Rector, Christopher Waterhouse, to return and “drop in” to hear the organ in the future, be it for a service or just a rehearsal.
“This project is an act of faith and confidence in the future. This new instrument will be heard by the generations that come after us, long after we have gone from this place. Young organists will, we hope, be inspired by the sounds of this organ and learn to play it. New compositions will be written, recordings made, masterclasses offered.”
— Reverend Christopher Waterhouse, 17th Rector of St James King St Sydney
Concert Program
FRANCIS POTT – Fanfare: Resurgam (commissioned for the occasion)
MAURICE DURUFLÉ – Prélude et Fugue sure le nom d’Alain, Op. 7
JUDITH BINGHAM – St Bride, Assisted by Angels
J.S. BACH – Toccata and Fugue in F, BWV 540
CHARLES-MARIE WIDOR – Symphony No. 6 in G minor Op. 42
Related Links
St James Church upcoming concerts and Services https://www.sjks.org.au/church/whats-on/
More history about St James Church from Heritage NSW https://www.heritage.nsw.gov.au/search-for-heritage/search-for-nsw-heritage
