I love the Christmas album! I grew up attending a Lutheran church in the U.S., and organ music was and is de rigueur in that church, so listening to the old hymns on your album is just perfect, thank you 😊
I have lived in the village for the last 18 years, and love playing the harmonium in our church, I especially did when I was a child. Thank you for showcasing our little church. We still hold a service once a year, and the organ is heard in all its glory.
I have a similar instrument circa 1880 that was made in Detroit Michigan USA. My great grandparents bought it for my grandmother when she was a young girl. It sat in the attic of my grandparents house when I was young and I would go up and play it when I was there. When grandma sold the farm she asked if I would like it as I was the only one of the grandchildren who ever played it. I eagerly accepted and moved it to my parents home. I repaired the bellows and cleaned everything and restored it to correct working condition over 50 years ago. It now has a prominent place in my home and works like it did when it was new.
That is really cool. It’s nice to keep something like this in the family because it carries a lot of meaning. Especially to sentimental people like me!
My maternal grandmother had one in her humble little rented home around 1960. It was old and old fashioned and discarded. I know she didn’t have to pay a cent for it. I love the sound of this organ and wish my family still had the one my grandmother played. Lucky you!
The storytelling makes this video so good, it's not just about the organ, but the whole atmosphere, the tribute to the fallen and the history of the site.
I feel both sadness and joy as I watch this video. I feel sad that the church is abandoned and no longer in use. On the other hand, I feel such joy and peace as I remember my mother, who was both our choir mistress and pump organist! Ever sunday, I enthusiastically pumped the organ before mum started playing for the service. What wonderful simple times! Thanks for the memories.
Miller Organ: I (age 85) am the present custodian of our family's 1895 Miller Organ which was purchased new by a little "village church" in Holly Springs, MS, USA. The church was unable to make the payments, so my grandmother, the church organist, took over payments. The organ was hauled by horse drawn wagon to and from her house to the church every Sunday. She later taught my mother to play by ear. Ours also has 13 stops but is much more ornate than the one shown. Great video!! CSW
I restored an organ very much like this. These work on vacuum, not wind. When you push the pedal, you are expanding a bellows that sucks air from a larger bellows behind and compresses it against a spring. When you press a key, a single rod pushes down a pallet and allows air to be sucked through the reed into the main bellows. The vox humana works like a small air engine. There's a crankshaft in there. That spins the flaps above the reeds. The cipher we heard is a weak pallet spring that isn't able to hold its pallet closed against the vacuum. easily corrected by bending the wire spring--if you can get to it, that is. Most of these organs have only two full sets of reeds: one in front and one in back. From that, all the various stops are derived by opening one or the other or both, or one fully and the other slightly. They really did a lot with a little!
@@Lifecomesfromwithin that's what I did to clean my reeds. Works a treat. You certainly don't want to go scraping off bits of metal and ruining the celeste tuning.
He said that they don't need to be tuned, and works like an armonica. So this organ in the video, specifically, doesn't have reeds. They use a metal mechanism that opens with air pressure and vibrates
These videos are not just charming and nostalgic, they are the documentation of an era passing. I can't say myself whether that is good or bad, it just is. I like the way the human presence can be felt in the narration and the way the camera is used.
One thing you don’t seem to get credit for, beyond your musical talent , is the great editing of your videos !! I always feel like I am right beside you walking along !!
As a Reed Organ restorer, I must say that I think you did a splendid job with this video. I'd love to get my hands on that organ and make it new again.
Over my dehdd body… Rodney Jantzi said I can get it… lol… I play by ear and I got a beat up overpriced pump organ $100…I took it home and began playing it until the belows stopped holding air and then I got desperate and I got my house vacuum and it was great way to keep playing but the vacuum noise was too much and then I found another one that was fully restored and in mint condition for under $200…. I play it every day and I worry about the belows giving out… I posted a video of my playing The Lords Prayer on vintage pump organ….but I want the 2 manual Beirlin reed organ that Jantzi has in his family… most amazing instrument ever!
Ah! A poignant memory! I'm 78 now, but when I was 12, I was sent to a Catholic boarding school, which was at the beginning of its development. I had been there for a couple of months when we were joined by Fr. Charles Grace, and he started conducting the hymns on a foot-pumped harmonium very much like this one. He didn't play it for very long before the school afforded him a new organ, and he chose a Hammond electric organ - one of the old ones with tone wheels that gave it a distingctive sound that I didn't entirely like, but he played it for the remaining 6 years that I knew him. We had a massive single-cylinder diesel-powered generator that went chuff, chuff, chuff, and though we couldn't hear it from the school or from the church, it gave the organ an induced vibrato due to the motor that drove toe tone-wheels changing speed with the surge of electricity on each stroke of the generator. It turned out that Fr. Grace was a very fine organist, and taught me piano. I was very enthusiastic, but never a star pupil, with very slow sight-reading, and I gave it up when I left school - but I still got pleasure from it when I was into my 70's, when I bought a cheap electronic keyboard that more-or-less imitated an organ sound, and over the course of an entire year, learned to play Bach's Toccata & Fugue in D min. One of my finest achievements! 😌
This was wonderful, Ben. Thank you for showing us this beautiful old church and its organ. My only sorrow was that you did not give us a bit more of the organ playing. When you started the Vox Humana, I could hear “Eternal Father strong to save” almost bursting from the notes!
I actually own a "pump" organ that was both my grandmother's and great grandmother's. My Grandmother bought it for her mother in the early 1900's. It's brand is PACKARD, a company that made many things including refrigerators and cars. All stops work except the Vox Humana, because the device was broken and removed (though it is still stored under the music shelf). The original oilskin bellows need replaced, but it still plays. Also the rails need replaced that originally held the oil lamps in place. There are 'pedals" to the right and left of the knees that control the volume (Right) and sustain (Left). It is truly a treasure to own and to play. Both my grandmother and great grandmother were church organists in small local churches in the late 1800's and early 1900's.
Such a beautiful church with an interesting history, and I also enjoyed the lesson about how this type of organ works. But when you actually played the organ, it sent chills down my spine - it had such a wonderful voice! Thank you for making the trek and sharing this experience with us.
Thank you Ben for taking me into your world. Whenever I visit an ancient and often remotely located church I sense it’s history captured in the fabric and the feel presence of it’s people past. There is a tangible sensation somehow wrapped up in the echoes and clunky silence of the place. It’s very real.
Ben, thank you for introducing us to some of the most wonderful, historic churches! I’m American but spend a several weeks of the year near Romsey, Hants. I’m over for Christmas later this week and will make a point to go explore some of these churches you’ve visited. Happy Christmas.
I love this. When I was a girl, we went to a country church that only had a pump organ. For the ‘children’s hymn’, those of us who knew how to play would take turns playing. We knew we were old enough when we could get through the entire hymn without tiring out! LOL
Hi Ben, I love your video's and playing. I used to have a similar harmonium nearly 60 yrs ago. It was built in Waghington in 1890. I had to repair the bellows but it played sweetly. I think you may be mistaken about pumping air through the reeds for the sound though. The air was SUCKED through the reeds. It operated on vaccuum. The bellows created a vaccuum not pressure. I think that was the way all American harmoniums were made. Thanks again for showing and playing these beautiful instruments. Regards, Ian.
In the 1950´s when I was a boy, I was coopted by one of my uncles who played the organ in our local Methodist chapel. He needed to practice some pieces but for some reason the electrically blown Methodist chapel organ was not available to him- He had to use another smaller organ at a Methodist chapel in a nearby village. This organ was manually pumped. I remember it had a large lever for the pump sticking out of one side and a metal bob weight on a cord which rose and fell as the bellows were pumped and the air reservoir filled and depleted. I had to keep this weight within a couple pf markers on the woodwork of the organ casing. His own chapel organ still had the means to manually pump the air, presumably in case of power failure. Remember this was in the early 1950´s and electricity was not universal everywhere. My mothers family farm house in the same local area still relied on town gas for lighting and cooking.
Your video on this pump organ in this beautiful church and surrounds moved me to tears. My mother, the wife of a Methodist minister who emigrated from Kent to South Africa in 1924 - 100 years ago next year! - played just such organs for his services in many remote parts of our country... and in some not-so-remote parts! On days when she deemed the weather too hot to pump the pedals herself I was deputed at the ages of 5 to 10 years old to pump the pedals by hand. She was an excellent musician - a music teacher - but there were clearly times when she decided the congregation could do with what her youngest son could manage in terms of air! Thus I well remember crawling under the organ bench to power the organ. Listening to the stops and the notes you played, and recognising so much about the pump organs, brought back so many happy memories. My wife is also a pipe organist having done her dissertation on the Johannesburg City Hall pipe organ in the 1970s. I have often wished I could find a pump organ in reasonable condition at an affordable price to place next to her Allen organ at home and her piano. Alas I have never been able to do so. Thank you so much for your videos.
Beautiful…breathtaking…the church…the surroundings…the graves…the people I imagine who worshipped there and heard the music and sang. Oh how lovely. Thank you Ben from Tennessee USA.
It is a suction reed organ... A vacuum is created by deflating the bellows through two exhausters attached to the bellows. When the bellows are filled there is no longer any suction. The organist is in fact pumping the air out of the bellows.
'There is no great beauty that hath not some disproportion in it.' Bringing our churches to life with your deep love of these places and filling them with wonderful sounds. The homage to our war dead who once worshiped there. Bloody marvellous.
What a wonderful church. What a superb video. What a beautiful instrument. When one is disconnected from faith, (for whatever reason/s), we can easily forget the incredible emotions of worship compositions of old. Ben enables one to recall the all encompassing sanctuary of such serenity and rekindles a longing to be within that envelope once again. Thank you Ben.
Such a moving video. What lovely music you coaxed out of the pump organ and beautiful evocative views and comments about the surrounding English countryside. Thank you Ben.
Thanks for showing and playing this organ. I have almost the same model of Miller Organ but mine has 11 stops instead of the13 on the one you played. The Miller Company was located in Lebanon, Pennsylvania. I live just outside of Philadelphia. The organ was given to me by my church because no one else there wanted it. I am happy to have it.
i had the occasion, many years back, to play a 3 manual, 100 stop reed organ. the sound was glorious. it even had a 32' pedal reed. It did have an electric blower.
"Greater love hath no man than this. That a man lay down his life for his friend." This had me bawling out my eyes. RIP Private Parrett, lest we forget.
Lovely! I learned to play organ on a pump organ in India. I grew up at a Hill Station, Ootacamund, the Nilgris, South India. Missionaaries used to come up the hills during hot summer season for holidays. I still play organ. Retired Minister, living in Warminister, PA, USA. Thank you Ben.
Thank you Ben for showing us this wonderful Old Church and the Organ. My sisters and I as teen agers we used to play a similar Organ pumping with our feet in a Church in North Africa where my Father was a Missionary Pastor.
Welcome to my world! So glad you made this discovery. When I was growing up, the music in all of the churches I went to was provided by foot pumped organs. Some of the better off congregations had two manual pump organs. Did not you know how hard you had to pump the organ depended on the number of stops you were using?
Ah Ha!!! I was delighted to see this Miller Reed Organ from Lebanon, PA (USA) actually in a church in the UK. Hooray! Reed organs by Estey, Miller, Mason & Hamlin, and Cornish were the best made. I'm 72 years old and I've restored over 60 reed organs since my college undergraduate days. The latest one I restored last March (2023) was a large Canadian D.W. Karn organ (Woodstock, Ontario) associated with Mason & Risch.
I enjoy your channel. I live in Louisiana in the United States. Don’t know if I could ever learn to drive on 5he left side of the road, but the English countryside in these rural villages are stunning to me. I am a Master Gardener and am amazed how well everything I see in your videos are maintained. Thanks for sharing
I live in Australia. My older brother died in 2022 aged 92. He was an organist, having learned on the organ in St Andrew’s Cathedral, Sydney NSW. He played for church services for many years. I recall that in our younger years, every church would have its pipe organ and a choir which sang in 4-part harmony. Nowadays, both of these are almost as scarce as hen’s teeth. I stumbled across your videos on You Tube recently, and have been thoroughly enjoying your insights and your music. Thank you so much!
This is such a beautiful organ. I'm in South Africa, and currently on Facebook Market place, there is a 2 manual + 32 note pedal organ just like this one for sale. The organist can play it alone, but if he / or she pumps the organ, obviously the pedals cannot be played. On the side of this organ, there are some levers, meant to be operated by another person. These levers take over the pumping requirement for the organ, and in this way, the organist can utilize the pedalboard as well - just like a pipe organ.
Thankyou Ben Maton for this wonderful video of this old church and hearing the Reed Pump Organ that I had the pleasure of owning one for several years.Precious memories! Roger Groot,Clevland,Tennessee,U.S.A.
These harmoniums were a normal of my childhood in Plymouth Brethren churches in Devon (1960s). I played many of them. You did not notice the swell flaps that were beside your knees... push them apart and the organ gets louder as louvres open at the side of the soundbox. I even had the pleasure of playing a two manual version of the harmonium in the former Wonford Baptist Church in Exeter, sadly no longer there when I looked about 10 years ago. This was a real blast of nostalgia for me. Thanks.
I’ve played a two manual harmonium at Hennock near Chudleigh, Devon. I don’t remember how it was powered but the church was and I think still is active.
I bought a disused and broken organ such as this from the nuns in the ancient Abbey of Minster in Kent in about 1974 … the bellows had been repaired with plastic fertilizer bags! I stripped it into pieces and rebuilt it - cured the woodworm (I hope!) - and stained and polished it up - got it all working… Had it in my bedroom in Westgate-on-Sea for a decade… then, sadly, the family split up , and I came back from Canterbury boarding school and left home soon afterwards… The family house has long gone. I have no idea what happened to that old organ… It was tricky to play! I was never any good but boy I put some effort into trying to! This has been my trip down memory lane. I’m nearly 60 now and I’m married to my Mexican wife - and I’m living out my days in Mexico! I always loved Minster… Those nuns in the fields driving their tractor! God Bless you all - 🏴🙏🏴🇮🇱
It is so nice that a young person as yourself takes the time to make the church ”live” again. By playing that organ, the people who were married, baptised and buried there, once again in a way can be heard
"Open to all" as in OPEN open, where anybody can just go in at any time, or is a reservation required? I can't imagine anybody can just tromp inside and bang on the organ, and if that church were to be sitting somewhere here in the US, it would be ransacked and trashed with graffiti on the walls and homeless camped inside.
My old family Baptist church in mid Missouri is in disrepair but wide open ,only one meeting a year ,all the furniture, organ and piano in place Circa1890
Thank you for a great video! It makes me sad to see these old churches empty - these places were the places where people celebrated so many important life events! Lovely old reed organ though!
I found one of these down the dump at weymouth years ago and had a load of fun finding out how it worked and restoring the bellows and making it all work again 😅
I appreciate your reverence for history as well as for, well, reverence. Thanks for teaching about the old instrument out of which you pull some fine sounds.
I have been enjoying your channel. There is a museum in my town with a log cabin chapel, and I got to play Christmas carols on the pump organ there a few years ago. I love these organs and it was a joy to play. After two hours of playing, I felt that I had had a pretty good workout. The chapel wasn’t heated but I was quite warm by the end! Thank you for letting us hear this lovely pump organ.
You are an inspired individual...please spare a thought as well for the Catholics (some of whom might be the progenitors of martyrs) that founded and built these churches...I have just discovered your work to shine a light on these forgotten village churches and their fascinating pipe organs...I thank God that Britian, at least currently, has kept these buildings consecrated and given you access the the organs...what an incredible joy this is for me...God bless you sir....
Superb vlog. I too love visiting ancient churches and listening to church organs. It’s amazing that the old pump organ still works (just) and with the help of your musical skill can come back to life, producing a complex, beautiful, sound. It’s astonishing to think that the small graveyard accommodates over 50,000 bodies 🫢🪦💀
Wonderful video thank you. Watching this gave me a very pleasant flashback when I was having dinner with a piano entertainer friend of mine named Liberace. This would have been around 1980 when I was just starting out and he have me some advice, "Never have an act you can't reproduce in someone's living room WITHOUT electricity." Thanks for bringing that back. I've played one of these organs. As a pianist I think they're great fun. I've played pipe organ in church and truly love those magnificent behemoths. I'm not proficient in classical pedal work, But that notwithstanding they are still for me a great thrill, as is your channel. Thank you🎹🎼
Thank you for sharing this church and its history. I'm glad it is being cared for. Where I live there are many abandoned chapels in appalling condition. I have visited two where the organs are vandalised and rotting, it's very sad.
Indeed perfect because of all its imperfections! I agree, only for those rubber boots which I'd never worn while playing any organ or harmonium... Many thanks from a German leisure organist, pls carry on digging out such little 'pearls.
I has a friend who had an organ such as this. It's funny that you mentioned a hoover, because that is what he used to supply air to the organ so he wouldn't have to pump it.
I came across this programme by chance, and love your enthusiasm on the history, personality and location of each church you visit. It made me think that my Dad was doing a mirror image of your programme years ago before the advent of the internet and u-tube videos. After moving to Norfolk from Edinburgh for his medical work, wends were often taken up scanning for birds on the windswept coast, but later visiting a village church. Dad's only audience were his family, while he described an ancient wooden screen, old fonts, Norman arches, flint towers and yes, sometimes playing the organ! His enthusiasm spread to his friends, not only about churches, but where to find the best cup of tea around Norfolk. Wiveton, Cley, Blakeney, Salthouse, Letheringset, Ranworth, Holt, the list was endless....almost! At one time there were 650 churches listed in Norfolk. Robert Abel.
Thank you Ben for another great video. What an interesting church full of history in a beautiful and peaceful countryside setting. It was fascinating to see and hear how the reed organ works. I do enjoy these videos. It’s always great to know these churches are being cared for. They’re such an important part of our heritage.
Thank you for sharing your fascinating experience in this old church. A pity that the harmonium needs much needed TLC. I have such an instrument, a beautiful harmonium built in Canada late 1800’s, which is in excellent condition throughout. It sits in the hallway and keeps good company with a Hammond organ of 1983 vintage, also an electric piano and a more recent addition, a Yamaha, Arranger Keyboard SX900. We have musical evenings from time to time, a lot of fun. Greetings from Tasmania Australia 🎹🎼😁🇦🇺🦘
Such a beautiful warm sound! It goes straight ro the heart! I'm only a pianist but somethimg in me wishes to cry out, "Let no man think we have gone forwards since then but clearly we have gone backwards."
Thank you so much, Ben, for your fabulous videos. Your youth, musical talent, attractive appearance, and charming British accent and, of course, your rare interest in things from my era and before, make your posts like none other that I've known.
Simply wonderful. Thanks so much. I'm not a professional musician, but have training (piano) and in 1970 built a harpsichord from a kit and enjoyed playing it for several years. Also play (rather poorly) classical guitar, saxophone, transverse flute and recorder -- and I've played both modern pipe organs and a "pump" organ such as might have been found in a small 19th-c. church or even modest home in my country (USA). My hearing now prevents much enjoyment of music, but that only enhances appreciation of Beethoven, who could hardly hear at all!
You called yourself an organist. I dub you an artist and a poet. Young people like you with appreciation and knowledge of history and its artifacts are the Treasures of the modern world. Thank you! Thank you
Very interesting video. I knew somebody who bought a "Harmonium" for his lounge, a very good sound he made too with it. Not everything electronic or automatic is necessary, like you say! Well done !!
My mother was an organist and music teacher. So I grew up with organs in the 50s and 60s. In southern Sweden, one of the churches where she served had a foot-stomped organ that was maintained by the bell ringer. they are all electrified today. "We" are so overwhelmed by popular music today that we can't take in these gems
What a wonderful tour of churches! Thanks Ben, for this amazing blend of travel, music and history. One hopes that one could possibly see all this in one's lifetime. We are grateful for your untiring efforts. Love from far away Bombay, India.
This video really captures the essence of the foot pumped organ. I loved how you described the human like quality of this instrument. Playing one of these is like stepping back in time as there is an expressiveness that can't be captured by modern organs.
A great video Ben. You were talking about how the "imperfections" found in this old church was what made it beautiful. I see your point. I've seen absolutely stunning examples of Gothic architecture in modern cathedrals, like Saint Patrick's in New York, or Saint Paul's in Melbourne, Australia; but all those quaint, little churches I saw in villages in Cumbria and Yorkshire had so much more charm and subtle beauty.
Thank you, Ben for leading us to this lovely old church and its organ. It was hauntingly beautiful and reminded me of simpler and less complicated church life. And when I had once played a similar instrument in Australia. I sometimes wonder how some churches would cope without electricity and the latest sound equipment. And sometimes the piano is seen as not needed anymore!
Ben, so glad that I found your channel on You Tube. I spent a few days in Salisbury last autumn at Sarum College b+b. Visited several churches and the cathedral, wished I had found 'your' church. I really appreciate your filming .playing and church guide skills. Perfect for a long November evening, thank you.
The Christmas Album is here! 🎄Download at benmaton-thesalisburyorganist.myshopify.com/products/the-little-christmas-album
I love the Christmas album! I grew up attending a Lutheran church in the U.S., and organ music was and is de rigueur in that church, so listening to the old hymns on your album is just perfect, thank you 😊
I have lived in the village for the last 18 years, and love playing the harmonium in our church, I especially did when I was a child. Thank you for showcasing our little church. We still hold a service once a year, and the organ is heard in all its glory.
You are very fortunate to have such history literally at your fingertips. Preserving it is such a privilege.
My grandparents referred to theirs as a Harmonium too, and I never heard the word again until Music History class at University.
Ah so he was just lying for extra views and to seem more interesting. What a wanker.
How lovely!
I have a similar instrument circa 1880 that was made in Detroit Michigan USA. My great grandparents bought it for my grandmother when she was a young girl. It sat in the attic of my grandparents house when I was young and I would go up and play it when I was there. When grandma sold the farm she asked if I would like it as I was the only one of the grandchildren who ever played it. I eagerly accepted and moved it to my parents home. I repaired the bellows and cleaned everything and restored it to correct working condition over 50 years ago. It now has a prominent place in my home and works like it did when it was new.
Great that you put some love back into it. All of these instruments of olden days are worth preserving.👍
Awesome story. Keeping that part of the family heritage is beautiful.
That is really cool. It’s nice to keep something like this in the family because it carries a lot of meaning. Especially to sentimental people like me!
That is a wonderful story...so happy that you saw the organ's value and preserved it for the future.
My maternal grandmother had one in her humble little rented home around 1960. It was old and old fashioned and discarded. I know she didn’t have to pay a cent for it. I love the sound of this organ and wish my family still had the one my grandmother played. Lucky you!
The storytelling makes this video so good, it's not just about the organ, but the whole atmosphere, the tribute to the fallen and the history of the site.
Yes, well said
I agree. He’s got a new subscriber with me.
Oh Lord, how wonderful it would be to see worshippers filling these churches again. What a great video. So respectful. Thank you. X
Amen!
Amen...so be it🙏
Amém!
I feel both sadness and joy as I watch this video. I feel sad that the church is abandoned and no longer in use. On the other hand, I feel such joy and peace as I remember my mother, who was both our choir mistress and pump organist! Ever sunday, I enthusiastically pumped the organ before mum started playing for the service. What wonderful simple times! Thanks for the memories.
What a special memory ❤
Miller Organ: I (age 85) am the present custodian of our family's 1895 Miller Organ which was purchased new by a little "village church" in Holly Springs, MS, USA. The church was unable to make the payments, so my grandmother, the church organist, took over payments. The organ was hauled by horse drawn wagon to and from her house to
the church every Sunday. She later taught my mother to play by ear. Ours also has 13 stops but is much more ornate than the one shown. Great video!! CSW
I restored an organ very much like this. These work on vacuum, not wind. When you push the pedal, you are expanding a bellows that sucks air from a larger bellows behind and compresses it against a spring. When you press a key, a single rod pushes down a pallet and allows air to be sucked through the reed into the main bellows. The vox humana works like a small air engine. There's a crankshaft in there. That spins the flaps above the reeds. The cipher we heard is a weak pallet spring that isn't able to hold its pallet closed against the vacuum. easily corrected by bending the wire spring--if you can get to it, that is. Most of these organs have only two full sets of reeds: one in front and one in back. From that, all the various stops are derived by opening one or the other or both, or one fully and the other slightly. They really did a lot with a little!
In England the harmoniums work the opposite way. They blow air.
I suggested the upper half of his keyboard reeds need to be cleaned by soaking in ammonia and water to put them back in tune
@@Lifecomesfromwithin that's what I did to clean my reeds. Works a treat. You certainly don't want to go scraping off bits of metal and ruining the celeste tuning.
Ingenious...and showing such a love for music, even in the middle of the countryside.
He said that they don't need to be tuned, and works like an armonica. So this organ in the video, specifically, doesn't have reeds. They use a metal mechanism that opens with air pressure and vibrates
These videos are not just charming and nostalgic, they are the documentation of an era passing. I can't say myself whether that is good or bad, it just is. I like the way the human presence can be felt in the narration and the way the camera is used.
One thing you don’t seem to get credit for, beyond your musical talent , is the great editing of your videos !! I always feel like I am right beside you walking along !!
an organist from India here, my heart weeps at the sight of abandoned churches
its still looked after and used once a year
Me too, but at least it hasn’t been sold and converted into a luxury home… which is happening to far too many of our churches and chapels.
As a Reed Organ restorer, I must say that I think you did a splendid job with this video. I'd love to get my hands on that organ and make it new again.
Over my dehdd body… Rodney Jantzi said I can get it… lol…
I play by ear and I got a beat up overpriced pump organ $100…I took it home and began playing it until the belows stopped holding air and then I got desperate and I got my house vacuum and it was great way to keep playing but the vacuum noise was too much and then I found another one that was fully restored and in mint condition for under $200…. I play it every day and I worry about the belows giving out… I posted a video of my playing The Lords Prayer on vintage pump organ….but I want the 2 manual Beirlin reed organ that Jantzi has in his family… most amazing instrument ever!
Where do you live? I've got two broken in SC USA and no fixers within hours of the place :(
I live in the southern most part of the state of Missouri. @@scronx
Ah! A poignant memory! I'm 78 now, but when I was 12, I was sent to a Catholic boarding school, which was at the beginning of its development. I had been there for a couple of months when we were joined by Fr. Charles Grace, and he started conducting the hymns on a foot-pumped harmonium very much like this one. He didn't play it for very long before the school afforded him a new organ, and he chose a Hammond electric organ - one of the old ones with tone wheels that gave it a distingctive sound that I didn't entirely like, but he played it for the remaining 6 years that I knew him. We had a massive single-cylinder diesel-powered generator that went chuff, chuff, chuff, and though we couldn't hear it from the school or from the church, it gave the organ an induced vibrato due to the motor that drove toe tone-wheels changing speed with the surge of electricity on each stroke of the generator.
It turned out that Fr. Grace was a very fine organist, and taught me piano. I was very enthusiastic, but never a star pupil, with very slow sight-reading, and I gave it up when I left school - but I still got pleasure from it when I was into my 70's, when I bought a cheap electronic keyboard that more-or-less imitated an organ sound, and over the course of an entire year, learned to play Bach's Toccata & Fugue in D min. One of my finest achievements! 😌
Bless you ! ❤😊
This was wonderful, Ben. Thank you for showing us this beautiful old church and its organ. My only sorrow was that you did not give us a bit more of the organ playing. When you started the Vox Humana, I could hear “Eternal Father strong to save” almost bursting from the notes!
I actually own a "pump" organ that was both my grandmother's and great grandmother's. My Grandmother bought it for her mother in the early 1900's. It's brand is PACKARD, a company that made many things including refrigerators and cars. All stops work except the Vox Humana, because the device was broken and removed (though it is still stored under the music shelf). The original oilskin bellows need replaced, but it still plays. Also the rails need replaced that originally held the oil lamps in place. There are 'pedals" to the right and left of the knees that control the volume (Right) and sustain (Left). It is truly a treasure to own and to play. Both my grandmother and great grandmother were church organists in small local churches in the late 1800's and early 1900's.
Such a beautiful church with an interesting history, and I also enjoyed the lesson about how this type of organ works. But when you actually played the organ, it sent chills down my spine - it had such a wonderful voice! Thank you for making the trek and sharing this experience with us.
Thank you Ben for taking me into your world. Whenever I visit an ancient and often remotely located church I sense it’s history captured in the fabric and the feel presence of it’s people past. There is a tangible sensation somehow wrapped up in the echoes and clunky silence of the place. It’s very real.
Yes, I agree. I love to handle the stone of the pillars and picture the people who laboured over them.
Ben, thank you for introducing us to some of the most wonderful, historic churches! I’m American but spend a several weeks of the year near Romsey, Hants. I’m over for Christmas later this week and will make a point to go explore some of these churches you’ve visited. Happy Christmas.
Mr. Maton, you're doing beautiful work bringing these wonderful old instruments and churches to light again. Bravo.
What a gorgeous village and a stunning old church.The organ is in pretty good shape given the age.
Thanks for making and sharing this brilliant video!
I love this. When I was a girl, we went to a country church that only had a pump organ. For the ‘children’s hymn’, those of us who knew how to play would take turns playing. We knew we were old enough when we could get through the entire hymn without tiring out! LOL
Hi Ben, I love your video's and playing. I used to have a similar harmonium nearly 60 yrs ago. It was built in Waghington in 1890. I had to repair the bellows but it played sweetly. I think you may be mistaken about pumping air through the reeds for the sound though. The air was SUCKED through the reeds. It operated on vaccuum. The bellows created a vaccuum not pressure. I think that was the way all American harmoniums were made. Thanks again for showing and playing these beautiful instruments. Regards, Ian.
In the 1950´s when I was a boy, I was coopted by one of my uncles who played the organ in our local Methodist chapel. He needed to practice some pieces but for some reason the electrically blown Methodist chapel organ was not available to him- He had to use another smaller organ at a Methodist chapel in a nearby village. This organ was manually pumped. I remember it had a large lever for the pump sticking out of one side and a metal bob weight on a cord which rose and fell as the bellows were pumped and the air reservoir filled and depleted. I had to keep this weight within a couple pf markers on the woodwork of the organ casing. His own chapel organ still had the means to manually pump the air, presumably in case of power failure. Remember this was in the early 1950´s and electricity was not universal everywhere. My mothers family farm house in the same local area still relied on town gas for lighting and cooking.
Your video on this pump organ in this beautiful church and surrounds moved me to tears. My mother, the wife of a Methodist minister who emigrated from Kent to South Africa in 1924 - 100 years ago next year! - played just such organs for his services in many remote parts of our country... and in some not-so-remote parts! On days when she deemed the weather too hot to pump the pedals herself I was deputed at the ages of 5 to 10 years old to pump the pedals by hand. She was an excellent musician - a music teacher - but there were clearly times when she decided the congregation could do with what her youngest son could manage in terms of air! Thus I well remember crawling under the organ bench to power the organ. Listening to the stops and the notes you played, and recognising so much about the pump organs, brought back so many happy memories. My wife is also a pipe organist having done her dissertation on the Johannesburg City Hall pipe organ in the 1970s. I have often wished I could find a pump organ in reasonable condition at an affordable price to place next to her Allen organ at home and her piano. Alas I have never been able to do so. Thank you so much for your videos.
Beautiful…breathtaking…the church…the surroundings…the graves…the people I imagine who worshipped there and heard the music and sang. Oh how lovely. Thank you Ben from Tennessee USA.
It is a suction reed organ... A vacuum is created by deflating the bellows through two exhausters attached to the bellows. When the bellows are filled there is no longer any suction. The organist is in fact pumping the air out of the bellows.
'There is no great beauty that hath not some disproportion in it.'
Bringing our churches to life with your deep love of these places and filling them with wonderful sounds. The homage to our war dead who once worshiped there.
Bloody marvellous.
What a wonderful church. What a superb video. What a beautiful instrument. When one is disconnected from faith, (for whatever reason/s), we can easily forget the incredible emotions of worship compositions of old. Ben enables one to recall the all encompassing sanctuary of such serenity and rekindles a longing to be within that envelope once again. Thank you Ben.
I was there this summer, family lives in village . We explored the church and grounds . It is a lovely place. Enjoyed video and history so much! 🇺🇸🇬🇧
Such a moving video. What lovely music you coaxed out of the pump organ and beautiful evocative views and comments about the surrounding English countryside. Thank you Ben.
Thanks for showing and playing this organ. I have almost the same model of Miller Organ but mine has 11 stops instead of the13 on the one you played. The Miller Company was located in Lebanon, Pennsylvania. I live just outside of Philadelphia. The organ was given to me by my church because no one else there wanted it. I am happy to have it.
i had the occasion, many years back, to play a 3 manual, 100 stop reed organ. the sound was glorious. it even had a 32' pedal reed. It did have an electric blower.
"Greater love hath no man than this. That a man lay down his life for his friend."
This had me bawling out my eyes. RIP Private Parrett, lest we forget.
Lovely! I learned to play organ on a pump organ in India. I grew up at a Hill Station, Ootacamund, the Nilgris, South India. Missionaaries used to come up the hills during hot summer season for holidays. I still play organ. Retired Minister, living in Warminister, PA, USA.
Thank you Ben.
Thank you Ben for showing us this wonderful Old Church and the Organ. My sisters and I as teen agers we used to play a similar Organ pumping with our feet in a Church in North Africa where my Father was a Missionary Pastor.
Beautifully spoken words Ben , very evocative of and transporting to the past .
Welcome to my world! So glad you made this discovery. When I was growing up, the music in all of the churches I went to was provided by foot pumped organs. Some of the better off congregations had two manual pump organs. Did not you know how hard you had to pump the organ depended on the number of stops you were using?
Ah Ha!!! I was delighted to see this Miller Reed Organ from Lebanon, PA (USA) actually in a church in the UK. Hooray! Reed organs by Estey, Miller, Mason & Hamlin, and Cornish were the best made. I'm 72 years old and I've restored over 60 reed organs since my college undergraduate days. The latest one I restored last March (2023) was a large Canadian D.W. Karn organ (Woodstock, Ontario) associated with Mason & Risch.
Love! the beautiful countryside of England and all the wonderful ancient churches!
I enjoy your channel. I live in Louisiana in the United States. Don’t know if I could ever learn to drive on 5he left side of the road, but the English countryside in these rural villages are stunning to me. I am a Master Gardener and am amazed how well everything I see in your videos are maintained. Thanks for sharing
I live in Australia. My older brother died in 2022 aged 92. He was an organist, having learned on the organ in St Andrew’s Cathedral, Sydney NSW. He played for church services for many years. I recall that in our younger years, every church would have its pipe organ and a choir which sang in 4-part harmony. Nowadays, both of these are almost as scarce as hen’s teeth. I stumbled across your videos on You Tube recently, and have been thoroughly enjoying your insights and your music. Thank you so much!
The strange emotional sound of that organ made me feel quite tearful ! Wonderful!
This is such a beautiful organ. I'm in South Africa, and currently on Facebook Market place, there is a 2 manual + 32 note pedal organ just like this one for sale. The organist can play it alone, but if he / or she pumps the organ, obviously the pedals cannot be played. On the side of this organ, there are some levers, meant to be operated by another person. These levers take over the pumping requirement for the organ, and in this way, the organist can utilize the pedalboard as well - just like a pipe organ.
Thanks & blessings, dear friend, Ben. You are a treasure to document these cherished places & times.
So sad, this term "disused church" sounds. Thank you for bringing it back to life for a moment.
Thankyou Ben Maton for this wonderful video of this old church and hearing the Reed Pump Organ that I had the pleasure of owning one for several years.Precious memories! Roger Groot,Clevland,Tennessee,U.S.A.
I have seen several of your organ videos and this is the most beautiful video and the most beautiful organ music you have played to us.
The hallowed memory of 50,000 good souls rejoice in the beautiful music emanating from this lovely edifice, oh and a few more of us too.
These harmoniums were a normal of my childhood in Plymouth Brethren churches in Devon (1960s). I played many of them. You did not notice the swell flaps that were beside your knees... push them apart and the organ gets louder as louvres open at the side of the soundbox. I even had the pleasure of playing a two manual version of the harmonium in the former Wonford Baptist Church in Exeter, sadly no longer there when I looked about 10 years ago. This was a real blast of nostalgia for me. Thanks.
I’ve played a two manual harmonium at Hennock near Chudleigh, Devon. I don’t remember how it was powered but the church was and I think still is active.
I bought a disused and broken organ such as this from the nuns in the ancient Abbey of Minster in Kent in about 1974 … the bellows had been repaired with plastic fertilizer bags!
I stripped it into pieces and rebuilt it - cured the woodworm (I hope!) - and stained and polished it up - got it all working… Had it in my bedroom in Westgate-on-Sea for a decade… then, sadly, the family split up , and I came back from Canterbury boarding school and left home soon afterwards…
The family house has long gone. I have no idea what happened to that old organ…
It was tricky to play!
I was never any good but boy I put some effort into trying to!
This has been my trip down memory lane.
I’m nearly 60 now and I’m married to my Mexican wife - and I’m living out my days in Mexico!
I always loved Minster… Those nuns in the fields driving their tractor!
God Bless you all -
🏴🙏🏴🇮🇱
It is so nice that a young person as yourself takes the time to make the church ”live” again. By playing that organ, the people who were married, baptised and buried there, once again in a way can be heard
The sound gives me goosebumps. I would love to visit this charming little church.
Beautifully done! Thank you for posting.
What a very interesting story. Sooo much history there, inside and out. The organ demo was really fun! Thanks from Kansas City, Missouri, USA.
Your narrative has a poetic flow as well. So glad that you've highlighted a foot-pumped organ.
"Open to all" as in OPEN open, where anybody can just go in at any time, or is a reservation required? I can't imagine anybody can just tromp inside and bang on the organ, and if that church were to be sitting somewhere here in the US, it would be ransacked and trashed with graffiti on the walls and homeless camped inside.
My old family Baptist church in mid Missouri is in disrepair but wide open ,only one meeting a year ,all the furniture, organ and piano in place
Circa1890
Normally the churches and chapels in the uk are unlocked and if they are in big towns or cities are occupied often
Thank you for a great video! It makes me sad to see these old churches empty - these places were the places where people celebrated so many important life events! Lovely old reed organ though!
This was really fascinating! And so beautifully filmed. Thanks for taking the time to film a really unusual and special church and organ.
I love your narratives of the vista's. The history is charming. Your talent is wonderful. Thank you.
I found one of these down the dump at weymouth years ago and had a load of fun finding out how it worked and restoring the bellows and making it all work again 😅
Well done!❤
I appreciate your reverence for history as well as for, well, reverence. Thanks for teaching about the old instrument out of which you pull some fine sounds.
I have been enjoying your channel. There is a museum in my town with a log cabin chapel, and I got to play Christmas carols on the pump organ there a few years ago. I love these organs and it was a joy to play. After two hours of playing, I felt that I had had a pretty good workout. The chapel wasn’t heated but I was quite warm by the end! Thank you for letting us hear this lovely pump organ.
Wow, amazing video, thank you for sharing.
You are an inspired individual...please spare a thought as well for the Catholics (some of whom might be the progenitors of martyrs) that founded and built these churches...I have just discovered your work to shine a light on these forgotten village churches and their fascinating pipe organs...I thank God that Britian, at least currently, has kept these buildings consecrated and given you access the the organs...what an incredible joy this is for me...God bless you sir....
Beautiful church and countryside. Thanks for making this interesting video.
I'm happy to have found your channel. You're an excellent organist and presenter.
Superb vlog. I too love visiting ancient churches and listening to church organs.
It’s amazing that the old pump organ still works (just) and with the help of your musical skill can come back to life, producing a complex, beautiful, sound.
It’s astonishing to think that the small graveyard accommodates over 50,000 bodies 🫢🪦💀
Wonderful video thank you. Watching this gave me a very pleasant flashback when I was having dinner with a piano entertainer friend of mine named Liberace. This would have been around 1980 when I was just starting out and he have me some advice, "Never have an act you can't reproduce in someone's living room WITHOUT electricity."
Thanks for bringing that back. I've played one of these organs. As a pianist I think they're great fun. I've played pipe organ in church and truly love those magnificent behemoths. I'm not proficient in classical pedal work, But that notwithstanding they are still for me a great thrill, as is your channel. Thank you🎹🎼
Thank you for sharing this church and its history. I'm glad it is being cared for. Where I live there are many abandoned chapels in appalling condition. I have visited two where the organs are vandalised and rotting, it's very sad.
Phenomenal Ben. Thank you so much for sharing your adventures with us all. Be BLESSED. 🙏🙏🙏🙏
Indeed perfect because of all its imperfections! I agree, only for those rubber boots which I'd never worn while playing any organ or harmonium... Many thanks from a German leisure organist, pls carry on digging out such little 'pearls.
I has a friend who had an organ such as this. It's funny that you mentioned a hoover, because that is what he used to supply air to the organ so he wouldn't have to pump it.
Thank you Ben. Love your channel, your music, your passion.
I came across this programme by chance, and love your enthusiasm on the history, personality and location of each church you visit. It made me think that my Dad was doing a mirror image of your programme years ago before the advent of the internet and u-tube videos. After moving to Norfolk from Edinburgh for his medical work, wends were often taken up scanning for birds on the windswept coast, but later visiting a village church. Dad's only audience were his family, while he described an ancient wooden screen, old fonts, Norman arches, flint towers and yes, sometimes playing the organ! His enthusiasm spread to his friends, not only about churches, but where to find the best cup of tea around Norfolk. Wiveton, Cley, Blakeney, Salthouse, Letheringset, Ranworth, Holt, the list was endless....almost! At one time there were 650 churches listed in Norfolk.
Robert Abel.
Thank you Ben for another great video. What an interesting church full of history in a beautiful and peaceful countryside setting. It was fascinating to see and hear how the reed organ works. I do enjoy these videos. It’s always great to know these churches are being cared for. They’re such an important part of our heritage.
I'm struck by the beauty and depth you have found in your own life, that you so generously share with us. Thank you.
Thank you for sharing your fascinating experience in this old church. A pity that the harmonium needs much needed TLC. I have such an instrument, a beautiful harmonium built in Canada late 1800’s, which is in excellent condition throughout. It sits in the hallway and keeps good company with a Hammond organ of 1983 vintage, also an electric piano and a more recent addition, a Yamaha, Arranger Keyboard SX900. We have musical evenings from time to time, a lot of fun. Greetings from Tasmania Australia 🎹🎼😁🇦🇺🦘
Such a beautiful warm sound! It goes straight ro the heart! I'm only a pianist but somethimg in me wishes to cry out, "Let no man think we have gone forwards since then but clearly we have gone backwards."
Incredible story behind this village church and its ancient organ! And nice touch capturing those dusty cobwebs too haha
Thank you so much, Ben, for your fabulous videos. Your youth, musical talent, attractive appearance, and charming British accent and, of course, your rare interest in things from my era and before, make your posts like none other that I've known.
My first instrument at church, there is a long time ago !!! Sincerely, I like very much your vidéos ! Jacques, organist France.
Simply wonderful. Thanks so much. I'm not a professional musician, but have training (piano) and in 1970 built a harpsichord from a kit and enjoyed playing it for several years. Also play (rather poorly) classical guitar, saxophone, transverse flute and recorder -- and I've played both modern pipe organs and a "pump" organ such as might have been found in a small 19th-c. church or even modest home in my country (USA). My hearing now prevents much enjoyment of music, but that only enhances appreciation of Beethoven, who could hardly hear at all!
You called yourself an organist. I dub you an artist and a poet. Young people like you with appreciation and knowledge of history and its artifacts are the Treasures of the modern world. Thank you!
Thank you
Beautiful. Brought tears.
I'm hooked on your videos Mr. Ben Mason. Watch them daily. You are so very eloquent - and absolutely enthusiastic.
These are wonderful videos. I saw this one and went to Stratford Tony this morning and it did not disappoint! Thank you so much.
Very interesting video. I knew somebody who bought a "Harmonium" for his lounge, a very good sound he made too with it. Not everything electronic or automatic is necessary, like you say! Well done !!
Bingo! Too few folks correctly identify these instruments! I have one I overhauled and when guests use that odious term P…..O….,I cringe!
Listening to the music is wonderful. Listening to you is equally superb !!! Thanks.
My mother was an organist and music teacher. So I grew up with organs in the 50s and 60s. In southern Sweden, one of the churches where she served had a foot-stomped organ that was maintained by the bell ringer. they are all electrified today. "We" are so overwhelmed by popular music today that we can't take in these gems
Excellent video wonderfully presented of past days with music
What a wonderful video Ben...so atmospheric! God bless
What a wonderful tour of churches! Thanks Ben, for this amazing blend of travel, music and history. One hopes that one could possibly see all this in one's lifetime. We are grateful for your untiring efforts. Love from far away Bombay, India.
Mind you, Rochester Cathedral has some incredible stories to tell, too!
But thank you for this. It reminds me of so much everyday human history.
This video really captures the essence of the foot pumped organ. I loved how you described the human like quality of this instrument. Playing one of these is like stepping back in time as there is an expressiveness that can't be captured by modern organs.
A great video Ben. You were talking about how the "imperfections" found in this old church was what made it beautiful. I see your point. I've seen absolutely stunning examples of Gothic architecture in modern cathedrals, like Saint Patrick's in New York, or Saint Paul's in Melbourne, Australia; but all those quaint, little churches I saw in villages in Cumbria and Yorkshire had so much more charm and subtle beauty.
Thank you! I enjoy your show immensely! Jane B.
Very moving and beautiful. Very human.
Simply beautifully perfect in the imperfections.
Thank you, Ben for leading us to this lovely old church and its organ. It was hauntingly beautiful and reminded me of simpler and less complicated church life. And when I had once played a similar instrument in Australia. I sometimes wonder how some churches would cope without electricity and the latest sound equipment. And sometimes the piano is seen as not needed anymore!
Ben, so glad that I found your channel on You Tube. I spent a few days in Salisbury last autumn at Sarum College b+b. Visited several churches and the cathedral, wished I had found 'your' church. I really appreciate your filming .playing and church guide skills. Perfect for a long November evening, thank you.