22nd January 2025
Salisbury Cathedral receives elegant new chamber organ
Salisbury Cathedral has recently received a long-awaited new chamber organ, kindly funded by the Friends of Salisbury Cathedral. This new instrument has been made by Henk & Niels Klop, renowned builders of harpsichords and small organs based in The Netherlands. The instruments of the Klop firm are respected internationally for their beauty and fullness of tone, their ease of playing, their compactness and their portability.
The purpose of commissioning the new instrument was to provide a world-class chamber organ for Salisbury Cathedral. It will be used to accompany much of the Cathedral Choir’s pre-nineteenth-century repertoire, as well as to provide an exemplary continuo instrument in concert work with ensembles such as the City of London Sinfonia, and Florilegium.
John Challenger, the Cathedral’s Assistant Director of Music, said:
“We are absolutely thrilled by the arrival of our wonderful new chamber organ. We have waited a long time to receive the instrument, and it has been well worth the wait. We are delighted with every aspect of it – the exceptional tone quality, its compactness, its versatility and reliability. Of course, Salisbury already possesses a world-class Father Willis organ, and our new Klop chamber organ, which is more suited to accompaniments from the Renaissance and Baroque periods, will provide the perfect contrast to our much-loved Romantic-style Willis organ.”
The instrument is a generous gift by the Friends of Salisbury Cathedral, the charity committed to the welfare and preservation of the Cathedral. The project was initiated by former Chair of the Friends, Duncan Glass, and seen through to its conclusion by Canon Treasurer Kenneth Padley. It was used for the first time in worship at Evensong in and in concert for Handel’s Messiah in December. Day to day, the organ is housed in the quire, but its sturdiness and portability makes it ideally suited for performances in any space inside the Cathedral.
Luke March, Chair of Friends of Salisbury Cathedral, said:
“Music is such an integral part in the life of our great Cathedral. With grateful thanks to all those who generously support the Friends, we are delighted that the Cathedral was able to commission this new Chamber Organ from The Netherlands, and that we have been able to play our part in enhancing the musical life of the Cathedral.”
The new organ will next be used in Salisbury Cathedral’s Epiphany Devotion on Sunday 26 January at 5pm, the last of the popular processional services of the season. This moving service will be made up of readings, devotional addresses, and the Cathedral Choir joined by period instruments, including the Klop organ, performing parts IV and V of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio. All are welcome to attend this service.