The new Auckland Town Hall Organ was handed over to Auckland City Council by the organ builders (Johannes Klais Orgelbau) last week, when a private recital was put on for Mayor John Banks and City Councillors. The organ has been built utilising the front case from the original 1911 Hill, Norman & Beard instrument. The pedal division Open Diapason case pipes, which have been mere decoration since the original organ was rebuilt (butchered) in 1969/70, have been restored and brought back into use as part of the new instrument. Likewise, the extended 32-foot rank of wooden Open Diapason pipes (also on the pedal division) at the rear of the organ chamber that have been mere hidden decoration since the 1969/70 rebuild have also been restored and brought back into use. In between those two ranks are almost 5,000 brand new pipes made by Klais, but in an early 20th century English tonal style; however Klais restored and reused the original 1911 Hill, Norman & Beard windchests (and enlarged them to accomodate the considerably greater number of ranks of pipes compared with the original 1911 instrument). The detached console from the 1969/70 rebuild was discarded and a new console built into the front of the organ case, as with the original 1911 instrument. The ivory-keyed manuals and stop-knobs from the original instrument had been in storage since the 1969/70 rebuild, but were restored and incorporated into the new console. The organ is being officially inaugurated in March next year, but until then is being intensively played every day by various organists from around Auckland in order to work it hard and find any glitches that are likely to occur. The organ builders are remaining in Auckland until the official inauguration to iron out any bugs, as well as to tweak the pipe voicing and carry out any other minor adjustments to the instrument that are deemed necessary. The organ has a public viewing gallery built inside the instrument so the public can take a look inside, including while it is being played. According to early reports, the new organ has the same grand tonal sound of the Wellington Town Hall Organ (Norman & Beard, 1906), but on a much larger scale.
In a world first, the new organ contains two stops on the Solo Organ division with ranks of pipes that imitate traditional Maori instruments. The Koauau stop imitates a traditional Maori flute and utilises pipes made of glass. The Pukaea imitates a traditional Maori horn. The idea of incoporating Maori stops into the new instrument was initiated by the German organbuilders, who asked to speak to local Maori when they were designing the organ and raised the idea of using traditional Maori sounds. Following consultation with Kaumatua from around Auckland, it was decided to install ranks of pipes based on traditional Koauau and Pukaea instruments and this has been successfully done.


Auckland Town Hall Organ Stop List
Johannes Klais Orgelbau (2009)
PEDAL ORGAN (16 stops plus 2 duplications)
1. Gravissima (derived) — 64’
2. Double Open Wood — 32’
3. Double Open Metal — 32’
4. Open Wood (ext. 2) — 16’
5. Open Metal (ext. 3) — 16’
6. Open Diapason (from Great) — 16’
7. Bourdon — 16’
8. Salicional (from Choir) — 16’
9. Octave Wood (ext. 2) — 8’
10. Principal — 8’
11. Stopped Flute — 8’
12. Super Octave — 4’
13. Mixture — 17.19.22.26.29 — V
14. Contra Posaune — 32’
15. Ophicleide — 16’
16. Posaune (ext. 14) — 16’
17. Trumpet — 8’
18. Clarion — 4’
CHOIR ORGAN (15 stops)
enclosed in a swell box
19. Contra Salicional — 16’
20. Open Diapason — 8’
21. Rohr Flute — 8’
22. Unda Maris — 8’
23. Echo Dulciana — 8’
24. Viol d’Orchestre — 8’
25. Voix Celeste — 8’
26. Gemshorn — 4’
27. Flauto Traverso — 4’
28. Fifteenth — 2’
29. Piccolo — 2’
30. Mixture — 19.22.26 — III
31. Cor Anglais — 16’
32. Hautbois — 8’
33. Corno di Bassetto — 8’
Tremulant
Sub-octave
Octave
Unison Off
GREAT ORGAN (17 stops)
34. Double Open Diapason — 16’
35. Bourdon — 16’
36. Large Open Diapason — 8’
37. Open Diapason — 8’
38. Geigen Diapason — 8’
39. Hohl Flute — 8’
40. Stopped Diapason — 8’
41. Octave — 4’
42. Wald Flute — 4’
43. Octave Quint — 2-2/3’
44. Superoctave — 2’
45. Open Flute — 2’
46. Seventeenth — 1-3/5’
47. Full Mixture — 15.19.22 — III
48. Sharp Mixture — 19.22.26.29 — IV
49. Trombone — 16’
50. Tromba — 8’
51. Octave Tromba — 4’
SWELL ORGAN (19 stops)
52. Bourdon — 16’
53. Open Diapason — 8’
54. Violin Diapason — 8’
55. Salicional — 8’
56. Vox Angelica — 8’
57. Lieblich Gedeckt — 8’
58. Principal — 4’
59. Lieblich Flute — 4’
60. Nazard — 2-2/3’
61. Fifteenth — 2’
62. Octavin — 2’
63. Tierce — 1-3/5’
64. Larigot — 1-1/3’
65. Mixture — 17.19.22 - III
66. Furniture — 22.26.29 - III-IV
67. Double Trumpet — 16’
68. Cornopean — 8’
69. Oboe — 8’
70. Clarion — 4’
Tremulant
Sub-octave
Octave
Unison Off
SOLO ORGAN (10 stops)
enclosed in a swell box
71. Flûte Harmonique — 8’
72. Koauau — 8’
73. Viola da Gamba — 8’
74. Viola Celeste — 8’
75. Concert Flute — 4’
76. Viola — 4’
77. Pukaea — 8’
78. Orchestral Clarinet — 8’
79. Orchestral Oboe — 8’
80. Vox Humana — 8’
Tremulant
Sub-octave
Octave
Unison Off
BOMBARD ORGAN (4 stops)
unenclosed, playable from Solo keyboard
81. Orchestral Trumpet — 8’
82. Contra Tuba — 16’
83. Tuba Mirabilis — 8’
84. Tuba Clarion — 4’
COUPLERS
Choir to Pedal
Great to Pedal
Swell to Pedal
Solo to Pedal
Great to Choir
Swell to Choir
Solo to Choir
Choir to Great
Swell to Great
Solo to Great
Solo to Swell
Great Reeds on Pedal
Great Reeds on Choir
Bombard on Pedal
Bombard on Choir
Great and Pedal Pistons Coupled
Pedal on Swell Pistons
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