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THE CATHEDRAL
ORGAN APPEAL
Patron: HRH The Prince of Wales
THE CATHEDRAL ORGAN
In 2007 the decision was taken
by the Cathedral to
replace the previous organ
with a completely new instrument after a lightning strike had rendered the
organ unusable. The Dean and Chapter launched a £1.5 million Appeal for a new
Organ to be built by Nicholson & Co. of Malvern. Their proposal was for the
largest, wholly-new British organ to be commissioned in a UK cathedral for
nearly half a century.
Work began in the factory in
2008 and the first instalment of the new organ was completed and inaugurated
at the Paschal Vigil on Holy Saturday, 2010.
Due to the financial downturn,
part of the project had to be put on hold. It will now be completed during the
summer of 2013.
For more details about the
history of music and organs in Llandaff Cathedral, the new organ and how you
can help, please read on or use the following links:
THE ORGAN
STORY
Llandaff Cathedral stands
on one of the oldest Christian sites in Britain with the present building
dating back to 1107. Throughout the 20th century and to the present day
Llandaff Cathedral has enjoyed a very high choral tradition.
Music is an essential part
of the worship at the Cathedral. Llandaff is the only Anglican Cathedral in
Wales with a dedicated Choir School and a professional choir that consists
purely of boys and men. The Cathedral Choir sings at six services each week
during term time as well as at the Christmas and Easter services. The organ
accompanies the choir and therefore needs to have the tonal
variety and subtlety for
this purpose. It is also essential that it can lead large congregations in the
singing of hymns, as well as being flexible enough to allow the playing of a
worldwide organ repertoire.
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The
previous organ, demolished in 2008, originated from about
1900. This
organ was
modified
in 1914 and 1924 and
in 1937 there was a complete rebuild, costing £1,600.
The benefits were short-lived when a German landmine devastated the building –
and the organ – in January
1941. The cost of rebuilding the Cathedral was substantial and when it came to
the organ, the War Damage Commission and the Board of Trade refused to finance
a new instrument. The result was
a ‘make do and mend’ restoration.
For over thirty years,
discussions took place about the Cathedral
organ. It was poorly
located, with a cramped internal layout and surrounded by screens which
prevented the sound from being effective in the building. For decades, its
general condition had been in decline and very expensive to repair; a
lightning strike in February 2007 finally rendered it unusable for the daily
services. As a consequence, the choral tradition at Llandaff was maintained
with the hire of a digital organ.
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Previous Organ Case |
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The decision was taken to
replace the organ with a completely new instrument. After
much deliberation,
the plans put
forward by Nicholson’s of
Malvern were chosen.
Their proposal was for the
largest, wholly-new, British built organ
to be commissioned in a UK cathedral for nearly half a century. It would be
built in two symmetrical cases,
situated either side of the Choir stalls, and would contain a total of 4,870
pipes.
Nicholson & Co. is the
world-renowned Malvern firm of organ builders. Founded by John Nicholson in
1841, they have a long history of building organs and have an unequalled
reputation for quality. Examples of their work are to be found in Gloucester,
Portsmouth and Birmingham
Cathedrals, more recently at Great Malvern and Bridlington Priories and as far
afield as Madrid, Hong Kong and Long Island, USA.
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New Organ - Mirror-image
Cases
View to West |
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Work began in the factory in the middle of 2008,
moving to the Cathedral in April
2009. After approximately
30,000 man-hours, the major part of the organ was completed and was heard for
the first time at the Paschal Vigil on Holy Saturday, 8 May 2010, at an
inaugural organ recital given by Thomas Trotter.
Paul Hale, Rector Chori and
Cathedral Organist at Southwall Minster, Nottinghamshire, writing in
Organists’ Review, February 2011 states: "..… opened in a memorable recital by
Thomas Trotter, the organ subjected itself to a recital I gave on Saturday, 30
October (2010) for the South East Wales Organists’ Association. Having spent
many hours exploring the instrument that weekend, it is a delight now to have
the opportunity to describe it.
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New Organ
South case and console |
Why a ‘delight’?
Essentially for six good reasons: |
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the tonal scheme is a perfect balance of the needs of the cathedral choir,
cathedral congregation and solo repertoire – nothing had been overlooked.
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the dynamic range of the instrument extends from the hushed whisper of gently
undulating Swell strings, box closed, to the colossal, cathedral-filling
totally splendid tutti (or variety of tuttis).
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the tone is beautiful; everything well-voiced, characterful yet blending.
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the wind supply is
effortlessly adequate, perfectly steady and completely silent.
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the actions are equally silent (no heavy-pressure clunks here) and both
lightening fast and excellent in repetition (due to the use of compound
magnets on soundboard wind pressure).
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the console is, as always with Nicholson, completely comfortable, with
everything feeling solid and in the ‘right place’. A shame it is closed
with a roller-blind: it would delight visitors to look up to its gallery in
the southeast bay of the chancel and see its keys and stops."
Unfortunately, due to
financial circumstances in 2010, 11 speaking stops from the Solo organ and 4
speaking stops from the Pedal organ were not installed.
We are advised that we need
£185,000 to install the solo organ and the missing pedal stops. In April 2011,
an appeal was launched to raise this sum and a bank account - "Llandaff
Cathedral Solo Organ" – was opened specifically to receive donations for this
final phase. The money raised to date may be seen in the
‘Progress Report’.
At the end of November
2012, The Most Reverend, Dr. Barry Morgan, Archbishop of Wales, wrote to
Nicholson of Malvern authorising them to proceed immediately with the
manufacture of the Solo organ and missing pedal stops. Installation is
scheduled to commence in early July 2013, with completion towards the end of
September.
Llandaff Cathedral will
finally have an organ that will reinforce its place on the international map
of musical excellence, just as many other Welsh musical organisations have
already done so. It is an iconic investment for the future, which has already
created interest around the world and praise of the highest level from a
number of eminent organists. Paul Hale concluded his article in Organists’
Review with the following paragraph:
“Heralded as the largest new British cathedral
organ since Coventry I can say with conviction that the Llandaff Nicholson is
also the best new cathedral organ since Coventry, which it matches for
versatility, colour, glory in choruses, beauty in flutes, refinement in reeds
and strings, and highest build quality. It simply must gain its Solo and its
completed Pedal organ to take its rightful place at the pinnacle to British
cathedral organ-building. Please help Llandaff find the funds; they and this
masterpiece deserve it.”
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WHAT'S MISSING?
Each pipe
within an organ is scaled and voiced to imitate instruments of an orchestra or
to generate sounds that are truly indigenous to the organ.
At
present,
the Llandaff organ is missing 11 speaking stops from the Solo organ – a
division of the organ
that will contain the essential orchestral
sounds. These will be housed within a box with louvered shutters, which means
the organist can control the expression of the various tonal colours, such as
a clarinet, cor anglais and flutes from the woodwind family, a family of
strings and a trumpet from the brass family.
Also missing are 4 speaking stops from the Pedal
organ, the division of the organ played by the organist’s feet. The Violone,
which has a double bass like quality, can already be seen as these pipes are
the facade pipes for the South Chancel case but are at present not connected
and so not speaking. Also to join the Pedal organ are three members of the
brass family, a trumpet and a Bombarde rank of pipes at 16 and 8 foot pitches.
Once installed these four stops will help carry the sound of the Pedal
division down the length of the Nave.
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ORGAN SPECIFICATION
Stops highlighted in
red type will be
installed in the Summer of 2013
Manuals CC to C (61 notes) - Pedals CCC to G (32
notes)
Pitch A = 440 Hz at 16.7ºC
Full Capture system with Stepper and Sequencer
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Great Organ |
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Swell Organ (enclosed) |
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Double Open Diapason
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16ft. |
Contra
Salicional |
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16ft. |
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Open Diapason I |
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8 |
Open
Diapason |
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8 |
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Open Diapason II |
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8 |
Stopped
Flute |
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8 |
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Harmonic Flute |
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8)
common |
Salicional
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8 |
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Stopped Diapason |
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8)
bass |
Voix
Celestes T.C. |
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8 |
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Gamba |
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8 |
Principal
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4 |
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Principal |
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4 |
Nason Flute
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4
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Wald Flute |
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4 |
Fifteenth
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2 |
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Twelfth
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2 2/3 |
Mixture III
15.19.22 |
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Fifteenth
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2 |
Plein Jeu IV
19.22.26.29 |
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Seventeenth
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1 3/5 |
Oboe
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8
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Fourniture IV 15.19.22.26
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– |
Tremulant
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Sharp Mixture III 26.29.33
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Double
Trumpet |
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16 |
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Contra Posaune
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16 |
Cornopean
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8
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Posaune
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8 |
Clarion
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4
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Clarion
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4 |
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Swell
Octave |
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Swell
Suboctave |
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Swell Unison
Off |
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West Great |
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Solo Organ (enclosed) |
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Principal
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8ft. |
Contra Gamba
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16ft. |
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Octave
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4 |
Hohl Flute
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8
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Superoctave
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2 |
Viol d’Orchestre
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8 |
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Mixture V 15.19.22.26.29
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Violes Celeste T.C.
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8 |
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Harmonic Flute
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4
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Octave Viol
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4 |
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Choir Organ |
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16ft. |
Harmonic Piccolo
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2 |
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Bourdon |
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8 |
Corno di Bassetto
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8
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Open Diapason |
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8 |
Cor Anglais
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8 |
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Bourdon |
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4 |
Vox Humana
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8 3/5
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Principal |
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4 |
Tremulant
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Chimney Flute |
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2 2/3 |
Orchestral Trumpet
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8
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Nazard |
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2 |
Tuba 8 (unenclosed)
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8 |
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Fifteenth |
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2 |
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Block Flute |
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1 3/5 |
Solo Octave |
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Tierce |
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1 1/3 |
Solo
Suboctave |
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Mixture III 19.22.26 |
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Solo
Unison Off |
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Cremona |
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8 |
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Tremulant |
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Pedal Organ |
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Couplers |
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Double Open
Wood |
A |
32ft.
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Swell to Great
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Open Wood
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A |
16 |
Choir to Great
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Open
Diapason |
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16(Great) |
Solo to Great |
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Violone
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16 |
Solo to Swell |
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Bourdon
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B |
16 |
Swell to Choir |
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Gamba
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16(Solo) |
Solo to Choir
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Echo Bourdon
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16(Choir) |
Solo to Pedal |
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Quint
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10 2/3 |
Swell to Pedal
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Octave
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A |
8 |
Great to Pedal |
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Principal
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C |
8 |
Choir to Pedal
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Bass Flute
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B |
8 |
Great & Pedal Pistons Coupled |
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Fifteenth
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C |
4 |
Generals on Swell Toe-Pistons |
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Mixture III
19.22.26 |
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Great Reeds on Solo |
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Contra
Trombone |
D |
32 |
Great Reeds on Pedal |
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Bombarde
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E |
16 |
West Great on Solo |
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Trombone
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D |
16 |
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Double
Trumpet |
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16 |
Swell Nave Shutters
On/Off
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Bombarde
Clarion |
E
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8
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Trumpet
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8 |
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Top
SPONSOR A PIPE SCHEME
As part of the Organ Completion Appeal it is possible to
sponsor specific parts of the organ as follows:
| Pipes can be sponsored by
a single person or by a family, a Parish group or even by a business.
From 6 inches to 32 feet, large or small, each plays a vital part in
producing the glorious mixture of sounds the organ offers. |
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6 inches |
£25 |
| 1 foot |
£50 |
| 2 feet |
£100 |
| 4 feet |
£250 |
| 8 feet |
£500 |
| 16 feet |
£1,000 |
| 32 feet |
£2,000 |
The ideal gift!
Why not sponsor a pipe or pipes for family, friends, in thanksgiving for a
special event, in memory of a loved one, or as a gift for yourself!
All pipe sponsors will receive the following;
- a certificate of sponsorship
- have their name recorded in our book of donors
To download a ‘Sponsor a
Pipe’ application form please click
here.
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SUPPORT US
THE SOLO ORGAN APPEAL COMMITTEE
Fund-raisung
efforts are being co-ordinated by an Appeal Committee made up of the
following:-
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Sir Norman Lloyd Edwards |
President |
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Jeffrey Morgan |
Chairman |
(029) 2075 2443 |
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Dr Anthony Edwards |
Treasurer |
tonyedwards@fandango.me.uk
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David Jones |
Secretary |
jones_d36@sky.com
(029) 2055 5431 |
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Canon Graham Holcombe |
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(029) 2056 4554 |
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Richard Moorhouse |
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(029) 2057 5218 |
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Dr Peter Davies |
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(029) 2075 1473 |
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Charles Parsley |
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(029) 2039 8421 |
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Shirley Allen |
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Linda Quinn |
Church Warden |
(029) 2063 5949 |
HOW CAN YOU HELP?
There are many ways in which you could help us raise the
essential funds needed to complete the organ. Whether it's an one-off
donation, monthly payments by Direct Debit, sponsoring a pipe or even by
shopping online, it's easy to do!
With Easy Fundraising
the Organ Appeal will receive 15% commission of anything you spend online.
Simply visit:
www.easyfunding.org.uk/causes/llandaffcathedral
To
sponsor a pipe please click here,
or make a one-off donation,
please click
here.
Donations or funds
should be marked "Llandaff Cathedral Solo Organ" and given through the
Cathedral Office, any member of the clergy or members of the Organ Appeal
Committee.
Top
PROGRESS REPORT
End of March 2013
Having set up a separate bank account for the completion
of the organ in April 2011 titled "Llandaff Cathedral Solo Organ" the
Completion Appeal has raised just over
£140,500 to date.
The
Appeal wishes to express their thanks to everyone who has either sponsored
organ pipes or made donations.
The
work to raise funds continues so if you have been delaying making your
contribution please act now!
The ideal way of giving is to commit to a regular amount
each month for the next year (gift aided if you are able to do so). If this is not suitable
please have a look at our
Sponsor a
Pipe scheme, which has raised
over £30,000 to
date.
Alternatively, if you’d like to make a
one-off donation
please
click
here.
To discuss ways in which you could help please contact:
the Solo Organ Appeal Secretary on: (029) 2055 5431 or e-mail: jones_d36@sky.com, or
the Solo Organ Appeal Treasurer on: (029) 2075 1943 or e-mail:
tonyedwards@fandango.me.uk.
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Cathedral Office
Cathedral Website
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this page last
updated:
27/03/2013 21:22
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