It begs the question

The Organ Historical Trust of Australia runs a list of redundant instruments, which sometimes turns up a fascinating gem.  More often than not, some unpromising-looking organ turns out to be a little more fascinating in real life than it appeared on paper.  Being the organist of a church where the organ is desperately in need of a lovingly-set, small-but-destructive fire, I watch this list fairly regularly.  The instrument I play from week to week has reached the stage of ready to die.

Sometimes I see instruments listed which beg the question: why would you even contemplate saving it?  This is one of those cases (or grilles, as it turns out!) where the historical instrument at the core of the organ has been so comprehensively compromised by later work that it would be pointless to attempt to retrieve any of it.  The historical part of the specification listed below appears to be the Great, which was built by George Fincham in 1893 for the Princess Theatre, and sold from there to the present owners in 1895.

GREAT		PEDAL
Open Diapason Clarabella Dulciana Principal Flute Fifteenth Swell to Great Sub Swell to Great Swell to Great Super	8 A 8 8 4 4 2	Open Diapason Bourdon Principal Bass Flute Octave Quint Fifteenth Great to Pedal Swell to Pedal	16 A (metal bass) 16 D 8 A 8 D 5-1/3 D 4 A
SWELL
Violin Diapason Gedact Salicional Gemshorn Flute Salicet Twelfth Fifteenth Tierce Oboe Sub Octave Super Octave Tremulant	8 8 B 8 C 4 4 B 4 C 2-2/3 C 2 C 1-3/5 C 8

(The letters A, B, C, D following numbers indicate unit/extension ranks.)

Now, before courting a return rant, I should point out that the fact that the instrument is listed by OHTA is no endorsement of the historical value of the organ as it stands.  However, it is very easy for a reader with little knowledge of the organ scene to assume that an organization with "historical" in the title will be making an implicit statement about the preservation value of any instrument profiled on its website.

This instrument was a single-manual organ until 1960, and I presume that the Great represents the original specification.  The Swell is simply a contemporary extension organ model that Fincham was churning out by the dozen in the period, which coincided with the big post-WWII expansion of the churches.  These instruments consisted of the following ranks and extensions:

(Violin) Diapason: 8, 4, 2
Gedackt / Flute: 8, 4, 2 2/3, 2, 1 3/5
Salicional: 8, 4, 2 2/3, 2
Bourdon: 16 (on pedal)
Mixture: III (mostly repeating ranks)

These instruments generally had two manuals, with a different rank used to extend for mutations and softer upperwork on each manual.  The whole soundboard was enclosed in a swell box, and the action was a direct electro-magnetic affair which makes the pipes spit when they speak.  I have played instruments of this model in Melbourne as well as country Victoria.  The only saving grace for these instruments is a resonant building; many of the churches equipped with these organs are notably dry on this front.  The best that can be said is that organs like these are better than nothing, but no less dreadful for that.

If you compare this with the specification of the Swell above, it is clear that this standard extension specification is what lies behind the new work of 1960.  Along with electrification of the action, probably new soundboards, and the provision of a standard console, it could be argued that any historical material -- consisting only of pipework -- has had its character compromised in various ways.  The aesthetic properties of the instrument as an object have been utterly destroyed: the original casework was probably burnt.

Sometimes an organ reaches the end of its useful life, and there is no point in trying to keep it functioning and in one piece.  An instrument like this has gone somewhere else: it keeps up appearances, but underneath it all, there's no will to live.