Willis organ The original organ was built by
Henry Willis & Sons in 1871. It had four
manuals and 111
stops and at that time it was the largest in the world.
Harrison and Harrison organ The Durham firm of
Harrison & Harrison rebuilt the organ in two stages in 1924 and 1933. The organ was extended to 146 stops (including three
percussion stops) and converted to
electro-pneumatic action. It was still the largest organ in Britain at that time. The 2014
Pink Floyd album
The Endless River, includes a track, "Autumn '68", features band member
Richard Wright playing the organ in 1969. The recording was made on the afternoon before a Pink Floyd concert at the hall. "Rick asked could he have a go on this great big pipe organ that was built in. So we set him up, set up a couple of mics up and recorded him playing, just jamming away on his own", fellow band member
David Gilmour later recalled. In the 1970s, Harrisons refurbished the console and replaced the switchgear in the action, made minor changes to the voicing and added a roof in an unsuccessful attempt to project the sound forward. Composer
Wendy Carlos featured the organ during the closing title sequence of the 1982 Disney science fiction film
Tron, performed by organist
Martin Neary. By the end of the 20th century, the organ was again in a state of disrepair, with a number of stops unusable due to leaks in the wind system, cracks in the soundboards, and other problems. By 2002, it was maintained only through "heroic efforts" on the part of Harrisons and could not be used at all without their staff present, in case of mishap. The wind chests and pipes were leaking noisily and wind pressure was insufficient to support full use. The leatherwork in the actions was also failing.
Mander rebuild In 2002, the organ was taken out of commission for an extensive rebuild by
Mander Organs. Some consideration was given to restoring the organ to its original Willis specification, but the subsequent alterations and enlargements had made this impractical and it was felt that it should remain essentially as-is. The dryness of the Hall had damaged the soundboards, so these were replaced and new and larger wind trunks provided. The roof was removed, and the reed stops in the Great division were restored to their 1924 wind pressures. The 1970s split of the Great Organ (allowing two independent Great Organs to be registered and played simultaneously on different manuals) was rationalised, effectively offering separate Willis and Harrison choruses; also a Fourniture IV was added, bringing the total to 147 stops and 9,997 speaking pipes. For a few years the organ was once again the largest in the UK, until in 2007 the distinction passed to the organ in
Liverpool Anglican Cathedral (10,268 pipes). The organ was re-opened at a gala concert on the evening of 26 June 2004 with
David Briggs,
John Scott and
Thomas Trotter playing, with the
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under
Richard Hickox. The organ featured prominently in the 2004
BBC Proms series. The first recordings on the newly rebuilt instrument were by Dame
Gillian Weir. The instrument has been used by
progressive rock band
Muse when playing
Megalomania, originally recorded on another Willis organ, at the
church of Saint Mary in Bathwick. During a live performance at the Royal Albert Hall on the 12 April 2008, Muse's frontman,
Matt Bellamy, had commented that "since we're here, it would be rude not to play this beast". Organist
Anna Lapwood played the organ during live performances by
Bonobo and
Aurora and a show by the
Ministry of Sound. == Official organists ==