Ossett organ society pulls out all the stops for its 50th birthday

A ‘magical’ instrument is celebrating a musical milestone.
FOUNDER: The late Frank Hare, of the Northern Theatre Organ Trust, was the driving force behind getting the organ to Ossett.FOUNDER: The late Frank Hare, of the Northern Theatre Organ Trust, was the driving force behind getting the organ to Ossett.
FOUNDER: The late Frank Hare, of the Northern Theatre Organ Trust, was the driving force behind getting the organ to Ossett.

The Ossett Theatre Organ has been entertaining audiences there for 50 years.

The Compton Christie at Ossett Town Hall features more than a thousand pipes and can imitate the sounds of an orchestra and even sleigh bells.

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Its origins lie in the old fashioned musical halls and cinemas when silent films were accompanied by music.

Members of the Ossett Theatre Organ group, including publicity officer Stuart Clark, pictured back row, far right. Picture: Colin Ransome.Members of the Ossett Theatre Organ group, including publicity officer Stuart Clark, pictured back row, far right. Picture: Colin Ransome.
Members of the Ossett Theatre Organ group, including publicity officer Stuart Clark, pictured back row, far right. Picture: Colin Ransome.

Stuart Clark, 93, recalls those days well. He is still keeping the flag flying for the glory days as he still does the publicity for the Northern Theatre Organ Trust, which owns and preserves the instrument at Ossett.

Mr Clark said: “If you go back to the days of the silent films, the movies were accompanied by orchestras in the pit.

“But then the Wurlitzer people pitched the idea of having an organ in the cinema, and the net result saw the demise of the guys sitting in the orchestra pit.”

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He said such organs, like the one at Ossett, were capable of reproducing the sounds of drums, violins, trumpets and saxophones.

The Compton Christie organ in Ossett has an HD screen so the audience  can see the key strokes.The Compton Christie organ in Ossett has an HD screen so the audience  can see the key strokes.
The Compton Christie organ in Ossett has an HD screen so the audience can see the key strokes.

As a boy of the 1930s, he still remembers the sounds of the theatre organ on radio broadcasts and at the movies.

The music enthusiast added: “Back in the 1930s the organ used to come up through the floor of the cinema. There were beautiful drapes and the lighting changed. The sound going through the cinema was quite magical. That has stuck in my mind ever since.”

Those traditions are being kept very much alive by the Northern Theatre Organ Trust (NTOT), which looks after the organ at Ossett.

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The driving forces behind it were the late Frank Hare and his assistant Reg Mander.

Renowned organist Phil Kelsall will be performing at the 50th anniversary concert in Ossett Town Hall on April 5.Renowned organist Phil Kelsall will be performing at the 50th anniversary concert in Ossett Town Hall on April 5.
Renowned organist Phil Kelsall will be performing at the 50th anniversary concert in Ossett Town Hall on April 5.

The organ dates back to 1933 when it was at the Rialto Bebbington in The Wirral. It was removed from there in the early 1960s and kept in storage. NTOT bought it for £460 and set about bringing the organ to the Ossett. And the first performance was staged at the town hall in January 1970.

Frank Hare, who died aged 92 in March last year, was also a mentor to leading modern day organists like Kevin Grunill and Phil Kelsall MBE.

Mr Grunill, one of the busiest organists on the circuit, played the first concert of the 50th anniversary year at Ossett earlier this month. During the show he was presented with a letter he wrote to Mr Hare as a 17-year-old budding organist.

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And Mr Kelsall, who knew Mr Hare for around 40 years, will play the 50th anniversary show at Ossett Town Hall on Sunday, April 5 at 2.30pm. He has been the resident organist at The Tower Ballroom in Blackpool for 44 years and has entertained thousands.

NTOT, who have four other Sunday concerts planned in 2020, hope the anniversary will lead more people to come and experience the sound of the mighty Compton Christie.

The trust has two aims: to preserve and maintain the organ, and to expand public awareness of it for the “enjoyment of ourselves and future generations”.

Mr Clark believes substantial work has been done on the first part of the trust’s aim. But taking the music of the past to a modern day audience who get their entertainment streamed to their TVs or mobile phones, isn’t easy.

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Despite that trend, Mr Clark remains optimistic for the organ’s future, adding: “While ever the trust upholds its quality, performance and integrity of all that it does, and supports the Ossett community and the current members of the Civic Trust, hopefully its future is secured for as long as.”

Fact file:

Devotees say the Compton Christie theatre organ in Ossett Town Hall is one of the finest in the North of England.

It was constructed by organ builder John Compton & Son. Later, three Christie ranks were added.

The organ’s console was originally installed in the New Victoria Theatre, London and was designed by Reginald Foort. It is unique, with three rows of stops which control all its magical sounds, which are greatly praised by visiting organists.

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More than 1,000 pipes help deliver a gallery of musical instruments including: violin, xylophone, trumpet, drums, tom-toms, sleighbells and a phantom piano.

The organ is owned by the Northern Theatre Organ Trust who installed it at Ossett Town Hall 50-years-ago. The opening concert was performed by Watson Holmes and Hubert Selby before an audience of 750 devotees of the theatre organ in January 1970.

A range of Sunday afternoon concerts have been scheduled for its anniversary year. These include Elizabeth Harrison on May 31 at 2.30pm, Nicholas Martin on July 5, Mark Laflin on October 4, and Richard Hills on December 6.

Organ concerts are performed on five Sundays each year and sometimes the organ is used for gala days, Christmas lights switch-ons and vintage movies. For more see: ossetttheatreorgan.weebly.com.

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