The Pipe Organ in China Project Website: Updates for August 2021
30 August 2021Prof. Urrows uploaded a blog post earlier this month, marking the 164th anniversary of the dedication of the historic “Bamboo Organ of Tungkadoo” (SHA1857).
Thanks to a correspondent, The Project has learned of a new installation in the port city of Nantong, northeast of Shanghai. This instrument (NTN2021) is a IV/66 organ by Rieger. The specs have not yet been posted by the builder. Rieger is installing another concert hall organ in the city of Zhengzhou, but work was interrupted by the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic last year, and has not yet been restarted.
Photo of the Month:
While on the topic of bamboo organs this month, here is a rare photograph of the 1966 Yamaha Bamboo Organ in the Sony Building, Ginza, Tokyo. Little is known about this organ, utilizing bamboo for 497 of its 981 pipes. It was constructed by Yamaha for the Sony Corporation in the early 1960s at a cost of 40 million yen. We would be interested to know if it still exists, and if it is playable. The photo comes from Peter Cheung’s Pipe Organs, Electronic Organs, and Church Organists (Hong Kong: E.C.F. Sheng Tao Press, 1975). Cheung gave the specs as:
Great (61 notes):
Prinzipal 8′ (bamboo/metal)
Flute 4′ (wood)
Piccolo 2′ (bamboo)
Mixture III-IV (metal)
Swell:
Salicional 8′ (bamboo)
Gedackt 8′ (bamboo)
Oktave 4′ (metal)
Schwiegel 2′ (bamboo)
Quint 1⅓′ (bamboo)
Pedal (32 notes):
Bourdon 16′ (wood)
Prinzipal Bass 8′ (bamboo)
Couplers: Suboctave, Superoctave I, Superoctave II, GT/P, SW/P, SW/GT
Swell pedal, Crescendo pedal, Tutti
“Electromotive action”
The 1966 Yamaha Bamboo Organ in the Sony Building, Ginza, Tokyo.
Organs in the Census: 194
One Year hits: 13,320
Three Year hits: 32,998
(we can no longer access how many cumulative hits we have had since Launch, June 2018)