Cork's incredible organ pops up again in Limerick
The newly refurbished Compton Organ on stage at University Concert Hall, Limerick.
“I wonder if it’s still there and if they have set it up so that its unforgettable tone can be heard again?” Questions posed by journalist Jo Kerrigan in a nostalgic piece in the Echo newspaper in January. The ‘it’ referring to the Compton theatre organ heard at the Savoy Cinema in Cork. The heyday of the silent-movie era had passed when six of John Compton’s innovative electric organs constructed in Nottingham were installed in theatres in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Belfast in the 1930s. But hearing the organ played before and during intermissions was still very much part of the cinema experience.
Bob Desmond from Capwell Road, Cork, recalls being enthralled at the cinema on Sundays as a boy in the 1940s. “Fred Bridgeman would play before the main feature on Sunday nights -the organ would rise up on a platform with the audience singing along as the words are displayed on the cinema screen.”
The theatre organ was designed to be played by a single player in a large auditorium and came loaded with all sorts of special effects. The Compton patents were later developed by the American firm Wurlitzer, which became the more famous marque.
The move from super-sized cinema theatre to smaller multi-screen spaces and the development of reliable amplification of recorded music all contributed to the relegation of the cinema organ to side rooms. The organ at the Savoy in Cork was eventually sold off in 1970, dismantled and stored in Kilbrittain Castle when it was purchased by the eccentric inventor Russell Winn.
When Winn died in a plane crash in 1980, the organ was auctioned off again and re-assembled and restored, it found a home at University Concert Hall, Limerick. The organ was showcased at the opening concert in 1993 when the college president Ed Walshe did a turn at the opening concert playing ‘The Banks’, a nod to the instrument’s provenance. After a handful of years’ service at graduation ceremonies and recitals, in the late 1990s the organ again fell into disrepair and was silent.
In 2019, Sinead Hope, then a new director at the University Concert Hall Limerick launched plans for a major refurbishment of the organ and reintroduction to regular concert schedules. This Sunday, the organ will be heard in the role it was originally designed for – adding a live soundtrack to silent films.
Rónán Murray will play the refurbished organ during screenings of two early Charlie Chaplin films, The Rink and The Cure, more than a century after their creation. It is quite a different challenge to his more usual church duties at Glasthule Church in Dublin.
“When it comes to accompanying a silent film, much of the tool kit is already in the organist’s head in terms of experience, expectations and musical tricks," says Murray. "It’s important to know the instrument on which you’re about to play so that you are aware of its strength and limitations. It’s the organist’s task to articulate musical ideas that fit with what’s on screen. More obvious examples would be to play sombre music in a poignant scene or upbeat and lively music during a busy scene, such as a chase or dancing.
"Sometimes it can add humour or pathos to throw in a snippet of a well-known piece- for instance Mendelssohn’s Wedding March in a marriage scene. It is vital to watch the film in advance and take note of any thoughts worth bearing in mind for when you accompany the live screening. After that you’re without a safety harness so to speak and once the film starts, it’s a case of keeping the creative energy flowing.”
Overseeing the refurbishment is historical organ expert David Forde. “Stage 1, which saw the main playing mechanism redone was very successful and it is exciting to hear the organ brought back to life," says Forde. "In July the organ will be 90 and we have exciting plans to engage audiences in what it can do in terms of solo playing and accompanying films and bring in international players.”
One of only four Compton organs in the Republic of Ireland, it is the only one currently that can be heard in working condition. Cinema buffs, historical instrument enthusiasts and families looking for a good value entertainment should not miss this event next Sunday afternoon.
- Charlie Chaplin on the Compton Organ: Sunday, April 24, 3pm, uch.ie
