Sydney Town Hall Organ
Sydney Morning Herald
Thursday January 25, 2007
Nick Squires meets the man behind Sydney's most impressive instrument.
First, let's dispense with the schoolboy gags: Manuel da Costa has a massive organ. It's a whopper and requires constant tweaking. Only then can it perform in its full glory. The 68-year-old (pictured) has the rare privilege of looking after the Grand Organ, the magnificent confection of soaring pipes, pillars and plasterwork that dominates Sydney's 19th-century Town Hall. It's a formidable job. The pipes you see adorning the facade of the organ are a fraction of the total - in all there are about 9,000 of them. Some are the size of smoke stacks, more than six metres tall, while others are barely bigger than a pencil. "It can make 9,000 different sounds," says da Costa. "Even the tiniest pipe can be heard at the back of the hall." The pipes are mostly made of a tin/lead alloy, although the bigger ones are produced from zinc and have to be regularly cleaned and tuned. "It's just as it was when it was built in the 1880s," says da Costa, who came to Australia from Portugal in 1980. "The facade has been refurbished but the inside remains exactly the same."The Grand Organ was built in London by William Hill and Son, shipped to Australia and installed in 1890. At the time, it was the largest organ in the world, the embodiment of colonial Sydney's civic pride and aspirations. Even today, it's judged to be the finest 19th-century Romantic concert organ anywhere. The whole ensemble is controlled from the console, which consists of a seat for the organist, a row of wooden pedals and five keyboards, stacked on top of each other. Either side of the keyboards are 126 "stops" - delicate ivory knobs - that release air into the organ pipes when extended. The rush of air is provided by three turbine-powered blowers kept in the Town Hall's basement. To the left of the console, a tiny, cleverly hidden door leads into the bowels of the organ. It's a warren of wooden walkways, scuffed staircases and concealed doors, extending to four levels behind the organ's facade. Rows of pipes point upwards like mortars ready to fire. They require constant adjustment and tuning by da Costa.Da Costa, originally from Oporto, is uniquely suited to the job. "I was an organ builder until 1974, when Portugal went through a revolution. After that there was no more money for organs so I worked for six years as an orchestra manager in Lisbon. I came to Australia because there were better work opportunities here."Maintaining the organ is vital because it's in such demand. "The Town Hall hosts more than 300 events a year, from school concerts to corporate dinners and fashion parades," says venue manager Melissa Bajugi from Sydney City Council. "A third of them want to use the organ. You can't have something this big in the room and not use it."Since 1978 the city's official organist has been Robert Ampt but a handful of others use it, too, including Edward Theodore, who began to play during our peek behind the scenes. "People think the pipes they see on the front are all there is to it but they're wrong," says Theodore, who teaches organ. "I won't unleash the full monster because it will deafen you. Some of the low notes sound like a Lancaster bomber coming in to land. But it's got some lovely sounds."Thanks to the diligence of de Costa, the Grand Organ is in top condition but the council is worried about what might happen when he retires - attempts to find someone to carry on his work have been unsuccessful. "It would be wonderful to find an apprentice for Manuel," says Bajugi. "But organ tuning is a niche area." So, at least for the moment, da Costa has sole custody of our biggest, loudest and most beautiful organ.
© 2007 Sydney Morning Herald