Loving God, Loving Others

PIPE ORGAN

The Pipe Organ at St. Johns Church was built by Mohamed Habibullah of M/s Misquith and Co., Chennai, in September 1908. It is 10×15 feet and houses 590 pipes arranged in 10 ranks (arranged on the basis of their timbre and pitch), mounted vertically on a wind-chest

Pipe Organ

The Pipe Organ at St.Johns Church was built by Mohamed Habibullah of M/s Misquith and Co., Chennai, in September 1908. It is 10×15 feet and houses 590 pipes arranged in 10 ranks (arranged on the basis of their timbre and pitch), mounted vertically on a wind-chest.

TMJ Champion, a retired naval officer and a pipe organ enthusiast, contributed a lot in getting this Pipe Organ repaired by employing the services of an organ repairer T.K. Das of Hurry Brothers, Kolkata and it was restored it to its prime. The Organist can control any rank of pipes with stop knobs on the console. He/she can then produce notes of the individual pipes by playing from the two keyboard-like manuals and a pedalboard that can be controlled with feet. The pipes produce sound when pressurized air produced by bellows is driven through them. The organists play the Pipe Organ at every function in the Church, including regular Church Services, all Holy Celebrations, and Marriages. Organist who were and are blessed to play this Pipe Organ.

Commodore T. M. J. Champion
H. W. A. Hartwig
Joshua Virender
Vivek Anand
Dr. Timothy
Sujay Ravi A
Akshay Adam

A Brief summary of Tim’s contribution to the pipe organ & the choir.

He has been visiting Hyderabad once in six months regarding software work outsourced by his firm to Hyd firm in Hi-tech city. During his visit he has been worshiping in our Church and playing the organ since end 2011. As part of our Bi-centenary objectives Dr.Timothy sponsored two ranks of pipes thereby adding two more stops. As part of our Bi-centenary objectives Commodore Champion sponsored one rank of pipes (Block Fute) thereby adding one more stop. So between them they added 3 additional stops thus enriching the tonal resources.

As part of bi-centenary celebrations the Church organised an Organ & Brass concert in Aug 2013 where Dr. Timothy was the main recitalist. During this concert Commodore Champion played one recital piece with Trumpet & Trombone. That apart he has been servicing & tuning the organ during every visit of his as he started our “organists training” program in 2013 and since then the pupils have cleared Gr-3, 4 5 & 6 ABRSM Organ exams. While Dr. Timothy was our Guest faculty Commodore Champion was the regular faculty and the main coordinator arranging for organ exams in the Church. He also took our choir rehearsals for Christmas for some two or three years.