The Klais Organ

The original organ was manufactured by one of the most eminent English organ builders, Norman and Beard, and was built specifically for the Cathedral in 1904. Following a period of silence of around 30 years, Johannes Klais Orgelbau were chosen to reconstruct and enlarge the instrument to serve the requirements of the restored cathedral and new position of the choir.  The organ was built in the workshops of Klais in Bonn, and transported to the Cathedral in July 2009 to complete the work in situ over a six month period. The project was under the supervision of Benjamin Saunders and David Sanger.

The tonal style is English Edwardian, and so all the historic 1904 pipework has been carefully restored on its original chests, with new pipework matching the original materials and construction methods. The organ now has seven divisions, controlled from a four manual console with 78 stops, and features a unique new system of allocating manual departments to keyboards.The inaugural concert was given on 16th May 2010 at 3pm by Benjamin Saunders.

• The Klais website has an article on the Cathedral organ here.
• There is a colour magazine feature here .
(© 2010 Organists Review)
• A printable copy of the specification and description of the organs can be found here.
• Organ recitals in the Diocese can be found here.