The magnificent re-ordering of St Clement’s Church, Hastings Old Town, has included the replacement of the pipe organ with a three manual and pedal Viscount digital organ. At a lunchtime concert on 7 August, as part of Hastings Old Town Week, Rev Robert Featherstone played a range of works to demonstrate the new instrument, opening with Arthur Wills’ Fanfare which gave us the power of the instrument as well as a taste of its reed capacity. Bach’s Giant Fugue allowed us a feel of the potential for north German voicing before a gentle and highly effective reading of Henry Ley’s Prelude on Down Ampney.
W Lloyd Webber’s Trumpet Minuet demonstrated a different side of the reeds before a relaxed reading of Whitlock’s Folk Tune allowed us to hear the gentler choruses and strings. Vierne’s Berceuse, possibly the most effective piece of the concert, showed us the dynamic range of the Swell, and the subtlety it can produce. As this organ will be used primarily for liturgical purposes it was fitting that the main programme ended with David Terry’s Prelude on Angel Voices. Being both quintessentially English and yet modern in its harmonies, it was a fine conclusion to a pleasing range of works.
With only a little persuasion, Robert Featherstone gave us C S Lang’s Tuba Tune as an encore, and a bright, enthusiastic rounding-off. St Clement’s are privileged to have a leader who is not only an enthusiast where church music is concerned but a professional organist in his own right.
Many were sorry to lose the old pipe organ but, rightly, the All Saints Willis is an historical gem and should be preserved at all costs. If, in the event, the St Clement’s instrument could not justify the cost of replacement then this was a necessary outcome. The Viscount is not yet fully voiced into the building. Some textures seem slightly woolly and the pedal sound does not resonate with sufficient authority. But these, thanks to the wonders of technology, can easily be address, and as our highly competent local organists get to grips with this new addition I am they will explore its capacity and strengths. BH
