"Let them praise His name with dancing and make music to Him with tambourine and harp." (Psalm 149:3)
Most organs in Europe, the Americas and Australasia can be found in Christian churches or Jewish synagogues. The introduction of church organs is traditionally attributed to Pope Vitalian in the 7th century. Due to its ability to simultaneously provide a musical foundation below the vocal register, support in the vocal register, and increased brightness above the vocal register, the organ is ideally suited to accompany human voices, whether a congregation, a choir or a cantor or soloist. Most services also include solo organ repertoire for independent performance rather than by way of accompaniment, often as a prelude at the beginning the service and a postlude at the conclusion of the service. Today this organ may be a pipe organ (see above), a digital or electronic organ that generates the sound with Digital Signal Processing (DSP) chips or a combination of pipes and electronics. It may be called a church organ or classical organ to differentiate it from the theater organ, which is a different style of instrument. However, as classical organ repertoire was developed for the pipe organ and in turn influenced its development, the line between a church and a concert organ is hard to draw. Organs are also used to give recital concerts, called organ recitals. In the early 20th century, symphonic organs flourished in secular venues in the United States and UK, designed to replace symphony orchestras by playing transcriptions of orchestral pieces. Symphonic and orchestral organs largely fell out of favor as the Orgelbewegung (Organ Reform Movement) took hold in the middle of the 20th century and organ builders began to look to historical models for inspiration in constructing new instruments. Today, modern builders construct organs in a variety of styles and for both secular and sacred applications.(Wikipedia)
In December of 2007 Saint Peter & All Hallows Parish received a Viscount Organ which was donated by the Bakes Family.
