Hooghys Organ 595 "Big Bertha"
We are particularly pleased to announce that The Grange has recently acquired a new addition to its mechanical organ collection.
Thanks to a generous bequest by the late Ted Bowman, a frequent visitor and supporter of our museum since its inception, the historic Louis Hooghuys organ "Big Bertha" arrived with us in early January 2022. This 70-key instrument was made by the renowned Belgian maker in 1912 for a dance hall in the popular seaside resort of Oostende. It has the factory serial number of 595 and features both characteristics of the Hooghuys marque: distinctive voicing enhanced by an incredibly fast pneumatic action.
Legend has it that, during the First World War, Belgian soldiers gave the organ its nickname of "Big Bertha" and it has retained that name since being imported to England in 1959 by Jack Boutwood of Clophill, Bedfordshire. Whilst in his ownership, Big Bertha's music and construction inspired the curiosity of Eric Cockayne who went on to write his seminal and celebrated book "The Fairground Organ" in 1970. Many of the photographic illustrations and diagrams within its pages feature Big Bertha's mechanism.
Ted Bowman, together with his colleague Rod Wakeman, carried out extensive repairs to “Big Bertha” in 1963/4 and thereafter became responsible for the organ’s care. Ted finally purchasing it from Jack Boutwood in 1973. He owned the organ until he passed away, aged 91, in December 2021. Throughout this time, he was determined to keep the instrument as original as possible and was on many occasions assisted by Mark Hooghuys, the great-grandson of the organ’s builder, Louis.
Behind the organ's wooden façade, masterfully carved with flamboyant rococo motifs and still bearing its original colourwork by Charles Soudain of Ghent, there are 256 pipes consisting of ranks of violin, cor anglais, harmonic flute, vox humana, cello and trombone, together with accompaniment and bass. Big Bertha has a set of accordion reeds and a 19-note xylophone mounted vertically in view. As the organ was designed for indoor use an expression system, in the form of louvered shutters, provides automatically-controlled attenuation to bring even more life to her performance.
Percussion - or the "bang and tinkle department" as Ted used to call it! - consists of a bass drum and cymbal coupled together, snare drum, castanets and triangle. One final register is not original and this is the 'mandolin'. Many Hooghuys dance organs were originally fitted with this unusual feature but most of these were removed and discarded due to tuning and maintenance difficulties. Ted constructed the mandolin fitted to this organ from original Hooghuys parts. It is not known whether the organ originally had this register when new but it was certainly built to accommodate one.
Most of the punched-card music 'books' in Bertha's library repertoire were supplied direct by the Hooghuys firm during the organ's working life and are fine examples of the superb arrangements with which the marque was justifiably renowned. They perfectly reflect the style of dancing that was at its height of popularity in the early 20th Century and will, no doubt, win new fans amongst the many visitors to The Grange collection with their delightfully-catchy melodies. Jonny Ling
We are particularly pleased to announce that The Grange has recently acquired a new addition to its mechanical organ collection.
Thanks to a generous bequest by the late Ted Bowman, a frequent visitor and supporter of our museum since its inception, the historic Louis Hooghuys organ "Big Bertha" arrived with us in early January 2022. This 70-key instrument was made by the renowned Belgian maker in 1912 for a dance hall in the popular seaside resort of Oostende. It has the factory serial number of 595 and features both characteristics of the Hooghuys marque: distinctive voicing enhanced by an incredibly fast pneumatic action.
Legend has it that, during the First World War, Belgian soldiers gave the organ its nickname of "Big Bertha" and it has retained that name since being imported to England in 1959 by Jack Boutwood of Clophill, Bedfordshire. Whilst in his ownership, Big Bertha's music and construction inspired the curiosity of Eric Cockayne who went on to write his seminal and celebrated book "The Fairground Organ" in 1970. Many of the photographic illustrations and diagrams within its pages feature Big Bertha's mechanism.
Ted Bowman, together with his colleague Rod Wakeman, carried out extensive repairs to “Big Bertha” in 1963/4 and thereafter became responsible for the organ’s care. Ted finally purchasing it from Jack Boutwood in 1973. He owned the organ until he passed away, aged 91, in December 2021. Throughout this time, he was determined to keep the instrument as original as possible and was on many occasions assisted by Mark Hooghuys, the great-grandson of the organ’s builder, Louis.
Behind the organ's wooden façade, masterfully carved with flamboyant rococo motifs and still bearing its original colourwork by Charles Soudain of Ghent, there are 256 pipes consisting of ranks of violin, cor anglais, harmonic flute, vox humana, cello and trombone, together with accompaniment and bass. Big Bertha has a set of accordion reeds and a 19-note xylophone mounted vertically in view. As the organ was designed for indoor use an expression system, in the form of louvered shutters, provides automatically-controlled attenuation to bring even more life to her performance.
Percussion - or the "bang and tinkle department" as Ted used to call it! - consists of a bass drum and cymbal coupled together, snare drum, castanets and triangle. One final register is not original and this is the 'mandolin'. Many Hooghuys dance organs were originally fitted with this unusual feature but most of these were removed and discarded due to tuning and maintenance difficulties. Ted constructed the mandolin fitted to this organ from original Hooghuys parts. It is not known whether the organ originally had this register when new but it was certainly built to accommodate one.
Most of the punched-card music 'books' in Bertha's library repertoire were supplied direct by the Hooghuys firm during the organ's working life and are fine examples of the superb arrangements with which the marque was justifiably renowned. They perfectly reflect the style of dancing that was at its height of popularity in the early 20th Century and will, no doubt, win new fans amongst the many visitors to The Grange collection with their delightfully-catchy melodies. Jonny Ling
