Research Interests
As a complement to my organ-building business I have a number of research interests that are based around the English organ prior to 1850. By ‘English organ’ I mean organs of one to three manuals with no, or only a rudimentary, pedalboard as well as having a distinctive tonal structure. By this definition there are, are of course many organs outside England which fit this description, including those of Iberia (Spain and Portugal), Italy and Mexico, and that is fine as there is plenty to study and think about concerning these organs and their history. However, in addition to the instruments there are also personalities, players and composers, about whom we are still very ignorant. In particular, I have a longstanding interest in William Herschel, whose substantial musical career, including being an organist in the English provinces, was eclipsed by his subsequent meteoric rise to fame as an internationally-known astronomer (puns intended!). More recently, I have developed an interest in the organist members of the Valentine family of Leicester that has led me to a wider study of women organists in late-Georgian England.