Salford Cathedral Organ

The Cathedral's custom-built four-manual organ was built by Makin in 2002.

It was designed in the mould of a traditional British cathedral organ, with some stops voiced along classical lines, giving overall a stoplist of some considerable versatility. The sound sources are situated at places in the building where it was judged that participants in Cathedral celebrations would benefit most from their support. 'Participants' of course means above all the gathered assembly, the "primary minister of liturgical music", for whom the main sound sources are placed unobtrusively high up in the clerestory windows of the nave.

The speakers, virtually out of sight in the window recesses, carry the sound of the Great, Swell and Choir divisions, with some slight separation between the divisions, so that the sound of the Great division occupies the centre of the nave, while the Swell is somewhat to the west end and the Choir division, like the Cathedral choir itself, is situated towards the front of the nave, near the crossing.

The resulting sound is well blended, and lends support to congregational singing without the listener necessarily even being aware of quite where the sound is coming from.

The Choir organ is switchable between the principal sound sources high in the clerestory and a separate enclosure at floor level, designed for delicate choral accompaniment. This Choir enclosure is in the right place to support the choir, which is in turn in the right place for its main task, that of supporting the assembly in song, from the front of the nave. (The Choir enclosure is also moveable, and can be positioned for various liturgical occasions when the choir is stationed elsewhere in the Cathedral, to say nothing of the possibilities for acting as a chamber organ for orchestral and operatic concerts which take place from time to time in the Cathedral.)

The Swell organ too can be switched from the principal sound sources above the nave, into speakers mounted in the crossing above the main altar. This provides, at the pull of a drawstop, accompaniment for celebrants at the altar and cantors at the ambo or elsewhere, who can sing from the sanctuary without their voices being drowned by a distant organ struggling to reach them over the heads of the congregation.

On top of all this there is a further source of sound at the east end of the building, ready to come to life when the Cathedral is full to brimming on one of the great occasions; our aim is that no part of the congregation will feel that they are too far away from where the music is being created to be permitted to play their full part in the celebrations.

Although the organ was designed with the needs of the liturgy very much in mind, it is also a first-rate concert instrument. This was amply testified by a very well-received inaugural recital series given in 2003 by Simon Lindley, Anthony Hunt and Joseph Nolan, and by a fine CD featuring Simon Lindley.