Oxford Preservation Trust Small Project Certificate Winner!

Magdalen College Oxford Chapel Organ

​Oliver Architecture was incredibly pleased to receive the Oxford Preservation Trust Small Project Award 2024 alongside an amazing project team for the new Chapel Organ at Magdalen College Oxford!

Magdalen College’s grade I listed Chapel is a major architectural set-piece, used on a daily basis, since construction in 1474-80 by master-mason William Orchard.  The Chapel has been at the physical, cultural and spiritual centre of the College for over five centuries.
 
The Chapel has housed a number of organs of different design over the centuries, the most recent being an attractive Gothic Revival case designed by Julian Bicknell in 1986, mounted on the 1829-34 L.N. Cottingham stone screen which divides the Chapel from the Ante Chapel, and integrated with Cottingham’s stone chair case.  However, the Bicknell organ was acknowledged to be too small musically for the space, being only half of that originally planned, and it was noted that it was considerably smaller than the previous organs.
 
The College therefore decided to create a new organ case, to contain a new, larger instrument, to suit the scale of the Chapel whilst being integrated with the setting.  Following a review of potential organ builders, the highly regarded Hermann Eule Orgelbau of Bautzen in Germany were appointed to design, manufacture and install the new organ.  Eule’s Stephan Thurmer worked on various options, with input from Oliver Architecture, to create a solution which met the technical requirements of the College whilst respecting the location.  A new stained oak case was created, in a Gothic Revival language to suit the Chapel, integrated with the stone chair case, and leaving the stone screen unaltered.  The new organ case has been sensitively designed and crafted to harmonise with the existing space. The design was very carefully considered in order to achieve the right balance in terms of scale and setting. It veils the west window from the east, while maintaining the sense of space flowing between the Chapel and the Ante Chapel. 

This is the latest organ to contribute to the College’s rich heritage of worship and music-making, with many remarking that to hear the organ in Chapel, or even whilst walking through Cloisters, is one of the great pleasures of College life. Magdalen College Chapel is among the most active in the University, with around fourteen services a week during Full Term. The space is publicly accessible with services open to members of any religion or of none, to members of College and to the public.

While the Chapel exists mainly to offer a place of worship for the College’s students, fellows and staff, in reality, the congregation extends far beyond these communities, and includes many groups of people, some from other colleges, others from the local community, and some from further afield. There is also a weekly series of organ recitals which are free to attend on Saturday lunchtimes, featuring the College’s organ scholars as well as visiting organists.

The new organ enables a centuries’ long tradition to live on, to be enjoyed not only by students and staff, but the public as well. The instrument provides a broader tonal palette than its predecessor, which makes it ideal for accompanying the Choir in a wide repertoire, as well as offering a more extensive range of colours for organ voluntaries and recitals.

Thank you to all the design team members SFK Consulting, Magdalen College, University of Oxford and Herman Eule Orgelbau for making the project so successful!
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