115 years ago…

7th December 2020

Once upon a time, there was a little pipe organ – she was built in the country of New Zealand…

Sounds a bit like a fairy-tale…

It was 1905: the Wright Brothers were just beginning their experimentation with flight; Rotary International had just been established and Henry Ford had just established the Ford Motor Company and was soon to start production of his legendary Model T… and in Wellington, New Zealand, a recital was being given – at the Trinity Newtown Methodist Church where a new pipe organ was being inaugurated – the organist was well-known Wellington organist Maughan Barnett: and the programme included by Bach, Dubois and Widor.

And who in that congregation, or even Arthur Hobday himself (the builder of this instrument), would have thought, that this same instrument would, over 100 years later (and after 20 years in storage) play once more – as a Cathedral pipe organ in another country !!…and be housed and work together with another instrument of someone Hobday knew very well – his colleague, JE Dodd.

I always wondered when her ‘birthday’ was – I even thought perhaps we should just choose a date – until I visited her hometown, Wellington, two years ago and discovered it – I sometimes even thought: what if it was 8th December (our Cathedral’s feast day)…well, as it turns out I wasn’t far off…

7th December, 1905

Wow, what a date !! It’s as if all those distant years ago, her future destiny was being pointed to – her inauguration was on the eve of the feast of the Cathedral which would be her future home – the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (8th December).

May we always be thankful for and remember the work of those musicians who have gone before us – who with their ingenuity, foresight and hard work created inspirational works, those marvels of engineering and artistry that inspire us and uplift us in prayer, lifting our minds to God and higher things.

What a beautiful story !!

Happy 115th birthday !!

Jacinta