SANDY MACPHERSON - "ALPEN RUHE" and "DOWN THE MALL" - BBC COMPTON THEATRE ORGAN

FRANKLIN ENGELMANN introduces SANDY MACPHERSON who plays
his Signature Tune "ALPEN RUHE" (Macpherson) and the March "DOWN THE MALL" (Belton),
on the original COMPTON 4/23 + Melotone and Grand Piano BBC THEATRE ORGAN,
installed in St. George's Hall, just a stone's throw from Broadcasting House.
The organ was opened in 1936 by QUENTIN MACLEAN, HAROLD RAMSAY,
REGINALD PORTER-BROWN and REGINALD FOORT who was appointed
as the first BBC Theatre Organist. The instrument was one of the finest Theatre Organs
built by the JOHN COMPTON ORGAN CO. LTD., and it was broadcast by the majority
of Cinema Organists of the day and regularly by REGINALD FOORT and SANDY MACPHERSON,
who later took over as Staff Organist and quickly popularised himself with such programmes
as "At Your Request" and "From My Postbag" from which this first item is an extract.
Unhappily the organ and St. George's Hall were destroyed by enemy action
in the Blitz of September 1940, a few months after this recording was made.
BBC Recording from the ComptonLodgeStudios Archive Collection.
Video uploaded by ComptonLodgeStudios, South Street, Ynyshir in the Welsh Rhondda Valley.

[@HD7100]

That organ really sounds good and has just the right amount of reverberation. I wonder if the radio station had it in a large hall.

[@ComptonLodgeStudios]

Hi HD7100 - I don't know much about St. Georges Hall. It was located in Langham Place off Regent Street in the West End of London.
The was built in 1867 and closed in 1966. It had various uses over it's long life including a Meeting Hall for the Magic Circle,
a BioScope Picture Palace, and was finally aquired by Eric Maschwitz in 1933 as a Broadcasting Studio.
In 1936 the BBC THEATRE ORGAN was installed and Reginald Foort FRCO was appointed resident organist,
and many of the most popular Cinema Organists of the day were invited to broadcast on the 4 manual Compton.
The hall and organ were destroyed by enemy action in March 1943.
Hope all that answers your question!
Best Wishes PAUL at ComptonLodgeStudios, Ynyshir, in the Welsh Rhondda Valley.

[@HD7100]

@@ComptonLodgeStudios Yes it does answer much and thank you Paul. I always had a fascination with radio station organs. In Madison Wisconsin at WHA there was a wonderful Kilgen organ and in Chicago's WGN studio they had (I believe) a Kimball organ. When I was young I listened every Sunday afternoon to the WGN "Pipe Dreams" broadcast with Harold Turner at the console. The theme song to the start of the program was the tune "Dream" and I liked it so much that I played my arrangement of the tune in a much similar style. All this is of course is now all in the past and only a memory.

[@ComptonLodgeStudios]

@@HD7100 Pleased you enjoyed my "history lesson", as you know I always try to include some interesting and informative notes
on my UA-cam videos. Quite a number of our subscribers and followers have commented on the information below the videos.
All the Best, PAUL in the Welsh Rhondda Valley.