The Organ

Pipe organ

The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through pipes selected via a keyboard. Because each organ pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard compass...

 Historical Trust

Historical society

A historical society is an organization that collects, researches, interprets and preserves information or items of historical interest. Generally, a historical society focuses on a specific geographical area, such as a county or town or subject, such as aviation or rail. Many historical...

 of Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

(OHTA) is a national organisation which works towards (1) the protection, conservation and restoration of pipe organs in Australia, (2) the preservation of records pertaining to their history, the promotion of organ repertoire and organ playing to the general public, and (3) the encouragement of scholarly research into the history and use of pipe organs and their repertoire.

Origin and Foundation

OHTA's establishment in 1977 took place in response to a period following World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 when several significant organs in Australia were either destroyed completely (for example, the Grand Organ erected in 1880 by Geo. Fincham and Son in the Royal Exhibition Building

Royal Exhibition Building

The Royal Exhibition Building is a World Heritage Site-listed building in Melbourne, Australia, completed in 1880. It is located at 9 Nicholson Street in the Carlton Gardens, flanked by Victoria, Nicholson, Carlton and Rathdowne Streets, at the north-eastern edge of the central business district...

, Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

, Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

}, significantly altered (for example, the organs of St. Andrew's Anglican Cathedral

St. Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney

St Andrew's Cathedral is the cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of Sydney in the Anglican Church of Australia. The cathedral is the seat of the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney and Metropolitan of New South Wales, the Most Reverend Peter Jensen...

, Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

, New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, St. John's Anglican Cathedral

St John's Cathedral, Brisbane

St John's Cathedral is the Anglican cathedral of Brisbane and the metropolitan cathedral of the ecclesiastical province of Queensland, Australia...

, Brisbane

Brisbane

Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...

, Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

, the 1926 J.E. Dodd organ of St. Francis Xavier's Catholic Cathedral, Adelaide

Adelaide

Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...

, South Australia

South Australia

South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

 and the Pilgrim Uniting

Uniting Church in Australia

The Uniting Church in Australia was formed on 22 June 1977 when many congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, the Presbyterian Church of Australia and the Congregational Union of Australia came together under the Basis of Union....

 (originally Congregational

Congregational church

Congregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing Congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs....

) Church organ, also in Adelaide), or left temporarily or permanently disused while being replaced with electronic or digital organs

Electronic organ

An electronic organ is an electronic keyboard instrument which was derived from the harmonium, pipe organ and theatre organ. Originally, it was designed to imitate the sound of pipe organs, theatre organs, band sounds, or orchestral sounds....

 (for example, St. Joseph's Catholic Church, Newtown

Newtown, New South Wales

Newtown, a suburb of Sydney's inner west is located approximately four kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, straddling the local government areas of the City of Sydney and Marrickville Council in the state of New South Wales, Australia....

, New South Wales, and St. Mary's Anglican Church, Kangaroo Point

Kangaroo Point, Queensland

Kangaroo Point is a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia located directly east across the Brisbane River from the Brisbane central business district.- Geography :...

, a suburb of Brisbane.)

On 13 May 1977, a public meeting was held in the Chapter House of St. Paul's Anglican Cathedral

St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne

St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne, is the metropolitical and cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne, Victoria in Australia. It is the seat of the Anglican Archbishop of Melbourne and Metropolitan of the Province of Victoria...

, Melbourne, and OHTA was formed. At the time, the organisation was conceived as a means for extending the work of the National Trust of Australia

National Trust of Australia

The Australian Council of National Trusts is the peak body for community-based, non-government organisations committed to promoting and conserving Australia's indigenous, natural and historic heritage....

. In 1978, OHTA was incorporated under the Victorian Companies Act 1961, directed by a Council made up of representatives from each State of Australia, and offering membership to all members of the general public. OHTA is now registered with the Australian Federal Government's

Government of Australia

The Commonwealth of Australia is a federal constitutional monarchy under a parliamentary democracy. The Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901 as a result of an agreement among six self-governing British colonies, which became the six states...

Register of Cultural Organisations which allows it to receive financial gifts which are tax deductible.

External links

Detailed information about the Organ Historical Trust of Australia is available in its own website http://www.ohta.org.au/.

An archive of documents and other material covering the period from the founding of the Organ Historical Trust of Australia in 1977 is held at The University of Melbourne http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:Qf6EBB0EdzwJ:www.lib.unimelb.edu.au/collections/archives/collections/pdfs/ohta.pdf+organ+historical+trust+of+australia&hl=en&gl=au&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESiEj3H7FzNxBCWLZv77yL5QEBA17xDe4GG-pBDiY83cjTVjvKDZDpk-pX_PU8qc-C-VNxwd6YN5BHnCi-JPoarXnOfulORH0TzD79RVu8g-0yXka7F-drU7APgi3w8r3FIs_JR8&sig=AHIEtbQrA2jGSShC16bcsG7Z59s-ri9-Ng.

Additional written and photographic material is held within the State Library of New South Wales - see An archive of documents and other material covering the period from the founding of the Organ Historical Trust of Australia in 1977 is held at The University of Melbourne http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:Qf6EBB0EdzwJ:www.lib.unimelb.edu.au/collections/archives/collections/pdfs/ohta.pdf+organ+historical+trust+of+australia&hl=en&gl=au&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESiEj3H7FzNxBCWLZv77yL5QEBA17xDe4GG-pBDiY83cjTVjvKDZDpk-pX_PU8qc-C-VNxwd6YN5BHnCi-JPoarXnOfulORH0TzD79RVu8g-0yXka7F-drU7APgi3w8r3FIs_JR8&sig=AHIEtbQrA2jGSShC16bcsG7Z59s-ri9-Ng.