John Compton (organ builder)
Encyclopedia
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...
builder. His business based in Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
and London flourished between 1902 and 1965.
Life
John Compton was educated at King Edward's School, BirminghamKing Edward's School, Birmingham
King Edward's School is an independent secondary school in Birmingham, England, founded by King Edward VI in 1552. It is part of the Foundation of the Schools of King Edward VI in Birmingham, and is widely regarded as one of the most academically successful schools in the country, according to...
and then studied as an apprentice with Halmshaw & Sons in Birmingham. In 1898 he joined Brindley and Foster in Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
. Then he joined Charles Lloyd
Charles Lloyd (organ builder)
Charles Lloyd was a pipe organ builder based in Nottingham who flourished between 1859 and 1909.-Background:Charles Lloyd had previously worked for Groves of London. Charles Lloyd set up in business first with Lorenzo Valentine and shortly afterwards with Alfred Dudgeon. Their workshop was at 52A...
in Nottingham.
He first set up a business in 1902 in Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
with James Frederick Musson, as Musson & Compton; the partership dissolved in 1904. In 1919, the business moved to workshops at Turnham Green Terrace, Chiswick, London, which had been vacated by August Gern. He built a factory in Willesden, London in 1930.
Compton worked primarily on electric-action
Direct electric action
Direct electric action is one of various systems used in pipe organs to control the flow of air into the organ's pipes when the corresponding keys or pedals are depressed...
pipe organs and electronic organ
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....
s. Compton's first electronic instrument was the Melotone (a solo voice added to theatre organs); next came the Theatrone. The Electrone, an electrostatic tonewheel
Tonewheel
A tonewheel is a simple electromechanical apparatus for generating electronic musical notes. The tonewheel assembly consists of a synchronous AC motor and an associated gearbox that drives a series of rotating disks...
instrument introduced in 1938, evolved out of research by Leslie Bourn, an association begun in the 1920s.
On 13 June 1940 Compton was arrested on the island of Capri, where he had been on holiday. He was interned as an enemy alien but spent much of his time restoring pipe organs.
Compton died in 1957. The business was wound up around 1965. The pipe organ department was sold to Rushworth and Dreaper; the electronic department became Makin Organs.
Compton organs
Compton cinema organs, built by the John Compton Organ Company of Acton, were the most prevalent of theatre organTheatre organ
A theatre organ is a pipe organ originally designed specifically for imitation of an orchestra. New designs have tended to be around some of the sounds and blends unique to the instrument itself....
s in the UK; 261 were installed in cinemas and theatres in the British Isles. Comptons made many fine church and concert organs as well. Their cinema organs employed state of the art technology and engineering and many are still in existence today. One of the most notable is the large 5 manual example at the Odeon Cinema Leicester Square in central London.
List of new organs
- All Souls' Church, Radford 1903
- Emmanuel Church, Nottingham 1903
- United Methodist Free Church, Stapleford 1903
- Church of St. Mary Magdalene, HucknallChurch of St. Mary Magdalene, HucknallThe Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Hucknall, Nottinghamshire, is a parish church in the Church of England.The church is Grade II* listed by the Department for Culture, Media & Sport as it is a particularly significant building of more than local interest....
1903 - Emmanuel Church, New Park St, Leicester 1905
- Selby AbbeySelby AbbeySelby Abbey is an Anglican parish church in the town of Selby, North Yorkshire.-Background:It is one of the relatively few surviving abbey churches of the medieval period, and, although not a cathedral, is one of the biggest...
1906 - St. Peter's School Chapel, YorkYorkYork is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
1907 - Launceston Wesleyan Church 1909
- Holdenhurst Road Methodist Church, Bournemouth 1909
- Westbourne Wesleyan Church, Bournemouth 1910
- Shakespeare Street Methodist Church, Nottingham 1914
- Stowmarket Parish Church, 1922
- St Swithun's Church, CheswardineCheswardineCheswardine is a rural village and civil parish in north east Shropshire, England. The village lies close to the border with Staffordshire and is about 8 miles north of Newport and 5 miles south east of Market Drayton...
, Shropshire, 1922 memorial for those killed in the 1914-1918 war - Shepherd's BushShepherd's Bush-Commerce:Commercial activity in Shepherd's Bush is now focused on the Westfield shopping centre next to Shepherd's Bush Central line station and on the many small shops which run along the northern side of the Green....
Pavilion 1923 - Bournemouth Pavilion Theatre 1929
- Chapel Cranleigh School Surrey 1930. Eight Ranks, Three manuals. Lasted until 1978. Verifable on NPOR site
- St. Osmund's Church, Parkstone 1931
- Downside AbbeyDownside AbbeyThe Basilica of St Gregory the Great at Downside, commonly known as Downside Abbey, is a Roman Catholic Benedictine monastery and the Senior House of the English Benedictine Congregation. One of its main apostolates is a school for children aged nine to eighteen...
1931 - Christchurch PrioryChristchurch PrioryChristchurch Priory is an ecclesiastical parish and former priory church in Christchurch in the English county of Dorset .-Early history:...
1951 - St. Mary Magdelene's Church, Paddington 1932
- Church of St Edmund the King and MartyrSt Edmund the King and MartyrSt Edmund, King and Martyr is an Anglican church in Lombard Street, in the City of London dedicated to St Edmund the Martyr.-History:In 1292, the church is first recorded as 'Saint Edmund towards Garcherche', and it reappears in 1348 as 'Saint Edmund in Lombardestrete'...
, Lombard Street, London 1932 - BBC Concert Hall Broadcasting House, London 1932
- Odeon Cinema, Weston-super-Mare 1935
- St. Benedict's Priory, Ealing 1935
- Southampton Guildhall 1936
- Odeon Cinema, Leicester SquareOdeon Leicester SquareThe Odeon Leicester Square is a cinema which occupies the centre of the eastern side of Leicester Square, London, dominating the square with its huge black polished granite facade and high tower displaying its name. Blue neon outlines the exterior of the building at night. It was built to be the...
1937 - Emmanuel United Reformed Church, Worthing 1937 (formerly St Columba's Presbyterian Church)
- Wolverhampton Civic HallWolverhampton Civic HallWolverhampton Civic Hall is a music venue in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. It has been one of the most important live music venues in the county for several decades. It is part of a complex also including Wulfrun Hall and the newer Little Civic...
1938 - Methodist Mission, Great Yarmouth 1938
- St John's Cathedral, SalfordSalford CathedralThe Cathedral Church of St. John the Evangelist, usually known as Salford Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England. Located on Chapel Street, Salford , not far from Manchester city centre, it is the seat of the Bishop of Salford and mother...
1938 - Church House, Westminster 1939
- St. Eugene's Cathedral, Londonderry 1956
- St Bride's ChurchSt Bride's ChurchSt Bride's Church is a church in the City of London, England. The building's most recent incarnation was designed by Sir Christopher Wren in 1672 on Fleet Street in the City of London, though Wren's original building was largely gutted by fire during the London Blitz in 1940. Due to its location on...
London 1957 - St George's Cathedral, SouthwarkSt George's Cathedral, SouthwarkSt George's Cathedral, Southwark, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in the Archdiocese of Southwark, south London.The Cathedral is the Mother Church of the Roman Catholic Province of Southwark which covers the Archdiocese of Southwark and the Dioceses of Arundel and Brighton, Portsmouth, and Plymouth...
1958 - Stockport Plaza Cinema, Stockport 1932
External links
- Electrokinetica, Introducing the Compton Electrone Includes a thorough technical description. Accessed 29 Oct 2009.
- Video: Electrone at BBC's Maida Vale Studios being restored after 40 years. Includes sound of organ. Accessed 29 Oct 2009.
- Video: Compton Church Electrone Organ. Accessed 29 March 2010.
- Video: Compton Church Pipe Organ. Accessed 29 March 2010.
- Video: Compton Theatre Pipe Organ with melotone. Accessed 29 March 2010.