Location | 9 Empress Place, Singapore 179556 |
Builder | Klais Orgelbau, Bonn |
Year | 1987 |
Last surveyed | 2017 |
Status | Playable |
The Concert Hall Organ
First installed in 1987, the Victoria Concert Hall’s Klais organ, purchased through the fund-raising efforts of the then-newly formed SSO Ladies’ League, is a replacement to the St. Clair organ (built by Walker, Hill, Norman and Beard) that had been installed some 50 years earlier in 1931.
The St. Clair organ was named after Mayor W.G. St Clair, founder of the old Philharmonic Society and the first editor of the Singapore Free Press, and its facade was retained with the installation of the Klais organ.
The Klais organ was disassembled and restored by Klais Orgelbau when Victoria Concert Hall and Victoria Theatre underwent renovation in 2010. Restoration work was completed by 2014.
Technical Specifications
St. Clair Organ (1931-1987)
Stoplist
Great
Double Open Diapason 16’
Large Open Diapason 8’
Small Open Diapason 8’
Horn Diapason 8’
Hohlflote 8’
Dulciana 8’
Principal 4’
Harmonic Flute 4’
Gemshorn 4’
Twelfth 2 2/3’
Fifteenth 2’
Mixture IV
Contra Posaune 16’
Posaune 8’
Clarion 4’
Swell
Bourdon 16’
Open Diapason 8’
Lieblich Gedacht 8’
Echo Gamba 8’
Vox Celeste 8’
Principal 4’
Lieblich Flote 4’
Piccolo 2’
Mixture IV
Double Trumpet 16’
Horn 8’
Oboe 8’
Clarion 4’ (missing stop)
Tremulant
Solo
Tuba Harmonic 8’
Harmonic Clarabel 8’
Viola 8’
Concert Flute 4’
Harmonic Piccolo 2’
Clarinet 8’
Vox Humana 8’ (missing stop)
Tremulant
Pedal
Open Diapason 16’
Subbass 16’
Violon 16’
Quint 12’
Octave 8’
BassFlute 8’
Trombone 16’
Posaune 8’
The Klais Organ (1989 – present)
Stoplist
Great
Cromorne 8’
Trompete 8’
Mixture IV
Larigot 1 1/3’
Superoctave 2’
Traversflote 4’
Octave 4’
Offenflote 8’
Principal 8’
Quintaton 16’
Tremulant
Swell (Enclosed)
Hautbois 8’
Basson 16’
Scharff IV
Sesquialter II
Octavin 2’
Blockflote 4’
Principal 4’
Vox Coeleste 8’
Gamba 8’
Rorhflote 8’
Tremulant
Pedal
Trompete 8’
Posaune 16’
Rauschpfeife III
Choralbass 4’
Bourdon 8’
Octave 8’
Subbass 16’
Principal 16’
Accessories
Swell/Great
Great/Pedal
Swell/Pedal
Others
Mechanical Stop and Keyboard Action
Wind pressure: Manuals 100mm, Pedal 120mm
3 Manual Combination Pedals







Organ Consultant: Dr Margaret Co Chen
Photos and description: Singapore Sinfonia Company Ltd.
References:
Organs in Asia, by James Welch, The American Organist article, July 1988
Concert brochure of VCH Organ Series, Isabelle Demers, 20 November 2017 (https://www.vtvch.com)
Used with permission