Victoria Concert Hall

Location9 Empress Place, Singapore 179556
BuilderKlais Orgelbau, Bonn
Year1987
Last surveyed2017
StatusPlayable
Last updated: 2 April 2021

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