Organ facts

Please scroll over the image and click the highlighted areas to learn more about the Royal Festival Hall organ

The organ

  • Swell Organ – the 1635 pipes of the Swell Organ are enclosed in a large box fitted with shutters that...read more.

  • Choir Organ – the lowest keyboard at the console contains 1134 pipes which are enclosed in a swell box allowing...read more.

  • Great Foundation – the primary division of the organ contains 1849 pipes. Characterised by a principal...read more.

  • Great Reeds – the reed stops are the crowning glory of any organ. These pipes produce sound through the vibration of a brass reed...read more.

  • Great Cornets – a compound (link to definition in glossary) or mixture stop (link to definition in glossary) whose pipes are...read more.

  • Pedal Organ – the 772 pipes that make up the Pedal Organ are played by the feet, with the pedals effectively acting as a large...read more.

  • Pedal Reeds 8ft, 4ft and 2ft - located in the same area as the Great Reeds. Often these stops play solo lines in the classical French...read more.

  • Pedal Reeds 32ft and 16ft - provide a thunderous and dramatic bass line in the full organ. The pipes in the 32ft octave...read more.

  • Positive Foundation – the 1403 pipes of the second division of the organ contains a principal or diapason chorus that is slightly...read more.

  • Solo Organ – the highest of the four keyboards contains 1073 pipes and is enclosed in a swell box. This division is usually characterised...read more.

  • Principal 16ft Great and 32ft Pedals - some of the lowest-pitched stops in the organ; they add weight and gravitas...read more.

  • Great 8ft Basses - some of the larger pipes of the 8ft stops on the Great Organ are grouped together in this section of the instrument...read more.

  • Great Upperwork - adds brilliance to the organ’s sound – the pitches of the mixture stops are higher than any notes produced by...read more.

  • Major Bass - a large 16ft wooden stop from the Pedal Organ designed to give a sturdy bass line; the large rectangular pipes are...read more.

  • Positive Upperwork - the upperwork adds brilliance to the organ’s sound – the pitches of the mixture stops are higher than any...read more.

  • Positive 8ft Basses - some of the larger pipes of the 8ft stops on the Positive Organ are grouped together in this section of the organ...read more.

  • Monogram - a soft pedal stop with stopped pipes, producing an effective, soft bass line to accompany sounds made on the manuals...read more.

Image: Hayes Davidson / Nick Rochowski

The Royal Festival Hall opened as part of the Festival of Britain in 1951 on the site now occupied by Southbank Centre. The Festival played a key part in the democratisation of the arts with access to sculptures, installations, performances, events and demonstrations available to all. The Royal Festival Hall is the only remaining part of the Festival of Britain site and its unique organ was installed in 1954. In 2005, the Royal Festival Hall closed for a two-year period for a complete renovation. During this process the organ was removed with one-third subsequently being reinstalled when the Hall reopened in 2007.

The Royal Festival Hall’s magnificent Harrison & Harrison organ is a 7,866 pipe instrument that forms the architectural centrepiece of Sir Leslie Martin’s concert auditorium. The organ was designed by Ralph Downes CBE KSG, and constructed by Harrison & Harrison in Durham, and is a monumental and beautiful instrument of high-quality materials. The organ is an example of superb British craftsmanship and the imaginative use of materials in the post-war years and the design principles enshrined in its construction gave rise to a whole new school of organ building, known as the English Organ Reform Movement. The influence of the Royal Festival Hall organ can be felt in the organs that were built after it including the cathedral organs of Coventry and Blackburn and the concert hall organs of the Fairfield Halls, Croydon and Bridgewater Hall, Manchester.

This unique instrument is one of the most important organs in Britain and with it the Royal Festival Hall is the only major London concert hall with the ability to use its resident instrument year-round for the wide orchestral repertoire that requires it. There is no comparable concert instrument constructed in this neo-classical style in London.

The Ralph Downes organ in the Royal Festival Hall is at the heart of classical music making in London and an incredibly important part of our musical heritage. I’m so pleased that the Heritage Lottery Fund has given Southbank Centre the go-ahead to take their application to the final stage.

Sir Roger Norrington CBE

Internationally renowned conductor

Donation progress

Target £2.3 million

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