Peter Collins (1941 – 24 October 2015) was an
English pipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurised air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a Musical keyboard, keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single tone and pitch, the pipes are provide ...
builder based in
Melton Mowbray
Melton Mowbray () is a market town in the Borough of Melton, Melton district in Leicestershire, England, north-east of Leicester and south-east of Nottingham. It lies on the River Eye, Leicestershire, River Eye, known below Melton as the Rive ...
,
Leicestershire
Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...
. He specialised in
tracker action organs. Collins was an advocate of
computer-aided design
Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers (or ) to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. This software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve c ...
, using it to produce compact instruments and to control material costs.
Collins served his apprenticeship with Bishops of London, but became disillusioned with the conservatism of English organ building, so left for further training with
Rieger, in Austria. On his return in 1964 he started a small company near St. Albans. His first notable instrument was a classically-voiced, free-standing tracker instrument for St. Faith's church, Shellingford, Oxfordshire. Over time he moved first to Redbourn, then to the company's long-term home in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire.
Early orders were mostly for
box organs and house instruments, and the continuo business brought him into contact with the world of historically informed performance, and exhibition at
St. Albans International Organ Festival kept him in touch with the Northern European organ scene, and players from around the world. More significant commissions included a number of instruments for universities, schools and conservatories, including one for the Turner-Sims concert hall at the University of Southampton (now moved to St. Barnabas, Orford). Through this commission he met
Ralph Downes, who commissioned probably Collins' most famous instrument, at St. David's Hall, Cardiff. The instrument shows Downes' influence in its scale and tonality, being capable of filling the space with ease.
He became known for striking, modern casework, and for well-balanced mechanical action, though he also collaborated with digital organ builder
Allen on a number of hybrid pipe / digital instruments, each of which permits the pipe organ to be played as a musically integral instrument, with additional digital voicing for more expansive performance - a controversial move which led to his firm's expulsion from the Institute of British Organ Building - but his company also carried out sensitive restorations and rebuilds of a large number of one and two manual church organs, often from the 19th Century.
Collins had a long association with the St. Albans festival, for which he built two organs, one located at St. Saviour's Church, St. Albans, as noted below, the other, designed for concerto repertoire, almost complete on his death. He was taken ill while installing his instrument, and died before its completion.
The company entered a
creditors voluntary liquidation on 20 January 2017, leaving a number of unfinished projects including the relocation of the Turner Sims organ to Orford, which was completed in 2019. Cousans organs of Coalville, also in Leicesteshire, completed this and another incomplete project.
Organs in the UK
Examples are to be found in the UK including
Greyfriars Kirk,
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
;
St Peter Mancroft,
Norwich
Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...
;
Orford parish church (formerly at the
Turner Sims Concert Hall,
Southampton
Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...
)), and
Fitzwilliam College Chapel, Cambridge. His largest organ was built for
St David's Hall, Cardiff (subsequently rebuilt in part by
Walker).
A notable commission was for the
St Albans International Organ Festival (IOF), with which Collins was associated for some time; the IOF organ (sited in St Saviour's church) was built in 1989 in the style of
Andreas Silbermann (1678–1734).
Peter Hurford, who founded the IOF while he was organist of
St Albans Cathedral, played commissioning recitals on a number of Collins organs, and also recorded on some of them.
Organs in other countries
Peter Collins's organs are found in a number of other countries, including
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
,
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, Germany (Magdalenenkirche
Bayreuth
Bayreuth ( or ; High Franconian German, Upper Franconian: Bareid, ) is a Town#Germany, town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franconian Jura and the Fichtel Mountains. The town's roots date back to 11 ...
);
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
,
Korea
Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...
, Sweden (a controversial collaboration with digital organ builders
Allen in Trönö),
The Parish Church of Trono, Trono, Sweden
/ref> and the United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Peter
British pipe organ builders
Manufacturing companies established in 1964
People from Melton Mowbray