Mr. Stanley, I Presume!
“The best organist in Europe, maybe in the world”
Andrew Benson-Wilson
Christ Church Spitalfields
Commercial St, London E1 6LY
Monday, 8 September, 2025. 7.30
Experience country house saloon soirees; the hunting horns, shepherd songs
and birdsong of the English countryside; the trumpets of military marches;
and London’s opera houses and pleasure gardens,
through the organ music of John Stanley (1712-1786).
The completion of the restoration of the famous 1735 Richard Bridge organ in Hawksmoor’s Christ Church, Spitalfields was one of the most important musical events in London during 2015. My review of John Scott’s opening recital, and details of the organ, can be seen 
designed by the famed Baroque architect Nicholas Hawksmoor. The organ was built in 1735 by Richard Bridge, who became one of the leading organ builders of the day. Spitalfields seems to have been only his second commission, perhaps explaining the comparatively low price of £600 for such a substantial instrument. For the following 100 years or so, it was the largest organ in the country. It suffered the inevitable changes over the years, but retained enough of its original pipework to form the basis for a historically based reconstruction, returning it broadly to its original specification and construction. It was dismantled in 1998 while the church was being restored and was then restored to its 1735 specification, with very few concessions. Its completion in 2015 makes this by far the most important pre-1800 organ in the UK.
Andrew Benson-Wilson : Early Music Reviews + 