World's Largest Organ Museum (Gulangyu)

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Gulangyu Organ Museum (World's Largest) Adapted from "Discover Gulangyu"
Museum Links:Museum Main Page China's 1st Anthropology Museum Lin Yutang Museum Chinese - European Art Center Lu Xun Museum Postal Museum Piano Museum Organ Museum Xiamen Museum Overseas Chinese Museum Xiamen Meteoroligcal Center Calligraphy Square Bridge Museum Weird World Museum Life Sciences Museum Art in the Park Music Square (proof that Chopin was Chinese!) Quanzhou Maritime Museum (well worth the drive!) Xiamen Military Museum Piano Museum

Gulangyu Organ Museum The only such museum in China, and the largest of its kind in the world, it opened in early 2005 in the red-domed Bagua Building and how has over 100 organs (including 3 kinds of reed organs, pianicas, accordians, and three large pipe organs, all donated by the Piano Museum’s founder, Mr. Hu Youyi. Vivian Zhang quoted Hu as saying at the museum’s opening concert,

“Pipe organs are acclaimed as the most sublime and divine musical instrument I the west. I hope one day organ lovers from all over the world will come on a music pilgrimage to my hometown, Gulangyu, to appreciate its beauty.”

The organ played at the opening concert was a historic “Norman & Beard” made in 1909. The 6 meter high instrument has 1,350 pipes, 3 layers of keyboards and 21 organ stops, and took Ian Wakeley, an Australian organ technician, over a month to restore and tune. Ian explained why the organ was in such good shape:

“It is made of the best materials by the best builders with the best techniques and is a representative of the highest level at that time. And that is why, after nearly a century, it still remains in amazingly good condition while most other instruments of its age have long turned decayed.”

This organ was formerly in England’s Cradley Heath Methodist Church, where Paul Carr gave his 100th and final concert on it in June 2003. Carr seems happy with its new home. He wrote, “as the organ will not be squashed into a corner, as it was at Cradley Heath, it could sound up to 50% louder!”

As the church was to be closed, organist Mark Checkley spread the word on the internet that the venerable instrument needed a home, but after 18 months and 250 responses, the best offer was from a local organ builder who wanted to dismantle the beauty and salvage pipes and parts for a future organ. But finally they heard that Ian Wakeley was seeking an organ for a Chinese client, and within a couple of weeks the organ was destined for Gulangyu.

The day after the church’s final service on Sunday, July 18th, Ian and two assistants began 4 days of carefully dismantling the instrument and packing the components into crates custom made on the spot. Organist Paul Carr said it took four men six hours just to load the parts onto the truck, where it was hauled to Southhampton Dock, loaded onto the slow boat to China—and reassembled on Gulangyu.
Visit this remarkable instrument—and ask the attendants to play it for you!