Milton Organ
The Milton Organ is a 17th-century instrument in Tewkesbury Abbey, Gloucestershire, which has been relocated several times.
It was originally made for Magdalen College, Oxford, by Robert Dallam of the Dallam family of organ builders at the beginning of the 1630s. It may have been the first organ Robert built independently, as his father Thomas Dallam died around 1630.
After the English Civil War it was removed to the chapel of Hampton Court Palace, where Oliver Cromwell took up residence. The poet Milton may have played the instrument at this location before it was returned to Magdalen College as a result of the Stuart Restoration.[1] It came to Tewkesbury in 1737. Since then, it has undergone several major rebuilds, but still has its Dallam case. A specification of the organ can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register.[2]
References[edit]
- ^ Harper, John (May 1986). "The Organ of Magdalen College, Oxford. 1: The Historical Background of Earlier Organs, 1481–1985". The Musical Times. 127 (1718). Musical Times Publications Ltd.: 293–296. doi:10.2307/965479. JSTOR 965479. (accessed via JSTOR, subscription required)
- ^ "Gloucestershire, Tewkesbury, Abbey of St. Mary the Virgin". National Pipe Organ Register (www.npor.org.uk).