Mechanical Organs

It was during the 1930s when Gebroeders Decap of Antwerp built around 20 of these very large dance organs. "England's Pride", as it is known today, was built towards the end of this era, during 1939. The original name for this organ was "Nethe", but when Mr. Hart purchased the organ, it was renamed "England's Pride" by the Belgians to mark the organ's new home in St. Albans, England.

This organ has accordion and saxophone instruments on view and a full percussion section contained inside the organ together with over 600 organ pipes. Other than playing dance music, the organ is capable of playing most types of other music - ranging from classical pieces and overtures to jazz and 'pop' tunes. The sheer physical size of "England's Pride" and the music that it produces can only be fully appreciated by visiting the Organ Theatre. The organ measures 7 metres wide; 4 metres high and 2 metres in depth.

"England's Pride" Sound Sample

Built by Gebroeders Decap in Belgium, this organ was then delivered to a roadhouse on the outskirts of Antwerp in 1951.

The roadhouse incorporated a room for dancing and it was there that "Jeanneke" would play from its extensive repertoire of strict-tempo dance music controlled by a coin box on the wall.

Like most dance organs, the percussion instruments are a feature on the front of the organ, together with the accordions and saxophones. Behind the organ front are 326 organ pipes and the entire organ is controlled by the cardboard book music as it passes through the keyframe.

Visitors to the Organ Theatre are invited to view the keyframe while the organ is playing and can also see into the main case that contains the organ pipes.

"Jeanneke" Sound Sample

This organ is representative of the type of instrument that played in Belgian cafés. It was built in 1947 by Arthur Bursens who operated quite a small business when compared with Decap or Mortier. Some of the organs were actually built single-handedly by him.

In its café location, the organ would start playing by means of a coin box on the wall. When a coin was fed into this box it would operate a simple electrical switch that started the organ playing from an endless loop of cardboard music containing about twenty tunes. The organ would play one tune and then stop.

Bursens Sound Sample