The organs of St Mary-le-Bow

The main organ in the west gallery was built by Kenneth Tickell & Company in 2010, replacing a former instrument by Rushworth & Dreaper. The casework, designed by John Hayward and made by Dove Brothers, dates from the rebuilding of the church in 1964 after its destruction by enemy action in 1941.

The case seems to be loosely based on the work of the Alsace Silbermanns and this French influence was carried into the stop-list. Hence fine mutation registers and reeds with great character. The organ has also a Germanic pleno, rendering it highly suitable for the music of J.S. Bach and other German baroque composers. The French influence enables authentic performances of all periods. In fact, the careful choice and blending of the sensitively voiced registers and the superb ambient acoustic in the church, makes it possible to play almost any style of music with convincing colour, richness and depth.

THOMAS ALLERY has been Director of Music and Organist at St Mary-le-Bow since February 2018. He enjoys a varied career spanning work as an organist and choral director, continuo playing, research and teaching.

Alongside his role here, he is also the assistant Director of Music at the Temple Church where he is responsible for the musical education of the choristers. From 2014-19, Thomas was Director of Chapel Music at Worcester College, Oxford.

Thomas graduated with Distinction from the Masters programme at the Royal College of Music, London, in 2014, studying organ with Margaret Phillips and harpsichord with Terence Charlston, and from 2020 – 22, he was awarded a scholarship to study for an Artist diploma in harpsichord at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, studying with Carole Cerasi and James Johnstone. At the organ, Thomas is at home playing a variety of repertoire, and is currently working on a project on organ composers of the City of London.

As a harpsichordist and continuo player, Thomas plays regularly with the prize winning period group Ensemble Hesperi, with whom he is undertaking research into late 18th-century Scottish Baroque Music. He is sought after as an organ and harpsichord teacher, currently teaching at City of London School, Radley College, and at the Royal College of Music. He is active as a researcher, working on historical continuo treatises and how they can be applied in musical education today.

Composer Alan Wilson writes:

Everyone will know the nursery rhyme ‘Oranges and Lemons’ with its reference to ‘the great bell of Bow’, and the cockney association if one is born within the sound of Bow Bells. The tower clock also chimes every 15 minutes to a melody by C.V. Stanford.

The origins of this toccata date back to an improvisation I did at an organ recital a few years ago and in the summer of 2016 I decided to write it down for future performances. I set about a carefully constructed piece using both the ‘Oranges and Lemons’ tune and the ‘Bow Bells’ carillon chime (on which I had previously written a Mass setting).