Roman Catholic Church of the Guardian Angels
377 Mile End Road
London E3-4QS

Background: The organ had not been played for a while because it was, as the Parish Priest put it, 'unplayable'. A digital piano had been used instead. But the Bishop was coming and an organ sound would be so much more appropriate than a piano for the festive occasion. Klaus paid a preparatory visit to the church and thoroughly tested the organ.

Every organ has several rows of pipes (each row referred to as a 'stop' or a 'register'). Klaus found that in each register one or several pipes were failing, being silent or out of tune. Desperate situations call for desperate measures. Klaus combined selected registers in such a way that each tone would be played by several pipes. If one pipe failed, other pipes would sound. That made the overall sound very loud (soft registers were not available on their own), and the sound was very uneven. But the organ sounded, and the congregation did not seem to mind - as an email from the Church Administrator showed.

Date: 15 December 2017

Dear Klaus,

Thank you so much for coming on Sunday and managing to play on our organ. I was not there but I have been told it was lovely. Also thank you for putting up with the last minute changes with such ease and lack of complaint. /../

Regards and wishing you a Christmas full of joy,

Cecilia Allen, Parish Administrator