Published: 23 January, 2014
By GEOFFREY SAWYER

SOMETHING is wrong at the Grand Masonic Lodge.

When members of the freemasons meet at their grand Art Deco headquarters in Covent Garden, their historic organ can no longer be fully heard above the singing.

Camden Council’s planning chiefs have now been asked to approve permission for a new organ to be installed at the Grade II*-listed Freemason’s Hall in Great Queen Street.

The current organ, installed in 1933 by leading organ maker of the day Henry Willis, was said, in papers filed at the Town Hall by the United Grand Lodge of England, to be “lacking in vigour when required to support and encourage singing in the full building”.

It is not exclusively reserved for masonic purposes: pop band Westlife filmed the music video for their cover version of Barry Manilow’s Mandy there – the organ was not thought to have been used on that occasion – and it is often booked out for events during London Fashion Week. Scenes from the 2009 film Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey Jr were also filmed there.

The issue of what to do with ageing organs in masonic lodges has been a hot topic, with some branches opting for more electronic options.

Masonic organist Naunton Liles wrote in an article for Freemasonry Today when the issue was discussed in 2012: “We live in a time when many people think any object worthy of its period – Willis’s design is an excellent example of mid-1930s workmanship – should not be altered or improved.  mIndeed, grant funds usually insist this is so. But few would disagree that a change that enabled the pipework to speak out more clearly, and enabled some additional resources, would be sensible if we are to serve the next generations well.”

He added: “Most people agree music enhances the occasion and a private lodge meeting without music can be a bit dull.
“Our annual assemblies of Grand Lodge and of Provincial Grand Lodge and in all masonic orders need to be occasions of great dignity and splendour, and to give pleasure to those present.”

Camden Council is accepting views on the proposed changes until the end of January.