86:, near Reading. This marked an inflexion in the business: Tickell never stopped making chamber instruments and smaller organs, but they moved into new, larger premises, and the staff grew to nine or ten as larger commissions began to arrive. Like Peter Collins, Tickell was known for striking casework designs, though he would also work to more traditional styles, or within existing casework, where required. In the mid 1990s he met an American lecturer, Bruce Case, who was on an exchange at Cranfield Institute of Technology. Case wanted to learn woodworking skills, and Tickell traded this for expertise in computer aided design, which he then used to develop and execute designs more quickly and consistently. This, alongside his careful approach to business and especially contract writing, led to a reputation for delivering on time and on budget, sometimes despite the client.
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121:. On July 24, 2014, he died suddenly and unexpectedly of a pulmonary embolism. The workshop was then working on a commission for Manchester Cathedral, and also a replacement for the Downing College organ he had refurbished as one of his first jobs. The Manchester organ was completed by Tickell's staff, notably Simon Brown (voicing) and Tomas Jansky (technical design), and was handed over in April 2017.
66:(FRCO), and married Philippa (Pippa) James. Tickell had practical engineering skills as well as musical ability. In 1977 he assisted with the assembly of a Holdich organ in a Hull church, and after graduating he joined the staff of builder Grant, Degens and Badbeer, in Northampton, intending to learn the trade of organ building and especially
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By 1982, GD&B was in decline, and
Tickell left to establish his own firm, Kenneth Tickell and Company, in a converted barn, still in Northampton, where he also worked as parish organist. He was a careful businessman and built up over three years, during which he moved to a former baker's shop,
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In 1997 he co-founded, and was elected
President of, the Institute of British Organ Building, and also completed a large three-manual instrument for the new church of St. Barnabas, Dulwich. This was followed by similarly sized instruments at Eton College chapel and Cheltenham Ladies' College.
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and used instead an electric action. This was widely praised by players, and also used for the
Manchester Cathedral organ, where it allows for a mobile console for performances, but most of the rest of his projects were still trackers, and he kept up a steady stream of small instruments and
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Tickell was born in
Lancashire in 1956. Having first learned the violin, he began playing the organ, before entering Coventry School of Music. In 1976 he won an organ scholarship to the University of Hull, where his teachers included
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in 1985. Here he met John
Rowntree, a consultant on many organ schemes in Roman Catholic churches, and the two worked together on several of his early projects, notably including his
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The company continued for a few years after his death, completing a small number of instruments, before finally being wound up in 2020.
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For the organ at
Worcester Cathedral, a 4-manual 57-stop instrument completed in 2008, he departed from his preference for
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In all, Tickell built 82 organs over 30 years, becoming one of the most successful organ builders in the UK, alongside
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builder and organist who, over 32 years, built several notable organs, including at
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He was commemorated with a memorial evensong and recital at
Worcester Cathedral.
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before building his first complete instrument, which he displayed at the
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English pipe organ builder and organist (1956–2014)
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22:(25 August 1956–24 July 2014) was an English
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213:Bicknell, Stephen. "Raising The Tone".
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76:St. Albans International Organ Festival
265:Obituary: Kenneth Tickell, 1956-2014,
53:Tickell organ at St. Barnabas, Dulwich
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228:McVicker, William. "The Big Match".
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167:www.classicandsportscar.com
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183:"A Willingness to Learn".
64:Royal College of Organists
202:(July / August 2021): 52.
145:"Ken Tickell - obituary"
243:Tickell Organs website
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198:"Work in progress".
44:Manchester Cathedral
20:Kenneth Hugh Tickell
149:The Daily Telegraph
32:Worcester Cathedral
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131:References
24:pipe organ
115:Harrison
107:Collins
80:Opus 26
68:voicing
119:Walker
111:Mander
82:, at
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