William Drake (1943–2014) was the founder of the firm of William Drake, Organ Builder that manufactures

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''ranks ...

s in

Buckfastleigh Buckfastleigh is a market town and civil parish in Devon, England situated beside the Devon Expressway ( A38) at the edge of the Dartmoor National Park. It is part of Teignbridge and, for ecclesiastical purposes, lies within the Totnes Deanery. ...

, Devon, England. He held a

Royal Warrant A royal warrant is a document issued by a monarch which confers rights or privileges on the recipient, or has the effect of law. Royal warrant may refer to: * Royal warrant of appointment, warrant to tradespeople who supply goods or services to a r ...

as organ builder to

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

Biography

Drake was born 1947 in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was d ...

, Maryland to an English father and mother of Swiss-American citizenship. Returning to England in 1952 on the death of his father he was educated at

Dartington College of Arts Dartington College of Arts was a specialist arts college located at Dartington Hall in the south-west of England, offering courses at degree and postgraduate level together with an arts research programme. It existed for a period of almost 50 ...

where he learned the organ under John Wellingham. He was inspired to become an organ builder following a visit as a teenager to the exhibition of newly built organs at St Albans International Organ Festival at

St Albans Abbey St Albans Cathedral, officially the Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Alban but often referred to locally as "the Abbey", is a Church of England cathedral in St Albans, England. Much of its architecture dates from Norman times. It ceased to be ...

. After completing an apprenticeship in Austria with Rieger Orgelbau he worked with Rudolf Janke in Göttingen. He built a small award-winning organ as his Meisterstuck in the workshop of Patrick Collon in Brussels. Drake established the firm of William Drake Ltd in 1974 in Buckfastleigh, Devon. The company was part of the

John Loosemore John Loosemore (August 1616 – 18 April 1681) was an English builder of pipe organs. He is best known for his organ at Exeter Cathedral in Devon, which he completed in 1665. John Loosemore was born in Barnstaple where he was baptized on 25 Au ...

Centre for Organ and Early Music - an entity that taught a number of subjects concerning the organ - such as playing of the organ, history, and organ-building. Eventually that program was discontinued, but Drake's organ-building firm continued in the premises. William Drake Ltd has built new organs and restored instruments in a number of countries, including New Zealand and the United States. For the design of instruments, the firm takes its inspiration from English organs of the 18th and 19th centuries. Organs built by Drake's company are mechanical action instruments and restorations adhere to high standards of historical accuracy. William Drake died on 11 January 2014, aged 70. Today the business continues under the direction of Geert Noppers and Joost de Boer, who have been members of the staff for many years.

Selected organs

*Restoration of the 1780 Seede organ at the Roman Catholic Chapel at

Lulworth Castle Lulworth Castle, in East Lulworth, Dorset, England, situated south of the village of Wool, is an early 17th-century hunting lodge erected in the style of a revival fortified castle, one of only five extant Elizabethan or Jacobean buildings of t ...

, Dorset completed 1986, a project that attracted attention internationally. *A new organ at Jesus College, Oxford, 1993 *A new organ in eighteenth century manner, within a 1732 case Grosvenor Chapel Mayfair London, completed 1991 *

Palace of Westminster The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parli ...

St Mary Undercroft crypt chapel, a new instrument 1999 *

Lincoln Cathedral Lincoln Cathedral, Lincoln Minster, or the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lincoln and sometimes St Mary's Cathedral, in Lincoln, England, is a Grade I listed cathedral and is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Lincoln. Constructio ...

completed 2010 *A new instrument in the Peacock Room,

Trinity College of Music Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music and dance conservatoire based in London, England. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. The conservatoire has ...

, Greenwich, London, 2003 *1818 Ballroom Organ at

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...

, completed 2003 *1849 Sutton Organ at Jesus College, Cambridge *1857 Robson Organ Queen's University of Belfast, completed 2005 *Gray and Davison organ from the

1851 Great Exhibition The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held), was an international exhibition which took pl ...

in Crystal Palace, now installed at St Anne's Limehouse, restored 2006 *Restoration of the George Dallam/Christian Smith, and later, organ at the church of

St Giles in the Fields St Giles in the Fields is the Anglican parish church of the St Giles district of London. It stands within the London Borough of Camden and belongs to the Diocese of London. The church, named for St Giles the Hermit, began as a monastery and ...

, London *A new instrument at

Lincoln College, Oxford Lincoln College (formally, The College of the Blessed Mary and All Saints, Lincoln) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford, situated on Turl Street in central Oxford. Lincoln was founded in 1427 by Richard Fleming, the ...

, 2010 *A new instrument in the OBE Chapel, St Faith's Chapel in the crypt of

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...

London 2012 *1760 George England organ at Christ's Chapel of God's Gift, Dulwich, restored *Restoration of the Richard Bridge organ at

Christ Church Spitalfields Christ Church Spitalfields is an Anglican church built between 1714 and 1729 to a design by Nicholas Hawksmoor. On Commercial Street in the East End and in today's Central London it is in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, on its western bord ...

which Drake had planned and worked on since 2000, and was completed posthumously by the firm 2015.

References

External links

William Drake, organ builder
{{DEFAULTSORT:Drake Drake, William, Organ Builder Drake, William, Organ Builder British royal warrant holders Organ builders of the United Kingdom 1974 establishments in England Musical instrument manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom Companies based in Devon