Performance History

Despite the fact that the organ was not quite finished, an organ recital was first given on 29 August 1834.

The first performance on the completed instrument was given by Mr S Wesley on 26 December 1834, although the records do not tell us if this was Samuel or Samuel Sebastian.

There then followed a succession of recitals given by many famous players; the first given by Mendelssohn was in 1837.

Over the successive years it was used for the weekly organ recitals by the City Organist and for the Festivals, culminating in the great Elgar commissions of The Dream of Gerontius (1900), The Apostles (1903) and The Kingdom (1906).