Songs in the Scrub Jungle

    The Madras Christian College is an institution steeped in tradition. It is only fitting that such a place of learning must have an instrument of great tradition also. The Pipe Organ is the oldest keyed instrument invented by the human genius. The earliest known ancestor to the modern organ was the ὕδραυλις (The Greek water organ or Hydraulis). The history of this instrument and its great political power are all matters for later posts on this website but for now, I speak of this institution that is now steward to an incredible piece of musical heritage.

    MCC has had many wonderful musical instruments since its inception and some of the finest ones have been dedicated for service at the Bishop Heber Chapel. The first record of an organ that MCC received was a reed-organ (It is not certain if it was bought exclusively for the Chapel at Tambaram or brought over from George Town) donated by Mrs. Hogg, wife of Rev. Alfred George Hogg (Two people whom I am sure need no introduction to the MCCian). The organ is believed to have been commissioned from the Mason & Hamlin Organ Co. through Paterson, Sons & Co. of Glasgow. It remained in regular use along with other instruments right until the pipe organ was donated to the college by Dr Sebastian Gnanadoss, Dr Shantha Tyler and Ms Vasanthini Gnanadoss to honour the memory of their father, Prof Adaikalam Albert Gnanadoss.

No other college in India can boast of such a regal instrument as a pipe organ. This culture of organ playing was organically formed in the college to accompany the chapel choir. A lot of the first organists were professors not unlike Dr. Gift Siromoney and of course Mr Gnanadoss. The music of other parts of on-campus ministries like that of the daily Anderson Hall prayers also inspired many musicians. It is believed that the organ that once stood to the left of the stage at Anderson Hall (A Hammond organ that was donated in the June of 1940 in memory of Marion Watson Martin by her son Gavin Cochran Martin) was where a young Handel Manuel would improvise on hymn tunes, much to the delight of the congregation. He would later go on to be one of India’s finest musicians, being the only Indian to be invited to the International Tchaikovsky Competition and being awarded the Padmashri in 1983. This tradition of MCC that produces capable accompanists lives strong today. Talented students from the college are identified and empowered such that they graduate with greater skill. All this is informal for now.

    If complete training is provided and recognition is given in the form of certification and credits, it legitimises music as an academic pursuit and not just a hobby. This is one of my dreams. That the organ must always be kept at concert condition, with even greater care and effort put into maintenance and also the possibility of enlarging the instrument without harming its tonal vision. By making MCC a creator of scholars in the organ, one would see a revival of pipe organs in any church that still uses traditional hymns in worship. This of course is ambitious. Then again, great things begin with Pipe dreams.