View source for Langshaw Barrel Organ (Lancaster)

The chamber [[barrel organ]] by [[John Langshaw]] in the collections of Lancashire Museums is currently on display at the
[[Judges' Lodgings, Lancaster|Judges' Lodgings museum]] in the city of [[Lancaster, Lancashire|Lancaster]], England.
[[File:Judges' Lodgings 2014 GLAM Barrel Organ 2558.JPG|thumb|The Langshaw barrel organ in the Judges' Lodgings. Its decorative front has been removed allowing a barrel to be seen.]]
The organ was built c 1790 and is of a size suitable for use in a middle-class home. It has four ranks of [[Organ pipe|pipe]]s ([[Organ stop|stop]]s) and three barrels. The barrels are inscribed "John Langshaw / Organ Maker / Lancaster",<ref name="lancs" /> and are assumed to be the barrels originally housed in the instrument.
The [[mahogany]] case is attributed to [[Gillows of Lancaster and London|Gillows]],<ref name="lancs">{{cite web|url=http://collections.lancsmuseums.gov.uk/narratives/object.php?irn=108|title= A Chamber Barrel Organ made by John Langshaw of Lancaster c. 1790|last=LANMS|date=2008|work=LANMS.2003.22 |publisher=Lancashire County Museum Service|accessdate=20 February 2016}}</ref> a Lancaster furniture making firm with which Langshaw is known to have collaborated.
Each of the three barrels is pinned with 10 airs. The 30 pieces preserved at Lancaster include "See the Conquering Hero Comes", the best-known number from [[George Frideric Handel|Handel]]'s oratorio [[Judas Maccabaeus (Handel)|''Judas Maccabaeus'']]. Langshaw lived in London in the years either side of Handel's death in 1759. While Lancashire Museums suggest that he knew Handel,<ref name="lancmuseums">{{cite web | url=http://collections.lancsmuseums.gov.uk/narratives/narrative.php?irn=108 | title=Chamber barrel organ | publisher=Lancashire County Council | accessdate=21 February 2016}}</ref> other sources suggest that his reproductions of Handel's music began after the composer's death.<ref name="EM">{{cite journal | jstor=3137830 | title=The Earl of Bute's Machine Organ: A Touchstone of Taste | publisher=[[OUP]] | journal=Early Music | date=1983 | author=Malloch, William| volume=11 | issue=2 | pages=172–183 | doi=10.1093/earlyj/11.2.172 }} (accessed via JSTOR, subscription required)</ref>
==Display==
The organ is currently displayed in a period setting in the Judges' Lodgings.
Visitors are able to hear a recording of the instrument.
[[File:Judges' Lodgings 2014 GLAM Barrel Organ 2560.JPG|thumb|Close up of barrel]]
==See also==
* [[St John the Evangelist's Church, Lancaster]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
[[Category:Objects in the Judges' Lodgings, Lancaster]]
[[Category:Organs (music)]]