WESTERN AUSTRALIAN PIPE ORGANS Paul Hufner 17 November 1918 - 30 August 2010 By Bob Elms, OAM September 2010  An era in organ building in Western Australia passed with the death of Paul Hufner, the most prolific of this state’s organ builders. Paul was almost 92 but had suffered for some 17 years from myosotis, a crippling disease which in time causes debilitating muscular weakness. Paul Hufner came from a home where his father was a piano tuner, and sometime organ builder. Paul started out at Snaden's (a piano shop in Nedlands) as an apprentice, stayed for one year and then went to work for his Uncle Paul, who was a piano tuner brought out from Germany by Nicholson's - his Uncle started a piano dealership called Meyer and Orr and it is there Paul learnt his trade. Later in late 1939 and the early 1940s he worked as a piano tuner for Musgroves before starting out on his own in a piano tuning and repairing business. In 1940 he met Gordon and Steven Gunn of Gunstar Organ Works who were installing an organ in Forrest Park Methodist Church in Mt Lawley not far from his home. Paul was fascinated by this process of installation, and when the installation was complete they offered him the job of maintaining the organ, which he did for the next 50+ years. The first organ he built was a small single manual instrument using pipework from a Cremona Fotoplayer which had been intended for one of the cinemas about 30 years earlier. This instrument was installed in Paul’s Parish Church, St John’s Lutheran Church Perth City, where it remained in service until a new three manual organ, Paul‘s last instrument was installed in the 1990s. In the 1950s small electronic instruments were being sold to churches in the state. Many were of poor quality but were cheap and they replaced many a reed organ. Paul saw the opportunity to take on this market by providing small pipe organs, using extension from a few ranks at a competitive price.. The first of these instruments was a two manual 3 rank instrument for St Andrew’s Anglican Church, Barker Road, Subiaco. The basic ranks of all of Paul’s small instruments were Open Diapason, a string (usually Gamba or Salicional) and a Lieblich Gedecht. The pedal consisted of a Bourdon 16’ and some stops derived from the manual stops. The cost of this instrument was 1800 pounds ($3600). The bass octave of the Diapason on this organ was made of jarrah. The organ lasted for 50 years giving reliable service until replaced by a larger Le Tourneau instrument. Work came quickly then with organs at several churches, all built in the same style with two manual organs in Victoria Park Methodist, Subiaco Church of Christ, and a number of other churches and school chapels. Some of the organs were of four, five and six ranks. Those of four or more ranks usually incorporated a chorus reed. He also built a number of instruments of smaller size - one manual - for a number of churches. Only two organs were for churches outside this state, both going to Tasmania. Paul built everything in his earlier organs himself except for hard-to make parts such as magnets and metal pipework. For the most part he designed and made in his workshop all the wooden pipe ranks , cabinets and case and also manual and pedal keyboards.. Some of his ideas were unusual with chambers under the pallets to reduce the abruptness of the attack with electric action, and simulated tracker touch by the use of springs made of piano wire. Several of the smaller organs were installed in country churches and in a convent. In all Paul built 30 organs. He was the most significant builder this state has had. His instruments were musical, and reliable. Many have functioned reliably for 50 years with little attention and are still in use after 50 and more years. As a spin off from Paul’s work, his apprentice of the 1960s, John Larner, went out on his own building about 20 instruments. Paul was a most accommodating technician. If there was a problem with an organ he put himself on call, even on a Sunday morning. Through the work of Paul Hufner many a church installed a pipe organ instead of going the way of others and buying cheap electronic organs which had more gimmicks such as percussions and unusual effects than stops useful for church work. Well done Paul Hufner. You are a legend. You did more to popularise the pipe organ in churches in Western Australia than any other person by building small, musical and reliable pipe organs for a low price, competitive with electronic organs at a time when churches were replacing very old reed organs. (Eulogy at funeral service)
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