Sir, It was interesting to read about the passing of the projectionist in cinemas (Alex O’Connell, Mar 16, and letter, Mar 17) but no mention was made of the earlier passing of cinema organists.
The Second World War saw the demise of the cinema organist when most were conscripted into the forces, so cinemas shut down the organ for the duration. Unfortunately many were never reinstated as the cinemas had replaced the organ (and organist) with gramophone records played from the projection room by the projectionist.
Having played the cinema organ in my late teens (after the war) and on odd occasions at organists’ gatherings since, I, like many cinema-goers of my generation, regret this loss. We don’t get the “personal touch” of the organist who would turn on the organ bench, once the console had risen from the depths and his “signature tune” was finished, look at the audience, smile and give the titles of the first collection of tunes he was about to play. Regrettably only a pleasant memory now.
Bill Parkinson
Chinnor, Oxon