Organs of The Temple Church and Christ Church, Dublin
The rivalry between the two men led to the famous Battle of the Organs in 1684, when both were bidding for the contract to build the new organ for the Temple Church, London. Each erected an organ in the Temple Church and they hired prominent organists Giovanni Battista Draghi, John Blow and Henry Purcell to demonstrate the superiority of their instruments. Harris lost out to Smith, but in 1697, after Smith reneged on a contract for a new organ at Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, Harris appositely installed the instrument which had lost there instead. Harris's organ, which was installed and maintained by John Baptist Cuvillie, and later Philip Hollister, was replaced by an organ by John Byfield in 1752. However, the Harris-Cuvillie organ which survived the 'Battle of the Organs' today survives in St John's Church, Wolverhampton.
Read more about this topic: Renatus Harris
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