Cover Feature

Ennis Fruhauf

Ennis Fruhauf holds Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the University of Michigan (1967, 1968), and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Southern California (1973). He has held occasional church music positions, college and university teaching appointments, and is currently publisher, editor, music copyist, arranger, and composer for Fruhauf Music Publications (since 2004).

Ricercare (Ital.), “. . . ricercare is a verb, meaning to investigate, query, inquire, search out with diligence . . . testing the tuning, probing the key . . . .” (Johann Gottfried Walther, Musikalisches Lexikon, Leipzig, 1732);¹ and as a noun: “. . . Thus in Bach’s time it served almost exclusively for the title of a strict and, in its polyphonic texture, highly elaborate fugue.”²

 

Introduction

Ah, well, it is perhaps a tale to be retold yet once more, an instructive yarn well worth spinning anew, offered up here as an autumn fantasy, one with an exceedingly wry afterglow. The occasions and events in question took place some 300 years ago. And in spite of unexpected setbacks that overshadowed the final outcome, the adventure might after all be credited with having led to the creation of an unusual composition for organ, one that might otherwise have never come to light in the same context. 

The tale is of Johann Sebastian Bach’s trip to Dresden in the autumn of 1717, undertaken at the urging of the royal Saxon court chapel’s violinist-concertmaster, Jean-Baptiste Volumier. Bach was charged, in essence, with the mission of upholding the honor of his homeland’s keyboard music tradition against a figurative incursion launched by one of France’s eminent composers, Louis Marchand (1669–1732), Organiste du Roi. Marchand was on an extended leave from Paris at the time, touring Germany with a display of his keyboard and compositional talents, and currently seeking favor from the royal Dresden court. Bach also hoped to win favor and a remunerative purse, while at the same time pitting his skills against Marchand in an international venue. 

The composition in question is Bach’s legendary Pièce d’orgue (thus titled in more than one manuscript source), a three-section work, at the heart of which is a finely crafted extended fantasy for keyboard, presumably for pipe organ with pedals. It is a living time capsule—one of few words and many notes—that offers up a vibrant slice-of-life drawn from the travels of an adventurous composer in his early thirties, who was hard-pressed by circumstances on his home front, while also on a quest for recognition and honor abroad.

Bach’s arrival coincided with the day of Marchand’s tests, trials, and demonstrations. Concertmaster Volumier took the initiative of arranging for Bach to overhear portions of these recitals from a concealed vantage point. It has been recorded that by the end of his contest, Marchand had indeed won the day and would continue his sojourn victoriously, having received meritorious and remunerative recognitions.

What might have taken place in the course of the evening that followed is a subject for speculation, perhaps even for imagination. Is it possible that these two notable exemplars of Germanic and French keyboard artistry might have been able to escape the rigors of international diplomacy, that they might have found time to meet in one of the city’s spacious church sanctuaries, one where they might also find a pipe organ installation that would provide a viable proving ground for their dueling skills? Just imagine what could have been . . . .

 

A Fantasy  

(Extract from an anonymous personal diary, Journals, dated October/November, 1717)

. . . It was already past dusk when the two principal parties of the contest arrived at the door leading up to the organ loft. There were three of us surveying the scene from a distance, gathered together in a tight knot and hidden from view in the shadows of the front chapel. We recognized Concertmaster Wolumyer of Dresden as he entered, followed by Concertmaster Bach, who was accompanied by two of his Weimar students. The French King’s Organist-Composer, Louis Marchand, arrived soon after, in company with two attachés assigned to his visit. Apparently Bach was to launch the evening’s music-makings, and indeed, as we watched he turned to M. Marchand, greeted him cordially, withdrew a vellum music manuscript from his folio and held it out to his elder colleague. M. Marchand graciously received the score, opened it, and proceeded to peruse the contents. Although their conversing tones were lost in the acoustical ambiance of a lofty nave, it was apparent that Bach was to begin the evening’s music-making with his recrafted Pièce d’orgue, written and ornamented in the French manner. We would hear it now with the addition of two outer movements. 

As we watched, the trio from Weimar separated from the others, making their way up to the dimly candle-lit organ loft and taking their places at the console. Bach had been allowed time to familiarize himself with the instrument earlier in the day, and his two flanking assistants were well coached in advance. Soon enough the first notes of an arpeggiated tonic chord broke the silence, ever so light in touch and sounding out on clear stops: we heard a single line of dancing arpeggios and passaggios in a compound triple meter, falling and rising, rippling through the gamut of the keyboard. This was the newly added Très vitement, a sparkling warm-up exercise for the fingers, leading up to the five-voice Gravement. Contrary to the French tradition of a Grand plein jeu registration, tonight the Gravement began on one of the instrument’s gentlest registers. We heard a low tonic pedal note, then a G-major chord in the manuals, with the soprano tonic pitch suspended over to the first quarter-note of the next beat, and four descending scale notes in succession. This motivic pattern migrated from one voice to another, delicately ornamented internally, and at each successive cadential gesture. Also of note, at major cadences a new stop or set of stops would be added by the two flanking registrants. By shifting from one manual to another and progressively engaging manual and pedal couplers, a tightly imitative ricercar with a brief compound motif for a subject was being transformed into a majestic paean, echoing gloriously through the nave’s acoustical environment. This was Bach in his native setting, ‘testing the lungs’ of a church’s instrument as he had done from year to year in the course of his many investigative journeys. In the final line of the Gravement, we heard a new voice enter in the manuals, further intensifying the texture and leading up to an abruptly dramatic pause on an unresolved deceptive cadence. After a momentary silence, the Lentement resumed on foundation stops, beginning with arpeggiations of the Gravement’s closing chord, sounded over a bass line that descended step by chromatic step to an extended dominant pedalpoint and final closing cadence in G Major.

There was a stillness and silence that followed the last chords as they faded into the upper reaches of the nave. We sat quietly, awed and deeply moved by the music we had just heard and calmed by its lingering aura. Within moments it became evident that Bach was preparing registrations for his next selection. Even though we had been advised in advance that he would likely play one of his newest keyboard compositions, a single-movement fantasy in D minor for clavier, nothing could have prepared us for the intense drama that was to follow . . . . 

[End of Journals extract.]

Who could fathom what might or might not have transpired in the course of such an evening? If it had even taken place, who might possibly divine what Bach would have played, or what selections Marchand could have chosen from his repertoire. There is no indication that the two of them resorted to swordplay—whether improvising with epées, or instead on keyboards, each of them with assistants in alert attendance. Nor is there evidence to suggest that Marchand carried an inked copy of Bach’s Fantasy with him back to Paris and the royal library. And if fate had denied Bach an opportunity to perform his recently penned chromatic Fantasy in D Minor³ for Marchand at an organ console, it could well have been included in his harpsichord recitations on the following day.

Varied accounts of Bach’s letter of invitation addressed to Marchand in which he proposed a public contest indicate that the two of them were to meet at the private mansion of Count Joachim Friedrich Flemming for a public display of their musical prowess. Alas for Bach, his competitor—perhaps wisely—chose to bow out of the tentative commitment, traveling on to his next port of call in the early hours of the designated morning. In spite of Marchand’s unanticipated absence, the public hearing was to take place after all: Bach’s impressive solo performance on that day won him royal recognition as hoped, and his meeting with Count Flemming would prove invaluable in the coming years. Alas, his prize purse of 500 talers was waylaid in the course of its delivery. And in the event Bach had traveled to Dresden with a hand-copied score of the Fantasy in G in his possession, it rode back with its composer on the return trip. More importantly though, a doorway had been opened that would offer future return visits, valuable musical associations, activities, and honors.

 

Discussion

Could it be that the middle movement of the Fantasy, as we know it today, might have evolved from on-the-spot improvisations performed on some of the various church organs Bach visited in his many travels? Could the music of an earlier version of the mid-section have offered an idealized means of “testing the lungs of an instrument”—a ricercare, or a seeking-out—by starting with quiet stops and gradually adding registers at subsequent cadential breaks and convenient moments? It is easy enough to imagine that a far more sophisticated end product, impeccably written in five- and six-voice tightly imitative counterpoint in the manner of a classic ricercata, was eventually honed for solemn occasions and processionals and found its way to ink and paper. An earlier manuscript of the central movement, one with French markings and an abbreviated ending, is cited as a possible compositional byproduct of Bach’s exposure to French keyboard music studied and copied in Weimar’s music library.⁴ Could Bach have added the improvisatorial framing introduction and closing sections (with their French titles) at a later date, in anticipation of his supposed meeting with Marchand? 

The Gravement is written in common meter with alla breve note values (i.e., two half-notes per measure). The quasi-motivic subject that serves to generate 157 measures of tightly knit counterpoint is generically no more or less than a suspended quarter- or half-note, followed by four descending pitches, the two units serving interchangeably as a head and a tail. It is freely imitated in tight succession, as well as in multiple paired overlapping entries. A secondary structural event can be found in the fantasy’s numerous staircase-like scalar progressions of whole-note pitches in the pedal line, employed with dramatically telling effect.⁵ Overall, the Gravement is neither fugue nor fancy, rather it is a one-of-a-kind ricercar-like construction, albeit perhaps an imitative fantasy, but one that is uniquely imbued with un esprit français.

There are additional elements throughout all three movements that hint strongly at Bach’s emulation of a classical hexachord fantasy, a formalized contrapuntal structure emanating from sixteenth-century practices. Hexachordal elements are present freely in the six-note groupings of the Très vitement’s compound meter,⁶ in the six diatonically related keys traversed in the course of the Gravement’s tonal excursions, and finally in the hexachordal arpeggiations of the Lentement.⁷ It is worth noting that the title, Fantasy, would appear to have been applied by cataloguers of subsequent generations, but not by the composer. Above and beyond formalized or traditional concepts, and viewed as a single entity, Bach’s storied BWV 572 is in essence a grand tone poem, a broadly proportioned triptych of three contrasting sections—two linear outer panels framing an impeccably woven central tapestry. 

 

Coda

In support of a progressive registrational plan for the Gravement, there are numerous authentic and half cadences throughout the contrapuntally textured movement that facilitate the addition of stops and couplers, or shifts from one manual to another.⁸

There is the anomalous presence of a low pedal B-natural (measure 66), a note not normally found on Germanic pedalboards but occasionally present in French manual and/or pedal dispositions. While such an insignificant deviation could easily be glossed over, it is cited here in support of a Francophile leaning and interpretation, one that is already abundantly apparent in the French titles of the opus and its individual movements. 

There is also the matter of a quasi-legendary pedagogical lineage to be considered in the course of these closing words. A multi-generational succession of teachers—one of many that can be traced from Bach into the 20th century—extends from a late Leipzig organ student, Johann Christian Kittel (1732–1809, Erfurt), through Christian Heinrich Rinck (1770–1846, Darmstadt), to Adolph Friedrich Hesse (1809–1863, Breslau); and from Hesse continuing through Jacques Nicolas Lemmens (1823–1881, Belgium, Paris), to Alexandre Guilmant (1837–1911, Paris), and to Charles-Marie Widor (1844–1937, Paris); passed on in turn by Guilmant and Widor to Marcel Dupré (1886–1971, Paris). Notable from Dupré—and relevant to this discussion—is his recorded version of the Fantasy, registered and performed in an accumulative and glorious manner on the Cavaillé-Coll instrument of St. Sulpice, Paris, during his tenure as titular organist.⁹

And now, to end this autumn reverie of what-ifs—much in the same manner as it began—on an inquisitive note: Is it possble that the tradition of a broadly romantic and accumulative interpretation could have been passed on and survived intact in its passage through such a fragile and tenuous teaching tradition, spanning over six generations from 1750 to the latter twentieth century, and onward?

 

Notes

1. Johann Sebastian Bach, The Learned Musician, Christoph Wolff (W. W. Norton & Company, 2001), p. 330. 

2. Ibid., p. 329.

3. Eventually Fantasy in D Minor, S. 903 (without Fugue).

4. Notably Nicolas de Grigny’s Livre d’orgue (1699, Paris, reissued 1711), Bach’s hand copy dating from ca. 1713.

5. See Example 2.

6. See Example 1.

7. See Example 5.

8. See  Examples 3 and 4.

9. See http://www.marceldupre.com/ CD: Mercury Living Presence recording of Marcel Dupré: Bach (Six Schübler Chorales, Fantasy in C Minor, Fantasy in G Major) Saint-Sulpice, 1959, available in CD reissues.

 

A Selected Bibliography

David, Hans T., and Arthur Mendel, ed. The Bach Reader, A Life of Johann Sebastian Bach in Letters and Documents. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1945, 1966.

_____________. The New Bach Reader, A Life of Johann Sebastian Bach in Letters and Documents, revised and expanded by Christoph Wolff. New York & London: W. W. Norton & Company, 1998.

Gaines, James R. Evening in the Palace of Reason. New York: Fourth Estate, Harper Collins Publishers, 2005.

Gardiner, John Eliot. Bach, Music in the Castle of Heaven. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2013.

Geiringer, Karl. Johann Sebastian Bach, The Culmination of an Era. New York: Oxford University Press, 1966.

Griepenkerl, Friedrich Conrad, and Ferdinand Roitzsch, ed. Johann Sebastian Bach, Orgelwerke, Vol. IV. New York: C. F. Peters Corporation, 1950.

Widor, Charles-Marie, and Albert Schweitzer, ed. Johann Sebastian Bach, Complete Organ Works, Vol. III. New York: G. Schirmer, Inc., 1913.

Wolff, Christoph. Bach, Essays on His Life and Music. Cambridge (MA) & London: Harvard University Press, 1993.

____________. Johann Sebastian Bach, The Learned Musician. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2001.

 

An apologia and acknowledgements

In order to provide a degree of continuity and to avoid undue interruptions in the flow of the text, end notes have been kept to a minimum. All details and factual accountings have been extracted from the sources cited above; they are often repeated in more than one source, sometimes with degrees of variation that have required editorial pruning. The Journal entry is a fictitious creation, a work of imagination. In his Evening in the Palace of Reason, James R. Gaines offers an exemplary format for overlapping multiple perspectives and layers of narration, and for combining recorded facts with speculative premises and intuitions to produce an animated account of historical events. His model has provided a structural guidepost for the essay featured here, offered informally as an example of speculative musicology. There are sure to be lacunae great and small in these words, for which all due apologies are offered.

Michael McNeil

Michael McNeil has designed, constructed, and researched pipe organs since 1973. He was also a research engineer in the disk drive industry with 27 patents. He has authored four hardbound books, among them The Sound of Pipe Organs, several e-publications, and many journal articles.

Preface

Good documentation of organs with enough pipe measurements to permit an analysis of both scaling and voicing is extremely rare. Pipe diameters, mouth widths, and mouth heights (cutups) may be sometimes found, but toe diameters and especially flueway depths are rare. Rarer still are wind system data, allowing a full analysis of wind flow and wind dynamics, parameters that have an enormous impact on the sound of an organ. The reader will find all of this in the following essay on William A. Johnson’s Opus 161.

Good documentation is important for several reasons. We can make useful comparisons with other organs to learn how a specific sound is achieved. And perhaps most importantly, we can document the organ for posterity; while organs are consumed in wars and fires, they are most often replaced or modified with the changing tastes of time. They never survive restorations without changes. Comprehensive documentation may also serve to deter future interventions that intend to “modernize” an organ. Lastly, future restorations of important organs will be more historically accurate if they are based on good documentation.

The mid-nineteenth-century scaling and voicing of William A. Johnson is very similar to the late-eighteenth-century work of the English organbuilder Samuel Green, as evidenced by the data from Johnson’s Opus 16 and Opus 161. Stephen Bicknell provides us with detailed descriptions of Green’s work.¹ Johnson’s scaling is utterly unlike the work of E. & G. G. Hook, whose 1843 Opus 50 for the Methodist Church of Westfield, Massachusetts, set Johnson on a career in organbuilding when he helped the Hooks with its installation.² In this essay we will explore Johnson’s Opus 161 in detail and contrast it with the Opus 322 of the Hooks, both of which were constructed within a year of each other.³ While the Hooks used a Germanic constant scale in their pipe construction, Johnson significantly reduced the scale of his upperwork stops, much in the manner of Samuel Green and classical French builders.

The question arises as to whether Johnson came to his design theory by way of a process of convergent evolution (i.e., independently), or whether he was exposed to the organ Samuel Green shipped to the Battle Square Church in Boston in 1792, and which “was played virtually unaltered for a century,” according to Barbara Owen.⁴ The author suggested to Owen that the Green organ may have had a strong influence on Johnson, but she thought it unlikely that Johnson would have made the long trip from Westfield, far to the west of Boston. 

Travel would indeed have been much more difficult in 1843 when Johnson was exposed to the Hook organ at Westfield. But of some significance was the extension of the Western Railroad from Boston to Westfield in 1843. This new railroad may have been the means by which the Hook organ was shipped to Westfield. Elsworth (see endnote 2) clearly makes the case that Johnson was intoxicated by organbuilding with his exposure to the Hook organ. It is easy to imagine that he would have made a pilgrimage to Boston, at the time a mecca of American organbuilding, perhaps invited by the Hooks to accompany them after finishing their installation in Westfield.⁵

The author was engaged in 1976 by Mrs. Gene Davis, the organist of the Piru Community United Methodist Church, to evaluate the organ at that church. The identity of the organ was in question as no nameplate was in evidence on the console, the organ was barely playable, and its sound was greatly muted by the crude placement of panels in front of the Great division to make it expressive by forcing its sound through the shades of the Swell division above it. An inspection showed that nearly all of the pipework was intact, and a contract was signed to restore the organ to playable condition. The organ was cleaned, the pipes repaired, the few missing pipes replaced, and much of the action repaired by Michael McNeil and David Sedlak.

The church office files produced an undated, typed document that stated: 

 

The pipe organ in the Methodist Church of Piru was built by William Johnson, of Westfield, Mass., in the early 1860s, making it probably the oldest operating pipe organ in California. It was a second-hand organ when transported by sailing ship 17,000 miles around Cape Horn before 1900, and installed in a Roman Catholic Church in San Francisco. After the earthquake and fire of 1906, the organ was moved to another church and probably at this time parts damaged in the quake were replaced. After many more years of service it was retired and put into storage until, in 1935, Mr. Hugh Warring was persuaded to purchase it for the Piru church. It was purchased for the storage cost of $280.

Evidence of a different and more likely provenance was discovered during the removal of pipework and the cleaning of the organ. Three labels were found glued to the bottom of the reservoir (perhaps as patches for leaks). Two labels read: “Geo. Putnam ‘Janitor’ Stockton California July 1 ’99.” A third label read: “From the Periodical Department, Presbyterian Board of Publication, and Sabbath = Schoolwork, Witherspoon Bldg, 1319 Walnut St., Phila. PA.” At a much later time Reverend Thomas Carroll, SJ, noticed that the clues of Stockton, California, and the Presbyterian church correlated to an entry in the opus list of Johnson organs, compiled in Elsworth’s 1984 book, The Johnson Organs. Opus 161 was shipped in 1864 to the “Presbyterian Church, Stockton, Cal. The church is Eastside Presbyterian.” The organ was listed as having two manuals and 22 stops.⁶ At this time such features as couplers and tremulants were counted as “stops,” and this roughly fit the description of the Piru organ. The façade of the Piru organ is also consistent with the architecture of organs built by Johnson in the 1864 time frame. Elsworth’s illustrations include a console layout of Opus 200 (1866) virtually identical to the Piru organ layout; Opus 134 (1862) exhibits the impost, stiles, and Gothic ornamentation of the Piru organ; Opus 183 (1865) has similar pipe flats and also the console layout of the Piru organ.⁷ Many other details verified the Johnson pedigree, among them the inscription “H. T. Levi” on the reed pipes. Barbara Owen pointed out that Levi was Johnson’s reed voicer during the time of manufacture of Opus 161.⁸ The pieces of evidence fell together when Jim Lewis discovered a newspaper photo of Opus 161 in the Eastside Presbyterian Church of Stockton that matched the façade of the Piru organ. The most likely scenario is that Johnson shipped Opus 161 directly to that church. The Gothic architecture of the Johnson façade also reflects the architecture of the Eastside Presbyterian Church façade. A handwritten note on the Piru church document stated: “Pipe organ and art glass memorial windows dedication June 2, 1935 per Fillmore Herald May 31, 1935, a gift of Hugh Warring.”

It is possible that the organ went from the Presbyterian church into storage, and was later moved to its present location in the 1934–1935 time frame. Even so, we can say with nearly absolute certainty that this organ is William A. Johnson’s Opus 161.

 

Tonal design overview

It is obvious from even a casual glance at Elsworth’s study of Johnson organs that the Johnson tonal style was based on a classical principal chorus that included mixtures in all but the more modest instruments. But the voicing style is gentle and refined, and bears great similarity to the late-eighteenth-century English work of Samuel Green, whose meantone organ at Armitage in Staffordshire is an excellent surviving example.⁹ Tuned in meantone, Johnson Opus 161 would easily pass muster as the work of Green. The tonal contrast between Green and Hook is stark, and the Hook data serve as an excellent counterpoint to the data from the Johnson organ. Green was the organbuilder favored by the organizers of the Handel Commemoration Festival of 1784, who went so far as to have one of Green’s organs temporarily installed in Westminster Abbey for that occasion. King George III paid Samuel Green to build an organ for Saint George’s Chapel at Windsor.

Stephen Bicknell’s The History of the English Organ relates important details of Samuel Green’s work that we find in Johnson’s Opus 161. “. . . Green’s voicing broke new ground . . . . Delicacy was achieved partly by reducing the size of the pipe foot and by increasing the amount of nicking. The loss of grandeur in the chorus was made up for by increasing the scales of the extreme basses.”¹⁰ And “Where Snetzler provided a chorus of startling boldness and with all the open metal ranks of equal power, Green introduced refinement and delicacy and modified the power of the off-unison ranks to secure a new kind of blend.”¹¹ The Hooks, like Snetzler, used a constant scale where all of the pipes in the principal chorus at a given pitch had about the same scale and power.

The most basic data set for describing power balances and voicing must include, at a minimum, pipe diameters, widths of mouths, heights of mouths (“cutup”), diameters of foot toe holes, and depths of mouth flueways. The data in this essay are presented in normalized scales for inside pipe diameters, mouth widths, and mouth heights. Tables showing how raw data are converted into normalized scales may be found in the article on the E. & G. G. Hook Opus 322 published in The Diapason, July 2017. The full set of Johnson data and the Excel spreadsheet used to analyze them may be obtained at no charge by emailing the author.¹² Also available is the book The Sound of Pipe Organs, which describes in detail the theory and derivation of the models used in this essay.¹³

 

Pitch, wind pressure, and general notes

The current pitch of the Johnson and Hook organs is dissimilar and should be taken into consideration when observing the scaling charts. The Hook organ is now pitched at A=435.3 Hz at 74 degrees Fahrenheit, while the Johnson organ is now pitched at 440 Hz. The original pitch of the Hook organ was 450 Hz; new low C pipes were added when the pitch was changed to 435 Hz, and the original pipework was moved up a halftone, widening its scales by a halftone. The original pitch of the Johnson organ was approximately 450 Hz; the pipes were lengthened to achieve a lower pitch.¹⁴ The Hook and Johnson organs are both tuned in equal temperament. The wind pressure, water column, of the Hook is 76 mm (3 inches); the Johnson organ was measured at 76 mm static and 70 mm under full flow on the Great division. The pressure was reduced during the restoration to 63 mm static. This allowed the pitch of the pipes to drop, making the adjustment to 440 Hz with fewer changes to the pipe lengths; most of the pipes that were originally cut to length had been crudely pinched at the top to lower their pitch. With the reduction in pressure the ears of the 4′ Flute à Cheminée, with its soldered tops, achieved a more normal position. 

The Piru room acoustic was reasonably efficient, and while the Johnson voicing is very restrained, it was adequate to fill this room on the reduced pressure. The Piru church seats 109, has plastered walls, wood and carpet flooring, and a peaked ceiling about 30 feet high; the reverberation, empty, as heard with normal ears, is well under one second (this is not the measurement used by architects that erroneously reports much longer reverberation). Elsworth relates that “the wind pressure which Johnson used during this period was generally between 21⁄2 and 23⁄4 inches [63.5 and 70 mm], and, in rare examples, nearly 3 inches [76 mm].”¹⁵ The photograph of the original Eastside Presbyterian Church for which the Johnson was designed implies a larger acoustical space than that of the Piru church.

The compass of the Johnson organ is 56 notes in the manuals, C to g′′′, and 27 notes in the pedal, C to d′.

 

Stoplist

The Johnson console was found in poor condition, missing the builder’s nameplate and many of its stop knob faces. Correct stop names were derived from the markings on the pipes and the missing faces were replaced. The original stoplist is reconstructed as follows (Johnson did not use pitch designations):

GREAT

8′ Open Diapason

8′ Keraulophon

8′ Clarabella

4′ Principal

4′ Flute à Cheminée (TC)

22⁄3′ Twelfth

2′ Fifteenth

8′ Trumpet

SWELL

16′ Bourdon (TC)

8′ Open Diapason

8′ Stopped Diapason

8′ Viol d’Amour (TF)

4′ Principal

8′ Hautboy (TF)

Tremolo

PEDAL

16′ Double Open Diapason

 

Couplers

Great to Pedal

Swell to Pedal

Swell to Great

 

Blower signal

The above list adds up to 20 controls. The Johnson company opus list describes Opus 161 as having 22 “stops.” This may have reflected the original intention to supply the organ with stops having split basses, which are commonly found in Johnson specifications. The sliders for the Keraulophon and the Trumpet were found with separate bass sections from C to B, professionally screwed together with the sections from tenor C to d′′′. The two additional bass stops would account for a total of 22 “stops.” There are no extra holes in the stop jambs to indicate the deleted split bass stop actions. The extant stopjambs are apparently a later modification from the time of the installation at Piru or before. Elsworth noted that all Johnson organs of this period were constructed with square stop shanks.¹⁶ The current shanks are round where they pass through the stopjambs and are square where they connect to the stop action.

Several stop knobs were switched during the 1935 installation at Piru; e. g., the Viole d’Amour in the pre-restoration photo of the right jamb belongs in the position noted on the left jamb with the black plastic label “Bell Gamba,” which indeed is how this stop was constructed. The Swell Stopped Diapason was operated by a knob labeled “Principal” [sic]. The illustrations of the left stopjamb and right stopjamb diagrams provide the correct nomenclature as restored in the correct positions, with the incorrect 1935 nomenclature in parentheses ( ) and the correct pitches in brackets [ ].

 

The wind system

The wind system can be modeled from two viewpoints: the restriction of flow from the wind trunks, pallets, channels, and pipe toes; and the dynamics of the wind. Wind dynamics are fully explained in The Sound of Pipe Organs and are a very important aspect of an organ’s ability to sustain a fast tempo with stability or conversely to enhance the grand cadences of historic literature. The data set on the Johnson allows us to model all of these characteristics. Figure 1 shows the Johnson wind flow model.

In Figure 1 we see a table of the pipe toe diameters and their calculated areas; values in red font are calculations or interpolations from the data (e.g., wood pipe toes are difficult to measure when they have wooden wedges to restrict flow). These areas are measured for a single note in each octave of the compass.

A model for the total required wind flow of the full plenum of the organ assumes a maximum of ten pallets (a ten-fingered chord), as described in the table, and the flow is multiplied by the number of the pallets played for each octave in the compass. The sum of the toe areas of all ten manual pallets in the tutti is 5,057 mm². The total area of the manual wind trunks is 38,872 mm², and we see that the wind trunks afford 7.7 times more wind than the tutti requires, so much in fact that the trunks do not at all function as an effective resistance in the system.

Interestingly, the Isnard organ at St. Maximin, France, used the main wind trunk as a strong resistor to dampen Helmholtz resonances in the wind system, and that organ has ratios of wind trunk area to a plenum toe area of only 1.07 for the coupled principal chorus of the Grand-Orgue and Positif, but with no reeds, flutes, or mutations. Helmholtz resonances are the source of what is normally called wind shake, and we would expect some mild wind shake with the Johnson’s large wind ducts and low damping resistance. The author’s notes from 1976 state: “Very little sustained shake . . . a considerable fluctuation in pitch when playing moderately fast legato scales, which stabilizes very rapidly . . . this imparts a shimmer . . . .”

In Figure 1 we also see dimensions of the key channels, pallet openings, and the pallet pull length (estimated from the ratios in the action). These allow us to calculate the relative wind flow of the channels and pallets. We find that there are robust margins in wind flow from the channels to the pipe toes (244% at low C to 737% at high C on the Great). This accounts for the small drop in static pressure at 76 mm to a full flow pressure of 70 mm with all stops drawn. Pallet openings are less robust and flow about 100% of the channel area for the first three octaves and 190% in the high treble.

The underlying dynamics of a wind system are the result of the mass of its bellows plate and the volume of air in the system. These factors produce a natural resonance that can enhance the grand cadences of literature with a long surge in the wind, or it can produce a nervous shake if it is too fast. A grand surge in the wind is characterized by a resonant frequency of less than 2 Hz (cycles per second), and it is most often produced by a weighted bellows. A nervous shake results from a sprung bellows. We correct the latter condition with small concussion bellows in modern organs, but the Johnson organ does not have such devices; instead, it features only a large, weighted, double-rise bellows. 

We can model the dynamic response of an organ by using its wind pressure, the area of the bellows plates, and the combined internal volume of its bellows, wind trunks, and pallet boxes. The model in Figure 2 shows the dynamic response of the current Johnson wind system at a relaxed 1.61 Hz. This low resonant frequency drops further to 1.47 Hz when the pressure is raised to its original value of 76 mm. The author’s notes from 1976 state: “Light ‘give’ on full organ; relatively fast buildup to full flow.” That “light give” is the result of the low resonant frequency of the system. The resonant frequency of the Hook organ was modeled at 1.23 Hz, a value lower than the Johnson, and the Hook chorus does indeed exhibit a slower and grander surge on full organ. Figure 3 shows the modeled resonant frequency at the original pressure of 76 mm for the Johnson organ. The equation for modeling the resonant frequency of a wind system along with a worked example on the 1774 Isnard organ at St. Maximin may be found in The Sound of Pipe Organs, pages 99–113.

 

The wind system in pictures

See the accompanying pictures: Notebook sketch 1, Great windchest, Toeboard, Notebook sketch 2, Notebook sketch 3, Notebook sketch 4, Great pallet box, Pallet springs, Notebook sketch 5.

 

The layout in pictures

“Green’s organs stand on an independent building frame with the case erected around it, rather than being supported by the structure of the case itself.”¹⁷ Bicknell’s description of a Samuel Green organ applies equally well to this Johnson organ. The casework is built entirely of black walnut, a wood mentioned by Elsworth in reference to Johnson cases. The organ is situated within the front wall of the church. The original black walnut side panels (typical of early Johnson organs) were found crudely cut up and nailed behind the façade in an effort to make the whole organ expressive through the Swell shades. This had the effect of making the Great division sound like a diminutive Echo division. The typical layout of a Johnson organ is well described by Elsworth: “The framework was arranged to carry the chests of the Great organ and the supporting framework for the Swell, which was usually above the Great organ and slightly to the rear.”¹⁸ Such layouts, shown in Figure 4, are common in nineteenth-century American organbuilding. The walkway behind the Great allowed access to the pipes and pallets placed at the rear of that chest, and the rollerboard to the Swell division was normally placed just behind this walkway, allowing access to the Swell pallets that were placed at the front of the Swell windchest. Opus 161 was installed in an opening in the Piru church that was far too shallow to allow the depth of a rearward placement of the Swell division. 

As a result, there is evidence that the Swell windchest may have been reversed, placing its pallets to the back of the windchest, and the chest brought forward over the Great division. Note the lack of clearance between the 4′ Principal pipe and the bottom of the Swell chest in Figure 5. The internal framework shows signs of crude saw cuts; the order of the notes on the Swell chest is the same as the Great, but it is reversed; the Swell rollerboard appears to have been likewise reversed and now faces toward the walkway where the action and rollers are exposed to damage. 

To say that the Piru layout was cramped would be an understatement; no one weighing over 150 pounds would gain access to the pipes for tuning or to the action for adjustment without damaging the pipework or the key action. The author weighed less (at the time) and was barely able to navigate inside the organ. The current layout is shown in Figure 6. 

It is also possible that the current layout reflects the original layout by Johnson, but that the Swell was simply lowered to fit the height of the Piru church and brought forward to fit the limited depth available, reducing the depth of the walkway.

Notes and credits

All photos, drawings, tables, and illustrations are courtesy of the author’s collection if not otherwise noted. Most of the color photos were unfortunately taken by the author with an inferior camera in low resolution. David Sedlak used a high quality camera, lenses, and film to produce the high-resolution color photos of the church and its architectural details; these are all attributed to Sedlak.

1. Stephen Bicknell, The History of the English Organ, Cambridge University Press, 1996, Cambridge, pp. 185–187, 190–191, 207.

2. John Van Varick Elsworth, The Johnson Organs, The Boston Organ Club, 1984, Harrisville, p. 18.

3. A detailed study of the E. & G. G. Hook Opus 322 may be found in The Diapason, July, August, and September issues, 2017.

4. Barbara Owen, The Organ in New England, The Sunbury Press, 1979, Raleigh, pp. 18–19.

5. see: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_and_Albany_Railroad.

6. The Johnson Organs, p. 100.

7. Ibid, pp. 23, 50, 57, respectively.

8. The Organ in New England, p. 275.

9. 5 Organ Concertos, 1984, Archiv D 150066, Simon Preston, Trevor Pinnock, The English Concert.

10. The History of the English Organ, p. 185.

11. Ibid, p. 207.

12. McNeil, Michael. Johnson_161_170807, an Excel file containing all of the raw data and the models used to analyze the Johnson Opus 161, 2017, available by emailing the author at [email protected].

13. McNeil, Michael. The Sound of Pipe Organs, CC&A, Mead, 2012, 191 pp., Amazon.com.

14. The Organ in New England, p. 75.

15. The Johnson Organs, p. 25.

16. Ibid, p. 23.

17. The History of the English Organ, p. 187.

18. The Johnson Organs, p. 23.

 

To be continued.

Leonardo Ciampa

Leonardo Ciampa is Maestro di Cappella Onorario of the Basilica di Sant’Ubaldo in Gubbio, Italy, and organist of St. John the Evangelist Church in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

When you see a bud growing out of the ground, you’re not sure what it is yet, so you water it and feed it, and you wait to see what it grows into. But you don’t want to step on it. And if the bud is very small, all the more important not to step on it.

—Yuko Hayashi

 

Yuko Hayashi is gone.

I feel unworthy of eulogizing her. I do not presume to rank among her greatest students—a very long list that includes James David Christie, Carolyn Shuster Fournier, Mamiko Iwasaki, Peter Sykes, Christa Rakich, Gregory Crowell, Mark Dwyer, Kevin Birch, Kyler Brown, Barbara Bruns, Ray Cornils, Nancy Granert, Hatsumi Miura, Tomoko Akatsu Miyamoto, Dana Robinson, Naomi Shiga, Paul Tegels, and others too numerous to name. 

I cannot describe, or comprehend, the fortune of being her student between the ages of 15 and 18—at the time, her only high school student. She was in her late 50s—still at the height of her powers, still performing internationally and recording. She brought a constant parade of heavy-hitters to Old West Church in Boston for recitals and masterclasses. During those three years alone (1986–1989), there were José Manuel Azkue, Guy Bovet, Fenner Douglass, Susan Ferré, Roberta Gary, Mireille Lagacé, Joan Lippincott, Karel Paukert, Umberto Pineschi, Peter Planyavsky, Michael Radulescu, Montserrat Torrent, Harald Vogel, and the list goes on. Yuko was something of an impresario. In the 70s, when Harald Vogel was completely unknown in America, she brought him to Old West to play his very first concert here—for $100, which she paid out of her own pocket! Guy Boet, same story—his first concert in America, for $100. In 1972, at the International Christian University (ICU) in Tokyo, Yuko organized the very first organ academy ever held in Japan, bringing both Anton Heiller and Marie-Claire Alain. In 1985, Yuko, Umberto Pineschi, and Masakata Kanazawa started the Academy of Italian Organ Music in Shirakawa. A list of her accomplishments would be long, indeed.

At the time, I knew virtually nothing about Yuko’s life or career. Meeting her was truly random. It was September of 1985 (Bach’s 300th birthday year). I was skimming the concert listings in The Boston Globe, and I happened to see that there was going to be an all-Bach organ and harpsichord concert at Old West Church, given by Peter Williams. I had never heard a “real pipe organ,” and I had never set foot in a Protestant church before. I had no idea who Peter Williams was, and I had no particular interest in the organ or harpsichord. I was a 14-year-old piano student in the New England Conservatory prep school. The craziest part of all? I had not the faintest idea that the New England Conservatory organ department held their lessons, classes, and concerts at Old West, or that the church’s organist happened to be department chair. Attending the concert was nothing more than a whim.

I was immediately grabbed, both by the sound of the Fisk’s ravishing plenum, and by Williams’s exquisite selections, all from Bach’s youth. I still remember every piece on the program, which opened with Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern, BWV 739. After the concert, a short but elegant Japanese woman introduced herself to me and shook my hand. I had no idea she had any affiliation with NEC. I’m not sure I even understood that she was the church’s organist.

Who could have predicted that, one year later, September 1986, I would quit the piano and become an organ student of Yuko, taking lessons on that same instrument? But even that was random. In the NEC prep school catalogue, under “Organ,” Yuko’s was the name listed. That’s the one and only reason I contacted her.

 

Early years in Japan

(1929–1953)

Yuko Hayashi was born in 1929 in Hiratsuka, a coastal town 24 miles from Yokohama. She was born on November 2. (She used to joke about having been born on All Souls’ Day, having missed All Saints’ Day by only one day!) Many of Yuko’s students would come to notice her unusual perceptiveness. A couple of us thought it bordered on ESP. She had the ability to reach for things even when she couldn’t see them. Case in point: why did a woman who was born in 1929, in a country that was only one percent Christian, decide that she wanted to become an organist, when she didn’t even know what an organ was?

Yuko’s father was a Japanese Anglican priest. He was the pastor of St. Andrew’s Church in Yokohama. At age five, Yuko started playing the reed organ at St. Andrew’s. (Soon enough, she became sufficiently proficient to play an entire Anglican service.) In sixth grade, her music teacher suggested she learn the piano. “Hanon: hated it. Czerny: a little better. Burgmüller: not as bad. But then, Bach Inventions! I became hooked on this music. I practiced all hours; I didn’t want to quit.”¹ She reasoned, “If Bach wrote pieces for the organ, then the organ must be a wonderful instrument.”² She knew that she wanted to play the organ, even before she had ever seen one! The only instruments she knew were the reed organ at church and a Hammond. In 2007 I asked her, “When you were young, how did you know you wanted to play the organ if you didn’t even know what an organ was?” She replied, “I knew when I met J. S. Bach.”³ In a 2009 email she wrote, “If I was not exposed to the two-part Inventions by Bach just by chance in my youth, I am positively sure that I [would] not [have been] drawn into music for so many decades since. Certainly, I would not have chosen organ as my main instrument.”⁴

Finally at age 15 she saw a pipe organ for the first time, in Tokyo. It was important to practice on a pipe organ, for she was preparing to audition for the Tokyo Ueno Conservatory (now named Tokyo University of the Arts). Imagine this 15-year-old girl, in 1944, with bombs falling around her, traveling two and a half hours to Tokyo to practice for two hours on this organ, then making the two and a half hour return trip home. (I recall that, in the 1980s, she told me that this organ was an Estey.⁵ However, other students remember her saying it was a Casavant.⁶)

She passed the audition and enrolled in the conservatory. Eight students had to share “a Yamaha and an electric-action pipe organ with a hideous sound. We each practiced for 50 minutes and then let the motor rest for ten minutes in between because it was old and cranky.”⁷ 

 

Study in America (1953–1960)

In the early 1950s, Yuko’s father urged her to visit America. She accepted a scholarship to attend Cottey College in Nevada, Missouri. The port of entry was faraway Seattle. The sea voyage from Yokohama to Seattle took 12 days. She arrived in Seattle on July 23, 1953. Tuition, room, and board were covered, but she had only thirty dollars in her pocket (which was all she was allowed). She stretched the thirty dollars as far as she could, though at least she had an Amtrak pass that enabled her to travel by train anywhere in the country.  

 

My father arranged a train trip for me around half of the country, visiting some of his friends. When I arrived in Seattle on July 23 [1953], his friend’s daughter, who was the secretary of St. Mark’s Cathedral, came to pick me up. Within two hours of setting foot on American soil, I played the organ at St. Mark’s. I think it was a Kilgen.⁸ I met Peter Hallock, and he gave me some of his compositions. From Seattle I went to San Francisco and stayed with my father’s friend there. I heard Richard Purvis play a recital in a museum, and I remember I kept looking around for the pipes, which were not visible. That was my second American organ experience. Next I stayed in Los Angeles for a few days. I didn’t see any organs there, but what I remember most was my first American picnic, a culturally foreign experience for me. Then I went to Salt Lake City, found the Mormon Tabernacle organ and went to two concerts in one day. Alexander Schreiner was there. Can you imagine? Next I visited my father’s friends in Minneapolis, and then the remainder of the summer stayed in a guesthouse at the University of Chicago. Finally, I arrived at Cottey College, and do you know what I found there? A Baldwin organ!⁹

 

After a year she was no longer able to stay at the school; however, she received a scholarship to go to any other school of her choice in America. Where would she go? She knew nothing about Oberlin or Eastman. Ultimately, her decision was influenced by having grown up by the sea.

 

At that school in Missouri, every Friday you know what we had to eat? Fish. That fish must have been dead for ten days by the time we had it. The fish was so fresh in Japan. So I knew I wanted to live near the sea. New York was too big. Washington, D.C., was too political. But Boston . . . .¹⁰

And so in 1954 she entered the New England Conservatory and studied organ with the legendary George Faxon.  

 

I spoke almost no English, and he didn’t say very much. So our lessons were filled with music but had long silences! One week he asked me to bring in the Vivaldi[/Bach] A-minor concerto. And I memorized it. I’d never memorized anything before. He didn’t say much. But you know what he did? He wrote on a piece of paper “Sowerby Pageant” and told me to go to Carl Fischer [Music Company] to pick up the music. When I got to the store and showed the man the piece of paper, he said, “Oh, you’re playing this?” I said, “Yes.” I had no idea what it was. Then when I opened the music! Incredibly difficult. At my next lesson Faxon wrote in the pedalings, very quickly, from beginning to end. What a technique he had. And you knew where he got it? Fernando Germani. Once Faxon took me to Brown University to see his teacher, Germani, play the Sowerby. I got to sit very close to him, so I could see Germani playing. And there he was, five-foot-three, his feet flying all over the pedalboard.¹¹

 

On February 6, 1956, Yuko played her bachelor’s recital in Jordan Hall, her first recital ever. In only three weeks Yuko memorized the daunting program, which included Vivaldi/Bach A-minor concerto (first movement), D’Aquin Noël X, Schumann Canon (probably B minor, op. 56, no. 5), Bach Toccata, Adagio, and Fugue, Liszt “Ad Nos” (second half), Sowerby Pageant, Titcomb Regina Caeli, Dupré Second Symphony (Intermezzo), and Messiaen L’Ascension (third movement).

In 1956, Faxon told Yuko, “This is still a secret, so you can’t tell anybody. But I’m leaving NEC and going to teach at B.U. [Boston University]” Yuko was disappointed at the news. “I wanted to follow him to B.U. I didn’t know anybody else. But he said, ‘No, don’t follow me. You studied with me two years—that’s enough. Stay at NEC.’ And then he said, ‘You must make Boston your home.’”¹²

Yuko was disheartened and considered returning to Japan. But Chester (“Chet”) Williams, beloved dean of NEC, would have none of it. Faxon’s imminent departure was still a secret. But Chet had another secret for Yuko: “There is another man coming, someone with great ideas.” That man was Donald Willing. On Chet’s advice, Yuko stayed at NEC.

Willing had been to Europe and was galvanized by the new tracker instruments being built. He immediately arranged for NEC to purchase new practice organs by Metzler and Rieger. The 1957 Metzler was voiced by Oscar Metzler himself.

 

As soon as I touched the instrument, I had an immediate reaction: “This is it! This is a living organism!” My teacher did not persuade me to have this reaction—I had it on my own, from touching the instrument myself. That was 1957. The next year, 1958, I got my M. M. from the conservatory. And that same year, the Flentrop was put in at Busch-Reisinger [now Adolphus Busch Hall]. That was Biggs’s instrument. He let all the students play it. We had to practice at night, when the museum was closed. And we were poor; we couldn’t afford to pay a security guard. So Peggy [Mrs. Biggs] would act as the guard. The Biggs’s were so generous to organ students.¹³

 

Not all the organ students were taken by these new instruments. “They would say, ‘Are you going backwards?’”¹⁴ Yuko was undeterred. She played her Artist Diploma recital on the Flentrop in 1960.

 

Leonhardt and Heiller (1960–1966)

In 1960, Yuko joined the faculty of the organ department of New England Conservatory. At this point she had not yet heard of Gustav Leonhardt.  

 

I first heard of Leonhardt from John
Fesperman. Before John went to the Smithsonian, he taught at the Conservatory. The organ faculty was Donald Willing, John
Fesperman, and I, who had just been hired. I don’t know why, but John had been to Holland already, and he said, “Leonhardt is coming; you should go study with him.” So I did. I used to go to Waltham [Massachusetts] to practice cembalo at the Harvard Shop, and once a week I went to New York to study with Leonhardt. He was young, late 20s. A whole summer [1960] I studied with him.¹⁵

 

Yuko so enjoyed her study with Leonhardt that she considered switching to harpsichord. Indirectly it was Leonhardt who dissuaded her.

 

Finally [Leonhardt] said, “You really should study organ with Anton Heiller.” And I thought, “Who is that?” So I bought records of Heiller. You know, the old LP records. [. . .] [I]t was grand playing. Already I noticed something.¹⁶

 

1962 marked Heiller’s first visit to America and his first ever trip on an airplane! He gave two all-Bach performances on the Flentrop at Harvard University. Yuko attended the first performance and was so impressed that she attended the second one as well.  

 

And you know the most wonderful thing he played? O Mensch . . . with the melody on the Principal . . . . The whole program swept me away. And I immediately said, “This is the man I want to study with.” But I was shy, so I didn’t go to him right away. [. . .] He used to come to America every three years. He had come in ’62, so in ’65 he came back, and he returned again in ’68, ’71, etc. So in ’65 he was teaching at Washington University in St. Louis. I went down there, and for the first time, I met him. [The course was] six-and-a-half weeks. Every morning, he gave four hours of classes. Bach, David, Reger, and Hindemith—on a Möller! Then, in the afternoon, private lessons on a 10-stop Walcker organ in a private studio.¹⁷

 

Heiller urged Yuko to enroll in the summer academy in Haarlem the following year (1961). This marked her very first visit to Europe. She went on to study with Heiller sporadically, following him wherever he happened to be playing. (She was the only Heiller student who didn’t study with him in Vienna.)

 

Maybe [Heiller] taught differently with other people, but with me, most of what I learned was from his playing, not from his words. [H]e played a lot [during lessons]. But I would move and he would sit on the bench. He didn’t just play over my shoulder. With him, nothing was halfway. [. . .] Funny thing: when he was just standing there, without doing anything, I played better. He felt the music inside him, and it came out. It was a weird thing. [. . .] I performed his organ concerto. Of course he wanted to hear it at a lesson. But I wasn’t ready. He only told me about it three weeks before. But again, he was standing right there. And it’s funny, I was able to play it. You see, he was so perfect, he made me feel I could play. [. . .] You know, I was so little—I’m still little. (laughter) And he was much bigger than me. But he said to me, “Don’t be afraid of the piece.”¹⁸

 

In 1969, Yuko became chair of the organ department of NEC. She remained until 2001, a total of 41 years on the faculty, 30 of which as chair.

First European tours (1968)

Yuko’s first concert in Europe was at the 1968 International Organ Festival in Haarlem. From there she went on to play many concerts on historic instruments in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Holland, Italy, Spain, and Switzerland. “The wife of Hiroshi Tsuji, the Japanese organbuilder, arranged my first concert tour in Europe. [. . .] I soon discovered that I loved going to places where I didn’t know the people or the organs. I like to explore things I don’t know.”¹⁹ Here again we see Yuko’s fearlessness in reaching for things she could not see. As Nancy Granert reminisced, 

 

One time, Yuko and I were talking about traveling alone through Europe. I was saying that I always had a map in my purse, and that I really didn’t like being lost. She replied that she loved being lost and to find new places. She, after all, always knew where she was, right?²⁰

Old West Church (1974)

Charles Fisk built one of his most beautiful instruments, Opus 55, for Old West Church in Boston.²¹ It went on to become the main teaching instrument for the New England Conservatory organ department for decades. The organ was dedicated on Easter Sunday 1971 by Max Miller and Marian Ruhl Metson.

In 1973, Old West was conducting a search for a new organist. The organ committee consisted of the Rev. Dr. Richard Eslinger (pastor of Old West), Charles Fisk, Max Miller, and Jeanne Crowgey.²² Sneakily, but fortuitously, Eslinger and Fisk invited Yuko to attend a committee meeting in December 1973. After this meeting, they took Yuko across the street for a beer or two at a Chinese restaurant and lounge. Yuko enjoyed telling this story.

Charlie said, “Yuko, have you ever thought of becoming the organist for Old West Church?” These were absolutely unexpected words, and my answer was simply, “No.” Charlie kept a smile on his face and went on to tell me how convinced he was for me to be the organist of his organ at Old West, and that it was the right thing for me to do.

I was overwhelmed by his totally positive thoughts, and by the end of the conversation that evening I was convinced that Charlie was right and said “Yes” to him without knowing what the future would hold. [. . .] In February of 1974 I began to play for worship services (as a non-salaried organist), organized organ recitals for the season as well as the weekly lunchtime concerts that, after a decade, evolved into the Summer Evening Concerts.

As I look back [. . .] I say to myself, “How on the earth did Charlie know that I would be the appropriate one?” [. . . .] Charlie then knew that if I were caught by [the] beautiful sonorities that I could not leave them, would enjoy them, would maintain the instrument, and would let it be heard and played by all. [. . .] 

As I listened to organ students of the New England Conservatory day by day, year after year, and, of course, through my own practice, I became convinced that the 1971 Charles Fisk organ at Old West is a living organism and not just an organ with extraordinary beauty. This organ responds to the high demands of an artist as if a lively dialogue between two humans is being exchanged. I even dare say that the spirit of Charlie, an artist/organbuilder, is present when the organ is played by any organist who wishes to engage in conversation.²³

 

Yuko remained organist of Old West for 36 years. I was so fortunate to hear so many of her recitals there during the 1980s. I remember matchless performances of Bach’s Passacaglia, Franck’s Grand Pièce, and the Italian Baroque repertoire for which she had an incredible knack. (In fact, I never in my life heard a non-Italian play this music as well as she.²⁴) As late as 2008 (her last recital was in 2010), she gave a performance of Bach’s Pièce d’Orgue that to me remains the benchmark for all others. Few organists can play the middle gravement section without it sounding too long and too heavy. In Yuko’s hands, I was astonished by the articulation of each entrance of each of the five voices. I say without exaggeration that it sounded like a quintet of breathing musicians. I was so gripped by it that, when she got to the final section, I couldn’t believe how short the gravement had seemed.

 

As a teacher

Yuko made good use of her ESP. As a teacher, not only did she adapt to each individual student, but she adapted to each individual lesson with each student. Each lesson with her was a brand new experience—based solely on what she was sensing in the room at that moment. Besides her perceptiveness, she had something else: a regard for the value of each student. I can never forget something she told me many years later: “When you see a bud growing out of the ground, you’re not sure what it is yet, so you water it and feed it, and you wait to see what it grows into. But you don’t want to step on it.”²⁵ Her next sentence was even more unforgettable: “And if the bud is very small, all the more important not to step on it.” It would be hard to find a famous teacher with that level of regard for even the least talented among of her students.

Yuko’s ear was astonishing. She could have used that ear to be a critic or an adjudicator towards her students. Instead, she worked tirelessly to get them to use their own ear, to make their own decisions and judgments. In her gentle, quiet way (her voice never rose above a mezzo piano), she was relentless in making her students listen to the sound coming from the organ, in particular to be aware of the air going through the pipes. Most of all, she wanted her students to learn directly from the composer.

I will never forget playing Bach’s Allein Gott, BWV 664. The moment I stopped listening to one of the three voices, within milliseconds she started singing it. Then I would get back on track. Then, the millisecond that I stopped listening to another part, she would sing that one. That was how perceptive she was—which was both comforting and frightening! Another astonishing moment in our lessons that is worth mentioning is the one and only time I played Frescobaldi for her. In modern parlance, you could say that I was “schooled.” I was playing the Kyrie della Domenica from Fiori Musicali, which is in four voices. I played it and could tell from her facial expression that she was not pleased. She said one sentence: “You know, this music was originally written on four staves.” I played it again. This time, her face was even more displeased, and she said nothing at all. She sat down on the bench next to me and said, “OK, you play the alto and the bass, and I’ll play the soprano and the tenor.” I was floored. Her two voices breathed. They sang. She got up from the bench, without saying a word. Her point was made, and powerfully.

 

Later years

Yuko and I exchanged many emails in 2009. Many of them concerned administrative details of the Old West Organ Society (of which I was then a board member). However, more often the emails were simply about music.  

 

I remember when I first heard Mozart, in a castle outside Vienna, in [the] early 1970s. It was a big shock to me. While they were performing Mozart’s chamber music, I started to have the image about the leaves of the tree which show the front of the leaf and the back of the leaf, back and forth. Their colors are very different from each other, yet [the] only differences are front or back of the same leaf. It influenced the dynamic control as well in their performance at the castle.²⁶

 

During this era she always wrote to me as a friend and colleague, never as a “student.” Only once did she give something resembling “advice:”

 

I believe, there are only two emotions that stand out, “Love” and “Fear.” You have plenty of both, which in [an] actual sense make [a] great artist. Your potentiality is enormous! Don’t waste it, please! After all, it is the gift from God.²⁷

 

She was pleased, then, when not long after that email I became artistic director of organ concerts at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (home of two historic Holtkamps from 1955). In October, Yuko called me to congratulate me. She reminisced about Walter Holtkamp, Sr., whom she met in Cleveland.

 

He was a strong character, and rather difficult to get along with. Yet, we liked each other. Walter took me for dinner, and to his organ in the Episcopal Church in Cleveland, and I played the organ for him. He liked my playing because I played exactly as I believed.

That led to reminiscing about Melville Smith, who dedicated the larger Holtkamp in Kresge Auditorium. She even knew about Saarinen, the architect who designed both Kresge and the MIT Chapel. One thing led to another. She ended up telling me practically her whole life story. We spoke for four (!)
hours. She did almost all of the talking. There wasn’t a single dull moment. Every sentence was imbued with energy. She talked about growing up in Japan during the war, doing forced labor even as a teenager. She talked about her earliest musical experiences and about more recent organbuilding trends in Japan. She spoke at length about Marc Garnier, who built the monumental organ at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Center. She told story after story about Guy Bovet, Harald Vogel, Peter Williams, and Karel Paukert (in whose presence she set foot in Old West Church for the very first time). She told me about the time she was in France with Michel Chapuis, and she was playing a three-voice work, and Chapuis reached over and improvised a fourth voice over what she was playing. She spoke of Heiller (which she did in most every conversation I ever had with her). She even spoke of events and feelings in her personal life. It is safe to say that it was one of the most extraordinary phone conversations that I have ever had, with anyone. The next time I saw her, in 2010, she showed signs of memory loss. Clearly this was Yuko’s instinct at work, once again: she knew that in that phone conversation in 2009, she needed to tell me her life’s story.

At the 2014 AGO national convention in Boston, there was a workshop entitled “The Organ as Teacher: The Legacy of Performance Pedagogy at Old West Church,” moderated by Margaret Angelini, with Barbara Bruns, Susan Ferré, and Anne Labounsky. Indirectly it was an event honoring Yuko. (Had it been entitled “An Event in Honor of Yuko Hayashi,” she would have strongly objected.) It was hard for Yuko’s friends to see her in this state of diminished powers—at times aware of what was going on, at other times not so much. But then came a moment, after the workshop, when Yuko was standing, chatting with Ferré and Labounsky. All of a sudden she looked at them, pointed to me, and told them, “He’s a wonderful musician.” For me, that was the equivalent of a New York Times review. I have sought no other musical validation since that moment.

Last summer Yuko’s health declined. In September I learned that her condition was so grave that her family in Japan were contacted. Her 88th birthday was to be on November 2, followed eight days later by a celebratory concert at Old West, featuring some of her greatest former students. None of us thought she was going to live until the concert—we expected it to be a memorial service. Each day I checked my iPhone compulsively, not wanting to miss the terrible news. But the news didn’t come. Now it was November 10, the night of the gala concert. Apparently she was still with us—I had not heard otherwise. I arrived at Old West on that bitter cold night. I walked out of the cold into the warm church, and I heard people saying that Yuko was there! At Old West! I didn’t fully believe it. I looked around, and then I saw it: the back of a wheelchair. I raced over, and there she was. Her eyes were as alert as I had ever seen them. This isn’t possible! How did they even get her there, on that bitter cold evening? But Barbara Bruns made it happen. Yuko took my hand in hers and kept rubbing it, looking me straight in the eye the whole time. Not a word was said.  

The entire evening Yuko had that same alertness in her eyes, start to finish. Being at Old West, among her students and friends, hearing Charles Fisk’s beloved Opus 55—the energy from all of it must have thrilled her.

A few months passed. For Epiphany weekend, January 6 and 7, 2018, as a prelude at all of my Masses, I played Bach’s Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern, BWV 739—the very first piece at Peter Williams’s life-changing recital at Old West so many years ago, the night I met Yuko Hayashi. Eerily, but not surprisingly, only three and a half hours after my last Mass, Yuko Hayashi left this world.

 

Notes

1. Phone conversation with the author,  July 25, 2007.

2. Ibid.

3. Ibid. 

4. Email to the author, October 19, 2009.

5. 1918 Estey (Opus 1598) at Rikkyo (St. Paul’s) University, Tokyo. Replaced by Beckerath in 1984.

6. 1927 Casavant (Opus 1208) at Holy Trinity Church, Tokyo. Church and organ were destroyed by a firebomb in 1945.

7. Diane Luchese, “A conversation with Yuko Hayashi,” The American Organist, September 2010, p. 57. 

8. It was a ca. 1902 Kimball (not Kilgen), with tubular-pneumatic action.

9. Luchese, op. cit., p. 57f.

10. Phone conversation with the author, July 25, 2007.

11. Ibid. 

12. Ibid.

13. Ibid.

14. Ibid.

15. From an unpublished interview between Yuko and the author, which took place in Boston on February 17, 2004. 

16. Ibid.

17. Ibid.

18. Ibid.

19. Luchese, op. cit., p. 60. 

20. Conversation with Nancy Granert, January 11, 2018.

21. Seven years previous, and 500 meters down the road, Fisk had installed his Opus 44 at King’s Chapel, the first modern American three-manual tracker organ built in the second half of the twentieth century. The organ was a gift of Amelia Peabody. Thanks to the friendship between the pastors of Old West (Dr. Wilbur C. Ziegler) and King’s Chapel (Dr. Joseph Barth), Amelia Peabody gave a grant to Old West for their new organ. The choice of Fisk was endorsed by the organists of both King’s Chapel (Daniel Pinkham) and Old West (James Busby), as well as E. Power Biggs.

22. Jeanne Crowgey was a member of Old West from 1972 to 1980. She was also an organist, who served unofficially as an interim before the selection of Yuko Hayashi. Crowgey went on to be Yuko’s invaluable assistant during the first six years of the Old West Organ Society. Crowgey did a large amount of the administrative work for the international series, the summer series, and the weekly noontime concert series. She was one of the last friends to visit Yuko before her passing.

23. From a reminiscence written by Yuko in 2004 and posted on the C. B. Fisk website (edited by L. C.).

24. Once in the 1960s she played a recital at the Piaristenkirche in Vienna, which included a piece by Frescobaldi. Heiller was in attendance and raved about how she played the Frescobaldi, a composer she had never studied with him (phone conversation with the author, year unknown).

25. Phone conversation with the author, year unknown.

26. Email to the author, June 10, 2009.

27. Email to the author, September 2, 2009.

Matthew M. Bellocchio

Matthew M. Bellocchio, a Project Manager and designer at Andover Organ since 2003, is a Fellow and past President of the American Institute of Organbuilders.

Andover Organ Company marks seventy years

by Matthew M. Bellocchio

Anniversaries invite us to reflect upon our past and contemplate how far we have come. As 2018 marks Andover Organ Company’s seventieth anniversary, this article will highlight its long and rich history, from its humble beginnings to its recent achievements.

Andover was founded in 1948 as a result of an Organ Institute organized by Arthur Howes, head of the organ department at the Peabody Conservatory, and held each summer on the campus of Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. Howes had traveled extensively in Europe and observed the developing Organ Reform Movement there. Originating in Germany in the 1930s from Albert Schweitzer’s writings, the movement sparked an interest in early music and performance practices, as well as the building of new organs that could authentically render early music, especially that of Bach. Howes started the Organ Institute to help spread the Organ Reform Movement in America. The faculty included such notable organists as Carl Weinrich (Princeton University), Ernest White (St. Mary the Virgin, New York City), and E. Power Biggs.

Tom Byers, a former Henry Pilcher’s Sons Organ Company employee who lived in nearby Lawrence, Massachusetts, attended the annual institute with his wife. He was inspired to start an organ company that would follow the institute’s philosophy. He chose the name “Andover” for its prestigious association with the Organ Institute and because of the advantages, in the pre-internet days of telephone directories, of appearing near the top of the alphabetical company listings. 

Byers chose the opening line of Psalm 98, “Cantate Domino Canticum Novum” (Sing to the Lord a New Song), as the company motto, which still appears on Andover’s letterhead. This underscored his philosophy of creating a new style of organ, one that looked and sounded differently from what most American organ companies were producing.

Despite its name, the company has never been located in Andover! It started out in the home of Tom Byers in Lawrence, just north of Andover, and later moved to a two-story wooden building in nearby Methuen. In 1979 the company purchased a three-story brick building in a former mill complex at 560 Broadway in Lawrence, where it has been ever since.

 

Leadership and people

Rather than having a single leader dictate the company’s course, Andover’s many talented employees have each contributed to the company’s development. The company has always been owned and run by its principal employees who, serving as its shareholders and board of directors, make decisions collegially.

Charles Fisk joined the company in 1955 as Tom Byers’s junior partner. Robert J. Reich, a Yale-trained electrical engineer, was hired in 1956, and Leo Constantineau, a woodworking teacher and professional draftsman, in 1957. In 1958, Byers left the company, and Fisk became the owner. Walter Hawkes, who had worked for Holtkamp, was hired as shop foreman. Later that year, Andover signed a new organ contract with Redeemer Lutheran Church in Lawrence, Massachusetts. The contract did not specify the type of action. But the result, premiered on Palm Sunday 1959, was the first new mechanical-action organ built by an American firm in the postwar era. That instrument, Opus 28, is still in use.

The following year, Opus 35, a 33-stop tracker designed by Leo Constantineau and voiced by Charles Fisk, was built for Mount Calvary Episcopal Church in Baltimore, where Arthur Howes was organist. Fisk left Andover in 1961 to start his own company,
C. B. Fisk, in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Andover was reincorporated with Robert J. Reich and Leo Constantineau as the new owners. Reich, who became the Tonal Director, revised Andover’s pipe scales to provide more foundation tone. Constantineau’s case designs gave the company’s new instruments a distinctive visual flair. 

Andover has been blessed with several dedicated individuals who each worked over fifty years at the company. Reich, who joined Andover in 1956, served as President and Tonal Director 1961–1997; he then worked part-time until retiring in 2009. Donald Olson joined the company in 1962 and became Andover’s general manager and visual designer in 1968. His elegant case designs were the hallmark of Andover’s new instruments for nearly four decades. He succeeded Robert Reich as President in 1997, stepped down in 2012 and then worked part-time until fully retiring in 2015. Robert C. Newton, who started at Andover in 1963 and headed the Old Organ Department for many years, retired in 2016.

Andover’s current President, Benjamin Mague, joined Andover in 1975. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in music from Colby College and a Master of Music degree in organ from the University of Wisconsin. He served as Andover’s mechanical designer and later as shop foreman before becoming President in 2012. 

John Morlock, Andover’s Tonal Director since 1999, joined the company in 1976, working principally in the Old Organ Department. Don Glover, Andover’s in-house reed voicer, came to Andover in 2004 from the Reuter Organ Company.

Michael Eaton, Andover’s visual designer, joined the company in 1991. He also heads a maintenance team and serves as Treasurer and Clerk for Andover’s board of directors.

Andover’s present team of dedicated and talented people collectively possess over 350 years of organbuilding experience. Other current employees are Ryan Bartosiewicz, Matthew Bellocchio, Eric Dolch, Anne Doré, Andrew Hagberg, Lisa Lucius, Kevin Mathieu, Fay Morlock, Jonathan Ross, Craig Seaman, and David Zarges. Appropriately, more than half of Andover’s employees are church musicians or organists.

Andover has been the parent for many other New England tracker organ companies, having employed over its seventy years many talented individuals who later founded their own companies. These include Philip Beaudry, Timothy Fink, Charles Fisk, Timothy Hawkes, Richard Hedgebeth, Fritz Noack, Bradley Rule, J. C. Taylor, and David Wallace.  

 

Tonal style

Tonally, the early Andover organs were inspired by the Organ Reform Movement. At the time of Andover’s founding, few American companies were repairing old tracker organs; most just electrified or replaced them. Andover was the first to deliberately retain and renovate nineteenth-century trackers. But, adhering to the Organ Reform philosophy, Byers and his early successors often “improved” those organs tonally. It was not unusual for them to evict the string stops and replace them with mixtures and mutations. Andover’s new instruments came to be characterized by strong Principal choruses with bright mixtures, colorful neo-Baroque style flutes and mutations, and reeds that emphasized chorus over color. 

In the 1980s, as Andover began more frequently to work on significant nineteenth-century American organs, a gradual transition occurred. This was solidified in 1999 when John Morlock, who had started in Andover’s Old Organ Department, succeeded Robert Reich as Tonal Director.

Today, Andover’s tonal style may best be described as “American” and is grounded primarily in the best practices of the nineteenth-century New England builders, in particular the Boston firm of E. & G. G. Hook. Their organs, especially those from the firm’s “golden period” (1850s to 1870s), are admired for their remarkably successful blend of warmth and brilliance. Their pipe scales and voicing techniques worked extremely well in the dry acoustics of many American churches. 

When designing a new organ or reworking an existing instrument, we basically use the same scaling proportions between the various stops of the chorus that the Hooks used. We have found that doing so results in a principal chorus that is nicely balanced between fundamental weight and harmonic development.

Within this framework, adjustments are made to reflect or, in some cases, compensate for the acoustical properties found in each room. Each instrument needs to work and sound well in its “home” and be able to perform its tasks capably and effectively. Andover organs are designed to lead and support congregational hymn singing, as well as interpret a wide range of organ literature.

 

Maintenance

From the very beginning, organ maintenance was an important part of the company’s work. It created name recognition, established relationships with churches and organists, and provided a consistent revenue stream. Today, Andover maintains over 300 organs annually throughout the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Southeast—from northern Maine to South Carolina, from western New York to the islands off eastern Massachusetts. These instruments range in size from small one-manual trackers in country churches to the world-famous Great Organ (IV/116) in the Methuen Memorial Music Hall; and range in age from a few years to a historic 1762 Snetzler organ. 

We service all types of organ mechanisms—from traditional tracker action to modern solid-state relays and combination actions. Each spring and fall, we schedule extended maintenance tours to visit multiple instruments in a geographical area. This enables our customers to share the travel expenses. 

Many customers treat us like old friends. Occasionally, a church secretary or organist will call us and merely say, “This is so-and-so at First Parish Church,” not realizing that we have over three dozen tuning customers with that name!

 

Andover Organ firsts

As the leader in the mid-twentieth century tracker organ revival in America, Andover pioneered many innovations that are now standard in the industry. Opus 25, a two-manual built in 1958 for the Rice Institute (now University) in Houston, was an electro-pneumatic instrument utilizing slider chests with pneumatic pallets, one of the first examples of this pallet type. This was decades before the adoption of the “Blackinton-style” pneumatic pallet.

In 1961, Andover carried out the first historically sympathetic restoration of a nineteenth-century American organ: the 1-manual, 1865 E. & G. G. Hook Opus 358 at the Congregational Church in Orwell, Vermont (Andover Opus R-1.)  

Other significant Andover (AOC) restorations include: 

• First Presbyterian Church, Newburyport, Massachusetts (1866 E. & G. G. Hook/AOC 1974); 

• First Parish Church, Bridgewater, Massachusetts (1852 E. & G. G. Hook/AOC 1977); 

• South Parish Congregational Church, Augusta, Maine (1866 E. & G. G. Hook/AOC 1982); 

• Church on the Hill, Lenox, Massachusetts (1869 William A. Johnson/AOC 2001); 

• Old Whaling Church, Edgartown, Massachusetts (1850 Simmons & Fisher/AOC 2004); 

• Centre Street Methodist Church, Nantucket, Massachusetts (1831 Thomas Appleton/AOC 2008); 

• St. Peter’s Catholic Church, Haverstraw, New York (1898 Geo. Jardine & Son/AOC 2011); 

• St. Anna’s Chapel, Newburyport, Massachusetts (1863 William Stevens/AOC 2013).

Utilizing its expertise gained from restoring old tracker organs and building new ones, in 1963 Andover was the first company in the world to re-trackerize an old tracker organ that had been electrified. The instrument was the 1898 James Treat Opus 3 at St. George’s Primitive Methodist Church (now Bethesda Missionary Church) in Methuen, Massachusetts.

Other notable re-trackerizations: 

• First Presbyterian Church, Waynesboro, Virginia (1893 Woodberry & Harris/AOC 1986); 

• St. John’s Episcopal Cathedral, Providence, Rhode Island (1851 E. & G. G. Hook/AOC 1989); 

• Westminster Preservation Trust, Baltimore, Maryland (1882 Johnson & Son/AOC 1991); 

• Sage Chapel, Northfield, Massachusetts (1898 Hook & Hastings/AOC 1996); 

• Unitarian Society, Peterboro, New Hampshire (1867 E. & G. G. Hook/AOC 2003); 

• Christ Episcopal Church, Charlottesville, Virginia (1869 E. & G. G. Hook/AOC 2012).  

The slider and pallet windchests used in most nineteenth-century organs were generally trouble free for many years. However, when heating systems were introduced into churches in the early twentieth century, problems developed. The solid wood chest tops (tables), just below the sliders, were made from a thin, wide plank of air-dried lumber. With constant heating the wooden tables dried out and cracked, allowing air to leak from one pipe hole to the next, resulting in “runs.” 

Andover was the first American company to replace a cracked, solid-wood table with a marine-grade plywood one. The routed bleed channels between the table’s wind holes were then carefully replicated and the entire table graphited, like the original. This type of table replacement is now standard in the industry. The first organ to receive this treatment, in 1965, was the 1897 George W. Reed, at the Baptist Church in Winchendon, Massachusetts. Sadly, the organ burned with the building in 1985. 

One of Andover’s most significant recent projects was the 2016 restoration of the wind system and key action in the 1892 Woodberry & Harris Opus 100 at St. Mary–St. Catherine of Sienna Parish in Charlestown, Massachusetts. With three manuals, 36 stops, and 41 ranks, it is the largest and most significant nineteenth-century organ remaining in original unaltered condition in the greater Boston area. 

The instrument’s action is entirely mechanical and incredibly complex. The three-manual, reversed detached console sits in the center of the gallery, while the pipes and windchests are in cases at either side of a large stained-glass window. Four levels of trackers descend from the keys to squares beneath the floor, then under the console towards the rear window, then turn off at right angles towards the sides, then turn off again at right angles towards the rear, then to squares which send them up to the rollerboards below the chests. The organ’s four divisions have a total of 17 sets of wooden trackers, totaling nearly a mile in length! A Barker machine lightens the touch of the Great and the manuals coupled to it.

The two large reservoirs were stripped and releathered in place. All four layers of trackers were disassembled, labeled, and brought to the shop for replication. Because of the organ’s historic significance, all the new trackers were made of the same materials as the originals but using modern machinery. Andover customized a miniature CNC router to notch the cloth-wrapped tracker ends and built a spinning machine to whip the threaded wire ends with red linen thread, just like the originals. The Barker machine was carefully releathered. “Now she runs like a Bentley,” said one of the instrument’s many admirers.

 

Rebuilding for reliability

A conservative restoration is the logical decision for an exemplary work by an important builder or a small organ in a rural church with modest musical requirements. But sometimes it is necessary to strike a balance between preserving the original fabric and updating it to suit modern needs. An organ that has already endured several unsympathetic rebuilds, or an aging instrument with unreliable mechanisms and limited tonal resources, in an active church or institution with an ambitious music program might be better served by a sympathetic rebuilding. This was the case with two of Andover’s most significant rebuilds.

The 1876 E. & G. G. Hook & Hastings Opus 828 at St. Joseph Cathedral in Buffalo, New York, was built as a showpiece for the 1876 “Centennial Exposition” in Philadelphia and purchased afterwards by the cathedral. Major changes were made to the organ by Tellers-Kent Organ Company in 1925 and by Schlicker Organ Company in 1976. By 1996, the organ was virtually unplayable during the winter months and a decision of whether to replace it or rebuild it was imminent. In 1998, the cathedral decided that “the organ need not be replaced, but rather completely rehabilitated.” At the same time, the organ’s tonal palette needed expanding to better serve the musical needs of the cathedral and to enable it for use in concerts and recitals.

A team from Andover dismantled the organ in July 1999, loaded it into two moving vans, and transported it back to Lawrence, where eighteen employees labored for more than a year to clean, repair, and expand the instrument. In undertaking this immense job, Andover sought to retain and restore as much of the original as possible. The entire organ was cleaned, and the black walnut case stripped of coats of dark varnish and restored to its original finish. The façade pipes were stripped and repainted in their original designs with colors that harmonized with the cathedral’s interior.

All the original chests and pipework were rebuilt and repaired. The manuals were expanded to 61 notes and the pedals to 32. The two original reservoirs were releathered and two new ones constructed. The Choir is now unenclosed, as it originally was, the Swell box is back to its original size, and the Solo is restored to its original position.

Many of the missing original pipes were replaced with pipes salvaged from the Hook 1877 Cincinnati Music Hall organ, Opus 869. Other compatible Hook organs were visited to develop pipe scales appropriate for the additions to the cathedral organ, which were voiced in the Hook style. The organ is now far closer to its original sound than it has been since the 1923 electrification and rebuilding.

A new floating Celestial Division on a slider windchest was added. This division was based on contemporary E. & G. G. Hook solo divisions, as typified by the organs in the Cincinnati Music Hall and Mechanics Hall, Worcester. There is an 8′ Philomela copied from the 1863 Hook at Church of the Immaculate Conception in Boston, an original Hook 4′ Hohlpfeife, a 2′ Harmonic Piccolo, a Cor Anglais, and a few more modern stops stops such as a French Horn, Dolcan Gamba with Gamba Céleste, Spitzflöte and Spitzflöte Céleste. 

Thomas Murray played the rededicatory recital on June 11, 2001. The St. Joseph Cathedral organ will be featured in a recital by Nathan Laube during the American Guild of Organists Northeast Regional Convention, July 1–4, 2019.

In contrast to the Buffalo cathedral organ, the 1902 Hook & Hastings Opus 1833 at St. John’s Seminary in Brighton, Massachusetts, was a modest two-manual, 18-rank instrument. After nearly a century of use and constant winter heating, the windchests and actions developed serious problems. The original console was replaced in 1946. When the replacement console failed in 2004, a one-manual tracker was put in its place to serve as a temporary instrument until the chapel organ could be rebuilt. 

Our lengthy experience with Hook & Hastings organs taught us that their early electro-pneumatic actions were cumbersome, slow, and difficult to repair. Therefore, in our 2014–2015 rebuilding of the organ, we reused the pipes, windchests, and most of the original parts as the basis of an expanded instrument with a new electric action.

We built a new, solid white oak console in the style of the Hook & Hastings original, with a lyre music rack and elliptically curved stop terraces. To meet the demands of a twenty-first century music program, this reproduction console has state-of-the-art components, including a record/playback module. The façade pipes were stripped and repainted with a new decorative treatment that harmonizes with the Italian Renaissance-style case and chapel. As a crowning flourish, the cross surmounting the case was painted in faux lapis lazuli.

Most of the organ was crammed within the small case, with Swell above Great and the wooden Pedal 16′ Open Diapason pipes at each side. Behind the Swell, in an unfinished gallery, were the organ’s large reservoir and Pedal 16′ Bourdon. We moved the Pedal Open Diapason pipes to the rear gallery and added a Pedal 32′-16′-8′ Trombone and 8′-4′ Principal there. Judicious additions to the Swell expanded its resources. There was sufficient space inside the case behind the Great chest to add a seven-stop unenclosed Choir division.

The end result of these tonal changes and additions is an instrument of 40 stops, 34 ranks, and 1,994 pipes that is more versatile and appropriate for its expanded role. It still sounds very much like a Hook & Hastings organ, but one from an earlier and better period of the firm’s output.

 

Façade firsts

The company’s work with historic organs gradually led to pipe façade restorations as well. In 1967, Andover was the first American company to make restorative paint repairs to a painted and stenciled pipe façade, at the First Congregational Church in Georgetown, Massachusetts (1874 Joel Butler). Thirteen years later, in 1979, during its rebuilding of the 1884 Geo. S. Hutchings Opus 135 at the Vermont College of Fine Arts in Montpelier, Vermont, Andover carefully stripped a coating of green paint from all the façade pipes, documented the original designs and colors underneath, and repainted the pipes in their original colors and stenciling—another first.

Andover’s Opus 102 (1992) at Trinity United Church of Christ in York, Pennsylvania, was the first new American organ in the modern era to feature painted façade pipes with nineteenth-century style colored bandings. The upper façade flats of this organ contained another first: “frosted tin” pipes, which feature the natural, unplaned finish of the cast tin sheets. This gives them the light color of tin, but with a dull, non-reflective finish.

In recent years, Andover has worked with historic painted decoration conservator Marylou Davis to create new painted-pipe decorations in historically inspired styles. The most notable example of this collaboration is the 82-rank Andover Opus 114 (2007) at Christ Lutheran Church in Baltimore. This was the first twenty-first century American organ façade to combine polychromed and monochrome texture-stenciled pipes, frosted tin pipes, and numerous hand-carved pipe shades, grilles, finials, and skirtings in the casework. 

Opus 114 is also Andover’s first dual-action, double organ. The 13-rank, electric-action gallery organ can be played from its own console or from the front organ’s three-manual mechanical-action console. Likewise, the entire front organ can be played from the two-manual gallery console through couplers and general pistons. The organ’s four matching cases (two in chancel, two in gallery) perfectly suit the church’s Gothic architecture and fool many people into thinking that they were reused from a 19th-century organ. 

Andover has never been afraid to fit an organ around a prominent window. This reflects our design philosophy that an organ should look as if it has always been part of its environment. And in most churches, the window was there long before the organ. Fighting the window can sometimes be a losing battle. Opus 115 (2007) at Church of the Nativity in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Opus 118 (2014) at First Parish Church in Wayland, Massachusetts, illustrate Andover’s creative approach in dealing with windows.

In Raleigh, the modern clear glass window was front and center, at the top of the space where the organ would go. We designed the organ case to frame the window’s central orb and cross. The polished tin façade pipes match the brightness from the window. The organ also serves as a reredos for the altar, which stands in front of it. Looking from top to bottom, one sees the window, the organ, and the altar—light, music, action. The church was very pleased with the result, as were we.

In the 1820 Federal Period meetinghouse in Wayland, there was an elegant Palladian window in the center of the back wall of the rear gallery. Because of the semi-elliptical curve of the gallery’s rear wall, the only apparent organ placement with such a floor plan was in the center. Thus, all the previous organs had blocked the window. Andover’s design put the detached console in the center, by the railing, and divided the organ into two cases that frame, rather than cover, the Palladian window. The choir members sit in the space between the console and cases and benefit from the natural backlighting provided by the window. Again, everyone was pleased with the results.

Seventy years after its humble beginnings, Andover has much to celebrate: 118 new organs and 533 rebuilds/restorations. Andover’s wide-ranging work in building, rebuilding, restoring, and maintaining pipe organs is well-recognized, and best summarized by its mission statement: “Preserving the Past; Enhancing the Present; Inspiring the Future.”

www.andoverorgan.com

Paul Monachino

Paul Monachino serves as director of music and organist at Our Lady, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Cathedral in Toledo, Ohio, and also director of liturgical music for the Diocese of Toledo. He completed a Bachelor of Music degree at Heidelberg University in Tiffin, Ohio, and a Master of Music at Indiana University, Bloomington. He is a member of the American Guild of Organists, the Organ Historical Society, the National Association of Pastoral Musicians, and the Conference of Roman Catholic Cathedral Musicians.  

On January 24, 1931, the first boxcar containing Skinner Organ Company Opus 820 left Boston en route to the new cathedral in Toledo, Ohio—Our Lady, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary. After many months of planning and developing the stoplist, the dream of installing an organ from the finest American builder of the early 20th century was soon to be a reality. Norbert Fox, the cathedral organist, kept a copy of the stoplist on a side table in his home and perused it daily, anticipating with great delight the beautiful and majestic sounds that would soon fill the cathedral.

Ground was broken for the unique Spanish Plateresque-style cathedral in 1924. In early 1929, with construction nearing completion, final negotiations with Ernest Skinner were in the works. The contract was prepared on June 13, 1929. An interesting change to the contract was requested by Skinner. He wished to move the English Horn from the Choir to the Solo division. It was to be replaced in the Choir by an Orchestral Oboe (changed to a Flügel Horn in 1933 at the request of Norbert Fox). In a letter dated January 30, 1930, Skinner writes, “The English Horn was commonly placed on the Choir organ until a short time ago where I greatly improved its quality by a modification of design, and the new form works better on the Solo (wind) pressure than on the Choir. . . .”¹ In concluding the letter Skinner writes, “I look your scheme over every day with renewed satisfaction. It gives me every opportunity to fulfill the confidence you have given me in according the Skinner organization a perfect opportunity to build a great work of art.”² And in a letter of September 27, 1930, Mr. Skinner states, “I honestly believe this organ is going to be one of the greatest in America.”³ History has confirmed his belief as Opus 820, located in an outstanding acoustical environment, has come to be regarded as one of his finest efforts.

Three days of musical events marked completion of the organ’s installation. The first of these was a solo organ recital on June 2, 1931, by Palmer Christian of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. The following day witnessed a choral and organ program presented by the Cathedral Chapel Choir, Reverend Ignatius Kelly, choirmaster, accompanied at the organ by Norbert Fox and John Gordon Seely of Toledo’s Trinity Episcopal Church. The events concluded on June 4 with a performance of Edward Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius. The organ had been in the cathedral for nine years when the edifice was finally dedicated in 1940.

The Muller Pipe Organ Company of Toledo cared for the organ after it was installed. Family patriarch Joseph Muller and his son Henry previously worked for Skinner in Boston. After rising to the position of principal installation foreman in the Skinner company, in 1919 Henry established his own organ maintenance shop in Toledo, Ohio. The Skinner organ in Rosary Cathedral was integral to a lively liturgical music program: ordinations, weddings, funerals, and other festive celebrations. It regularly accompanied the 80-voice men and boys choir for Sunday Mass. It was also heard daily at Mass by the students of the Cathedral School. The Gregorian Institute of America, established in Toledo (now GIA Publications, Chicago), held weeklong summer workshops at neighboring Mary Manse College, and participants attended daily Mass at the cathedral. Private recordings of the organ were made in the 1950s by Claude Legacé (organist-choirmaster from 1954 until 1961) and Valerian Fox, son of Norbert Fox. In 1966, Maurice Duruflé and his wife Marie-Madeleine performed on the organ; the concert’s first half featured selected movements of the Requiem conducted by the composer. The Muller family was always on hand for major occasions to ensure that the organ was functioning at its best. But after over 40 years of daily use, the organ was beginning to show its age through various mechanical failures.

In September 1979, following the renovation of the cathedral to conform to liturgical directives of the Second Vatican Council, organist-choirmaster Dr. Hugh Murray requested that attention now be given to restoring the organ. The Standing Committee on Sacred Music was charged with preparing a recommendation for the restoration of the Skinner organ. After study, consultation, and consideration of several proposals submitted to the committee, the diocese awarded a contract to K & D Pipe Organ Service Co. (Ken and Dorothy Holden) of Ferndale (Detroit), Michigan. The concept of the restoration was conservative, with no proposal to alter the tonal or mechanical systems of the organ. In 1980 the console was moved to the chancel floor from the former choir gallery in keeping with the renovated liturgical space that called for the choir to be in a more accessible position. The console was thoroughly restored during the move. Following this project, a phased restoration began with the removal of the Choir division to the K & D shop.

The Holdens ran a modest shop, performing much of the restoration work themselves. Work progressed slowly and at times came to a standstill due to unforeseen personal circumstances. The cathedral authorities became impatient with the slow progress, and in 1983 a mutual release agreement was issued, bringing the restoration project to a halt. This led to years of debate about how to proceed that nearly imperiled the existence of this important pipe organ.

In the spring of 1983 all the components of the Choir division that had been in the K & D shop were returned, but not reinstalled. The pipework of this division was stored throughout the triforium walkway of the cathedral. Overall, a number of critical stops, such as the Great 4′ Octave, were completely unplayable, and numerous dead notes riddled almost every stop of the organ. The organ was in a nearly useless condition.

In a desire to preserve momentum for the restoration project, Hugh Murray and the cathedral authorities engaged local organ builder Daniel Pilzecker as a consultant. He recommended a rather conservative scope of work that included a new console and some minor tonal alterations and additions, some of which had been already considered in the 1979 proposals. Among the many recommendations in those years, there was considerable agreement that a new console should be provided and that the chorus reeds should be brightened. A request for proposal based on Pilzecker’s observations was sent to five organ companies. Two responded with a bid: the Muller company and the Williams-Stevens Organ Company of Cincinnati, Ohio (Mark Lively).  

In August 1983, Fr. Robert Donnelly, diocesan chancellor (and soon to be auxiliary bishop of Toledo), requested that the Diocesan Liturgical Commission form an ad hoc “Cathedral Committee” to recommend action to the bishop concerning the restoration of the organ and a new sound system. The first meeting was held in August 1983. Soon afterward the committee retained Dr. Robert Noehren as organ consultant and arranged for him to visit Toledo in January 1984. 

During this visit, Noehren met with the committee, surveyed the Skinner organ, and visited several other pipe organs in the Toledo area. A committee meeting including Noehren was arranged with Bishop James Hoffman. From the archival notes of these meetings it becomes clear that the committee was now wrestling with the decision of whether to restore the Skinner or replace it. One of the recorded comments (all anonymous) from the meeting is quite startling: “The Cathedral Skinner organ is not a great instrument and it never was one. It is not famous, and it never was.”⁴ The Organ Historical Society thought differently in awarding Opus 820 a Historic Organ Citation in 2006! A great deal of credit for the fame of this organ must go to Joseph Vitacco and his project to record landmark Skinner and Aeolian-Skinner organs throughout the United States. Four recordings of the Rosary Cathedral organ were produced by JAV Recordings, disseminating its artistic merit throughout the world.

Three proposals were recommended by Robert Noehren in a letter dated January 16, 1984. The first, and preferred, was to provide two new organs: a small choir organ in the sanctuary and a large “Great Organ” in the gallery. The Skinner organ would be sold, as a whole or parted out. If the cathedral were sentimentally attached to the Skinner organ a restoration could be accomplished but conversion to a direct-electric action was encouraged along with a new or rebuilt console and some tonal alterations. Noehren did note that the Skinner would be worthy of preservation as was the Hill Auditorium Skinner at the University of Michigan where he taught for many years. A third proposal for one free-standing organ in the apse was included although considered less than ideal. The committee had much to consider.

On January 30, 1984, a message was received from Sam Koontz of the Tellers Organ Company, stating that he would be passing through Toledo and would like to assess the cathedral organ. At a committee meeting the next day, Hugh Murray reported concerning Koontz that, “this item . . . is of no validity and need concern us no longer.” But time would bear out that this initial contact from Sam Koontz might very well be what preserved Opus 820. Koontz would follow up with a proposal to complete all unfinished releathering in the currently dismantled Choir division and reinstallation, address some console issues, repair dead stops in the Great and Solo divisions, and tune the organ. 

On February 11, 1984, Hugh Murray wrote a letter of memorandum to the cathedral committee concerning his reaction to Noehren’s recommendations that would become his guiding vision for the project. Murray reflected on the many years of study and discussion concerning the organ. He concludes, “I would love to hear and play again the fully restored Skinner Organ with all of its voices resounding throughout our magnificent, acoustically alive Toledo Cathedral.”

In March, the cathedral committee drafted a proposal for the bishop to “mothball” the Skinner organ and construct a new, freestanding organ in the apse. One must appreciate the perspective of the committee concerning Opus 820. Restored components and pipes lay scattered about the triforium, and most of the organ did not play. By some it was viewed as beyond revival. But for those who were able to see beyond its current condition, the vision of a completely restored instrument remained strong. As consultant, Noehren continued to be updated on the discussions and had undertaken more research on the various options. In light of the committee’s proposal to locate one new organ in the apse, rather than a new organ at either end of the cathedral, Noehren writes, “Since you have decided to have the organ in the sanctuary, I suggest you re-consider the possibility of restoring your present organ.”⁵ He mentions that he has identified several firms that could carry out this work, and that “for now it seems that the costs for doing so may be far below our earlier estimates.”⁶ And further, “The present organ is indeed a very good instrument.”⁷ Despite this suggestion, by a vote of six to one, the committee’s proposal to mothball the Skinner and construct a new organ in the apse was sent to the bishop on June 4, 1984. The bishop approved the proposal as a working document to be shared with various leadership groups in the diocese. 

In September 1984, Sam Koontz wrote a four-page letter to the cathedral committee responding to the proposal sent to the bishop. While he feared the die had been cast to abandon the Skinner organ, he felt compelled to rectify what he felt was “gross inaccuracy in factual information presented to the Committee by the consultant”⁸ and contained in the proposal. He deemed the work done by K & D to be of the highest quality and regretted the health issues that plagued the Holdens at that time. Concerning the “large parts of the organ that are disconnected” he mentions that the restoration work on the Choir division was complete and only in need of reassembly. The console restoration that was labeled “botched” was far from it and required final adjustments that were not carried out due to the termination agreement. He also questions the committee’s choice of Noehren as a consultant for a restoration of the Skinner organ, which was the original intent of the cathedral committee. It was well known that Noehren’s ideals of organbuilding were very far from those of Ernest Skinner. Koontz also debunks the fears of continued maintenance of the leather actions and a number of other issues. Relative to a new organ, he writes, “The Skinner organ possesses a quantity and quality of material which would not be possible to reproduce today, at any cost. No more refined reed tones have ever been produced, than those of the Skinner Organ Company.”⁹ Koontz proposed that he would complete the restoration of the organ for a price not to exceed $90,000.00 within three years.

Koontz concludes by urging the restoration of the organ: “If restoration of the Skinner organ does indeed prove to be prophetic, this is the greatest legacy the Committee could hope to leave to future generations in the Diocese of Toledo.”¹⁰  On October 25, 1984, after reviewing the letter, the committee invited Sam Koontz to attend a meeting and speak in more detail about his proposal.

Convinced of his abilities to revive the Skinner organ, the diocese initially awarded a contract to Koontz to re-install the Choir division and carry out some other work to complete the work the Holdens had begun. Subsequently, an additional contract was signed that culminated in thorough repairs and releathering of the organ by 1992. A celebratory rededication recital was presented by Todd Wilson on March 31, 1993. In the recital program Hugh Murray wrote, “(The late Sam Koontz) was a talented craftsman with strong convictions about restoring versus rebuilding/enlarging old organs. The Cathedral Skinner is a monument to his principles and dedication to his art as a restorer.” Opus 820 was now completely functional after over a decade of virtual silence. 

The work of Sam Koontz was admirable in preserving this magnificent instrument.  Since the work authorized by the diocese did not constitute a thorough restoration, in the years immediately following, numerous dead notes and other malfunctions continued to plague the organ. At the time it was decided to retain all of the original mechanisms with little intervention. Significant mechanicals—swell engines, tremolos, combination action—were not restored at all since they were functioning well at the time. Many of these unrestored items are now beginning to show signs of wear. The pipework is still in excellent shape, but many of the reed stops are in need of restoration of tuning scrolls and brass tongues. 

In 2009–2010 a survey of the organ was carried out by Jeff Weiler confirming that a thorough restoration of the organ was in order. 

 

To the casual listener, the  Cathedral  Skinner retains its general majesty and suave elegance. Upon closer inspection—certainly to organists and other musicians—the organ will sound tired. Beautiful tone is still unquestionably present, but not a single stop is even in tone or volume throughout its compass.

Fully restored, the organ would handily address any task that might be put before it. It has the potential to lead an assembly with great delicacy and sophistication. Still, it will be a revelation to even its most dedicated admirers just how much more polished, alive, and beautiful the sound will be once the pipes are fully cleaned and reconditioned.¹¹

Requests for proposals were sent out to a select number of organ companies. In 2012 the proposal of the J. W. Muller Co. of Croton, Ohio, was accepted. Now the challenging work of funding the project begins. While there has been interest from several charitable foundations, neither the Diocese of Toledo nor the cathedral parish can financially contribute a significant amount to the project at this time. If the reader is interested in showing support for this project through a donation of any amount, visit the parish website at: http://rosarycathedral.org/donate/.

The goal is to provide a thorough restoration of the organ. This would include preservation of the original console while providing a new console with the latest technological controls for the organist.  As originally envisioned for the cathedral, a small antiphonal division created from vintage pipework will be installed to support congregational singing at the back of the nave. The successful completion of this project will allow the organ to function reliably for many years and preserve this pristine example of early twentieth century American organ building.

 

Notes

1. Letter from Ernest Skinner to Msgr. Anthony J. Dean, cathedral rector, January 30, 1930.

2. Ibid. 

3. Letter from Skinner to Msgr. Dean, September 27, 1930.

4. Minutes of the cathedral committee meeting, January 10, 1984, page 5, item 20.

5. Letter from Robert Noehren to Rev. Robert Doppler, chairman/director of the Toledo Diocesan Liturgical Committee, March 13, 1984.

6. Ibid.

7. Ibid.

8. Letter from Samuel Koontz to the cathedral committee, September 17, 1984, page 1.

9. Ibid, page 3.

10. Ibid, page 4.

11. Survey of Skinner Opus 820, Jeff Weiler & Associates, LLC, March 24, 2011, page 25.

 

Skinner Organ Company

Opus 820

GREAT (Manual II, 6″ wind pressure)

16′ Double Diapason 61

8′ First Diapason 61

8′ Second Diapason 61

8′ Third Diapason* 61

8′ Viola* 61

8′ Harmonic Flute 61

8′ Gedeckt* 61

8′ Erzähler 61

4′ Octave 61

4′ Flute* 61

22⁄3′ Twelfth 61

2′ Fifteenth** 61

IV′ Chorus Mixture (15-19-22-26)** 244

IV′ Harmonics (17-19-flat 21-22)** 244

16′ Trumpet** 61

8′ Tromba** 61

4′ Clarion** 61

Solo Reeds to Great

 

* Enclosed

** 10″  wind pressure

SWELL (Manual III, enclosed,
6″ wind pressure)

16′ Melodia (open to low G) 73

8′ Diapason** 73

8′ Rohrflöte 73

8′ Flute Celeste II 134

8′ Salicional 73

8′ Voix Celeste 73

8′ Echo Gamba 73

4′ Octave** 73

4′ Flute Triangulaire 73

2′ Flautino** 61

V Mixture (15-19-22-26-29)** 305

16′ Waldhorn** 73

8′ Trumpet** 73

8′ Oboe d’Amore 73

8′ Vox Humana 73

4′ Clarion** 73

Tremolo

Swell 16

Swell 4

Harp (Choir)

Celeste (Choir)

 

**10″  wind pressure

CHOIR (Manual I, enclosed,
6″ wind pressure)

16′ Gamba 73

8′ Diapason 73

8′ Concert Flute 73

8′ Gamba 73

8′ Kleine Erzähler 73

8′ Kleine Celeste (TC) 61

4′ Gemshorn 73

4′ Flute 73

22⁄3′ Nazard 61

2′ Piccolo 61

III Carillon (12-17-22) 183

16′ Fagotto 73

8′ Flügel Horn 73

8′ Clarinet 73

Tremolo

Harp (TC, from Celesta)

Celesta 61 bars

Choir 16

Choir 4

SOLO (Manual IV, enclosed,
10″ wind pressure)

8′ Flauto Mirabilis 73

8′ Gamba 73

8′ Gamba Celeste 73

4′ Orchestral Flute 73

16′ Corno di Bassetto 85

8′ Corno di Bassetto (ext)

8′ English Horn 73

Tremolo

8′ French Horn*** 73

8′ Tuba Mirabilis*** 73

Solo 16

Solo 4

 

*** 20″ wind pressure

PEDAL (6″ wind pressure)

32′ Major Bass 56

16′ Diapason 44

16′ Contra Bass 56

16′ Metal Diapason (Great)

16′ Bourdon (ext, 32′ Major Bass)

16′ Melodia (Swell)

16′ Gamba (Choir)

16′ Dulciana 32

8′ Octave (ext, 16′ Diapason)

8′ ‘Cello (ext., 16′ Contra Bass)

8′ Gedeckt (ext, 32′ Major Bass)

8′ Still Gedeckt (Swell, 16′ Melodia)

4′ Super Octave (ext, 16′ Contra Bass)

IV Mixture 128

32′ Fagotto (ext Ch, 16′ Fagotto)**** 12

16′ Trombone**** 44

16′ Waldhorn (Swell)

16′ Fagotto (Choir)

8′ Tromba (ext, 16′ Trombone)****

 

**** 15″ wind pressure

 

Couplers

Great to Pedal

Swell to Pedal

Swell to Pedal 4

Choir to Pedal

Choir to Pedal 4

Solo to Pedal

Solo to Pedal 4

Swell to Great

Choir to Great

Solo to Great

Swell to Choir

Solo to Choir

Solo to Swell

Great to Solo

Swell to Great 16

Swell to Great 4

Swell to Choir 16

Swell to Choir 4

Choir to Great 16

Choir to Great 4

Solo to Great 16

Solo to Great 4

 

Accessories

6 General pistons (thumb and toe)

10 Great pistons and Cancel (thumb)

10 Swell pistons and Cancel (thumb)

10 Choir pistons and Cancel (thumb)

5 Solo pistons and Cancel (thumb)

8 Pedal pistons and Cancel (toe)

General Cancel (thumb)

Set (thumb)

Great to Pedal reversible (thumb and toe)

Swell to Pedal reversible (thumb and toe)

Choir to Pedal reversible (thumb)

Solo to Pedal reversible (thumb)

Choir to Great reversible (thumb)

Solo to Great reversible (thumb)

Swell to Choir reversible (thumb)

Solo to Choir reversible (thumb)

Manual Stops 16 on/off (thumb)

Pedal Stops 32 on/off (thumb)

All Couplers on Cresc. on/off (thumb)

All Swells to Swell on/off (thumb)

Balanced Swell expression shoe

Balanced Choir expression shoe

Balanced Solo expression shoe

Balanced Crescendo shoe (with indicators)

Sforz. reversible (thumb and toe, with indicator)

Stephen L. Pinel

Stephen L. Pinel holds two degrees from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey, and did further graduate work in historical musicology at New York University. A church musician for 45 years, he retired from full-time work during the fall of 2017. He held a Langley Fellowship at New York University, is a member of Pi Kappa Lambda Music Honor Society, an honorary member of the Organ Historical Society, and a past chair of the St. Wilfrid Club of New York City. He is also the author of several books and regularly contributes articles pertaining to American organ history both here and abroad.

After attending Morning Prayer at Christ Church during the summer of 1873, a visitor wrote:

 

The church bells ring at half past nine, and speak in suggestive and pleasant tones to those who are accustomed to answer their call. The bells are rung again at a quarter past ten, and soon after the streets present a scene to delight the heart of any Christian. The multitude of those who go forth, embraces people of all ages, from the prattling child to hoary and tottering old age, and including all conditions, from the affluent to the humble poor. . . .

We are favorably impressed as we approach the edifice [of Christ Church] by its massive and substantial front. We are met at the door by attentive ushers, and feel at once that though strangers we are welcome. An appropriate voluntary upon the organ is in progress, and as the worshippers come in one after another and proceed quietly to their places all about us and engage, as is the beautiful custom of the denomination, in silent prayer, we feel the truth of the sentiment which spans the arch above the chancel. “The Lord is in His Holy Temple. . . .” 

The musical part of the service—aside from the metrical hymns—is sometimes in anthem and sometimes in chant form, and is at present under the direction of the organist, Mr. Horace H. Scribner. One will hear many fine adaptations here by Warren, Thomas, Buck and others. Among the worshippers are Hon. Timothy P. Redfield, Hon. B. F. Fifield, Dr. J. Y. Dewey, Hon. Charles Dewey, Hiram Atkins, T. C. Phinney, Fred E. Smith, and J. W. Ellis. . . .¹

 

Christ Church was the fashionable parish in the capital city. It was the place where people of affluence, culture, education, prominence, and social stature went to church. The Hon. Timothy P. Redfield (1812–1888), an 1836 graduate of Dartmouth College, was a justice on the Vermont Supreme Court.² The Hon. Benjamin F. Fifield (1832–1918), a staunch Republican and an 1855 graduate of UVM,³ was the primary legal counsel for the Vermont Central Railroad.⁴ Dr. Julius Y. Dewey (1799–1866) was a notable Vermont physician who, after the state issued an 1848 charter for the National Life Insurance Company, became its chief medical officer.⁵ Of his sons, Charles Dewey (1826–1905) served as president of the same company between 1877 and 1901.⁶ Another son, the Admiral George Dewey (1837–1917), surpassed both of them in national fame when he became an American naval hero during the Spanish-American War. In May 1898, his squadron decimated the Spanish flotilla near the Philippines without the loss of a single American life.⁷ Hiram Atkins (1831–1892), a prominent Vermont Democrat, was the editor and publisher of the Argus and Patriot, a Montpelier weekly.⁸ Truman C. Phinney (1827–1901) served 25 years as the sergeant-at-arms for the Vermont State Legislature.⁹ Fred E. Smith (1836–1907), who later figured prominently in the narrative of Christ Church and its organs, was the president of the Vermont Life Insurance Company.¹⁰ And J. W. Ellis was an illustrious Montpelier banker. Christ Church was the society church in central Vermont.

In addition to its influential parishioners, Christ Church was also known for its fashionable music. The parish has owned six different pipe organs during its 178-year history, more than any other congregation in the state. The first was a small instrument probably made by organbuilder William Nutting, Jr. (1815–1869), who had a shop in nearby Randolph. In 1854, it gave way to a larger, two-manual organ built by Stevens & Jewett of Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1902, accepting the recommendation of a former organist, Samuel B. Whitney (1842–1914), the parish bought a two-manual Hutchings-Votey organ. In a freakish twist of fate, that instrument was lost in a fire less than a year later, so the Vestry turned again to the firm for a replacement. In November 1927, their second Hutchings-Votey organ was wrecked in the Great Vermont Flood, so the following year, the parish ordered a new instrument built by the Estey Organ Company in Brattleboro. The Estey remained until 1972, when the current elegant instrument—the “Abiel M. Smith Organ”—was built for the parish by Karl Wilhelm of St.-Hyacinthe, Québec, Canada. Christ Church has the bizarre “distinction” of losing two of its pipe organs to natural disasters!

Christ Church has also had its share of fine organists. The prominent Mr. Whitney served between 1862 and 1866,¹¹ followed by George W. Wilder (1825–1901), the proprietor of a Montpelier music store.¹² Horace H. Scribner (1849–1895) was the parish’s organist for twenty-five years and is memorialized by a stained-glass window in the church.¹³ Cecil George Egg, a native of Ontario, Canada, served Christ Church from 1908 to 1916. He was an 1899 graduate of Dominion College in Montréal and had played between 1900 and 1908 at Trinity Church in Shelburne, Vermont.¹⁴ Abiel M. Smith (1897–1967), who became organist in 1941, served twenty-five years and was held in high esteem;¹⁵ the 1972 Wilhelm was posthumously named in his honor. Jack Russell followed Smith; he was the consultant for the Wilhelm organ and played the dedicatory recital on June 4, 1972.¹⁶ Dr. Brian P. Webb (1948–2014), a native of New Zealand, was the organist until his tragic death on August 23, 2014, in a boating accident on Lake Champlain.¹⁷ He was a distinguished graduate of both the University of Auckland and Indiana University, the music director and conductor of the Vermont Philharmonic, and served as associate dean, Master of Arts, at Union Institute and University in Montpelier. Carl Schwartz served seasonally as associate organist between 1998 and 2015, and twice as interim organist/choirmaster, first in 2013 and then between December 2014 and June 2015. Since the summer of 2015, the parish has been ably served by Lynnette Combs, a distinguished graduate of Swarthmore College and one of Vermont’s better-known organists.¹⁸

 

The origins of Christ Church

The organizational framework for the parish was laid when the Rt. Rev. John Henry Hopkins (1792–1868), the first bishop of the Diocese of Vermont, visited the capital in 1839 and officiated at confirmation. Almost a year later, he reported the event to the diocesan convention:

On Tuesday, the 15th of October [1839], I visited Montpelier, at the request of some friends of the Church. . . . The desire was expressed by many that a parish might be organized in this important place, but no immediate action was resolved upon.¹⁹

Montpelier residents were said to be rowdy, unchurched, and uncatechised. Cryptically, one mid-nineteenth-century author opined that “Puritanism was then rampant here, and it is said very many were so ignorant of the fasts and festivals of the church as to suppose Christmas a day appointed by the Governor!”²⁰

The bishop reported again in September 1842:

 

I commenced my visitation on Friday, January 7th, of the present year [1842], at Montpelier; where I preached, morning and afternoon, at the Methodist Chapel, which was kindly offered for that purpose, on the following Sunday, being the first
after the Epiphany. There was considerable conversation held with our friends upon the building of a Church, but nothing concluded. My second visit was on Friday, the 15th July, on which occasion I was rejoiced to find a subscription actually begun, and now a handsome and appropriate edifice is so far advanced that it is expected to be ready for consecration by November.²¹

 

Christ Church had been organized in 1840 by Deacon George B. Manzer (1803–1862), then a candidate for Holy Orders who, after his ordination, became the founding rector of the parish. Manzer was a New Haven, Connecticut, native, who graduated from Dartmouth, Class of 1825, Middlebury College, and later received his Doctor of Divinity degree from Norwich University in 1853. After leaving Montpelier in 1849, he became the rector of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Bennington, Vermont,²² where he served until his death.²³

The Christ Church Vestry was elected on Easter Monday, 1841, and the first representatives of the parish attended the diocesan convention in September 1842.²⁴ A modest frame building with a small bell tower in front was begun in the fall of 1842. When it was finished, the consecration ceremony was announced in the local newspaper:

 

The Episcopal Church, erected in this village the past season, will, by favor of Divine Providence, be consecrated to the public worship of God, on Thursday the 19th inst. Services to commence at half past ten o’clock, forenoon.

Montpelier, 14th Dec. 1842.²⁵

 

Recalling the event, the bishop wrote:

 

On Thursday, December 29th, 1842, I was called to perform the most acceptable duty of consecrating, to the service of Almighty God, the building in which we are now assembled, the Rev. Messrs. Clap, Hicks, Sabine, John T. Sabine, Hoit, Sprague, Bostwick, and Manser, assisting.²⁶

 

Little is actually known of the architecture, cost, furnishings, interior arrangements, or seating capacity of the building, but a circa 1865 stereograph of the exterior shows a modest, clapboard structure.

 

An organ by an unknown maker, before 1850

To date, only one reference has surfaced to the first organ in Christ Church. The 1850 parochial report to the diocesan convention reads:

 

Among other measures of improvement in externals, may be mentioned the renovation of the organ, the purchase of a fine-toned Bell from the excellent establishment of A. Meneely, Troy, N. Y., who kindly contributed $12.00 to the sum elsewhere specified.²⁷

Use of the word “renovated” suggests that the organ had been in service awhile, perhaps since the consecration of the building, but it was surely a small organ. The geographical proximity of Montpelier to Randolph supposes that it was possibly the work of William Nutting, Jr., but there is no evidence to confirm or deny that presumption. Nor is it known what happened to the organ when it was replaced.

 

An organ by Stevens & Jewett, 1854

Much more is known about the second organ at Christ Church. It was built in Cambridge, Massachusetts, by Stevens & Jewett, a partnership of William Stevens (1808–1896) and James Jewett (1810–1890). William was the younger brother of George Stevens (1803–1894), and Jewett was a carpenter turned organ builder. The partnership lasted only a few years during the 1850s, although Jewett returned to work for William Stevens during the 1860s, after the firm had moved to Boston. In December 1862, Stevens & Jewett built another large organ for a Vermont congregation—First Congregational Church in St. Albans.²⁸

The instrument was completed in December 1854, and a notice in the Patriot provided some details:

 

New Church Organ.

We take especial pleasure in being able to state that the new Church Organ, contracted for some two months since by the Episcopal Society in this village, has been completed, and now stands in its place in the Church, ready for use. It is, to both eye and ear, a beautiful and perfect instrument. In the variety of its stops, and the number of its pipes, it is perhaps seldom equaled, except in the cities. It is built with extended Keyboard and has two banks of Keys, twenty-eight registers and about one thousand pipes. Its compass is from c c to G in alt., exclusive of a pedal bass which runs down to c c c—a sixteen feet pipe.

A few individuals were invited to the Church, last Wednesday evening [i.e., December 20], to hear it played. The exhibition was eminently satisfactory. All were delighted who heard it. We have never heard better or purer tones from any organ. It was manufactured at the Establishment of Messrs. Stevens & Jewett, Boston [sic, Cambridge], and cost about $2000. It reflects great credit to the builders, as well as on the enterprise of the Society and individuals by whose very liberal subscriptions it has been purchased. Long may they live to enjoy it.²⁹

 

A similar notice appeared in the Montpelier Watchman.³⁰ Indeed, a manual compass of 56 notes, CC to g³ was “extended” when compared to CC to f³, 54 notes, then the current standard. Bishop Hopkins noticed the organ when he reported to the 1855 diocesan convention: “Here I was gratified to find a splendid new organ, the most costly in the Diocese. . . .”³¹ For its time and place, the Stevens & Jewett organ must have been a remarkable acquisition.

In 1868, following the completion of the new building, the organ was installed in a right-hand chamber beside the chancel and presumably lost its original case. An 1885 notice of the instrument remarked:

 

The organs of Bethany [Congregational, Wm. A. Johnson, Op. 264 (1868), 3m] and Christ churches have been tuned during the past week by Mr. [Henry J.] Poole of Boston, assisted by Mr. [Wm. A.] Briggs. . . .
Mr. Poole expressed much satisfaction with the working of the Perry & Canning [water] motor at Christ church.³²

 

The removal of the Stevens & Jewett occurred in February 1902, just before the congregation acquired a new organ from Hutchings-Votey: “The new organ for Christ Church has arrived from Boston and the old organ will be placed in the boxes in which the new organ came, so that it can be readily shipped wherever a sale is made.”³³ What happened to it next is undocumented, but Edgar A. Boadway (1936–2016), Vermont’s foremost organ historian, asserted that it was moved second-hand to Montpelier’s First Baptist Church. It remained there until replaced by another second-hand organ about 1920.³⁴

 

The new church, 1868

In March 1866, the wooden edifice of Christ Church was in such dilapidated condition that the Vestry proceeded with plans to erect a new building. Nine days later, land was acquired on the south side of State Street near the Vermont State House, and a subscription list was opened to raise funds for the project.³⁵ The Vestry appointed a committee, and by May 4, 1866, the design for a new building was in hand: “The plan for the new Episcopal Church by J. J. Randall, of Rutland, is a very neat one, in the Gothic style. We learn that the intention is to build of granite.”³⁶ By November, the foundation had been laid, and the cornerstone ceremony was reported in the local newspaper:

 

The cornerstone of Christ Church will be laid with appropriate ceremonies, according to the ritual of the church, at eleven A.M. of Thursday the 8th inst., Providence permitting. If the day prove stormy the ceremony will be delayed until the same hour on Friday. There will be Divine service in the old church, on Thursday evening, at half-past seven o’clock.³⁷

In September 1867 the interior was nearing completion. The tower was finished during the summer of 1868, and the pews were sold in May 1868.³⁸

Abby Maria Hemenway (1828–1890), Vermont’s audacious lady historian, described the interior:

 

The ground plan includes nave and aisles, chancel, organ chamber and sacristy, the tower being engaged in the northern end of the east aisle. Exterior, 108 by 55 feet; tower and spire, 100 feet; interior—nave, 22 feet wide, separated by two colonnades from two aisles, each 11 feet wide; chancel, 17 feet wide by 23 deep; whole exterior, except roof and clerestory, 

light-colored Barre and Berlin granite; aisle walls without buttresses; clerestory, timber slated outside. The north front is the most imposing part of the exterior. . . .³⁹

 

Hemenway also mentioned the placement for the organ: “The organ chamber, on the west, opens by a narrow arch in the church, and by a broader one into the nave; the organ is a powerful instrument.”⁴⁰

A newspaper mentioned the music at the consecration, which occurred on June 2, 1868:

 

The singing on the occasion, under the direction of Mr. A. J. Phillips, the excellent tenor, whose effort was handsomely sustained by the fine soprano of Mrs. C. J. Gleason, the alto of Miss Laura T. Field, and the bass of Mr. L. T. Gleason, and the organ-playing by Mr. George W. Wilder, were remarkably good, and added much interest and solemnity to the occasion.⁴¹

By the late 1890s, there was increasing dissatisfaction with the Stevens & Jewett organ. A report in the archives of Christ Church dated November 30, 1898, outlined some of the issues. The unsigned document was typed on stationery from the Vermont Mutual Fire Insurance Company, and was surely written by Fred E. Smith, the same Mr. Smith noticed by our 1873 visitor to Christ Church at the start of this essay. He wrote:

 

On account of the continued trouble with the mechanical attachments to our organ, the repeated breakings of the trackage [sic, trackers], and failure of the valves and slides, we must recognize that some important change must be made at no distant day or we shall be obliged to give up our organ entirely and face the question of procuring a new one. From the best advices [sic] I can obtain I am satisfied that we cannot install a new organ of proper size and quality for a cost less than $2500, to $3,000.00. From equally good sources of information I am led to believe that by the expenditure of from $500, to $800, our own organ can be put in just as good condition for practical service with a prospect of finer tone than we could get from a new one. . . .⁴²

 

Smith then asserted that the old pipework could be placed on new wind chests with tubular-pneumatic playing action.

An unsolicited letter from organbuilder Geo. S. Hutchings (1835–1913) arrived a few months later:

 

Boston, Apr. 28, 1899

Mr. Frederick E. Smith

Montpelier, Vt.

 

Dear Sir:—

Mr. Almar Green, who is familiar with my work, has suggested that I address you regarding an organ for your church to cost between $3,500 and $4,000. I have therefore taken the liberty of handing you under separate wrapper my catalog, together with other printed matter which may interest you.

Before I can make a definite proposition I need to know what space in height, width and depth can be given to the organ, because the cost of building depends materially upon this. I would also like to know about when the organ would be needed. If you will inform me on these points, I shall take pleasure in making a definite proposal for your consideration.

I desire very much to build the organ for you and shall await your reply with interest.

Trusting you will command me freely for any information in my line.

Yours truly, Geo. S. Hutchings⁴³

Enclosed was a proposal for a small, mechanical-action organ of twelve registers distributed over two manuals and pedals.

On February 1, 1899, organbuilder Emmons Howard (1845–1931) visited Montpelier to inspect the organ. Again, it was Smith who issued the report, stating:

 

. . . after examining the Church and organ with Mr. Hutchinson [not Geo. Hutchings] and myself, he quite positively gave his opinion that we would not be warranted in going to such expense on our organ as we had contemplated. He found the value of the organ much less than we had supposed, and was quite positive that it would cost $1500, to $2000, to make the changes we had talked about, with the new additions which would be necessary—such as tubular pneumatic action, new bellows, air-chest, etc.—saying that our organ would still be an old one and imperfect in many features. . . .⁴⁴

 

With the prospect of repairing the organ increasingly unfeasible, an organ committee was formed in September 1901 for “the purchase of a new organ.”⁴⁵ Within a week, financial canvassers were at work,⁴⁶ and a “final” reference to the Stevens & Jewett appeared in the local newspaper during February 1902, when: “The organ builders are at work in Christ Church, taking down the old organ. . . .” ⁴⁷

 

Hutchings-Votey Organ Co., Opus 1538, 1902

In November 1901, former organist Samuel B. Whitney was consulted. Writing to Smith on October 29, 1901, Joseph A. De Boer, another committee member communicated the substance of a meeting he had had with Whitney in Boston. Whitney recommended Hutchings-Votey. Two letters from John H. Waterhouse, the treasurer at Hutchings, to Smith indicated that acquiring an organ was underway:

 

Boston, Nov. 7, 1901

Col. Fred E. Smith

Montpelier, Vt.

Dear Sir:—

 

We received your letter of Oct. 31st and have been considering what we should be able to do. After Mr. De Boer left the other day, Mr. Whitney seemed very anxious to have us put in 49 notes of the Vox Celestis. When upon receipt of your letter we went over our figures very carefully, but do not feel that we can really afford to make any difference in the price. We will, however, deduct $100 to assist you in the purchase of this organ. Will say, however, that this is very largely because we know that Mr. Whitney is very desirous that you should purchase one of our organs, and as his good opinion is valuable to us, we are ready to do the very best we can in a case in which he is especially interested. In looking over the scheme we do not feel that there is any stop which could be very well left out. The scheme is well balanced, and would make a very fine instrument.

We think the plan you sent us showing the key-desk and openings in the arches as you propose is very good, and that in this way the sound would come out into the church very well.

It would seem too bad in purchasing an organ which will last for several generations, to allow a few hundred dollars to stand in the way of a desirable instrument. Regarding the cost of our organ, we believe without question that it would be cheaper for you in the long run to purchase one of our make than it would to buy a cheaper grade, outside of the advantage you would have in the way of tone and voicing. We desire very much to build the organ, and trust you will see your way clear to meet us in this matter. I suppose we shall have to know before very long in order to begin this with the other instrument which we mentioned. We should be willing to allow the difference between the $3,900 and the sum which you have to stand for six months or a year without interest if it will help you out.

Yours truly, Hutchings-Votey Organ Co.⁴⁸

 

•

 

Boston, Nov. 8, 1901

Col. Fred E. Smith

Montpelier, Vt.

Dear Sir:—

 

Regarding the position of the console, we could place the console in practically any position you may wish, and this would have no bearing on the building of the rest of the organ; so that if we should start to build the organ we would not necessarily have to know the position of the console for a couple of weeks. Mr. Whitney suggests that it be placed where we have drawn it in pencil, his reason being that from this position the organist could see the altar, which is quite necessary, and it would be possible to get into the space where the quartet would sing on the other side or on the front, we presume. This would make the quartet, if you had one, at the side of and back of the organist, but as they would be very close, it would not be very hard and perhaps considering all things, this position would be the most advantageous.

Yours truly, Hutchings-Votey Organ Co.⁴⁹

 

The contract for the organ has not survived, but it was apparently signed around November 10, 1901, for on November 29, Waterhouse wrote Smith asking, “Have you decided the matter of decorating the front pipes for the organ?”⁵⁰ 

The completed organ was shipped on March 1, 1902, and a notice in the Argus related:

 

S. B. Whitney, formerly organist of Christ church in this city, but now occupying a similar position with the Church of the Advent in Boston, has had the oversight of the new organ which has been built for Christ Church, that instrument having been finished. Mr. Whitney says of it that he is sure that it will delight everyone who hears it. It is now being taken down to be shipped, having been tested twice by Mr. Whitney. . . .”⁵¹

 

The installation took the better part of a month, and on March 24 the Evening Argus stated: “The new organ has been installed in Christ Church and will be ready for the rehearsal Thursday and Friday and for Easter Sunday.”⁵²

The organ was described in detail on the front page of the Argus on March 26:

 

The new organ for Christ church is fast reaching a state of completion and will be ready to peal forth its inspiring sounds to the worshippers Easter morning.

Everything is in readiness now with the exception of three sets of pipes which will be in position at the close of this week.

The new organ is one of the best in the State and combines all of the latest improvements of stops, copulas [sic], pistons and action, making it as easy of action, even with the great [and] swells on, as a piano.

Charles Bowen, of Boston, has had charge of setting up the instrument. It is so adjusted that the very lightest touch will produce strains of harmony.

A little over four weeks ago Mr. Bowen, who is assisted by W. H. Colbath, commenced installing the organ, which was made especially for Christ Church by the Hutchings-Votey Organ company, of Boston. The old one had to be taken out and this was also done by them. The work has been done in a very short time, considering the amount of it.

The organ occupies the same position as the old one, at the right of the chancel, but the key desk has been moved so that it sets at the left across the chancel. The lower part of the organ is of antique oak, with a dark finish, and above this is a row of speaking pipes, gilded.

The key desk is a model of convenience and is equipped with all the modern improvements. The stops are set in such a way as to face the player and be of the easiest possible access.

The organ has 1,098 pipes. Lead tubing runs underneath the floor from the key desk to these pipes and nearly a mile and a half of it was used for this purpose. Through these tubes the air passes and the quickness of the response to the touch of the player is remarkable. The desk has two manuals of 61 notes each. The combination pistons are placed under each manual, four of them operating the swell stops and three the great stops.

An indicator is placed a little to the right of the center of the front of the desk, which shows which piston is being used. At the right of the desk is the pedal and great stops, while at the left are the swell stops. All told there are 18 speaking stops. Seven cupolas [sic] are placed just over the upper manual in the center of the desk.

A full set of pedals, 30 in all, occupy their place, and in connection with these there are two pedals, a crescendo, which brings on the stops one at a time and closes them in a similar manner: also the balanced swell pedal, operating two sets of shades. To the left of these pedals there are three smaller ones, the reversible great to pedal, full organ and Tremulant.

The whole action is tubular pneumatic, compressed air being produced by a hydraulic water motor. This motor was adjusted by Allen D. Moore and is controlled by a wire running from the bellows to the shut off. The water motor can be controlled by the organist, as there is a valve at the left of the organ desk.

All who have seen and heard the organ say it is one of the finest that they have ever listened to.

Mr. Whitney, of Boston, will give a recital. . . .⁵³

 

The organ was a cause of jubilation when it was first heard on Easter Day 1902: “Prof. A. J. Phillips with Miss Laura A. Rugg as organist, and Christ church vested choir of about forty mixed voices outdid, if possible, previous efforts in preparing an Easter musical program. His efforts were augmented to a large extent by the magnificent new pipe organ which was recently placed in the church. . . .”⁵⁴ On April 2, the two installers, Bowen and Colbath, returned to Boston.⁵⁵

Whitney opened the organ on May 20, and the program was billed as “the finest musical feature of the season.”⁵⁶ The program opened with Miss Rugg at the console, followed by the church choir processing to “The Day Is Gently Sinking to a Close.” Whitney played selections of Guilmant, Handel, Lemaigre, Rinck, and Wagner, but it was Master John B. Findlay, a solo boy treble from the choir of the Church of the Advent in Boston, who stole the show with his rendition of “With Verdure Clad” from Haydn’s Creation. A newspaper reported that “The recital and concert was a thorough success musically. . . .”⁵⁷
The project had taken years of planning, and everyone at Christ Church was delighted by the outcome.

 

The 1903 Fire

Taken in context, imagine the congregation’s distress when only seven months later the chancel end of the church was gutted by fire. The headline in the Daily Journal said it all: “FIRE! Discovered 3:30. This afternoon in Christ Church. Organ Will Be Ruined.” An unnamed author in the Inter-State Journal put the disaster into larger perspective:

 

For a season when coal was unobtainable at any price and wood had to be used in coal furnaces, as during the past winter, it is not surprising that many destructive fires have occurred and that many incipient blazes were discovered just in time to save the property. Among the cheifest [sic] conflagrations in central Vermont was that of the partial destruction of Christ’s (Episcopal) Church, at Montpelier, on Jan. 24.⁵⁸

 

Although the interior and roof were badly damaged, the building was not destroyed. The organ, however, was a total loss.⁵⁹

Months passed before the congregation could rebuild, and then a number of construction problems caused further delays. An August 1903 announcement in the Argus and Patriot noted that the stained-glass was late, the black walnut wainscoting around the altar was being installed, and painters had finally completed their work on the interior.⁶⁰

 

Hutchings-Votey Organ Company, 1904

A second contract with the Hutchings-Votey Organ Co. was signed on June 29, 1903, for a replica of the previous instrument, but the organ did not arrive until January 1904. An announcement in the Daily Journal remarked:

 

The work of installing the new organ at Christ church is progressing rapidly, but is not sufficiently advanced to permit the holding of services in the church next Sunday.⁶¹

 

Two weeks later, this notice appeared:

 

Will Be Opened Sunday.

Mr. Mendal of Boston is at work today tuning the new organ in Christ church, which has been in the process of installation for several days. Services have been held in the church for a few weeks only since the burning of the church a year ago this month. They had to be suspended on account of work of putting in the new organ. The organ is one of the finest Hutchings & Votey makes and the melodious sound of the instrument will be a welcome part of the services, long dispensed with. It is planned now to have the church in readiness for services on Sunday if nothing unforeseen obstructs the plans of those in charge of the work. The rehearsal for the Sunday music will be held in the church on Saturday evening instead of Friday.⁶²

A final report stated:

 

A very large congregation attended the morning service at Christ church Sunday at which time the instrumental music was furnished by the organ, for the first time since the fire last January.

The instrument had been placed in position and although there is still three or four days’ work to be done upon it, it was possible to use it at the services, and the result was wholly satisfactory. The musical part of the service was especially fine and those who participated were highly commended. . . .⁶³

 

The tubular-pneumatic action organ cost $4,000.⁶⁴ It remained in the church until it was water-damaged on November 3, 1927.

 

The 1927 Flood

Following a particularly wet autumn, there were torrential rains in the days leading up to November 2–4, 1927. Montpelier is located at the confluence of the North Branch and the Winooski River, and late on November 1, 1927, the rivers began to rise. By November 3, the water on State Street in downtown Montpelier was 12 feet high, up to the top of the first story on most of the buildings. For church buildings at ground level, the flooding caused considerable damage, including the loss of two church organs: the 1868 Wm. A. Johnson at Bethany Congregational Church and the 1904 Hutchings-Votey at Christ Church. The 1927 Flood is universally considered the worst natural disaster in Vermont’s modern history. It resulted in 84 deaths, crippled communications and transportation networks throughout the state, and the property losses were reported to be some $21,000,000,⁶⁵ a staggering amount for the time. Montpelier was particularly hard hit.

 

Estey Organ Company, Opus 2730, 1928

After the waters receded, it was obvious that Christ Church needed a new organ. The Vestry looked south to Brattleboro and ordered an instrument from the Estey Organ Company. Estey reused the case front of the old organ so the new instrument did not look any different, but the mechanism was entirely new. The Estey organ was actually smaller than the 1904 Hutchings-Votey had been, with 4 ranks on the Great, 7 in the Swell, and 2 in the Pedal. The shop order specified a luminous console (which soon malfunctioned and was replaced!), and many of the ranks were extended to either 73 or 85 pipes to speak at multiple pitches. The finished organ was due for delivery on June 15, 1928, but it was not completed until early in the following year.

A February 9, 1929, notice in the Evening Argus related: “The new organ at Christ church will be dedicated Sunday evening at 8 p.m. by Ruth Bampton, member of the American Guild of Organists and instructor at [the] Montpelier Seminary.”⁶⁶ She was a sister of the famed Metropolitan Opera soprano, Rose Bampton. Two days later, another report stated:

 

The new organ is a 21-stop Estey organ, modern in every way, of a fine quality of tone well adapted for the Christ church, and Miss Bampton, who commenced playing the organ as soon as it was set up by representatives of the Estey company, handles it easily, for she is much at home with pipe organs, being not only an organist but composer as well. By some it was said that last evening the recital was the equal of any given in Montpelier in a long time. Miss Bampton played the program that she announced in Saturday’s edition, which included a variety that brought the best tones out of the organ, showed its soft sweet low tones as well as the volume that can be produced.⁶⁷

 

The program included works by Bach,  Borowski, Chadwick, Karg-Elert, Tchaikovsky, and Widor, and was well received.⁶⁸  

By the 1960s, the Estey was showing signs of age. Cracks and splits had developed in the windchests, and after studying the situation, a parish committee recommended buying a new organ.⁶⁹ The Estey remained until it was replaced in April 1972.

 

Karl Wilhelm, Opus 27, 1972

The desire for a new organ actually came earlier than April 1969, when it was announced to the annual diocesan convention that Christ Church was embarking on a capital improvement program involving an expenditure of some $50,000. The parish had just celebrated the centennial of the building, and work on the narthex was necessary. The project was expanded to include painting, reorganization of the choir space, a new organ, and the building of a chapel where the former Estey organ had stood. The new organ was dedicated in memory of Abiel M. Smith, who for twenty-five years had been the organist of Christ Church.⁷⁰ The project was the visionary effort of Jack Russell, then the organist, and the rector, the Rev. David Brown.

The contract went to Karl Wilhelm of St.-Hyacinthe, Québec, Canada. Following an energetic discussion regarding the placement of the organ in the building, the two-manual, mechanical-action instrument was installed in the spring of 1972. Christophe Linde designed the instrument, and Jacques L’Italien did the tonal finishing. Boadway described the installation in the Boston Organ Club Newsletter:

 

The new organ stands free in the right side aisle, the front of the case facing the opposite side wall of the nave, and the choir is thus seated with the congregation. The tall and shallow case of white oak displays five flats of Prinzipal pipes, the tall central group being a tower above the Brustwerk doors. The pipe shades and doors are carved, and the appearance of the case is indeed very handsome. . . . The attached key desk has manuals with black naturals and ivory-capped sharps; the Pedal sharps are capped with rosewood; the plain, large, flat drawknobs are arranged in double columns at each side with, unfortunately, machine-engraved labels that are not of ivory; the hitch-down brass coupler pedals are labeled as indicated in the stoplist above; there is no combination action; the stop and key action is mechanical but the Tremolo is electric; the very silent blower is within the case; the bass 12 pipes of the Subbass are exposed at the rear of the case with the access doors above; the lowest 12 pipes of the 8′ Rohrflöte are of stopped wood; and the Fagott is of half-length cylindrical spotted metal pipes.⁷¹

 

The noted Canadian organist Bernard Lagacé played a program for the Vermont Chapter of the American Guild of Organists on May 7, 1972, including works of Alain, Bach, Buxtehude, Reger, and Sweelinck.⁷² The organ was described in The Diapason⁷³ and remains in the church today. A. David Moore is the current caretaker of the instrument.

Despite the loss of two instruments to natural disasters, Christ Church remains at the forefront of Montpelier’s musical, religious, and social culture today. The choir, led by Lynnette Combs, is one of the finer church choirs in central Vermont. The parish’s six pipe organs have mirrored the progression of style and taste in American organ design, and the church’s fine musical program has been a beacon of culture in central Vermont for 178 years. ν

 

Sidebar I: Stoplists

 

Stevens & Jewett, 1854

Great, CC–g3, 56 notes

16′ Tenoroon, TC, 44 pipes

  8′ Open Diapason, 56 pipes

8′ Dulciana, 56 pipes

  8′ Keraulophon, TG, 37 pipes

  8′ Melodia Treble, TG, 37 pipes

  8′ St. Diapason Bass, 19 pipes

  4′ Principal, 56 pipes

  4′ Flute, TC, 44 pipes

  22⁄3′ Twelfth, 56 pipes

  2′ Fifteenth, 56 pipes

  8′ Trumpet, TC, 44 pipes

Swell, CC–g3, 56 notes,
enclosed

16′ Bourdon Treble, TC, 44 pipes

16′ Bourdon Bass, 12 pipes

  8′ Open Diapason, TC, 44 pipes

  8′ Viol de Gamba, TC, 44 pipes

  8′ St. Diap. Treble, TC, 44 pipes

  8′ St. Diap. Bass, 12 pipes

  4′ Principal Treble, TC, 44 pipes

  4′ Principal Bass, 12 pipes

  2′ Fifteenth, TC, 44 pipes

  II Cornet, TC, 88 pipes, 12th and 17th

  8′ Hautboy, TC, 44 pipes

Pedal, CCC–FF, 18 notes

16′ Sub Bass, 18 pipes, an Open Diapason

 

Couplers and Mechanicals

Swell to Great

Pedal to Great

Pedal to Swell

Pedal Check (see notes below)

Tremolo

No combination pedals

 

The Pedals are coupled to the Swell when the Pedal Check is drawn (no ‘Pedal to Swell’ stop), except when Pedal to Great is drawn out. Pedals cannot be coupled to both manuals at the same time, nor can they be uncoupled from both of them.

 

Source: Reconstructed from notes made in 1898–1901 by Almar Green, when the organ was to be rebuilt, sold, or replaced; and “A correspondent from Montpelier is loud in his praises. . . .,” (Boston) Daily Evening Traveller [sic] 10, no. 257 (Feb. 2, 1855): 1.

•

Estey Organ Company, Opus 2730, 1928

Great Organ, CC–c4, 61 notes

8′ Open Diapason (Leathered Inside 

    Bass), 73 pipes

8′ Dulciana, 73 pipes

8′ Melodia, 73 pipes

4′ Flute Harmonic, 73 pipes

Swell Organ, CC–c4, 61 notes

16′ Bourdon, 97 pipes

8′ Stopped Diapason, 73 notes

4′ Flute d’Amour, 73 notes

2′ Flautino, 61 notes

22⁄3′ Nasard, 61 notes

13⁄5′ Tierce, 61 notes

8′ Open Diapason, 73 pipes

8′ Salicional, 73 pipes

8′ Aeoline, 73 pipes

8′ Vox Celeste, TC, 61 pipes

4′ Violina (use top board wide enough 

    for Cornopean), 73 pipes

8′ Oboe, 73 pipes

Pedal Organ, CCC–G, 32 notes

16′ Open Diapason, 44 pipes

8′ Octave (Fm. Ped. Open), 32 notes

16′ Bourdon, 44 pipes

8′ Flute (Fm. Ped. Bdn.), 32 notes

16′ Lieb. Ged. (Fm. Sw. Bdn.), 32 notes

 

Tremolo

 

Couplers

Gt. to Gt. 4

Sw. to Gt. 16–8–4

Sw. to Sw. 16–4

Sw. to Ped. 8–4

Gt to Ped.

Gt. Uni. Sep.

Sw. Uni Sep.

 

Source: Estey Shop Order

•

Karl Wilhelm, Opus 27, 1972

Hauptwerk, CC–g3, 56 notes

8′ Prinzipal, 56 pipes

8′ Rohrfloete, 56 pipes

4′ Octav, 56 pipes

4′ Koppelfloete, 56 pipes

22⁄3′ Nazard, 56 pipes

2′ Waldfloete, 56 pipes

11⁄3′ Mixture IV, 224 pipes

8′ Trompete, 56 pipes

Brustwerk, CC–g3, 56 notes

8′ Holzgedackt, 56 pipes

4′ Rohrfloete, 56 pipes

2′ Prinzipal, 56 pipes

11⁄3′ Quinte, 56 pipes

Sesquialtera II, 78 pipes

2⁄3′ Zimbel II–III, 150 pipes

8′ Regal, 56 pipes

Tremulant

Pedal, CCC–F, 30 notes

16′ Subbass, 30 pipes

8′ Offenfloete, 30 pipes

4′ Choral Bass, 30 pipes

16′ Fagott, 30 pipes

 

Couplers

HW/PED

BW/PED

BW/HW

 

Mechanical key and stop action

 

Source: Dedication program

 

Sidebar II: Mr. Whitney’s Recommendations

October 29, 1901

Hon. F. E. Smith

Chairman, Organ Committee

Christ Church,

Montpelier, Vt.

Dear Mr. Smith:— 

Conformably to your wishes, I met Mr. Whitney, the former organist at Christ Church, on the 24th. inst. in Boston. He was extremely kind and courteous and exhibited the greatest possible interest in our affairs of a new church organ, having evidently given the subject, as the result of your correspondence with him, close and critical attention. All told, we spent two and one-quarter hours together, at my rooms in review of the various specifications, at his church in concrete illustration of the organ there, and at the shops of Hutchings & Votey, where I met the elder Mr. Hutchings and also your correspondent, Mr. Waterhouse, as I recall the name.

Mr. Whitney’s advices, summarized, may be expressed as follows:

(1) He is a strong advocate of Hutchings & Votey of Boston as the proper manufacturers of the proposed organ upon the grounds that their work is absolutely of the highest grade, sure of giving the church the best possible quality and finish, and is beyond all doubt of chicanery or misdirection.

(2) He believes that a good two manual organ is the thing to buy and declares that such an instrument, particularly with all the special connections set forth in the Hutchings & Votey specifications, will afford a wide range of both volume and harmony and prove eminently satisfactory in our church.

(3) He strongly advises the use of what he calls the tubular pneumatic action, particularly this action as supplied by the aforenamed firm, claiming that it does not get out of order, that it is strong in character and that it vastly contributes to the ease of playing, apart from the consideration that it enables you to locate the keyboard anywhere you wish.

(4) He emphasizes particularly the positive value and high importance of “putting the organ out”, meaning by its removal out of the present box and placing the pipes clear out, flaring with the music stand of the choir loft, that is, directly filling the arch facing the church. He also urges the making of an arch above the wainscoting in the chancel, the same to be filled with pipes, in order that volume and quality of tone may be conserved. The organist “should sit in the chancel” he claims, able to see and direct, if necessary, the choristers and in a position which will enable him to hear the organ and the singers. This is his advice upon this point, although in conversation he was ready to admit that want of space might force us to modify his wish in this respect, but on the whole he thought that we could so arrange it and, if we could, it certainly ought to be done.

(5) He was of the impression that we could satisfactorily arrange for the organist in the chancel, especially if there was a possibility of using a small choir for the purposes of the church. He thought in respect to this point that the object should be to get and hold a small, effective choir, effectiveness being the great point rather than numbers, and to keep reserves in hand out of which to supplement and recruit the regulars. I did not discuss this particularly but make it a part of this report as his suggestion in connection with our discussion of space limitations.

Permit me further to state the following items as bearing on the subject. Mr. Whitney had had this talk with Hutchings & Votey on the supposition that the church had $4,000 to spend for the purpose of an organ. That firm made its specifications to you in view of its now having a second organ to build, thus making a saving on both. They stated that possibly something might be saved on pipes and particularly on the case, a suggestion growing out of my statement that we had command of only $3500.00, but if there is to be a saving on the pipes and case it will depend upon where the organ is placed.

The matter was therefore left in this way: Mr. Whitney was to write you in substance all that he had said to me and return your papers. We are to send Hutchings & Votey full, exact and detailed measurements of all spaces affected, in order to enable them to refigure the price and to make any suggestions which their experiences may determine. I would suggest that this matter of making measurements be placed in charge of Mr. Phillips of the committee and that all measures be independently checked before being forwarded to Boston.

It is right to add that Mr. Whitney showed intense interest in this matter, often referring to his early work here and to old memories, and repeatedly expressed his wish to have Christ Church possess an organ of unquestioned merit, “and when it is installed”, said he, “I will come up and give an organ recital, bringing one of my best boy soloists”, adding with a smile, “without cost to you except for transportation of the boy”.

Trusting that all this may be found satisfactory by the Committee, I remain,

Yours very truly, Joseph A. De Boer

 

Sidebar III: Hutchings-Votey Organ Co., Contract, 1903

Boston, Mass., June 29, 1903.

MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT made this day by and between Hutchings-Votey Organ Co., Organ Builders of Boston, Mass., party of the first part, and Christ
P. E. Church of Montpelier, Vt., party of the second part.

To wit:—

The party of the first part shall build an Organ according to the annexed specifications, of the best materials and in the most thorough manner, and set it up in the above church in good working order, ready for use, warranted perfect in every respect on or about October 1st, 1903, barring any detention from labor troubles.

The party of the second part shall prepare the place for the Organ, and allow suitable convenience and opportunity in the church for the work of setting up and tuning it; shall fully insure it in the name of the party of the first part as soon as it or its parts shall have been deposited in the Church; shall keep said insurance in force until title to the organ shall be transferred to the party of the second part; and in full consideration for the finishing and delivery of the Organ as above, shall pay to the party of the first part, the sum of three thousand, four hundred and seventy-one dollars and sixty cents ($3,471.60), payable as follows—at least $1771.60 to be paid on completion of the organ in the church and the balance in two installments of $850 each in six and twelve months without interest, in Boston or New York funds.

It is agreed that the title to the organ shall be vested in the party of the first part until all payments and obligations, cash and deferred, have been paid in full, whereupon the title shall be given to the party of the second part.

John H. Waterhouse, Tres.

Hutchings-Votey Organ Co.

Fred E. Smith, Jr. Warden

Christ Church, Montpelier

 

SPECIFICATION OF AN ORGAN

prepared by

Hutchings-Votey Organ Co., Organ Builders, of Boston, Mass.

for 

Christ P. E. Church, Montpelier, Vt.

 

Two manuals, Compass from C to c 4, 61 notes

Compass of Pedals from C to f1, 30 notes

 

–GREAT ORGAN–

1. 8 ft. Open Diapason metal 61 pipes

2. 8 ft. Dolcissimo " 61 "

3. 8 ft. Melodia " 61 "

4. 4 ft. Octave " 61 "

5. 2 ft. Super Octave " 61 "

6. 8 ft. Trumpet " 61 "

 

–SWELL ORGAN–

7. 16 ft. Bourdon Treble wood 61 pipes

8. 16 ft. Bourdon Bass

9. 8 ft. Open Diapason

wood and metal 61 "

10. 8 ft. Salicional " 61 "

11. 8 ft. Stopped Diapason wood 61 "

12. 8 ft. Vox Celestis metal 61 "

13. 4 ft. Flute Harmonique " 61 "

14. 4 ft. Violina " 61 "

15. 2 ft. Flautino " 61 "

16. II Rks. Dolce Cornet " 122 "

17. 8 ft. Oboe " 61 "

 

–PEDAL ORGAN–

18. 16 ft. Open Diapason wood 30 pipes

19. 16 ft. Bourdon " 30 "

 

–COUPLERS–

20. Swell to Great

21. Swell to Swell 4 ft.

22. Swell to Swell 16 ft.

23. Great to Swell

24. Great to Pedal

25. Great to Great 16 ft.

26. Swell to Pedal

 

–COMBINATIONS–

1) Operating on Great and Pedal

2)

3)

0)

 

1) Operating on Swell and Pedal

2)

3)

4)

0)

 

General Release

Pedal Release

 

–PEDALS–

1. Reversible Great and Pedal

2. Balanced Swell

3. Tremolo

4. Sforzando (Full Organ)

5. Balanced Crescendo

 

Tubular pneumatic action

Extended keydesk

 

The builders are to have the privilege of using such parts of the old organ as can be used without detriment to the new instrument.

 

Notes

1. “The Sabbath at the State Capital,” The Rutland (Vt.) Daily Globe 1, no. 92 (Aug. 16, 1873): 1.

2. Jacob G. Ullery, Men of Vermont: An Illustrated Biographical History of Vermonters and Sons of Vermont (Brattleboro, Vt.: Transcript Publishing Company, 1894), 160.

3. Universitas Viridis Montis; or, The University of Vermont. 

4. “Hon. Benjamin Franklin Fifield,” Genealogical and Family History of the State of Vermont: A Record of Achievements of Her People in the Making of a Commonwealth and the Founding of a Nation (New York and Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1903), 1–4; and “Hon. Benjamin F. Fifield,” The Vermonter 4, no. 7 (Feb. 1899): 112.

5. The Vermont Encyclopedia s.v. “Dewey, Julius Y.”

6. “In Memoriam—Charles Dewey,” (Oak Park, Ill.) Life Insurance Courant 11, no. 2 (Sept. 7, 1905): 47–48.

7. The Vermont Encyclopedia s.v. “Dewey, George.” 

8. Norwich University, 1819–1911, Her History, Her Graduates, Her Roll of Honor (Montpelier, Vt.: The Capital City Press, 1911), 1.

9. “Phinney, Truman C.,” Men of Vermont: An Illustrated Biographical History of Vermonters and Sons of Vermont (Brattleboro, Vt.: Transcript Publishing Company, 1894), 312–13.

10. “Col. Fred E. Smith Dead,” (Montpelier, Vt.) Argus and Patriot 57, no. 17 (Feb. 27, 1907): 3; hereafter AP.

11. The Bicentennial of the Pipe Organ in Vermont, 1814–2014. Richmond, Virginia: OHS Press [2013], 70–79. 

12. “Old Business Man Gone,” AP 51, no. 23 (Apr. 17, 1901): 3.

13. George A. McIntyre, The History of Christ Episcopal Church (Montpelier, Vermont: Christ Church, 1982), 35; hereafter McIntyre.

14. Encyclopedia [of] Vermont Biography: A Series of Authentic Biographical Sketches of the Representative Men of Vermont and Sons of Vermont in other States (Burlington, Vermont: Ullery Publishing Company, 1912), 180.

15. “Rites for Mr. Smith,” The (Montpelier) Times Argus 71, no. 75 (June 12, 1967): 2. 

16. “New Wilhelm Tracker to Montpelier, Vermont,” The Diapason 63, no. 11 (Oct. 1972): 10.

17. Amy Ash Nixon, “Body of Local Orchestra Conductor Found,” (Montpelier) Times-Argus (Aug. 28, 2014); and “Brian P. Webb, Obituary On-Line,” Guare & Sons, Barbar & Lanier, Funeral Service, 30 School St., Montpelier, Vt.

18. Organ Handbook (2013): 66.

19. John Henry Hopkins, “Address,” Journal of the Proceedings of the Fiftieth Annual Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Vermont; Being the Eighth Annual Convention Since the Full Organization of the Diocese; Held in St. James’ Church, Woodstock on the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Days of September (Burlington: Chauncey Goodrich, 1840), 5; hereafter Vermont Convention Proceedings. 

20. “Historical Sketch of Christ Church, Montpelier,” AP 18, no. 25 (June 11, 1868): 3.

21. Hopkins, “Address,” Vermont Convention Proceedings (1842), 6.

22. The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Issued Quarterly, Under the Direction of the New England Historical Genealogical Society for the Year 1863 17 (Albany: J. Munsell, 1863), 177.

23. John Spargo, The Consecrated Century: An Outline History of St. Peter’s Protestant Episcopal Church, Bennington, Vermont (Bennington: Vestry of St. Peter’s Church, 1934), 16–17.

24. McIntyre, 25–26.

25. “Consecration,” (Montpelier) Vermont Watchman & State Journal 38, no. 16 (Dec. 23, 1842): 3; hereafter VWSJ.

26. Hopkins, “Address,” Vermont Convention Proceedings (1843), 7.

27. Vermont Convention Proceedings (1850), 29. 

28. “New Organ at the Congregationalist Church,” The St. Albans (Vt.) Messenger 26, no. 7 (Dec. 25, 1862): 3; hereafter SAM.

29. “New Church Organ,” (Montpelier) Vermont Patriot & State Gazette 30, no. 1 (Dec. 22, 1854): 3.

30. “Church Organ,” VWSJ 49, no. 6 (Jan. 5, 1855): 3. 

31. Hopkins, “Address,” Vermont Convention Proceedings (1855), 9.

32. “The organs of . . .,” The (Montpelier) Vermont Watchman 80, no. 29 (July 1, 1885): 1; hereafter VW.

33. “Montpelier Mere Mention,” AP 52, no. 16 (Feb. 26, 1902): 3.

34. E. A. Boadway, “An Annotated Catalog of Known Pipe Organs in Vermont,” The Bicentennial of the Pipe Organ in Vermont, 1814–2014 (Richmond, Virginia: OHS Press, [2013]), 200. 

35. McIntyre, 27.

36. “The plan for the . . .,” VWSJ 61, no. 27 (May 4, 1866): 2.

37. “The cornerstone of . . .,” VWSJ 62, no. 2 (Nov. 9, 1866): 2.

38. “State Items,” (St. Albans) Vermont Daily Transcript 1, no. 2 (May 14, 1868): 3.

39. Abby Maria Hemenway, The History of the Town of Montpelier, Including that of the Town of East Montpelier, for the First One Hundred and Two Years (Montpelier, Vt.: Published by Miss A. M. Hemenway, 1882), 412.

40. Ibid.

41. “Historical Sketch,” AP 18, no. 25 (June 11, 1868): 3.

42. MS, Church records, Report from an Organ Committee, November 30, 1898. Christ Church, Episcopal, Montpelier, Vermont [photocopied during the 1970s by E. A. Boadway; cited with permission]. 

43. Ibid.

44. Ibid., undated Organ Committee Report, likely Feb., 1899.

45. “Organ For Christ Church,” AP 51, no. 43 (Sept. 4, 1901): 3.

46. “Christ Church Organ,” AP 51, no. 44 (Sept. 11, 1901): 4.

47. “The organ builders. . .,” Montpelier (Vt.) Daily Journal 53, no. 70 (Feb. 24, 1902): 3; hereafter MDJ.

48. MS, Church records.

49. Ibid.

50. Ibid.

51. “New Organ For Christ Church,” AP 52, no. 16 (Feb. 26, 1902): 3.

52. “The new organ . . .,” The (Montpelier, Vt.) Evening Argus 5, no. 122 (Mar. 24, 1902): 4; hereafter EA.

53. “New Organ Placed in Christ Church,” EA 5, no. 124 (Mar. 26, 1902): 1; a similar article appeared as “New Church Organ,” MDJ 53, no. 100 (Mar. 31, 1902): 2.

54. “Glad Easter,” MDJ 53, no. 100 (Mar. 31, 1902): 1.

55. “Montpelier and Vicinity,” MDJ 53, no 102 (Apr. 2, 1902): 4.

56. “Organ Recital,” AP 52, no. 26 (May 2, 1902): 3.

57. “Whitney Organ Recital,” AP 52, no. 29 (May 28, 1902): 3.

58. “A Recent Fire at Montpelier, Vt., and its Probable Origin,” Inter-State Journal: An Illustrated Monthly of the Connecticut Valley 5, nos. 10–11 (Jan.–Feb., 1903): n.p.

59. “Christ Church Badly Damaged by Fire and Water,” MDJ 54 (Jan. 26, 1903): 1.

60. “Work on Church Delayed,” AP 53, no. 42 (Aug. 26, 1903): 4.

61. “Montpelier Locals,” MDJ 54 (Jan. 7, 1904): 4.

62. “Will Be Opened Sunday,” MDJ 54 (Jan. 21, 1904): 4.

63. “Services at Christ Church,” EA 7, no. 73 (Jan. 25, 1904): 4.

64. Vermont Convention Proceedings (1904), 122.

65. The Vermont Encyclopedia s.v. “Flood of 1927.”

66. “Christ Church,” (Montpelier, Vt.) Evening Argus 32, no. 87 (Feb. 9, 1929): 4; hereafter EA. 

67. “Dedication Services Occurred Sunday Including an Organ Recital,” EA 32, no. 88 (Feb. 11, 1929): 8.

68. “Christ Church,” EA 32, no. 87 (Feb. 9, 1929): 4.

69. MS, Vestry minutes. Christ Church, Montpelier, Vt. [custody of the church; cited with permission].

70. “Annual Episcopal Convention,” SAM 109, no. 85 (Apr. 30, 1969): 10. 

71. E. A. Boadway, “Christ Episcopal Church, Montpelier, Vermont.” The Boston Organ Club Newsletter 8, no. 4 (April, 1972): 6–7.

72. “Capital Organ Concert Sunday,” The (Montpelier-Barre, Vt.) Times-Argus 76, no. 43 (May 4, 1972): 24.

73. “New Wilhelm Tracker to Montpelier, Vermont,” The Diapason 63, no. 11 (Oct. 1972): 10.