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American Institute of Organbuilders, Thirty-first Annual Convention

New York City, September 28-October 1, 2004

Sebastian M. Glück

Sebastian M. Glück is president and tonal director of Glück New York, Pipe Organ Restorers and Builders, and is editor of the Journal of American Organbuilding, the quarterly publication of the American Institute of Organbuilders.

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Tuesday, September 28

Wall sconces taking the form of artillery shells line the nave of the Protestant Cadet Chapel of the United States Military Academy at West Point, home of what began as M.P. Möller’s Opus 1201 of 1911. Now IV/380, it incorporates pipework provided by a list of builders from George Edgar Gress to Aristide Cavaillé-Coll. The sheer size of this instrument may very well be its most American characteristic. Since pipework and divisions are added to this organ, not replaced, the organ is a growing compendium of trends. As an agglutinated scheme built up over the past century, an organ of this size must struggle to put forth a distinctive and identifiable character.

Army Chaplain Scott McChrystal (Colonel) spoke about the organ’s history and role at the academy before introducing organist Craig Williams, organ curator Gary Ferguson, and associate organ curator William Chapman.

Mr. Williams’ opening selection was “The Turning on of the Blowers,” a work for eight switches, featuring over 100 horsepower of turbines. The remainder of his program ran the gamut from a Dvorák symphonic transcription to Georgian miniatures. Following the demonstration-recital, a buffet dinner, complete with carvery, was served at the Officers’ Club overlooking the Hudson River.

Wednesday, September 29

AIO President Charles Kegg presided over the opening of the convention, marked by the first session of the Institute’s annual business meeting. The routine nature of the early morning meeting was offset by a sumptuous breakfast buffet, the first of many lavish and healthy meals planned by this year’s convention committee (Timothy Fink, Sebastian M. Glück, Allen Miller, chairman Edward Odell, Holly Odell, and F. Anthony Thurman).

Historian, musician, and Organ Historical Society Archivist Stephen Pinel’s history of New York organbuilders, “The Orchard in the Apple,” was a polished, well-researched presentation. It was reminiscent of a Burns documentary, the text so focused and the materials so pertinent that one forgot that the images were still, not moving. Pinel’s access to archival material combined with uncompromising production values set a benchmark for future historical lectures, yet it would be difficult to find something more titillating than the nude image of Ernest Martin Skinner that revealed the legend in a most human light.

Mr. Pinel closed with a requiem for our historical organs, imploring us to help preserve what remains. Few heritage instruments survive unaltered in New York City, despite its nearly unrivaled reign as a center of organbuilding during the Industrial Revolution.

Mike Foley, a champion of the service sector of the organbuilding field, captivated attendees with a dynamic presentation that was at once a business lecture, an ethics seminar, and a motivational gathering. “Minding Your Own Business” mixed life lessons with business advice: fix your mistakes before others find them; voice pipes, not opinions; love every pipe organ you see and hear, and your telephone shall ring. Get to know your clients; make sure that they know you, not just your bid. Above all else, eschew cynicism--or find another calling.

Be as precise in the writing of your contracts as in the keeping of your books, no matter how daunting the prospect. Audit your firm, insure your assets, motivate your staff, and enjoy yourself, and surely thy business shall thrive. More organs are serviced and tuned in a year than are built.

As do so many Europeans, AIO member Didier Grassin has such a subtly poetic grasp of the English language that it leaves this writer envious. His engineering degrees retreat to the background as organists and organbuilders alike marvel at the exquisite beauty of the organs he has designed. “The Canon Rules of Good Organ Case Design” explained the emotional/artistic response as essential to the success of the organ case. Neither frivolous nor luxurious, but necessary, the well-dressed pipe organ must embody architecture beyond utility as a critical component of the complete æsthetic experience of seeing, hearing, and touching The King of Instruments.

The shape of the case, its position within the space, and the breaking of planes in the massing are as important as the desired elements of vertical thrust and a strong focal point. Texture and color, from the grain and hue of the timber, to the play of light on carvings and façade pipes, must invite the observer to touch such a creation. Movement, tension, relief, and proportion--the elements of fine painting, sculpture, and architecture--make a great organ case.

Organist and organbuilder Sebastian M. Glück, editor of the Institute’s Journal of American Organbuilding, ended the lecture cycle with “What Goes Where and Why,” an analytical prescription for organ design based upon the demands of the literature we play. Many organs, even very large ones, are ill-equipped or incapable of accurately performing entire segments of the organ literature because consultants, organists, and organbuilders ignore historical treatises, the musical score, and the instruments for which the music was written.

American organ design continues to be plagued by stops at the wrong pitches in the wrong locations, and in some sectors has yet to recover from the misinterpretations of the “Organ Reform Movement” of the last century. The American “Bach organ” of the mid-1960s is strikingly dissimilar to the organ that Bach might have played in the 1730s, and sadly, the average American organ cannot handle French music of any era with real accuracy. The lecture exposed the pitfalls of grab-bag eclecticism, and outlined the elements of scholarship that are contributing to the success of today’s polyglot masterpieces.

Thursday, September 30

The Bedford Presbyterian Church, a carpenter Gothic 1872 building on The Village Green, is home to Martin Pasi’s 2001 II/29 Opus 13, a freestanding, encased organ with mechanical key action. The demonstration-recital was performed by John Lettieri, AAGO. The two manual divisions are of equal size, the Swell essentially an Oberwerk with the addition of an undulant and shutters. With a warm and generous ensemble, punctuated by two differently pungent tierces, the instrument convincingly handles large portions of the literature. The opportunity for AIO members to tour the instrument revealed meticulous craftsmanship and fine materials throughout.

Back in the mid-1960s, when no American organbuilder was good enough for the nation’s most famous concert hall, a very wealthy woman donated a Flentrop organ to New York’s Carnegie Music Hall. Ultimately rejected by a board of experts, the organ languished in storage for a decade before its adoption by The State University of New York at Purchase. There it languishes today, in an immense storage shed at stage left, its “Moderne Neo-Aztec” casework surrounded by acoustically annihilating drapes. Built on an air caster platform, a crew of ten can, in several hours, move it to the main stage for its annual appearance at a Christmas event. 

Robert Fertitta played small fragments of various organ works, and we were informed that the organ had been tonally altered by pressure changes, substitution of some stops, and revoicing after taking up residence at Purchase. The instrument’s curator, Peter Batchelder, served as historian, narrator, and supplemental combination action, and it is his quiet diligence and dedication that has kept that instrument working, in tune, and available to students.

Virgil Fox, Frederick Swann, William Sloane Coffin, Robert Hebble, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Richard Weagly, Anthony A. Bufano--the list of associations is long when it comes to The Riverside Church. Timothy Smith, DMA, now presides over the V/204 instrument, front and back, that still retains much of the flavor of Aeolian-Skinner Opus 1118 of 1947, the famous instrument from which it evolved. The interior surfaces of the large room, in a squatter-than-accurate version of French gothic, have been sealed to provide a fiery acoustic, adding reverberation and a telling upper end to the original sound. Dr. Smith knows this impeccably maintained organ well, and his technical and musical abilities provided a fine demonstration of its capabilities.

A drive down sumptuous Fifth Avenue along Central Park brought us to Temple Emanu-El, the world’s largest Reform synagogue. Our first stop in the large complex was the 270-seat Beth-El Chapel. Sebastian Glück’s 1997 III/34 Opus 5 in the west gallery was demonstrated by one of the temple’s staff organists, Pedro d’Aquino, as a prelude to the panel discussion, “Metropolitan Marvels: Conservation and Curatorial Practices for the Large Urban Pipe Organ.” Panelists were Joseph Dzeda of Yale University and the Thompson-Allen Company, Gary Ferguson of West Point, and Curt Mangel of the Wanamaker (Lord & Taylor) Store in Philadelphia. Mr. Glück, whose firm maintains some of New York City’s large instruments, served as panel moderator.

Our move into the breathtaking sanctuary provided many attendees’ first visit to a synagogue. This vast, mystical space, a blend of Art Deco and Byzantine æsthetics filled with carving, polychrome, mosaic, and stained glass, can be overwhelming. A rare visual treat was the congregation’s famous Succah, erected on the bimah for the festival of Succot. Sebastian Glück’s demonstration-recital included repertoire of all cultures and eras, including two short works he had written specifically for the instrument. The 2003 IV/135 is Glück’s Opus 7, featured in the November 2004 issue of The Diapason, which retains 66 ranks from the temple’s 1928 Casavant Opus 1322. The largest of three pipe organs in the complex, the symphonic instrument’s style can best be described as Anglo-French Romantic Neoclassicism, using special scales and mixture compositions to overcome the acoustical stone that lines the 2,500-seat room.

With nearly 20,000 restaurants in New York City, conventioneers were set free for dinner on the fashionable Upper East Side before returning to the buses.

Friday, October 1

The second half of the Institute’s annual business meeting always includes a presentation on the state of the pipe organ industry by Dr. Robert Ebert of Baldwin-Wallace College. Based upon surveys filled out each year by the AIO membership, trends are tracked in areas ranging from the number of rebuilds, to number of electronic organs replaced by real pipe organs, to the number of new ranks built, to which denominations are investing in pipe organs.

This year’s Open Forum touched upon the AGO’s new Task Force on Digital Inclusiveness. One issue discussed was the pipe organ builder’s responsibility for making the pipes as beautiful as possible, and not leaving the pipe complement of these hybrid instruments to untrained sales agents with no voicing or tonal finishing experience. Many questions arose, especially about whether craftsmen in the Institute should combine their art with short-lived, disposable imitations.

“First Do No Harm,” a panel moderated by Laurence Libin of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, stressed both procedure and ethics. Pipe organ conservators Scot Huntington (OHS Vice President), Joseph Dzeda, and Richard Hamar discussed documentation, techniques, and the increasingly focused ethical mindset of the worldwide restoration community. An instrument’s age is no longer the sole criterion for historical significance. Restorations and alterations must be evident and reversible, and we must learn to stop “fixing” problems that do not exist. Preservation does not equate to paralysis, but we must end the process of ruination in the name of fashion by removing our personal judgments from the project.

Respected consultant and engineer Richard Houghten served as moderator for “Command and Control,” a highly technical panel discussion of advances in the technology and application of solid state pipe organ control systems. Engineers Scott Peterson, Duncan Crundwell, Arthur Young, Allen Miller, and Henry Wemekamp delivered individual presentations before a moderated discussion and questions from the floor.

The convention formally ended with Craig Whitney of The New York Times speaking of “A New Age for the Concert Hall Organ.” Following a summary of some of the material in his recent book, All the Stops, he spoke hopefully of the new concert hall organs being built in America, notably the visually and tonally stunning pipe organ in Walt Disney Concert Hall. With the contemporary church losing interest in the organ, will we have to create a new type of organist geared toward secular audiences? Or will each of these new concert hall organs stand as a mute reredos to the orchestra?

Saturday, October 2

Each AIO convention is followed by a one- or two-day post-convention tour. This year’s offerings began with a demonstration-recital at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola (1993 Mander IV/91), followed by a recital at the Church of St. Thomas More (1998 II/26 Lively-Fulcher). A demonstration-recital followed at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church (1967 III/55 von Beckerath), which included an “open console” for participants, as well as the opportunity to climb carefully through the instrument to examine it. The Church of St. Mary the Virgin (1932 and following IV/91 Aeolian-Skinner and others) ended the day, and although the organ has been changed so much as to bear little resemblance to the original, bits of G. Donald Harrison’s soul floated down the acoustically stunning nave when some of the least-altered, original voices were used.

The annual banquet included a presentation on “The Cinematic Organ” by historian Jonathan Ambrosino, with wonderful archival material assembled by California producer Vic Ferrer. After this fun, informative, and sometimes irreverent glimpse of the organ’s portrayal by Hollywood, Mr. Ambrosino spoke of the life and work of Donald B. Austin who died on September 17. Although his passing marked the end of an era, his achievements and driven work ethic serve to inspire the next generation of organbuilders.

Sunday, October 3

St. Thomas Church (IV/138 conglomerate and 1996 II/25 Taylor and Boody) was the choice for worship services on Sunday morning. Following the distinguished tenure of Gerre Hancock, the parish has chosen John Scott, formerly of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, to assume the mantle. A recital followed at Grace Church, Brooklyn Heights (2001 III/69 Austin), and the day ended at the Church of St. Charles Borromeo (1880 III/35 Odell), also in downtown Brooklyn. AIO members attended the service of installation for the incoming officers of the Brooklyn AGO chapter, and were welcomed at a reception following the program.

The conventions of the American Institute of Organbuilders are not restricted to organbuilders or AIO members, and attendance by musicians and other interested parties is encouraged. Convention information is always advertised in this and other journals well in advance, so make future conventions part of your autumn plans. For information: www.pipeorgan.org.

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The Organ Historical Society Fiftieth Anniversary Convention (part 1)

June 25–30, 2006, Saratoga Springs, New York

Frank G. Rippl

Frank Rippl is a graduate of Lawrence University Conservatory of Music where he studied with Miriam Clapp Duncan and Wolfgang Rübsam. He is co-founder of The Appleton Boychoir, coordinator of the Lunchtime Organ Recital Series in the Appleton, Wisconsin area, and has been organist/choirmaster at All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Appleton for 35 years

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In the months leading up to the Organ Historical Society’s Fiftieth Anniversary National Convention, the question on everyone’s mind was “Could it live up to the level of advance excitement it was generating?” The OHS magazine, The Tracker, had published its usual pre-convention issue with mouthwatering photos of the organs and venues—pictures by Victor Hoyt and Stephen Pinel that made one fall in love with the organ all over again. There were articles and ads in the professional journals touting the instruments to be visited, not the least of which was the historic 3-manual Odell organ from 1882, the oldest large and unaltered concert hall organ in America—an instrument not heard in decades. There was the outstanding roster of performers, the beauty of New York State, the festive banquets, the cruise on Lake George, and on it went.
By the final evening, the answer was an exultant and resounding “Yes!” Convention chairman Stephen Pinel and his committee truly outdid themselves. One of the biggest surprises was the huge, lavishly illustrated and annotated 250-page, 81⁄2" x 11" convention 2006 Organ Atlas (which replaced the traditional, smaller Organ Handbook we were accustomed to seeing each year), detailing the instruments, the venues and their cities. This major document of the organs of the Albany area will be of invaluable service to historians. It represents an extraordinary amount of painstaking research by Jonathan Ambrosino, editor; Alfred V. Fedak, Scot L. Huntington, Len Levasseur, and Stephen L. Pinel. With this distinguished book, the OHS arrives at one of those new plateaus founding member Barbara Owen spoke of in her opening address. This was an exceptional convention worthy of a fiftieth anniversary. They called it “Coming Home.”
This review includes many fine photos of the convention instruments; more photos can be seen at the OHS website , which has links to previous conventions and to the daily convention programs.

Sunday, June 25

In her opening address, founder Barbara Owen recalled the old days and highlighted milestone events along the way. She especially noted the OHS Archives—now an outstanding and unique international resource. Owen said that the OHS at fifty (“middle aged”) should, like the god Janus, look both forward and backward, but should also look inward to draw upon the strengths of each member.
The first concert took place at the 1885 Round Lake Auditorium, preceded by an outdoor dinner of chicken barbecue, a local specialty. The concert featured the famous 3-manual Davis & Ferris organ (1874), originally built for Calvary Episcopal Church in New York City, and moved to Round Lake in 1888. With its sturdy gothic case and stopknobs arranged in the shape of a cross, it sits high at the back of the stage in this large shed-like building festooned with colorful paper lanterns. Chairman Pinel presented Edna Van Duzee Walter with a plaque honoring her 40 years of volunteer service caring for and promoting this historic instrument. The 2006 Organ Atlas states that “It is the only large American-made, three-manual organ from the pre-1850 period to survive in nearly intact condition.”
Organist Antonius Bittmann and the New Brunswick Chamber Orchestra led by Mark Trautman offered an evening of Rheinberger. Bittmann opened with the Sonata No. 12 in D-flat, and from the first low D-flat in the pedal, it was clear that we were in the presence of an extraordinary musical instrument. Its full, broad scale filled the room with a gentle tone from a quieter, less clamorous time. Especially effective was the second movement’s use of the sweet flute sounds. The third movement, Introduction and Fugue, featured the principals and reeds and made one long for the sounds of other large instruments from that period that no longer exist. After intermission, we were summoned back to our seats by the ringing of the auditorium’s tower bell for the Concerto in G minor for organ and orchestra. This is a splendid work with soaring French horn lines and beautiful writing. The conductor led the fine orchestra and the organ with just the right blend of sweep and precision—a wonderful beginning to a week of music.

Monday, June 26

The day began at 8:00 a.m. in pouring rain. Rain was to be the uninvited guest at this convention; there would be some historic and heavy flooding throughout the area. However, enthusiasm and spirits were on the sunny side as we embarked on a two-hour bus ride out into the lovely countryside of the Mohawk River Valley to visit James Fenimore Cooper’s Leatherstocking region of New York state, beginning in Richfield Springs and Cooperstown, before ending the day in Albany.
My group began at Church of Christ Uniting in Richfield Springs with a recital by Michael J. Diorio on the 1896 Farrand & Votey organ. The twin cases that flank the altar, plus other sanctuary furniture, were all designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany. Unfortunately, they are lit nowadays with long fluorescent tubes in the ceiling, but the craftsmanship of the delicately carved casework is superb. Diorio’s recital gave a good tour of this instrument’s resources, programming that OHSers always appreciate. He is a fine and spirited player who earned his doctorate in organ just two weeks earlier. Particularly effective were the Adagio für die Orgel by Julius Reubke and Adagio espressivo from Sonata No. 2 by Rheinberger, which he performed with quiet tenderness.
At St. John’s Episcopal Church in Richfield Springs we heard the 1887 Hook & Hastings (photo p. 27) played by Donald K. Fellows, organist at St. Paul’s Cathedral in Pittsburgh, who announced each of his registrations. The St. John’s organ stands to the right of the altar in this intimate church. The façade pipes are painted in shades of blue, red and tan with gold trim. Each stop fills the room perfectly and confidently. Fellows used the flute stops to great effect in selections from Haydn’s charming Pieces for a Flute Clock. George Shearing’s Chorale Prelude on There Is a Happy Land showed a variety of sound including the gentle Oboe and the rich and enveloping Great chorus. There is a wonderful warmth about the building and the organ. Shades of blue dominate.
We drove to Cooperstown, along the way passing the grounds of Glimmerglass Opera and Lake Otsego. After a brief visit to the Farmer’s Museum, a collection of historic structures, we went to lunch in the Old World elegance of the Otesaga Hotel. The buffet was served on the veranda with its stunning view of Lake Otsego.
We then returned to the museum where, in a gentle rain, we toured the various buildings—avoiding puddles and observing wool spinners, blacksmiths and the like, before visiting the former Cornwallville United Methodist Church to hear the 1849 Giles Beach organ played by Eugene Roan with John Burkhalter, English flute. They presented a pleasant musicale of mostly American music from the 19th and early 20th centuries. The gentle and sweet tones of the instruments in the historic church building evoked the period of this charming literature quite nicely. We would hear several organs by Gloversville, New York builder Giles Beach at the convention—this tiny one-manual, four-stop instrument was the smallest. Beach built some 100 organs, of which only six survive.
We then drove to Albany. Following dinner at the Crowne Plaza Hotel (we ate very well all week!), we took a magical stroll to All Saints’ Cathedral, passing some of Albany’s magnificent buildings, including the splendid State Capitol building and City Hall, both by Henry Hobson Richardson. City Hall boasts a 49-bell carillon, and carillonneur Charles Semowich provided glorious “traveling music” as we walked to the cathedral.
Dedicated in 1888, Albany’s All Saints Episcopal Cathedral is one of America’s great gothic churches. At 330 feet long and 100 feet high, it is a most impressive monument. In 1900, Austin built a fine 4-manual instrument, and the organ was enlarged in 1904 when transepts were completed for the cathedral. By all accounts it was a magnificent organ. In 1956 it was greatly altered by the Aeolian-Skinner Organ Company, changed to reflect the American Classic style. It was changed again by Austin in 1963, and in 1986 a gallery antiphonal was added incorporating a Trompette-en-Chamade (photo p. 27).
Joan Lippincott’s large and ambitious program began with the hymn “Ancient of Days” to the tune Albany. She then played Fanfare and Fugue by Ned Rorem, which announced itself on the powerful west end Trompette-en-Chamade. Next, Bach’s Passacaglia & Fugue gave us a tour of the principal choruses. Her playing was, as always, clean, robust, and spirited; each musical line was clearly delineated. The first half ended with a brilliant reading of Mozart’s Fantasy in F Minor, in which we heard some of the quiet and gentle sounds of the organ.
Following intermission, Miss Lippincott returned to play another fanfare: Fanfare for the Common Man by Aaron Copland. I was seated in the crossing and greatly enjoyed the surround-sound effect of trumpets at east and west ends. The grand acoustics of the cathedral added to the impact of her deeply felt and spectacular performance. She then launched into one of the 20th-century’s greatest organ works: Jehan Alain’s Trois Danses. From my seat in the crossing, I could enjoy the various reed sounds bouncing now from north to south, or triforium to triforium as she used the divisions above both sides of the choir. Lippincott projected all the spirit of the dances dovetailed with the sense of melancholy and fate that pervades all of Jehan Alain’s music. To glorious effect she had reserved the evening’s first use of the 32' reed for the middle of the second Danse—the impact was staggering. The final movement (Struggles) showed why this great performer’s muscular and riveting playing is so admired. Lippincott ended with the Liszt Prelude and Fugue on B.A.C.H., a piece made for a room like All Saints Cathedral.
And that was just the first full day!

Tuesday, June 27

The day dawned sunny and clear. On this day 50 years ago, the OHS was founded, and on this day six years ago, Westminster Presbyterian Church, a red brick church on Albany’s Capitol Hill, signed a contract with the Austin Organ Company to rebuild their 3-manual 1930 E. M. Skinner organ, Opus 780. But there is a great story here. By the 1970s the Skinner needed cleaning, releathering and some renovations. Instead of doing that routine work, the church decided to spend the money on what was then a state-of-the-art electronic substitute. Thomas and Ann Older, members of the church, bought the Skinner for one dollar, and had it installed in their home where it would stay safely for the next 25 years. By 2001, the electronic was ancient and experiencing some very public embarrassing moments. The Olders graciously offered to return the Skinner to a grateful church; Austin rebuilt it, adding an antiphonal organ (in a case designed by Stephen Bicknell) with tonal finishing by Scot L. Huntington. We heard it in a very fine concert by Professor Thomas Murray of Yale University—a longtime champion of historic American organs and no stranger to the organs of Ernest Skinner.
He began with Handel’s Organ Concerto in F, op. 4, no. 4, using the antiphonal organ (which stands above the main door to the church) as the “organ,” and the main part of the instrument in the chancel as the “orchestra.” It was very effective, and the playing was clear and fine. His final piece was Duruflé’s Prelude, Adagio et Chorale varié, op. 4. I sat in the front row so that I could observe his legendary console technique—he did not disappoint. Murray’s sense of color and melodic line was a thing to behold and to hear. He made the most of the gorgeous resources of this wonderful instrument. In the final section of variations on Veni Creator (has there every been a finer harmonization of that marvelous tune?), he gradually opened the Skinner in all of its glory.
This organ exists today as a triumphant vindication of all the things for which the OHS stands: that there is great organ building in every age, and that we only need to regard current fashion as transient; we ignore the greatness of previous ages at our peril; and the lack of a clear-eyed and clear-eared vision dooms us to mediocrity. This was a great recital on a great organ!
We boarded the buses for our next event. Everyone enjoyed the architecture of this historic city as we made our way to St. Paul’s Episcopal Church for a recital by Stephen Schnurr, chairman of the 2002 OHS convention in Chicago and co-author of Pipe Organs of Chicago. St. Paul’s was established in 1827, but worships in a new church completed in 1966—a white building with windows in a “sawtooth” pattern, à la the new Coventry Cathedral, which throws light upon the altar. The 3-manual Casavant organ stands behind the altar on a high platform. A delicate and stunning metal screen separates it from the altar. The sound is clear and fine in the church’s resonant acoustic, and it is an elegant example of the best organ building from its period.
The concert featured mostly Baroque music. In the Bruhns Praeludium in E Minor and the Sweelinck Variations on Mein Junges Leben hat ein End’ we heard the sparkling flues and the Dulzian, Krumhorn, Ranket and Schalmei stops—so popular in the 1960s—as well as the trumpets. In Bach’s Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott, BWV 720, we heard the Sesquialtera against the Dulzian 16'—a fine OHS demonstration of an organ’s tonal variety! Schnurr next played the Bach/Vivaldi Concerto in D Minor, and I especially enjoyed the lovely flute stops in the slow movement. He closed with Gustav Merkel’s Sonata in D Minor, a four-hand piece in which he was joined on the bench by Derek Nickels. We heard the fine strings in the Adagio and enjoyed full organ at the end. A thoroughly satisfying program and performance!
We were served a box lunch at Peebles Island State Park located at the confluence of the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers, from which we could observe a lock on the Erie Canal. The OHS 2006 Organ Atlas reminded us on page 60 that “Many organs built by Erben, Hall & Labagh, Ferris and others were sent to their destinations in New York, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and to the rest of the Western Reserve through these locks . . . [making] New York State the organ building center of the U.S. until well after the Civil War.”
A short ride took us to United Church of Cohoes and our annual meeting, where we were introduced to the new executive director of the OHS, Daniel N. Colburn. Among other things, we learned of upcoming conventions: 2007 Indianapolis; 2008 Seattle; 2009 Cleveland. Sounds good to me! Daniel Schwandt, chairman of the Distinguished Service Award Committee, presented this year’s award to Edna Van Duzee Walter for her 40 years of significant and distinguished service to the Round Lake Auditorium organ and its concert series.
Following the meeting, Peter Edwin Krasinski, 2002 first prize winner of the AGO National Competition in Improvisation, demonstrated the 2-manual Giles Beach organ from 1866 with an improvisation in four movements on the hymn we sang: “Holy, Holy, Holy!” (Nicaea). I always enjoy hearing musical styles contemporary to our time played on historic instruments—thereby bringing the instruments out of the museum-type treatments we often give them. Krasinski is a gifted and versatile musician. His improvised tour of this fine and historic organ was most effective.
Our “free” evening began with an elegant cocktail reception sponsored by several organ builders in the gorgeous 1870 Canfield Casino in Saratoga’s Congress Park. The deliciously extravagant Victorian building is now a museum. Kelvin Hastie, secretary of the Organ Historical Trust of Australia, gave a lecture on Australian and New Zealand organs. It was a fascinating tour of those countries’ organ cultures complete with slides and sound samples.

Wednesday, June 28

The day began with heavy rain and ominous flood warnings. We went ahead with a full day in the country, even crossing over to Vermont. One of the great and endearing charms of an OHS convention is a day spent in little rural churches listening to small historic organs. A friend called it “Melodia and Dulciana day.”
My group went first to United Presbyterian Church in Shushan, New York, where Thomas Dressler demonstrated a lovely unaltered 1891 2-manual by Woodberry & Harris, Opus 92. As the now gentle rain fell outside and a passing train joined in with its own bells and whistles, we were enchanted by the organ’s lovely tone. The Melodia was especially good, but I really liked the fine Oboe. The Stopped Diapason on the Swell had a full, room-filling quality. Dressler played Percy Whitlock’s Folk Tune from Five Short Pieces showing many of the warm soft sounds of this treasure of an organ, and ended with a stirring performance of Jacques Lemmens’s Fanfare for Concert Use.
The bus I was on got lost (!) so I missed Grant Moss’s demonstration of the Johnson & Sons Opus 843 from 1896 at First Baptist Church, Manchester Center, Vermont. My apologies to Dr. Moss and to the First Baptist Church. I was told that it went very well. He performed Albert Bigollet’s Douze pièces pour orgue.
We went to lunch at the palatial Equinox Hotel in Manchester, Vermont—another yummy feast in historic Old World elegance. I remember well the OHS meals in the good old days served in church basements. The OHS has come a long way!
My group then went to the United Methodist Church, Rupert, Vermont, to hear their historic 2-manual Johnson & Son organ, Opus 629, built in 1884, demonstrated by Robert Barney. The church has wooden theatrical seats with elaborate wrought iron framing. The Johnson organ stands in a corner to the right of the altar. Barney provided a handout detailing his registrations. He began with Pilgrim’s Chorus by Richard Wagner, which allowed us to hear a build-up of sounds as he layered stop upon stop. It is always so enlightening to hear how much these marvelous old instruments, limited in the number of stops (13), can do. The tonal properties of a single open 8' stop in this period of organ building are amazing! Next, we heard an Andante by Henry Stephen Cutler on the 4' flutes—a lovely effect. In James Woodman’s Variations on “Fairest Lord Jesus” (St. Elizabeth), Barney made fine choices of stops, ending with the Open Diapason 8' (one of the best stops of the convention!). He concluded the program with Bach’s Sinfonia to Cantata 29.
The day’s final recital was in the attractive little Episcopal Church of St. Paul in Salem, New York. Paul Tegels, assistant professor of music and university organist at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington, demonstrated the E. & G. G. Hook, Opus 189, from 1855. (Is it really fair for one church to have a Hook organ AND Tiffany windows? This one does. Bless them!) While we did not get to hear much in the way of individual stops, we did hear various combinations of sounds on this sweet-toned and genteel Hook. It had the unusual feature of an attractive balustrade across the front, which supported the façade pipes. Tegels performed the Passacaglia in D minor by Buxtehude as well as music by Vaughan Williams, Haydn, and a jolly march in F major by Guilmant.
The evening weather was perfect for cocktails and a delicious dinner aboard the large riverboat Le Lac du Sacrément, as we cruised the beautiful waters of Lake George. All 450 of us fit very comfortably on this fine ship where we celebrated Michael Barone’s birthday in style!

Thursday, June 29

The day dawned with word of severe flooding in many areas. Our buses had to make a few detours to avoid bridges that were out. At one point I saw a school with water up to the middle of the first floor windows.
My group went first to Christ Episcopal Church in Duanesburg, New York, to enjoy Derek E. Nickels’ brilliant recital on a tiny 3-stop organ by Augustus Backus from ca. 1850. This charming church, which resembles a New England meeting house, is the oldest ecclesiastical structure in the Diocese of Albany. The organ is quite soft spoken, but Nickels made the most of its extraordinary sweet tone. I especially admired his performance of Pachelbel’s partita on Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan.
We next visited Kingsboro Assembly of God in Gloversville, New York, to hear Sebastian Glück demonstrate the 1857 2-manual Giles Beach organ—the earliest known two-manual organ from the Beach shop. Before the concert Stephen Schnurr, chair of the OHS Historic Organ Citations Committee, presented the church’s minister with a Historic Organ Citation for its stewardship of the Beach organ. These citations are given in recognition of instruments of exceptional historic merit. Giles Beach, his father, and his grandfather were all members of this church, making this citation even more meaningful. As well as being a fine organ scholar and writer, Sebastian Glück is artistic and tonal director of Glück New York Pipe Organ Restorers and Builders, who prepared the Beach organ for this recital as it had become unplayable. It has a lovely, delicate quality we hear in so many instruments of this period. Glück’s program was well chosen for the instrument, which, unfortunately, must speak into a very dead acoustic. Especially good were three selections from Twelve Short Pieces by Samuel Wesley. We also heard some Bach, Mozart, Lefébure-Wély, and the third movement from Sonata in D Major by João de Sousa Carvalho.
There is very little to prepare one for St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Schenectady, New York. I confess that the picture I saw of this church in The Tracker played a huge role in my decision to come to the convention. Its style, which I named ‘Richardsonian Gothic’, is striking. The exterior of the 1904 building is all red stone with a tower on each of the four corners and a large dome/lantern tower over the crossing. The vast interior space boasts all-white walls covered in plaster carvings. There are images of 38 saints and 536 images of angels inside the building! The peak of the dome rises 230 feet above the floor. The seating is in a semicircle with a horseshoe balcony. The main floor is raked toward the altar, which stands beneath an enormous gothic arch. The 3-manual organ, also from 1904, by Hutchings-Votey, Opus 1510, stands in the balcony on the left side of the room. It is an intriguing instrument possessing a Saxophone 4' on the Choir. I was told that the organ needed quite a bit of work, so we did not hear very much of it. It had the usual solid sound one expects from Hutchings-Votey instruments, and what we did hear was quite fine. The demonstration was given by organist/composer Alfred V. Fedak, who did a very fine job showing us what was available. He played his own Variations on Pange Lingua as well as pieces by Litaize and Boëllmann. Our visit was all too brief; we left with the sincere hope that this organ will be restored.
A few blocks away found us at Proctor’s Theater and Arcade, which opened in 1927—one of those grand old 2700-seat movie palaces. The original Wurlitzer 3/15 Style F, Opus 1469, was sold in 1957. The present 3-manual instrument, another Wurlitzer, Opus 2157 (“Goldie”) from 1931, was originally built for the Paramount Theatre in Aurora, Illinois, and installed in Proctor’s in 1984. It has been much enlarged over the years, and is lovingly tended to by members of the American Theatre Organ Society. We had the great good fortune to hear the brilliant young American theatre organist Jelani Eddington perform a concert and accompany a silent movie. It was one of the major treats of the convention. He amazed us with his extraordinary skills, split-second stop changes, and color and shading in places most would never imagine. After playing several great American songs and pieces by Leroy Anderson (including a previously unpublished work for organ), he accompanied the Laurel and Hardy 1928 classic Liberty. Eddington’s playing was marvelously understated, which allowed the movie itself to shine, yet he followed each nuance and facial expression of the famous duo, always deferring to them and underlining their zany mayhem in continuous musical motion. He closed his program with Tchaikovsky’s Waltz from Swan Lake. A thundering ovation brought him back for a delightful encore, The Root Beer Rag by Billy Joel—firmly fixing the art of the theatre organ in the present and the future. An amazed audience made its happy way back to the buses.
The evening saw us back in Albany for another major recital: Diane Meredith Belcher on the 1931, 4-manual Casavant organ, Opus 1420, which stands in the rear gallery of St. James’ Catholic Church. St. James’ was completed in 1929. The organ is a glorious instrument, and except for a new Great mixture that Casavant installed in 1983, it is unaltered. Because of the flooding in the area, we did not arrive at the church until after dark. The church is famous for its many large stained glass windows. I hope to return there someday to see them.
Ms. Belcher possesses a formidable technique, and plays with great passion. Torrents of sound came cascading down upon us from the lofty balcony of this acoustically live church. She opened with an expansive and powerful performance of Brahms’s Praeludium und Fuge in a-moll; next, her own transcription of Bach’s Konzert für zwei Violinen in d-moll, BWV 1043, which I found to be quite successful. The pedal part of the Vivace is not for the faint of heart; however, she tossed it off with total control. The elegant Largo was a study in grace, while the Allegro was pure virtuosic dazzle! Belcher followed with Calvin Hampton’s spellbinding Lullaby from Suite No. 2. We heard the lush strings, flutes and soft reeds of this beautiful organ. She ended the first half with Dupré’s Prélude et fugue en sol mineur, op. 7, no. 3. The subdued prelude was followed by a truly thrilling and lightning-fast performance of the famous fugue culminating in full organ.
The second half began with the audience singing Tantum Ergo in Latin—a classy touch! Then followed Franck’s Grande Pièce Symphonique, op. 17. I confess that I’ve never been fond of this particular work—it seems to outstay its welcome—but I did appreciate that here room, organ, and player were well matched in a very good performance. Belcher then played her own transcription of Ravel’s Pavane pour une infante défunte. We heard from the abundant variety of solo stops on this organ including a terrific and bold French Horn. For her final selection, she turned to George T. Thalben-Ball for his Variations on a theme of Paganini for pedals in a brilliant performance that received a long and clamorous standing ovation. (CONTINUE TO PART 2)

 

American Institute of Organbuilders Convention, October 6–9, 2013

What do organists really know about organbuilders?

David Lowry

David Lowry, DMA, HonRSCM, is Professor Emeritus of Music at Winthrop University, Rock Hill, South Carolina, and the Parish Musician of the Church of the Good Shepherd, Columbia, South Carolina. 

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The American Institute of Organbuilders held its 40th annual convention October 6–9, 2013, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The AIO is an educational organization dedicated to advancing the art of organ building “by discussion, inquiry, research, experiment, and other means.” AIO members are professional organbuilders, service technicians, and suppliers who subscribe to the institute’s objectives and its Code of Ethics. There are over 400 members. 

Begun in 1973, the AIO continues as a vital organization with a fine board of directors, a quarterly journal, and a consistent pattern of annual conventions. The AIO awards certificates for Service, for Colleague, and for Fellow, based on tests of knowledge and understanding of organ building, similar to the AGO certifications for organ playing. 

At this 40th convention, there were some 180 registrants, including 110 members. About 80 elected to stay for a post-convention trip to Durham and Raleigh. There were 21 exhibitors, five of whom were from outside the United States.

Many organists in church and/or education positions inevitably know a few pipe organ service people, some of whom are actually builders of pipe organs. Many become friends and are often of great value to organists, who must defend their instruments by educating their congregations and colleagues on why an organ has to be “fixed” and why it “costs so much.” 

A few organists actually become adept at making a quick and safe fix to a problem without calling the organbuilder or maintenance people. Some higher-education institutions actually offer a course in how to take care of that one trumpet pipe that is out of tune before an important liturgy, or how to pull a pipe safely if it is ciphering, among a host of other little maladies. At the same time, plenty of service people can tell you horror stories of organists mutilating pipes with duct tape or bending them hopelessly out of shape. 

When organists gather in conventions, the focus is almost always on performances of music, plus workshops on everything from fingering to phrasing, or the intrepid pursuit of performance practice, or the history and analysis of music. 

How many organists know what organbuilders regard as important in their conventions? The difference in the two types of conventions—organists vs. organbuilders—is remarkable and encouraging. Despite feeling somewhat like a spy, this writer received a formal invitation to observe the 40th anniversary activities and report them to the organ-playing world. (I once enjoyed being an employee of an organ-building firm when I was a senior in high school. I learned to solder cable wires to junction boards, tune pipes, releather pouches, deal with Pilcher chests, and meet the famous consultant William Harrison Barnes! That did not make me an organ builder, but at least I understood some basics. All that was long before the computer chip.) The AIO may well be responsible for making “organbuilder” a single word. 

The 40th annual convention took advantage of some remarkable historic venues in central North Carolina, in addition to superb hotel accommodations with fine facilities for meetings, exhibits, and food. What is immediately obvious is that an AIO convention is not about organ playing. Little music is heard. When visiting organs, members listen to brief sounds of individual stops. They also sing a hymn during each organ inspection.

There were some pre-convention activities in Winston-Salem. On Saturday, some members visited the 1918 Æolian Company Opus 1404 in the Reynolda House; the organ’s restoration, by Norman Ryan and Richard Houghten, is in progress. On Sunday there was a visit to the organ shop of John Farmer, followed by choral Evensong at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church with its four-manual, 50-stop Skinner organ, Opus 712, 1928, restored by A. Thompson-Allen Company. In the chapel at St. Paul’s is the two-manual, 17-stop, 2004 C. B. Fisk Opus 131, built in collaboration with Schreiner Pipe Organs, Ltd., Opus 8. That visit included looking at Fisk’s borrow actions. The pedal department of this organ has just one pedal stop and five borrowed voices from the Great manual. 

On Monday and Wednesday there were a total of eight lectures in the hotel lecture room.

 

Scott R. Riedel & Associates

“Working with a Consultant”

Scott Riedel discussed issues in dealing with church committees—from the tensions of committees saying “too much money for music,” “fear of fundraising,” “most people go to the contemporary service and never hear the organ [not true, they go to weddings and funerals]”—to the matters of contacting builders and reviewing how to achieve the best builder for the situation. 

 

Schreiner Pipe Organs, Ltd. 

“Pedal Borrows on Mechanical Actions”

For those committed to mechanical action, John Schreiner supplied video details on how to design borrowing manual stops to be played in the pedals: “Either/Or” is one way; “And” is the other way. Those deeply engaged in mechanical-action organs found
Schreiner’s acumen most valuable.

 

Joseph Rotella

“Saving Green by Going Green”

Joe Rotella of Spencer Organ Company, Inc., has great interest in keeping green, thereby saving “green” money. He explored energy conservation including government subsidies, electricity, vehicles, energy audits, waste and toxicity reduction, as well as personal health, gardening, and thinking “local first.” His logo signifying “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” is a powerful consideration for all builders. 

 

Charles Kegg of Kegg Pipe Organ Builders, and C. Joseph Nichols of Nichols & Simpson, Inc.

“When the Client Asks . . .” 

In response to the question “How many here have employed electronic sounds in your organs?” numerous hands were in the air. (As the English language changes, the use of “digital” and “electronic” is still in flux.) One of the two panelists of the discussion agreed to use electronic sounds for the bottom 12 notes of a 32 stop; the other agreed to be judicious about electronic stops, but “the organ needs to still be an organ when you pull the plug.” The discussion was unquestionably a sensitive one across the room, and it remained frank, polite, and quite ethical. 

A curious question sparked more commentary: for electronic sounds that are sampled, is there a warranty question about who owns the sound? The electronic-sound issue remains a very serious and sensitive question among organbuilders, for which there will be no immediate answer.

 

David Pillsbury

“Hearing Protection”

The guest lecturer was David Pillsbury, retired director of audiology and speech pathology, Wake Forest Baptist Hospital. Organ technicians must be able to hear critical things in the way an individual pipe sounds, and how they relate to each other within a rank—whether tuning or voicing. The discussion included video examples on how the ear is constructed, plus important cautions on protection, and information on the various products that provide protection. 

 

Bryan Timm and Randy Wagner, Organ Supply Industries

“Scales and Why We Use What We Do”

Timm and Wagner provided a scholarly paper on “Scales and Why We Use Them, or, Starting with Grandma’s Meatloaf,” a fine academic analysis of how the modern organ industry has come to use the measurements of pipes, or just as importantly, how we alter those measurements. They promised to continue in the future to present the obvious next chapter: how pipe mouth dimensions are measured and employed. 

 

John Dixon

“Portable Technology for Business”

John Dixon is a representative from ComputerTree, Inc. of Winston-Salem and Atlanta, a technology professional services corporation. He reviewed a surprising amount of information about the advantages of digital communication that lightens the load of toolboxes and contributes to meeting needs while on the job and/or maintaining the business aspects of organ technology. 

 

Greg Williams

“Wood Finishing Techniques” 

Greg Williams, a private consultant to the wood finishing and refinishing industry, presented a two-hour lecture on waterborne (not water-based) wood finishing products and detailed procedures in wood products, for organs that include pipes, cases, façades, and consoles. The discussion included the production of new wood parts as well as the frequent need for touch-up techniques when rebuilding or restoring organs. 

A visit to Old Salem

On Tuesday, a short bus trip to Old Salem began in the Old Salem Visitors’ Center, a pleasant 2003 building in which an auditorium houses the 1800 David Tannenberg organ, restored by Taylor & Boody in 2003. John Boody, making use of excellent videos, talked about the restoration. Boody was most articulate and engaging in this fascinating project. 

He was followed by Lou Carol Fix, who read from her publication, “The Organ in Moravian Church Music,” outlining the significant influence the Moravians had in helping establish the use of the organ in Moravian worship. Following was a Singstunde (a Moravian Song Service), for which Fix played the 1800 Tannenberg as AIO registrants sang several hymns. 

Free time walking around Old Salem allowed the AIO into the Single Brothers’ House, where Scott Carpenter demonstrated the David Tannenberg 1789 one-manual and pedal, five-stop organ, restored by Taylor & Boody in 2007. Then in the Single Sisters’ House, Susan Bates demonstrated the Henry Erben 1830 one-manual, five-stop organ, restored by Taylor & Boody in 2008. 

Finally, we visited Home Moravian Church, where the 1800 Tannenberg was once housed, to hear the 3-manual, 43-stop, 1959 Aeolian-Skinner Opus 1340, with commentary by John Farmer. 

Some readers of this report who know Old Salem are aware there is a fine 1965 Flentrop organ in Salem College. The convention could not book the space because the Flentrop firm was contracted to be revoicing the instrument. As it happened, the work had been completed just before the convention, but the schedules could not be changed for the AIO to hear it. 

 

St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church

Our fascinating visit to this fine modern building with a remarkably warm, resonant acoustic found the restored 1898 Hook & Hastings Opus 1801 (three manuals, 34 stops) being installed in the west gallery by John Farmer of J. Allen Farmer, Inc. The late director of the Organ Clearing House, Alan Laufman, brought this organ to the attention of Farmer, a member of St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church. Farmer removed it from a church in Massachusetts where it had been dormant for decades and was about to be destroyed along with the building. Farmer stored the organ in his home. Progress was slow—another decade—before the church embraced the concept of restoring the organ in St. Timothy’s. Despite not hearing an organ, the AIO sang a hymn anyway to enjoy the wonderful acoustic. This promises to be a remarkable installation, with completion perhaps by Easter 2014.

 

University of North Carolina School of the Arts

An optional jaunt over to the School of the Arts drew only a few registrants to hear the 1977 C. B. Fisk Opus 75 in a concert by four students and their professor, Timothy Olsen. The students came back early from their fall break to play on this notably aggressive Fisk. It was striking to think of the positive future of the organ world with such well-prepared talent. Performers were: high school junior Raymond Hawkins, undergraduates Pat Crowe and Christopher Engel, and graduate student Daniel Johnson. 

 

Post-convention trip to Durham and Raleigh

On Thursday, the first stop, an hour-and-a-half away, was on Chapel Drive at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, where the Duke Chapel remains one of our nation’s most thrilling architectural sights. There were four organs to inspect—count them—four. 

First was the recent organ by Richards, Fowkes & Co. Bruce Fowkes talked about the instrument and the space it is in, the Goodson Chapel of the Duke Divinity School, a remarkably fine room with a superb acoustic. Also on hand for the demonstration of the four organs were no less than Andrew Pester and Dongho Lee (they are husband and wife), who provided excellent contributions from the four consoles. 

Next was the two-manual, 21-stop, 1997 John Brombaugh Opus 34 in the small chapel, entered from the north transept of the chapel. The bottom manual is of Renaissance Italian design, and the second manual is Germanic, all in meantone temperament. 

The third demonstration was on the famous four-manual, 66-stop, 1976 organ by Flentrop Orgelbouw standing proudly in the gallery at the west end of the chapel. The chapel itself was built with the infamous Guastavino sound-absorbing tile that, at Flentrop’s suggestion, was sealed with a silicone sealant. Thanks to that, the chapel indeed sounds the way it looks: idyllic. 

The fourth event was the long-awaited hearing of the 1932 Æolian Company organ, Opus 1785, restored in 2008 by Foley-Baker, Inc. (See “Cover feature,” The Diapason, April 2012, pp. 25–27.) The organ has a new four-manual console to control the 6,600 pipes in five divisions, all in the chapel’s east end chancel. Once the demonstration of the stops was complete, Dongho Lee put the Dupré Prelude in B Major on the rack and thrilled the heck out of everyone. 

David Arcus, who for some 30 years was Chapel Organist and Associate University Organist, left Duke University at the end of 2013. Dr. Arcus was not present for the AIO visit as he was playing a recital elsewhere.

The final part of the post-convention activity was a visit to three recent organs in nearby Raleigh. 

The first stop was the Church of the Nativity, where the 2007 Andover Organ Company, Opus 115, two manuals, twenty stops (eight prepared), was demonstrated in the small worship space. 

Our second stop was at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, where Kevin Kerstetter proudly demonstrated the three-manual, 47-stop 2012 Nichols & Simpson, Inc. organ. 

The last visit was to the Hayes Barton United Methodist Church, where the 2010 three-manual, 43-stop Buzard Pipe Organ Builders Opus 39 is installed. The demonstration and singing of a hymn was led by no less than the builder’s son, Stephen Buzard, assistant organist of St. Thomas Church Fifth Avenue in New York City. Following that, Stephen Buzard rendered a stunning performance of Edward Elgar’s Sonata in G Major, op. 28, featuring the organ’s symphonic character. 

That the AIO is 40 years old and clearly a valuable asset to the organ building industry calls for celebrating this milestone. Matthew Bellocchio of the Andover Organ Company and AIO President steered the banquet festivities with great sensitivity. His faith in convention chairman Stephen Spake, of the Lincoln Pipe Organ Company, was a mark of genius. Spake carefully and lovingly steered all the matters of keeping the convention on schedule, counting heads on buses, handling Q & A sessions with a portable microphone, and constantly remaining calm, contributing to a successfully run convention. He also played an important role in the planning committee. 

One might wish that the AIO would approach matters of the performance of organ literature more seriously, but then when one thinks what organists really want to know about pipe metals, leather, how pipes are measured, etc., the argument becomes nebulous. The two professions are individual art forms with totally different schools of knowledge required. The goal is for the two to meet in agreement of making sounds that convert souls and enhance the artistic excellence that humans are capable of creating. ν

Photo credit: Harry Martenas

54th OHS National Convention, July 5–10, 2009, Cleveland, Ohio

Frank Rippl

Frank Rippl is a graduate of Lawrence University Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Miriam Clapp Duncan and Wolfgang Rübsam. He is co-founder of the Appleton Boychoir, coordinator of the Lunchtime Organ Recital Series in the Appleton, Wisconsin area, and has been organist/choirmaster at All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Appleton since 1971.

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I arrived in Cleveland on July 5th with a mixture of emotions. I was glad to revisit a city I enjoyed many years ago when I took a summer course in Orff Schulwerk at Case Western Reserve University, but I was in a bit of a funk after my flight that was supposed to leave the day before was canceled. United’s friendly skies were shut down by a computer glitch. But I finally found myself in this beautiful city with its elegant buildings on Lake Erie. I give extra snaps to any city that has light rail service from its airport to the center of downtown. At the Marriott, I had a corner room with lots of windows and a great view of the famous Terminal Tower. I felt better. I was reminded of the quote our brochure had printed from an ad published by Cleveland organbuilder Walter Holtkamp, Sr. (1894–1962): “A town of good organs, a profitable place to visit.” After I registered, I looked over the 284-page convention Atlas, which contained extraordinary amounts of information on the organs, venues, and towns we were to visit. It began with a fascinating monograph by Stephen Pinel entitled “The Early Organ Culture of Cleveland,” loads of colorful pictures, and ads (including a reprinted one from long ago that featured Jesse Crawford promoting “Barbasol”).

Pre-convention concert
After greeting lots of old OHS friends, I boarded a bus for Trinity Episcopal Cathedral and a pre-convention event. The cathedral grew out of Cleveland’s oldest congregation, Trinity Church, founded in 1816. They built Cleveland’s first church in 1829. The present Indiana limestone building, designed by Cleveland architect Charles F. Schweinfurth in the English perpendicular Gothic design, was completed in 1907, and contains several bits of historic beauty: a 1457 cross beam from Southwark Cathedral, London, some windows from the 14th and 15th centuries as well as some by Tiffany, plus Oberammergau carvings. If that weren’t enough, they have two organs by Dirk Flentrop: a 2-manual, 13-stop organ from 1976 in the choir, and the 1977 3-manual, 39-stop instrument in a small gallery above the rear entrance. Horst Buchholz, cathedral organist, greeted us, as did Michael Barone, who would serve as an unofficial host throughout the week. He introduced convention chairperson Joseph McCabe, half of his former self. His weight loss was the envy of all of us. We then sang “O Beautiful for Spacious Skies,” it being July 5.

Both organs were used—Dr. Buchholz played the smaller choir organ and Alison Luedecke the larger organ at the other end of the building. Most of the concert was played by Dr. Luedecke, who began with a spirited reading of Bruhns’s well-known Praeludium in E minor—a great demonstration piece. Then came Pachelbel’s Variations on “Freu dich sehr, o meine Seele,” featuring one of the organ’s lovely cornets, and the clear 4′ flutes. Next was the Bach/Vivaldi Concerto in A Minor, listed in the program as Prelude and Fugue in A Minor—J. S. Bach. This cheery music was just right for an opening concert of the convention and was well suited to the instrument at hand. She next played Irish Jig for the Feet by Mary Beth Bennett, a charmer of a piece—airy and graceful. Buchholz and Luedecke then added some pieces by Melchior Franck and Hermann Schein, using both organs to show off stops we had not heard—kromhoorns and the like. Luedecke ended with the Doppel Fugue über ‘Heil dir im Siegeskranz’ (God Save the King) by John Knowles Paine. She played it well—untangling both fugue subjects with ease.

Opening concert
The official opening concert was that evening at the Cleveland Masonic and Performance Arts Center, with a recital by Peter Richard Conte on the 4-manual, 41-rank Austin organ, Opus 823, from 1919. The building is an enormous weathered brick structure, and the large auditorium has steep stadium seating. Its former elegance is somewhat faded, but the acoustics are good and the room is still used for recordings by the Cleveland Orchestra. To the left of the stage is a 4-manual Wurlitzer console awaiting its pipes; work is ongoing. The Austin console is in a somewhat cramped nest above and to the right of the stage; the pipes are in a chamber above the console. A large movie screen center stage projected a close-up of Conte’s hands. Technical difficulties with the camera or the projector provided more distraction than necessary, but it was still good fun to see those famous hands at work. This recital was both the closing concert of the ATOS convention and the opening concert of the OHS convention—it was a treat to share a common bond. There were a surprisingly large number of people present who belonged to neither organization.
The concert was vintage Conte. He began with his own transcription of Bernstein’s Overture to Candide, then an assured and strong reading of Guilmant’s Marche Religieuse, op. 15, no 2, and two transcriptions from Widor’s Bach’s Memento: Pastorale, in which we heard the beautiful Clarinet and Oboe stops, and Mattheus-Final. Conte then played his own transcription of Fritz Kreisler’s Variations on a Theme of Arcangelo Corelli. His right hand bounced effortlessly between Swell and Choir without missing a beat—when you are used to the six-manual Wanamaker console, a four-manual instrument must be mere child’s play.
Robert Elmore’s Fantasy on Nursery Tunes followed, a charming piece, great for introducing the organ to children—if they still know the old nursery tunes! Conte brought the program to a close with the Final by Franck. Throughout the evening he spoke to his large audience with humor and grace. It was a brilliant and virtuoso performance.

Monday, 6 July 2009
After a pleasant drive out in the green countryside on a sunny, cloudless morning, we arrived at St. Martin of Tours Roman Catholic Church in Valley City, Ohio, to hear Andrew Scanlon demonstrate the tonally intact 1881 Odenbrett & Abler organ, built in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The 2-manual, 19-stop organ stands in the rear balcony of the church, which dates from 1861, and is now used as a chapel for a larger structure next door, built in 2002. A handsome organ, with polished tin façade and butternut case, it is believed to be the last extant instrument by this builder. Paul Marchesano announced that this organ will receive an OHS Historic Citation.
Andrew Scanlon, recently appointed to East Carolina University and to St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Greenville, South Carolina, opened with Marche Romaine by Gounod. He played it with fine breadth, giving a good demonstration of the warm chorus sounds of each manual. Next were two pieces by Langlais: Prière from 24 Preludes, in which we heard a clear and lovely Oboe; and Elévation, from Suite médiévale, which features the tune Adoro te devote. Everyone loved this organ!
Mendelssohn’s Prelude in C Minor followed. It was registered boldly, creating a good contrast to the Langlais. Scanlon played it with great vigor using this fine organ’s resources nicely. He then played Folk Tune, from Percy Whitlock’s Five Short Pieces. I loved the solo Open Diapason 8′ with its warm, room-filling sound in the tenor register.
The hymn was “Christ the Lord is risen again” (Orientis partibus); the French Medieval tune was most appropriate for this church. Next was Everett Titcomb’s Regina Coeli, in which we heard a goodly variety of this fine organ’s stops. Scanlon closed with Bach’s Fugue in E-flat, BWV 552 (St. Anne). Every line was clearly delineated in this great piece on an organ with no mixtures. We heard refined voicing and first-rate playing!
We then proceeded to Berea and St. Adalbert’s Roman Catholic Church, the oldest Polish church in Ohio, and its 1904 organ by Cleveland organbuilder Votteler-Hettche (2 manuals, 9 stops). The performers were Dennis Northway and his student and former Biggs Fellow Adam Gruber. The parish priest reported that the organ cost $6,000, and was just restored for $25,000! Attractive white and gold altars with statues stood beneath a half dome in the apse, which featured a painting of the ascending Christ. Pink marble lined the sanctuary.
Northway began with Pachelbel’s Ciacona in D Minor, making each voice of this lovely organ shine in the 16 variations; the flutes were especially nice. Sixteen-year-old Adam Gruber gave us some Rheinberger: Three Trios, op. 49. During the hymn, “Come, Labor On,” Ora Labora, teacher and student shared the bench, playing with four hands—this added “upperwork” to the sound. Northway inserted a piece not in the program, In a Quiet Mood, a gentle reflection by Arkansas composer Florence Price. Gruber ended with the Toccata in D Minor by Gordon Balch Nevin.

We then went to the grand old Masonic Temple in Lakewood for a hearty lunch in its basement. We worked off our lunch by climbing several flights of stairs to the grand old lodge room, where we heard a concert by OHS favorite William Aylesworth, playing the 2-manual, 13-stop Votteler-Holtkamp-Sparling organ, Opus 1287, from 1916; it stands in a balcony opposite the stage in this elegant room, which is decorated in an Egyptian motif all around.
Aylesworth began, appropriately enough, with Masonic March by Theo Bonheur (Charles A. Rawlings, 1857–ca. 1930), which bounced along in good fashion. Next were Frederick Archer’s (1838–1901) Prelude, which demonstrated the lovely strings, and Motivo, a quiet little piece, followed by Summer Fancies, op. 38, no. 2, by Rossetter G. Cole (1866–1952).
Next was Choral Hymn by William Spark (1823–1897), in which the warm-throated Great Diapason alternated with the Swell Vox Humana. Guilmant’s Mélodie, op. 46, no. 4, followed. The last piece was Under the Double Eagle by Josef Franz Wagner (1856–1908). Bill got us all clapping in unison to the irresistible pulse of this music. This was another fine demonstration of a historic organ by a player with a keen insight into instruments from this period, and who always chooses literature appropriate to the instrument and the culture of its time.
I daresay that the next venue was a big reason many of us came to this particular convention: the opportunity to hear the famous 1957 4-manual, 44-stop Beckerath organ in Cleveland’s Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in an all-Bach recital by Joan Lippincott. When we pulled up to the church, it seemed somehow strange that such a fine and famous organ could be standing in a church that had clearly fallen on hard times. The 1874 structure was in a rather ordinary neighborhood. Its interior was in sad shape, with peeling paint and water stains, but up in the balcony, sure enough, was the Beckerath—its case painted in various shades of blue with gold trim. The church’s warm and positive young minister has brought the parish back from the brink of closing. The organ is being restored, and has brought in many new members, who come from other parts of the city to hear it played and to enjoy his fine preaching. The significance of this organ cannot be overstated. Our Atlas had this to say about it and other European tracker organs imported in the late 1950s: “ . . . these instruments provided fuel for the first chapter of America’s own tracker revival, for player and builder alike.”
We began with the hymn Nun Danket, and sang a verse in German and then repeated the first verse in English, singing in parts. Two selections from the Leipzig Chorales followed. In Nun Danket alle Gott, BWV 657, Lippincott used the powerful Cornet from the Rückpositiv. In Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele, BWV 654, she used that Great 8′ Principal to accompany the Cornet on the Kronpositiv. Next came the Prelude and Fugue in C Major (9/8), BWV 547. Pure exultant joy permeated every note. The phenomenal fugue has four voices on the manuals, saving the pedal for the end, when it presents the subject in augmentation. The full organ sound is magnificent: grand and yet transparent.
Lippincott then played the E-flat Trio Sonata, BWV 525. The third movement was taken perhaps a bit too fast, and got a little shaky, but she brought it along nicely. She ended with a first-rate performance of the Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582. Lippincott clearly has great affection for each piece and for this wonderful organ.
Late in the afternoon, we returned downtown to our hotel for a lecture given by John Ferguson on “The Life of Walter Holtkamp, Sr.” It was a fascinating walk through the career of this pivotal figure in American organ building. Professor Ferguson pointed out Mr. Holtkamp’s desire to learn from but not copy the old masters. His organs were on low wind pressure, and he used slider chests, but they were not encased; the pipes were displayed. Those visual designs were stunning to mid-20th-century Americans, and he would build the first mid-20th-century American trackers. Holtkamp was a strong-willed man, but was a colleague to his fellow organ builders, and went on to form APOBA in 1941.
After another superb dinner at the Marriott (the chef was amazing!), I walked the few blocks to St. John the Evangelist Catholic Cathedral for the evening concert by Ken Cowan, playing the Votteler-Holtkamp-Sparling organ from 1948. There are actually two organs: one in the gallery, and one in the chancel, with two duplicate 3-manual stopkey consoles, each controlling both organs. The gallery organ has its Great division mounted on the railing in a kind of case with pipework unenclosed. The Swell and Choir divisions are enclosed in chambers on either side of the rear window, with the Pedal spread out between the manual divisions. The chancel organ is behind a gorgeous, hand-carved wooden screen that stands behind the altar. With a generous amount of reverberation, beautiful and even voicing, this is a very nice organ. Cowan was joined by trumpeter Jack Sutte of the Cleveland Orchestra. (On a personal note, I would learn that evening that Mr. Sutte’s father, the late John Sutte, was a classmate of mine at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin. Meeting this brilliant young trumpeter was very moving for me.) The fading evening sun faintly lit the stained glass windows from Munich as we eagerly awaited the concert.
Cowan opened with Mendelssohn’s Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, transcribed by Samuel P. Warren. The sounds were marvelous in the splendid acoustics of the cathedral. Cowan is a master colorist, registering his pieces with uncommon sensitivity. Elegant use of the Swell and Choir shades are Cowan trademarks. His second piece, Stimmen der Nacht, op. 142, no. 1, by Sigfrid Karg-Elert, demonstrated the beautiful strings and the Vox Humana. A warm and wonderful piece, it grew to a full sound, then pulled back to a bubbling flute on the Choir and the Vox Humana—beautiful sounds.
After a brief crash of the solid-state combination system, they managed to repair it and were able to move on to what I found to be the most interesting piece of the evening, Okna Fenster: Windows, after Marc Chagall, a four-movement work by Petr Eben for organ and trumpet. I. Blue Window dashed all over the place leaving splashes of color in every corner of the cathedral. II. Green Window was more serene, with muted trumpet and Messiaen-like sounds. The serenity gave way to darker images and louder organ tone with a growling 16′ pedal reed. A more playful section followed, and we returned to sounds heard at the beginning. III. Red Window began ff in the organ. The Swell closed a bit as the trumpet joined. The music was reminiscent of “Night on Bald Mountain.” Things calmed down a bit, but that darker imagery was never far away, and it returned. IV. Gold Window began with the theme (a Russian Orthodox chant many of us knew from the Episcopal Hymnal 1982 in a setting of “The Beatitudes”) played on the foundation stops. There was dialogue material between trumpet and organ, ending with a toccata-like section. Fantastic music!
After intermission, Cowan began the second half with Reger’s Introduction and Passacaglia in F Minor, op. 63. It rolled through the gothic arches of this splendid building. He played it masterfully, using the expression pedals to create wonders of shading. For the first time that evening, we heard the full magnificence of this organ. He next played Elegy by George Thalben-Ball. They inserted a piece by Tomassi entitled Holy Week at Cusco. Sutte joined Cowan, alternating between piccolo trumpet and regular trumpet, which was muted at times. We then sang that glorious hymn “I Vow to Thee My Country,” whose tune comes from Holst’s The Planets—Jupiter. It made every Anglophile’s spine tingle!
Ken Cowan closed the program with Variations on ‘The Star Spangled Banner’ by Dudley Buck. It was played at the request of convention chairperson Joseph McCabe, and was just the right dessert following the dense music that preceded it. We all sang along on the last variation. Cowan played with total abandon and clarity—he makes everything he plays sound so easy. Thus ended the first full day.

Tuesday, 7 July 2009
Our first stop on Monday took us to Cleveland’s Pilgrim Congregational Church UCC, a massive Richardsonian Romanesque structure, to hear their 3-manual, 36-stop Farrand & Votey organ, Opus 719, from 1894. The organ was rebuilt several times; in 1992 it was restored by the Holtkamp Organ Company. (Our Atlas told us that Walter Holtkamp, Sr. attended this church as a boy.) It stands proudly right up front in this Akron-plan building. The pipes are handsomely stenciled, and the case is crowned with a wooden statue of an angel blowing a trumpet.

The concert was given by Stephen Schnurr, his student Micah Raebel, whom we heard at the 2007 convention in Indiana, and young tenor Nathan Leath. We began with the hymn “All hail the pow’r of Jesus’ Name” (Coronation), using both piano (Raebel) and organ (Schnurr). They then launched into a surprisingly effective piano-organ arrangement of Franck’s Prelude, Fugue and Variation, op. 18. Next, Schnurr played a lovely Berceuse (1911) by James H. Rogers (1857–1940). We heard many attractive sounds of this beautiful organ, especially the strings, flutes, and the Concert Flute. The next piece was also by Rogers, Theme and Variations, ‘Second Suite’ (1915), which showed off the fine Doppel Floete and Oboe.
Two more pieces by Rogers followed: Two Offertory Songs: 1. Today if ye will hear his voice, and 2. Out of the Depths. Leath sang and Raebel accompanied him on the organ. Both young men did very well with this literature, which was well-suited to this grand old building and organ. Micah Raebel then ended the concert with a dashing performance of the splendid Toccata (from Dix Pièces) by Eugène Gigout. I give Steven Schnurr and Dennis Northway much credit for sharing the spotlight of a national convention recital with their students.

Our second stop of the day took us to a sad yet proud place: the beautiful St. Procop’s (short for Procopius) Catholic Church in Cleveland, founded as a Czech parish in the late 19th century. I admired the beautiful marble altars and statuary, the windows, and wall decoration. I found myself seated next to a very old man, well into his late 80s. I asked him if he was a member of this church, and he said that he was, but added, “it’s a dirty shame, though. The bishop is going to close it on October 30. He is closing 50 churches in the diocese.” His voice was bitter and sad. He told me that he and his wife were married there many years ago. A nun who was in charge of the parish proudly touted the fact that she had brought the parish into the black—all bills were paid; but it was still closing on October 30. We presented her with an album of photographs our superb OHS photographers had taken of this beautiful church. She was deeply touched.
The organ was in the rear balcony: a 2-manual, 22-stop, 1913 instrument by Votteler-Hettche, originally tubular-pneumatic, now changed to electric action. The organ had not been heard in many years, but was made playable for this concert by several OHS volunteers. Many members of the parish had joined us, eager to hear the organ once again.
The recitalist was Randy Bourne, who began with Wagner’s Friedensmarsch from Rienzi. With the first sound emanating from the organ, the dear old man next to me jumped slightly; he then leaned forward. After a moment, I noted a tear fall from his eyes to the floor. It broke my heart. Such is the power a pipe organ and its history in the building in which it stands has over our hearts and emotions. The piece was a grand gesture to this gracious old building and the people who worshiped there.
Beethoven’s Minuet in G major, WoO 10, no. 6, was next, smartly played on a variety of 8-foot stops. A cipher, unfortunately, began on the Swell, and many hands attempted to repair it. Soon enough, it was just fine again, and we went on to the third piece, Mélodie in E-flat Major (Souvenir d’un lieu cher, op. 42, no. 3) by Tchaikovsky. (The Wagner, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky pieces were all played by Edwin Arthur Kraft at the dedication of this organ.) We all admired the sweet tones of an instrument whose fate is unknown after the church closes. We then sang the hymn “Sing praise to God, our highest good” (Mit Freuden Zart). It was very moving for all the St. Procop’s parishioners to hear the fine OHS singing. I suspect that there were few dry eyes all around. It was like being at a funeral.
Bourne ended with Mendelssohn’s Sonata in C Minor, op. 65, no. 2. It was well played and a good chance to hear the power of this fine organ. With heavy hearts, we left this sad and beautiful church wishing there was something we could do to help their circumstances.
Our buses took us to Holy Angels R.C. Church in Sandusky for a hymn sing accompanied by some of our members on the 9-stop, 2-manual Carl Barckhoff organ (1885) that had stood silently in the corner of the balcony for decades. The church got it working for us. It was a great moment! Let’s hope it continues to be used. Sandusky is an attractive town on the shore of Lake Erie, with countless churches. At one intersection, I saw three churches!

After lunch, we went to Sandusky’s First Congregational UCC to hear Christopher Marks demonstrate the fine 1875 Johnson & Son organ, Opus 462, 2 manuals, 26 ranks—an organ with a wild history of countless moves, finally finding its way to its present location in 1982 in a restoration with additions and replacement of two missing ranks by my friend James C. Taylor, of Kaukauna, Wisconsin. It stands in an alcove to the right of the altar area in an Akron-style Richardsonian Romanesque building with a beautiful stained glass window in the ceiling. Marks began with Spring Greeting (1896) by Nathan Hale Allen (1948–1925), a charming celebration of spring. Next was Night: A Meditation (1907) by Arthur Foote—lovely, evocative music, which he played with great sensitivity, using the organ’s sweet, soft sounds very well. After the hymn “Now, on land and sea descending” (Vesper Hymn), came a chorale prelude on that same tune by Samuel B. Whitney (1842–1914)—another charmer of a piece, followed by Horatio Parker’s Scherzino, op. 66, no. 3 (1910). Marks closed with a muscular reading of Dudley Buck’s Allegro vivace non troppo from Second Sonata, op. 77 (1877). This was a fine and entertaining program with Christopher Marks’s usual brilliant playing.
Our buses took us to Toledo and the elegant Toledo Museum of Art. We were to have heard a demonstration by Robert Barney of the 1785 Johannes Strumphler 1-manual cabinet organ. Alas, it was not to be, as we had gotten behind schedule. So we made our way into the large 1750-seat auditorium known as “The Peristyle” to hear the 4-manual Skinner organ from 1926 in a recital by Stephen Tharp. First, however, we were granted a fascinating lecture by Joseph Dzeda and Nicholas Thompson-Allen, two of America’s organ restoration experts. Dzeda told us that the organ had been dead—it took two years to restore it. It features an automatic player mechanism, and they told of a recently discovered collection of organ rolls. We heard one that was 80 years old by a Mr. Snow, a New York City organist, playing Saint-Saëns’ My Heart at Thy Sweet Voice. The effect was pure magic. It should be pointed out that the ushers and security staff had agreed to stay late so that we could hear Tharp’s recital on their treasured organ, a recital that was now two hours late—the only scheduling glitch of the week. We were all very grateful.
Stephen Tharp, looking quite snappy in his black and tan Captain Kirk-like attire, came out to the console, located center stage. He began with Mendelssohn’s Overture to St. Paul, which opened with the intoning of “Wachet auf” on the Tuba Mirabilis. This W. T. Best transcription makes one think that the piece was written for the organ, it’s that idiomatic. Tharp played it brilliantly.
Next came the Adagio from Widor’s Symphony VIII. Its mysterious and melancholic sonorities worked wonderfully on this organ’s strings and foundations. Tharp then played Elgar’s Larghetto, Serenade for Strings, op. 20, in a transcription by C. H. Trevor. Quiet strings accompanied a soft solo stop. He used the tremolo to great effect, turning it on and off as a singer would use vibrato, and used the shades very well, too. The last piece was the Fantasy and Fugue on ‘How Brightly Shines The Morning Star’, op. 40, no. 1, by Max Reger. It was marvelously played. Tharp managed to untangle all of Reger’s intense and driving lines and bring them into focus. On the way, we got to hear more of the very beautiful solo stops that Skinner left as his legacy. By the time he got to that amazing fugue, we were in awe once again of E. M. Skinner’s genius and the orchestral style of organ building. And we were, most assuredly, in awe of Stephen Tharp.
We then bused to Toledo’s great Cathedral of Our Lady, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, easily the largest church building we would enter during the convention—it is absolutely spectacular. We were fed dinner in the cathedral parish hall, but many of us could not resist a peek into the massive church before we ate. It is truly one of America’s great cathedrals, with marble, elegantly carved wood, glorious frescoes, huge soaring stained glass windows, and a ceiling that towers over the grand baldacchino and altar. The Skinner organ, installed in 1931, has 4 manuals, 59 stops, and 75 ranks. The console is on the floor of the sanctuary, and the pipes are in a chamber above and to the left of the altar.
Stephen Schnurr presented the cathedral with an OHS Historic Organ Citation for its magnificent 1931 Skinner organ. Our Atlas told us that it is tonally and technologically intact, “with not only the pipework but all original console and relay mechanism intact.” Todd Wilson was our performer. He grew up in Toledo, and this instrument was a great source of inspiration to him. He began with Dupré’s Cortège et Litanie, op. 19, no. 2, as transcribed by Lynnwood Farnam, which made for a great program opener—a moving and powerful introduction to this organ.
Next came three English miniatures. The first was John Stanley’s Voluntary in F, which he played on the diapasons, then on the flutes as a quiet echo. A chirpy cornet-like sound danced about. The acoustic favored the music pleasantly. The next “miniature” was C. S. Lang’s wonderful Tuba Tune in D, one of my favorite Easter preludes. The huge scale of the solo reed was thrilling. The third English miniature was the beautiful Londonderry Air, as transcribed by Edwin H. Lemare. Wilson called forth gorgeous lush sounds from the organ and played it with great sensitivity. Near the end we heard the warm Vox Humana, the 32′ flue, and the celestes. He reduced the organ to a whisper and gave us one last pluck from the 32′. It was truly lovely.
Wilson ended the first half with Franck’s Choral No 1. in E—a marvelous choice for this organ and this room. The organ has all the right stops, and he used them in just the right way. His tempo was consistent throughout, which held everything together.
The second half began with Gerre Hancock’s Variations on ‘Ora Labora’. The tune was written by T. T. Noble upon the occasion of the founding of St. Thomas’ Choir School in New York. We then sang the hymn “Come, labor on.” The Hancock variations were quite good, showing lots of variety. Soprano Nancy Canfield joined Wilson in Les Angélus, op. 57, three songs by Louis Vierne evoking the three hours of prayer in a day: Au Matin, a gentle rocking piece; A Midi, noon, a bit heartier and more robust; and Au Soir, a quiet piece introduced by the ringing of a handbell three times. It ended very softly.
Wilson then performed Prelude on “Iam sol recedit” (1924) by Bruce Simonds (1895–1989), demonstrating the classic Skinner soft solo reeds on this extraordinary organ. He concluded with the well-known jaunty Allegro vivace from Widor’s Symphonie V, played masterfully. The organ fills this great marble and stone space with tones high and low, laughing reeds, and rumbling basses. Wilson plays with fantastic but controlled drive. The ending at fff was astonishing. Reluctantly, we left this great cathedral and boarded our buses for the drive back to Cleveland.

Wednesday, 8 July 2009
We began the day with a lecture at the hotel by Sebastian M. Glück on “The Grand Romantic Organs of Jewish Synagogues,” a fascinating lecture on a little-known subject. I’ve long admired Glück’s fine writing, and his lecture did not disappoint. We saw many historical photographs of temple organs, and learned how they went in and out of fashion.
Our first stop of the day was at Plymouth Church UCC in Shaker Heights, a prosperous and leafy suburb of Cleveland. The church itself has a 3-manual Holtkamp, but we were to hear the organ in their chapel: an 1844 George Stevens organ that has bounced all over the country from Boston to the west coast and back east to Plymouth Church. Many things have changed on the organ in its various moves, but it remains a nice instrument with two manuals, 27 stops, and 22 ranks. It was first heard by the OHS convention in San Francisco in 1988. The organ stands in a rear balcony. It has an ivory-colored case, with robin’s egg blue façade pipes and gold pipe shades.
We were pleased to have Bruce Stevens demonstrate this organ for us. He began what was to be another of his stellar OHS recitals with Pachelbel’s Partita on ‘Was Gott tut das ist wohlgetan’, a great choice for an organ demonstration. We sat in chairs already turned round facing the organ in the rear gallery. The room is in a New England meetinghouse style, with clear glass windows that brought in abundant morning sunshine. The wood floor and rounded ceiling gave much resonance to the room as we sang the hymn “What e’er my God ordains is right” (Was Gott tut).
Stevens then played O Clemens! O pia! from Five Invocations by Henri Dallier (1849–1934), in which we heard the Swell Dulciana with tremulant accompanying a Great flute playing in the tenor register. He ended with the ever-popular Dubois Toccata from Twelve Pieces, in which we heard the Great Trumpet used as a chorus reed. Stevens played very well, giving us much to enjoy. His usual refinement, shaping of phrase, and delicacy of articulation were all on display. This very old organ is robust yet gentle, and it was a great start to the day!

Next was another fine Votteler-Holtkamp-Sparling organ, Opus 1602, from 1938, in St. James Anglican-Catholic Church. The rector greeted us in cassock and surplice, carrying his beretta. The church is a small gem, with many pretty things. The organ is in the back on the main floor, with a sort of fence dividing its place from the nave. The organ is really the work of Walter Holtkamp, and was a great chance for him to work out his own ideas on organ building. The Positiv division is mounted on the wall, unenclosed. The organ has 3 manuals, 20 stops, and 25 ranks.
The program, played by John Ferguson, was to be a hymn-sing with chorale preludes. It was abbreviated, however, causing some confusion. He opened with Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in C, BWV 545, which was nicely played. Next was Herbert Howells’ Psalm Prelude, Set I, No. 2. It worked well, but seemed to want a celeste. Then came three settings of Es ist ein Ros’, by Praetorius, Dennis Lovinfosse, and Brahms, after which we sang the hymn “Earth and all stars.” Ferguson’s clever introduction and verses assigned to voice types, plus a rather cheeky verse for the organ on verse four that included references to “The Stars and Stripes Forever,” made for much fun. I was happy to surrender that verse to the organ because I can’t sing about “loud boiling test tubes” with a straight face. The hymn “Now thank we all our God” ended the program. He improvised a fitting postlude on Nun danket.
After lunch at the hotel, we had the annual meeting, and then walked across the large civic mall to the Cleveland Public Auditorium, a vast structure. Built in the Italian Renaissance-style and spanning two city blocks, it was completed in 1922. We found ourselves on a great stage somewhat awed by the place, curtains drawn on both sides of us. All 500 OHSers were completely silent as we stood there looking up into the wings, on one side, at the massive E. M. Skinner organ with its 5-manual console. The pipes were on the second story of the wings, and, we were told, went back some 45 feet. We had all seen the photos of what was to come next once the curtains would part, and the anticipation was building. Finally the curtains on our left opened revealing a large, 2,700-seat theatre—red and gold done up in Spanish motifs. And then the curtains on our right parted, and we saw the vast interior of the convention hall, which seats 15,500. At 300′ long, 215′ wide and 80′ high, with no supporting columns, it is quite a sight. And there we stood on this stage made to serve both venues, beneath this enormous Skinner organ. The location, in the wings, was not great for the projection of the organ’s sound, but the architects would not have it any other way. So, we were told, the organ did its best work in radio broadcasts. It has now fallen into disuse and only a few sounds could be heard that day.
Convention chair Joe McCabe gave a good talk on the building and the organ. Young Jonathan Ortloff played the parts of the organ that worked and then crawled around in the chamber making some of the large pipes speak. He was like a monkey swinging fearlessly from tree to tree. It was left to our imaginations to wonder at the instrument’s potential. In fact, the fate of the organ and its building is uncertain—what a pity. It is truly a stupendous place. You can view a video of the organ at <www.organsociety.org/2009/welcome.html&gt;.
Our next visit was to the great Shrine Church of St. Stanislaus in Cleveland. It is a large building, beautifully decorated in 19th-century style, with statues and elegant carvings everywhere. It was built to serve the Polish immigrants who flocked to the city at the end of the 1800s. The good-sized 2-manual, 39-stop, 33-rank William Schuelke organ was built in Milwaukee ca. 1909; it got rather beat up in a tornado that toppled the church’s enormous 232-foot steeples. The organ was rebuilt by Votteler-Holtkamp-Sparling as Opus 1579 in 1933. Work was done in 1988 that left the organ unplayable. James P. Leek Organ Company of Oberlin, Ohio releathered it, and installed solid-state switching. It stands today in the rear gallery.
Our recitalist was Rhonda Sider Edgington, making her fourth OHS convention appearance. She began with two of Schumann’s Four Sketches for Pedal Piano, op. 58, numbers 1 and 4, which gave a good hearing of the foundation stops. Next came two selections from Karg-Elert’s Choral Improvisations, op. 65: Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir and O daß ich tausend Zungen hätte, which showed off several of the beautiful solo stops on this fine organ and the generous acoustic of the church. I especially liked the Doppel Flute—but then I always like Doppel Flutes! Cantilène (1900) by David Fleuret (1869–1915) followed—very nice music, which floated blithely through the church, gently moving along without a care in the world. Next came Mendelssohn’s Fugue in E Minor, played with snap and polish.

The evening recital was at Cleveland’s First United Methodist Church, which was founded in 1839. The present 1300-seat building, of Indiana limestone, was completed in March 1905. The exterior is English Gothic, with a huge lantern tower over the crossing. The interior, however, is a delightful surprise. It appears Byzantine in color and design, with elaborate stenciling. The vast space under the lantern tower floats over the altar area behind which the organ rises. The Geo. H. Ryder organ, built for an earlier church, was brought to the new location by the Votteler-Hettche Organ Co. of Cleveland. W. B. McAllister Co. of Cleveland created the truly remarkable golden organ screen, which wraps around the back of the chancel, measuring 40′ by 60′. The pipe flats are separated by four life-sized reproductions of Fra Angelico’s angels from his Linaiuoli Triptych. The present organ uses that case. It is a Casavant, built in 1943, with numerous subsequent additions; a 4-manual console from 1998 by the Kegg Pipe Organ Company features terraced jambs and is movable.
Our recitalist for the evening was Nathan Laube, who, we learned from Michael Barone, was celebrating his 21st birthday that night; we sang “Happy Birthday” to him! He had just graduated from Curtis. He began his recital with a joyous and almost giddy performance of his own transcription of the Overture to Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss, Jr. His sense of color, touch, contrast, tempo, and dynamics is of the highest order. Next, he played Karg-Elert’s Symphonischer Choral: ‘Jesu, meine Freude’, op. 87, no. 2. In the first movement, Introduzione (Inferno), the full-length 32′ Contra Bombarde was most effective. The second movement, Canzone, had a beautiful solo from the Oboe; the strings are especially lovely. The final movement, Fuga con choral, woke the instrument from its peaceful slumber. The first half ended with the singing of the hymn Jesu, meine Freude.
The second half began with movement four (Variations on ‘Puer Nobis’) from Widor’s Symphonie Gothique, op. 70. We heard a blizzard of notes in the manuals, with the full pedal thundering forth the mighty tune. Laube ended with the 94th Psalm by Reubke. Now it should be said that this entire recital was played from memory. He had some difficulty with the combination action and had to stop to reset some things, but he managed to get back on track completely unruffled. For an encore, he played Andante sostenuto from Widor’s Symphonie Gothique, op. 70.

Thursday, 9 July 2009
The day began with a panel discussion and virtual organ crawl through the Cleveland Public Auditorium organ, built by Ernest M. Skinner. Our panelists and presenters were Joseph Dzeda and Nicholas Thompson-Allen. It was a fascinating talk, with photos showing the building in its various uses over the years, as well as the virtual organ tour. They touched on preservation of the organ, concern for its relocation, and, as the Atlas said, “practical issues surrounding instruments in public venues.”
Our first recital of the morning took place at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, built in 1917, in Elyria. A stone church on a leafy corner with a well-proportioned steeple, it has a 3-manual, 32-stop Skinner organ, Opus 398 (1923), in a chamber to the right of the altar. Anne Wilson began with the hymn “Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee” (Ode to Joy). Her introduction used elements from Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony—nicely done. Then, a Sortie by Lefébure-Wély (1817–1869), written at a time when French organ music for the church resembled that of the music hall or even a circus. This was no exception—great fun with plenty of reeds and foundations making splendid oom-pahs. Next was Brahms’s setting of Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele, using the 4′ flute. Wilson then played The Musical Snuffbox by Anatol Liadov (1885–1914), which demonstrated the Celesta (Harp). Next Vierne’s Impromptu, from Pièces de Fantaisie, op. 54, no. 2, which she tossed off with great ease—I liked her use of the Clarabella and the fine Vox Humana. Wilson continued with Lemare’s Irish Air from County Derry, which featured the strings and harp. She ended with a cracking good performance of Rossini’s Overture to William Tell. Great fun, and a fine demonstration recital.
The next stop in Elyria was kitty-corner from St. Andrew’s: St. Mary Catholic Church, an 1886 red brick building with a charming Victorian Gothic portico. Stepping inside, however, revealed a church stripped of all decoration; it was as if it had been sacked. But it still had its 1865 William A. Johnson organ, rebuilt and enlarged by Philipp Wirsching ca. 1900, and later by Homer Blanchard. In 1987 James Leek gave the organ a new Trumpet, replacing one that had disappeared. Originally one manual and pedal, the organ now has two manuals, pedal, and 12 stops.
Yun Kyong Kim, making her second OHS appearance, began with Prélude (from Trois Pièces, op. 29, no. 1) by Gabriel Pierné. The hymn came from The Hymnal 1940 (Episcopal): “I heard the voice of Jesus say” (Vox dilecti)—a fine choice for this place and organ; I liked the Great Trumpet. Next, she played a partita on Ach wie nichtig, ach wie flüchtig by Georg Böhm that gave a fine survey of the stops. The last variation used the Principal chorus and the Trumpet to good effect. Her next piece was Dudley Buck’s Home, Sweet Home, op. 30 (1868), dedicated to “his friend W. H. Johnson,” the original builder of this organ—great choice! One of the things I admire so much about OHS recitals is the pleasure we take in music of this sort played straightforwardly—no winking. The dignity of the instruments and composers is preserved, and we are transported back in time, to another aesthetic—like hearing Bach on a Silbermann. Yun Kyong Kim ended her program with Etude in D Minor from Four Concert Etudes, op. 51, no. 4 (1904) by George Elbridge Whiting. This was a brilliant performance, with wonderful and varied colors from this 12-stop organ.
After a box lunch, buses took us to Wellington to hear the 1916 2-manual, 13-stop J. W. Steere organ, Opus 417, in the First Congregational Church UCC—OHS charter member Randall Wagner’s home church. The organ sits in a niche to the right of the altar in this octagonal Gothic structure. The interior is crowned with a lantern tower at the peak—a Tiffany-like dome. The manuals and stop action are mechanical, while the pedal is tubular-pneumatic.
Recitalist Grant Edwards began with John Stanley’s Voluntary in G Major, op. 7, no. 9, which worked quite well on this organ. I liked the Oboe, the only reed on the organ, which functioned well as a solo voice and a chorus reed. We heard it as a solo in the next piece, Denis Bédard’s Récit (Suite du premier ton). The slow movement from Mendelssohn’s Third Sonata was next. John and James Leek had restored the hand-pumping mechanism in 1983, and the present organist at the church hand-pumped the organ for this piece. Edwards played a Fughetta on “Austria,” after which we sang that tune to the hymn “God whose giving knows no ending,” then, Brahms’s Schmücke dich, O liebe Seele on a very beautiful flute. Arthur Foote’s Canzonetta, op. 71, no. 4 was next—a captivating piece. The last work was Noël Goemanne’s Partita on “Simple Gifts”—fine playing, and an all-around good demonstration of a beautiful organ.
This beautiful, sunny afternoon, we went to the attractive city of Oberlin, its downtown festooned with large hanging baskets of flowers—right to a church on the green at Oberlin College: the First Church in Oberlin UCC, established in 1834. The red brick building would look right at home in New England. The interior is like a New England meetinghouse, with horseshoe balcony and clear glass rectangular windows. The choir area and organ rise above the altar and pulpit. The organ reposes today in a neo-classical case retained from an Estey organ built for the church in 1908. A Skinner organ from Second Congregational Church replaced the Estey when the two churches merged in the 1920s. The Gober organ company from Elora, Ontario, and now of Oberlin, built the present organ, retaining the white Estey case and seven ranks from the Skinner. It is a large 2-manual and pedal organ of 40 stops and 47 ranks, mechanical key action and electric stop action, with solid-state combination action. Halbert Gober is curator of organs (and there are a lot of them!) at Oberlin College.
The performer was Jack Mitchener, appointed in 2008 as associate professor of organ at Oberlin. Dr. Mitchener opened with Frank Bridge’s marvelous Three Pieces, the Adagio of which has become quite a favorite. We admired the solo flutes and the Clarinet. The fascinating fugue subject is soft at first, but builds to a rolling boil complete with 32′ Contrabourdon; he brought it down gently at the end. The third movement, Allegro con spirito, was indeed fast and spirited, and the playing was well paced and articulated. The organ has a few rough edges, but the overall sound is rich in tone and powerful. Since it is right on campus, it is used regularly as a teaching and practice instrument. Saint-Saëns’ Fantaisie in D-flat Major, op. 101 came next, and was played very well. Spring Song by Harry Rowe Shelley (1858–1947) was an engaging romp—a bonbon. The hymn was “All my hope on God is founded,” with its awe-inspiring tune Michael by Herbert Howells. Mitchener’s final work was Mendelssohn’s Sonata No. 1 in F Minor, op 65. His playing possesses great power and solidity. This was a very impressive performance in every way.
The convention group was divided in half, with some taking a self-guided tour of the Julas Organ Center, featuring Oberlin’s 14 practice organs by builders including Holtkamp, Noack, and Flentrop, then attending another fine recital by Dr. Mitchener in the beautiful Fairchild Chapel designed by New York architect Cass Gilbert (Woolworth Building, George Washington Bridge) and completed in 1931. Seating just 200, it was a perfect place to hear the beautiful 2-manual and pedal organ by John Brombaugh (Opus 25), from 1981, one of the earliest examples of a modern instrument tuned in quarter-comma meantone. This gothic chapel also contains a small 1957 Flentrop (one manual with pedal pulldowns). Mitchener played a varied program—Bach: Komm, Gott, Schöpfer, heiliger Geist, BWV 667; Andrea Antico: Chi non crede; Giovanni Paolo Cima: Canzon quarta, La Pace; William Byrd: The Carmans Whistle; and Buxtehude: Praeludium in C Major, BuxWV 137. All of this sounded marvelous on this unique instrument—a revelation.
After dinner under a white tent in a park, we headed to Oberlin’s Finney Chapel, a sort of Spanish Romanesque structure, for the evening recital by Diane Meredith Belcher on the C. B. Fisk organ, Opus 116, from 2001. The 3-manual organ has 57 registers, built in the French Romantic style, taking its inspiration from the instruments of Aristide Cavaillé-Coll. The Pedal has three 32′ stops. The tone is robust and colorful. It sits in a dark walnut-colored case on a balcony above the back of the stage.
Belcher began with Three Preludes and Fugues, op. 37 by Mendelssohn. In the C-minor, she attacked the music with a confident stride. I found the room to be resonant, but not reverberant—a pity. All that money spent on this classy organ, and the room is relatively dead. The G-major began with what I assumed to be the Flûte harmonique, which sang out into the room with a rich, noble sound. The fugue grew out of 8′ 4′ 2′ principal sounds, which sparkled well and were nicely colored with the addition of a reed. The D-minor used mixtures for the first time. We also heard 16′ manual tone and the 32′ Bourdon in the Pedal. Quieter sounds on the Récit grew to a ff as the piece wound itself around. Her performance was fantastic. The full power of the pedal came out in the fugue.
Next came another visit to Lefébure-Wély land, with his Élévation ou communion en la mineur, followed by Pifferari (a piffaro is a type of Italian bagpipe). Belcher used the Fisk organ’s Effet d’Orage stop, which creates the sound of thunder by sounding about seven pedal keys at once, as a drone went on the left hand while the right hand had dialogue between trumpets and flutes. Quite a piece! Then, Guilmant’s Prière en fa majeur, op. 16, no. 2, which was a nice airing of the Vox Humana. The first half ended with Gigout’s Pièce jubilaire, which begins quietly and builds to full organ. The full organ was thrilling. After the intermission, Michael Barone, a graduate of Oberlin, read a list of his classmates there in the late 1960s. It read like a who’s who of renowned American organists, teachers, and, of course, one very famous radio personality!
The second half of the program comprised a single work: Maurice Duruflé’s Suite, op. 5. The expression “hair-raising” cannot be overused here. The Prelude was full of thunder in the bass, with the flash of manual reeds and mixtures. The Sicilienne featured a solo on the Récit’s Basson-hautbois, followed by the beautiful strings accompanying the Flûte Harmonique—things of loveliness. The Toccata was played with an incredible fury. Pure joy and elation radiated forth from Belcher and this fantastic instrument.

Friday, 10 July 2009
Our first concert of the day was at Temple Tifereth Israel, a most impressive landmark on University Circle. The architecture was described in our atlas as “Romanesque and Byzantine.” Dedicated in 1924, it features a vast dome rising 85 feet over the sanctuary, which seats 1,227 on the main floor and another 659 in the mezzanine. The original organ was a Kimball with four manuals and a horseshoe console. The console was rebuilt by Ruhland Organs of Cleveland in 1967, and is now a Holtkamp-style 3-manual with stop keys. They retained much of the Kimball pipework, including diaphones and tibias. The organ is in the front of the building in chambers to the left and right of the choir gallery.
Justin Hartz played a wonderful recital of period pieces on this unusual instrument. He began with A Song of the Sea by English composer H. Alexander Matthews (1879–1973), which featured the Diaphone. Next was Caressing Butterfly by Richard Barthélemy (1869–1937) in a transcription by Firmin Swinnen. This was a tour of the grand old organ’s solo stops—there were many enchanting Kimball sounds.
Then we heard three pieces in theatre organ style: Forgotten Melody by Gus Kahn and Jesse Crawford, arranged by Rosa Rio who just turned 107; Hartz’s transcription of The Whistler and His Dog by Arthur Pryor; and Trees by Otto Rasbach, based on the poem by Joyce Kilmer. The hymn was “May He who kept us” by James H. Rogers. Hartz ended his concert with a good reading of Franck’s Pièce héroïque.

We then drove to the tony and very beautiful neighborhood of Cleveland Heights for a recital at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, a large English Gothic structure of Indiana limestone. The 1951 building was designed by J. Beyers Hays of Walker & Weeks, Cleveland. Our Atlas states that the same firm also designed the Public Auditorium in 1922 and Severance Hall in 1930. Karel Paukert is the organist at St. Paul’s and presides over three pipe organs, the most famous being the large organ by Walter Holtkamp built in 1952. It rises behind the altar screen, and has three manuals and pedal, with 44 stops. John Ferguson wrote in the atlas: “St. Paul’s Episcopal organ can be taken as a good example of the mature style of Walter Holtkamp. It was his favorite instrument. Many consider it to be his masterpiece.” But we’ll come to this organ later.
David Schrader began his program on the smallest of the three organs in this church: a one-manual portative organ from 2002 by Czech builder Vladimir Slajch. It stood in the side aisle to our right. Its bright red case with blue and gold trim really made a statement in this mostly white room. Schrader stood as he played some pieces from Frescobaldi’s Fiori Musicali (1635). In the Bergamasca, the gentle flute, Copula, filled the large room easily. He then made his way to the rear balcony, where a second organ awaited him: a 2-manual and pedal, 21-stop Hradetzky from 1986. The pipes are mounted on the railing, and the console is behind the case. The organ is in 17th-century Northern Italian style. It can be hand pumped, and has all manner of toys: drums, bells and whistles. The Toccata per l’Elevazione used the organ’s Voce umana. That was followed by the Ricercar cromatico dopo il credo. Then the fun began with the toy counter as he moved from Frescobaldi to Claude-Benigne Balbastre’s Variations on the Marseillaise and Ça Ira—it was a hoot from start to finish.
Schrader then moved to the Holtkamp behind the altar. The hymn we sang was not well chosen for our group or for the instrument: “God of our fathers, whose almighty hand” (National Hymn). We sing with great gusto, and with this hymn you need powerful solo reeds for the fanfares. The fanfares were written in our music, but he chose not to play them. So that was confusing right from the start. He also played it in a lower key, C major, I think. Then, between the third and fourth verses he played an extended interlude that seemed to wander through the circle of fifths for so long, as he modulated upward, that we were left uncertain as to when we should enter for the last verse. When he played a quasi-fanfare, half of us began to sing, and half waited for two measures. It was quite a rubble. The last piece was Trois Danses by Jehan Alain. I love this work and had been looking forward to it. The organ seemed well suited for it, but Schrader seemed to lose his way. The music lacked an inner pulse, which holds the musical line together.
We then went to the huge Church of the Covenant, another grand English Gothic building made of Indiana limestone. It features a large tower over the crossing containing a 47-bell carillon of Dutch bells. The first thing we did was gather in the church to sing the hymn “All Creatures of Our God and King” (Lasst uns erfreuen), with Jonathan Moyer playing the 5-manual Aeolian-Skinner rebuild of a Skinner organ. The pipes of this organ are placed all over the room, so the effect is rather overwhelming. He played it well and gave us a good demonstration of the instrument. We then ate a box lunch on the beautiful grounds as we listened to carillonneur John Gouwens, who played with fine shading and color music from many periods including an improvisation on a submitted theme.

We then walked over to the beautiful Cleveland Museum of Art. Unfortunately, the large Holtkamp organ was in storage due to renovations in the auditorium. But we did get to hear the Holtkamp Art Deco Portativ from 1935 in a recital by organist Gregory Crowell and soprano Kathryn Stieler. The organ’s case, designed by architect Richard Rychtarik, looks like something that stepped out of a 1930s Fred Astaire movie. The organ marked a return to tracker action in American organ building—a thing that would not be seen again until the 1960s. The recital was held in a reverberant gallery. Dr. Crowell began with Partite sopra La Romanesca by Michelangelo Rossi (1601–1656). Ms. Stieler began with Amarilli, mia bella by Caccini. Her even tone was rich and pure, filling the gallery with sound. Giovanni Legrenzi’s Che fiero costume was next, sung with great fire and freedom. Crowell’s accompaniment was superb.
Then we heard two movements from OHS member David Dahl’s An Italian Suite. Dahl’s writing is quite fine, and Crowell played this music very well, beginning with Pavana and ending with Gagliarda. Ms. Stieler returned for two more songs: the gracious Intorno all’idol mio by Antonio Cesti, followed by the well-known and joyous Già il sole dal Gange by Alessandro Scarlatti. It was an elegant program beautifully performed by two gifted musicians.
We returned to the Marriott to have dinner and get ready for the evening concert, the closing event of what had been a truly great convention. A record 530 registrants took part, even in the difficult economy we were having. The convention sold itself, with stunning photos on display at last summer’s convention in Seattle, in a gorgeous calendar we all received before Christmas, and, of course in the brilliant convention issue of The Tracker magazine, with more photos and tantalizing prose.
And now we found ourselves entering the grand and famous home of the Cleveland Orchestra: Severance Hall in the beautiful University Circle neighborhood. The classical exterior of the 1931 building includes organ pipes in the pediment above the main entry. The interior is pure Art Deco splendor. The big 4-manual Skinner organ from 1931, Opus 816, with 86 stops and 94 ranks, was originally in chambers 41 feet above the stage, speaking downward. Eventually it fell into disuse, and was walled up, thus preserving it. The hall was renovated in 2000, and the organ was moved to new chambers at the back of the stage. Jack M. Bethards was the consultant, and the Schantz organ company renovated the instrument, giving it modern solenoid drawknobs and a multi-level combination action. A façade of 43 non-speaking pipes graces the organ’s front. The console, painted a deep blue, with ivory and walnut colored Art Deco trim, was front and center on the stage.
The recitalist was Thomas Murray, university organist and professor of music at Yale University. He opened with Toccata in F Major, BWV 540, by J. S. Bach, slowly allowing the organ’s sound to grow and blossom. His flawless sense of rhythmic pulse and immaculate technique propelled every phrase. He made the most of those marvelous deceptive cadences. The powerful 32′ reeds came on at the end, leaving us breathless. We had all fallen in love with this organ, and the concert could have ended right there. But we were grateful that there would be more.
Next came Hindemith’s Sonata I (1937), written six years after this organ’s debut. Murray made the most out of this organ’s many fine solo voices. His approach was more orchestral, more dynamic than the usual. The Sehr langsam, for example, began with a plaintive cry from the Choir organ’s Contra Fagotto 16′ played one octave higher. Some of the softer foundation stops were heard, then the Orchestral Oboe—beautiful
E. M. Skinner sounds. Phantasie, frei featured good contrasting sounds. It ends, of course, with Ruhig bewegt, softly reminding us of the first movement. Murray’s pace and choice of color were perfect. The ppp ending on the Choir strings was deeply moving.
Regina Pacis from Guy Weitz’s (1883–1970) Symphony I on Gregorian Themes (1932), a good period piece for this organ, contained the Gregorian Ave Maria. I loved the soft 16′ pedal stops, Dulciana and Gamba, speaking with precision and presence. It grew to a loud dynamic. Instead of a sacred hymn, we sang a hymn to music: Schubert’s An die Musik, a practice they have at Yale graduations. It was a fine touch. For a brief moment we were all Yalies!
After intermission, Murray played Mouvement by Jean Berveiller (1904–1976). Only a few minutes in length, it packs a lot of music with a truly riotous pedal part. He concluded with Calvin Hampton’s transcription of Franck’s Symphony in D Minor. It sounded wonderful in this room, which has just enough reverberation to make the detached chords ring. Murray’s legendary console technique and registration skill were on full display. One also had the sense that this instrument clearly inspired him. The strings and soft reeds are to die for. The Oboe, English Horn, French Horn, and so forth are the stuff of genius. Thank God we still have this instrument’s voices intact as Skinner left them. This symphony, written for orchestra, makes a great organ piece; the transcription was excellent. Thomas Murray played it magnificently. His playing on this glorious and historic masterpiece of an organ—brought back from near extinction—is what the Organ Historical Society is all about. We were all deeply moved by that realization.
My hat is off to the planners of this convention. It ran like a clock. Endlessly fascinating instruments and venues kept us constantly entertained. The hotel was terrific, as was the food. The performers outdid themselves. The Atlas is a great document: kudos to Rollin Smith, Jonathan Ambrosino, Stephen Pinel, Stephen Schnurr, Scot Huntington, and Joseph McCabe for an outstanding job. The photography of William Van Pelt, Victor Hoyt, and Len Levasseur will provide inspiration for years to come. Next summer is Pittsburgh (information: <www.organsociety.org&gt;). I can’t wait! 

Photo credit: William T. Van Pelt, III

Current Perspectives on Organ Research: American Organ Archives, Westminster Choir College of Rider University

Princeton, New Jersey, April 23-27, 2003

Stephen G. Leist

Stephen Leist holds degrees in history from Furman University, where he studied organ with W. Lindsay Smith, Jr., and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has served on the faculties of Furman University and Georgetown College, and is currently on the library staff of Transylvania University.

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The second symposium to be held at the American Organ
Archives attracted organists, organ builders and organ historians from across
the United States, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Germany and Australia. Organized
by Stephen L. Pinel, Director of the American Organ Archives, and James L.
Wallmann, the five-day gathering of lectures, papers and panel discussions with
generous time to explore the archives was sponsored jointly by Westminster
Choir College of Rider University and the Organ Historical Society.

Thursday

Those who arrived early to the symposium were rewarded with
extra time to browse the American Organ Archives, the world's largest
repository of organ research materials, or to conduct research on individual
projects. The real opening of the symposium began with a marvelous afternoon
reception in the archive reading room on Thursday, April 24. The reception was
a great opportunity to see old acquaintances and to make new contacts. After
the reception and dinner, participants were transported to Christ Church, New
Brunswick, to hear a recital by Lynn Edwards Butler on the 2001 Richards,
Fowkes & Co. organ of two manuals and 24 ranks. The all-Bach program,
perfectly suited for this organ, was entitled "Hymns for the Seasons"
and featured chorale preludes for the Easter season through Trinity. This
outstanding performance was framed by Bach's Fantasia in c
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Passacaglia in c
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Friday morning

Lectures and panel discussions for the symposium were held
at Christ Congregation Church located across the street from the Westminster
campus. The commodious meeting space was ideal, both for location and
acoustics, as no amplification was needed, and speakers did not need to
significantly raise their voices to be heard. Friday morning, April 25, began
with a brief welcome by Allison Alcorn-Oppedahl, Chair of the Governing Board
of the American Organ Archives. The Keynote Address, delivered by Uwe Pape of
Berlin, followed with the topic, "Research on North German Organs and
Organbuilding--History and Current Perspectives." Prof. Dr. Pape, who
manages Pape Verlag and the Organ Databank, gave a detailed presentation on the
beginnings of organ history research in the 1920s and its progress to date,
making thorough mention of a variety of scholars and their work. He also
outlined his own work over the last forty years and his efforts to document
organs in northern Germany and make the information available through his
publications and those of others. The abstract provided in the symposium
handbook is a wealth of information regarding these themes, as well as the
mention of various archives in Germany that serve as necessary finding aids.
One of the continuing problems cited by Prof. Dr. Pape regarding organ research
was the shortage of funds for scholarly work. Much of this has to be done out
of one's own pocket during free time. An additional problem is that fewer
younger scholars in Germany are taking up an interest in the organ. Despite
these trends, the six states of eastern Germany are fertile ground for organ research.

Following the Keynote Address, Stephen L. Pinel presented a
brief report on "Current Developments at the Archives." This report
made mention of the three goals of the American Organ Archives and its
Governing Board, which are acquisitions, processing and maintenance, and
outreach, and what the archive is doing to meet these goals. The archive is
regularly in touch with scholars around the world to acquire publications, and
the use of Internet search engines and the production of a want list have greatly
added to the archive's holdings. Recent acquisitions include Hallens' 1779
treatise Die Kunst des Orgelbaues and
the archives of the Virgil Fox Society (summer 2003). Much of the processing
and maintenance is done by volunteers, but cataloging has been greatly
facilitated by outsourcing to Joni Cassidy of Cassidy Catologing, Inc. Outreach
has been improved with the website and online catalog, the use of Interlibrary
Loan, and frequent reports of activities and news. Stephen Pinel stressed the
importance of protection and stewardship of this collection for future
generations of scholars. 

The final presentation of the morning before breaking for
lunch was a panel discussion on "Current Trends in Organ
Scholarship." Chaired by James Wallmann, the panel featured Prof. Dr. Uwe
Pape, Paul Peeters of the Göteborg Organ Art Center in Göteborg,
Sweden, Rollin Smith, and Andrew Unsworth. This discussion focused on research
activities in the Netherlands, Germany, Scandinavia, France and the United States.
Bibliographies of important monographs and other resources were provided in the
handbook, thereby making the handbook a valuable tool to take away from the
symposium. All agreed that the degree of quality was uneven, due in large part
to funding and the organization of societies for investigating and documenting
organs. The most consistent work is probably being done in the Netherlands,
where organists in general seem to be well-educated about the instrument beyond
the repertoire, and government support for restorations includes reports which
are often published. This has served to maintain an active interest in the
organ in society at large, despite very low church attendance. Andrew Unsworth
pointed out that organ scholarship in the United States is steady, but slow,
with the most significant work being done by Orpha Ochse and Barbara Owen. Paul
Peeters explained the interdisciplinary nature of the GOArt Academy by pointing
out their goal of not separating the organ building, research, and music.
Rollin Smith demonstrated that scholarship in France has been predominantly on
French classicism to offset German influence in Baroque music, but that French
scholars are beginning to show new interest in the 19th century. Societies have
been instrumental in producing local and regional inventories of historic
instruments. Much work on the French organ, however, continues to be done by
scholars from other countries.

Friday afternoon

The afternoon session began with a paper presentation by
John Buschman, Acting Dean of University Libraries, Rider University, on
"The Changing Roles of Libraries and Archives in the New Millennium, Or,
Why Is It So Hard to Get Money These Days?" Likening libraries and
archives to museums and symphony orchestras, Buschman pointed out that these institutions
share a commonality in that they can trace their beginnings and support for
acting in the common good by educating society in individual and democratic
values. In recent years, this has changed as these institutions have become
more market driven to educate individuals for a workforce in an increasingly
technological age. Combined with the new emphasis on technology is a desire for
lower taxes and public spending. The impact on libraries and archives is that
they have had to move away from public funding to other sources of support.
Collection development has been cut with funds being redirected toward
technology. Even proposals for federal funding must emphasize technological
projects. Technological resources have redefined the library as a place of
study. Buschman believes that libraries and archives have inappropriately
followed the marketing model by viewing patrons as customers, with web traffic
becoming justification for more support. Buschman stated that it is essential
for librarians to emphasize public services and service to scholarship, as a
library's effects cannot be quantified, in order to recapture the original
purpose of libraries and reduce suspicion of public motives.

The second session of the afternoon was taken up with the
topic, "Organ Libraries Around the World," featuring Paul Peeters of
GOArt, David Baker of the Royal College of Organists/British Institute of Organ
Studies, and Barbara Owen of the AGO Organ Library at Boston University. Each
panelist explained the particular structure of their institutions and along
with recent activities and needs. Paul Peeters presented a diagram of GOArt's
interdisciplinary approach to research as exemplified by their recent North
German Organ Research Project. He further explained that their current library
needs are primarily books on materials and tools. David Baker's presentation
focused on the RCO/BIOS move to a new home in Birmingham, England, in
partnership with the University of Central England. The new library is tied to
inner-city regeneration by refitting an early 19th-century railroad station and
the "out-of-London" initiative. We were treated to a comprehensive
presentation on collection development policies, accessibility to services and
outreach programs. Barbara Owen explained the origins of the AGO Organ Library
as starting with the gift of a personal library. The collection has since been
expanded by more donations, although its collection has more to do with
organists than organ building. Much of the work is done by volunteers and
work-study students, and the library is currently unable to handle Interlibrary
Loan due to lack of staff. Boston University provides space and Internet
access, which has enabled the library to provide worldwide service. The library
is now occupied with developing an online catalog.

Friday evening

Following the mid-afternoon break, the final panel
discussion of the day was held on the subject of "What Organbuilders Learn
(and Don't Learn) in the Library." Moderated by Jonathan Ambrosino, the
panel featured Jack Bethards (Schoenstein), Bruce Fowkes (Richards, Fowkes
& Co.), Paul Fritts (Paul Fritts & Co.), and Scot L. Huntington (S. L.
Huntington & Co.). The panelists largely agreed that a library does not
teach one how to build an organ, that much still depends on experience.
Documentation helps answer questions about approach and resolve problems with
informed decisions. Printed materials and recordings are a start, but
ultimately, one has to visit the instrument. Printed information can also provide
important technical details. 

We were once again treated in the evening to a fine recital,
this time Joan Lippincott performing on the Joe R. Engle Organ, built by Paul
Fritts & Co. (Op. 20, 2001), in the Miller Chapel at Princeton Theological
Seminary. Another all-Bach program, this recital featured the catechism
chorales of the Clavierübung, Part
III framed by the Prelude and Fugue in E-flat. A stunning program from start to
finish, the Fritts organ was ideally suited to the music and space of the chapel.
Opening remarks were made by Martin Tel, the chapel organist, and Paul Fritts.
At Joan Lippincott's request, Martin Tel finished the evening accompanying a
setting of
Vater unser im Himmelreich found in the Presbyterian
hymnal, which was rousingly sung by the assembled audience

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Saturday morning

The final day, Saturday, April 26, began with a paper
presented by Kelvin Hastie, Secretary of the Organ Historical Trust of
Australia, on "Organ Research, Documentation and Conservation in
Australia: An Overview of the Work of the Organ Historical Trust of Australia,
1977-2003." Dr. Hastie began his talk with a brief history of the organ
culture of Australia, explaining the influence of the 19th-century English
organ builders and their influence on the first Australian builders. Most of
the historic organs in Australia represent this period and style and are modest
instruments, with a few rare examples of large organs among the town halls,
most notably the 1890 William Hill organ in the Sydney Town Hall. Very few
organs came from continental Europe. Dr. Hastie further pointed out that the
first stylistic shift away from the English late Romantic organ came after 1945
when the influence of the organ reform movement appeared in Australia,
particularly represented by the work of Robert Sharp. More imports were coming
from Europe as well. The historic preservation movement came to Australia in
the 1960s, and the following decade saw the establishment of local societies
and a national trust. The OHTA was also established at this time and began a
Gazetteer project to raise awareness of historic organs. Today, about 50% of
19th-century organs survive in Australia, and the percentage is higher in rural
areas. The joining of congregations and church closures continue to threaten
the loss of instruments, but the rate has been low due to successful
relocation. Current documentation projects of the OHTA are the acquisition of
the shop records of Hill, Norman & Beard of Australia and Whitehouse
Brothers, in addition to notebooks and letter collections. A database is being
prepared with the goal of making it available on CD-ROM, though there is no
central holding library. The OHTA has established guidelines for conservation
standards and issues, and conservation and documentation projects now receive
government grants, as organs are classified as cultural monuments. Despite
this, Hastie pointed out, the saving of historic organs "still requires
constant energy and vigilance."

Scot Huntington, a member of the OHS publications committee,
made a brief report on "Current Publishing Activities of the OHS." He
announced that the committee was in the process of hiring a Director of
Publications and an oversight committee has been formed. In the meantime, book
proposals have been received. The goal of the publications committee is better
documentation of American organs through an opus series, a monograph series,
and American works on other organ traditions. Publications currently in
preparation are works on Hinners, Lawrence Phelps, Murray Harris, and Susan
Tattershall's work on Spanish organs. A special 50th Anniversary edition of The
Tracker is being planned along with a history of the OHS. An ongoing project is
the Möller opus list, and a reprint of Eugene Thayer's Organist's
Quarterly Rev
iew is almost at the printers.

Closing panel

The closing panel of the symposium was moderated by Laurence
Libin, Curator of Musical Instruments at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
The panel was made up of all previous panelists and speakers. Libin began by
observing that there was general agreement that documentation of instruments is
a great concern, but there had not been much discussion about what kinds of
information should be preserved and how. One example he mentioned was the
importance of oral histories. Kelvin Hastie stated that the problem in the
United States in terms of documentation was the absence of a methodology. Jack
Bethards raised the issue of going beyond academic work and doing organ
research simply for the fun of it, that there is a joy by itself in reading
older documents. Barbara Owen asked the question, "What does the
instrument itself tell?" The approach of visiting the instrument and then
following the paper trail in her view is a mutually supportive research
process. Paul Peeters and David Baker stressed the interdisciplinary nature of
organ research and the importance of research networks. Peeters specifically
drew the example of the North German Research Project, in which archival
information was very important to understanding the issues of sandcasting pipe
metal and winding systems. Libin suggested the importance of economic and
social issues, such as the function of guilds in stifling or encouraging
development. Baker also added the need for continuous vigilance to protect
archival assets. Scot Huntington added to this theme his own experience in
working with the Möller records, which represented a great deal of
technological change and invention. Jonathan Ambrosino also agreed with the
need to share information, stating that "not to share is to die." The
discussion was then opened to the floor, with symposium participants given an
opportunity to ask questions and raise additional issues. Among the topics
covered were conservation/preservation issues, professionalizing organ
research, and more effective means of disseminating information.

Archive

After lunch, the American Organ Archive was open for
participants to browse the collection or conduct research. Interest in the
archive was such that it was difficult to find a seat, and Stephen Pinel was
cheerfully busy providing assistance. I had the opportunity to conduct a little
research of my own, locating some photos for a forthcoming article, and then do
some browsing to while away the afternoon. The archive was again open on Sunday
for those who remained. I came away from this conference excited and refreshed,
not to mention with a host of more questions than when I arrived, which is the
kind of activity a quality conference stimulates. We will all be eagerly
awaiting the next symposium offering.

In closing, it should be mentioned that the American Organ
Archive is a wonderful resource for conducting research, not only on American
organs and builders, but traditions in other countries, due to the
comprehensive nature of the collection. It is significant also for music
history research not necessarily restricted to the organ, as many of the great
composers worked with other media besides the organ. Stephen Pinel and James
Wallmann are to be congratulated for brilliantly organizing a successful
symposium. Hearty thanks are also due to the members of the archive Governing
Board, the sponsors, and all those who assisted with the reception and break
time refreshments, especially Mary Jane Kress and James S. Palmer.
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The Organ Historical Society Fiftieth Anniversary Convention (part 2)

Frank G. Rippl

Frank Rippl is a graduate of Lawrence University Conservatory of Music where he studied with Miriam Clapp Duncan and Wolfgang Rübsam. He is co-founder of The Appleton Boychoir, coordinator of the Lunchtime Organ Recital Series in the Appleton, Wisconsin area, and has been organist/choirmaster at All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Appleton for 35 years.

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Friday, June 30

The final day of the convention dawned with bright and abundant sunshine—a welcome sight after all the rain. The first event was a lecture by organ scholar James Wallmann entitled “The OHS at Fifty! So What?”. He noted the Society’s accomplishments, citing especially the Archives and their growing international significance in the world of organ research, as well as the influence the OHS has had on the organ world in general. He said that organs will continue to be built and continue to change. The OHS will continue to observe and then preserve and transmit information about these instruments, and honor the best and most significant examples.
Our first recital took place at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Watervliet, New York, on a large 3-manual 1890 Geo. Jardine & Son organ, much of which, we were told, actually dates from the Civil War era. It has a huge, room-filling sound—like a warm embrace from a loving grandmother. The recitalist was Randy Bourne, who began with Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in E minor, BWV 533 (“The Cathedral”). The opening sound was quite arresting, and we knew we were hearing an uncommonly fine instrument. It rendered Bach’s music nicely on a fine, clear, and bright plenum. Next was Edward MacDowell’s Woodland Sketches, which demonstrated a great variety of this organ’s wonderful sounds. Bourne played very well with charm, sweetness, and a well-placed dash of nostalgia.
The large gothic church, with its 100-foot ceiling, soaring columns beneath a wraparound triforium gallery, and 56 windows, has suitably grand acoustics in which the full, bright-sounding reeds could especially flourish. It is a 1/6 scale replica of the church of our Lady of Lourdes in Lourdes, France. Bourne next offered Pachelbel’s Ciacona in F minor, a great organ demonstration piece. The hymn was “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen,” and he closed with Myron Roberts’ Improvisation on the same tune, a series of variations that showed off more sounds of this amazing organ: everything from a lovely Vox Humana to a thundering pedal! It was glorious, and our spirits were ebullient!
But then, from the balcony, we were given sobering and terrible news from Scot Huntington, whose organbuilding firm had sponsored this recital and prepared the organ, that St. Patrick’s is very close to being closed and the magnificent building demolished. His voice choking up, he asked us to look carefully at the church, as it may be the last time we see it. O tempora, O mores.
With suddenly heavy hearts and shaking heads we returned to the buses for a ride to Saratoga’s Spa State Park where we were served a “Summer Grill” picnic, balm indeed for our troubled minds. We then crossed the Hudson River to Schaghticoke, New York, and the 2-manual 1865 Giles Beach organ in The United Presbyterian Church. The organ was demonstrated by Christopher Marks, assistant professor at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. He opened with the charming Humoresque “L’organo primitivo” by Pietro A. Yon, which highlighted the Stopped Diapason. Next was Dudley Buck’s Variations on a Scotch Air, op. 51, in which I took great pleasure in the Clarionette and the Oboe! We then sang the hymn “God, Whose Giving Knows No Ending” to the tune Beach Spring. Marks closed with the world premier performance of Variations on Beach Spring by composer Alfred V. Fedak, written especially for this convention and this organ. Sebastian Glück and Glück Orgelbau commissioned the work for the Society. It is a fine composition that is by turns playful, quiet, restful and festive (published by Selah Publishing Co. #160-641).
A short bus ride back across the Hudson took us to Timothy Smith’s demonstration of the 3-manual E. M. Skinner organ, Opus 770, in the United Methodist Church, Mechanicville, New York. He began with Sea Sketch (“To T. Tertius Noble”) by Frank Howard Warner, a beautiful piece summoning the depth and mystery of the sea. Next was Fantasy of Moods by Charles Edgar Ford, which showcased among other things the Echo division’s Vox Humana. The strings of this organ are gorgeous (God bless Ernest Skinner!), and Smith used them well. He ended with two movements of Seth Bingham’s Baroques (“to E. Power Biggs”): Rhythmic Trumpet and Voluntary—delightful music proffering the tremendous wealth of tone in this fine organ that stands at the front of the church in a chamber behind a screen. The Echo division is at the rear of the church recessed into the wall. All in all, a very well-produced demonstration-recital of an organ one might not expect to hear in such a small town.
The final evening’s festivities began with a sumptuous banquet of shrimp and chateaubriand in the great Hall of Springs in Saratoga: a magnificent space with a vaulted 38-foot ceiling, 16 marble columns, and huge Belgian and Czechoslovakian crystal chandeliers. Many people wore formal evening attire. It was not your usual OHS banquet, but fiftieth anniversaries only come once, so why not?! After dinner, we boarded the buses for a ride down to Troy for the main event of the convention: the reopening or “resurrection” of the 3-manual, 42-stop, 1882 J. H. & C. S. Odell organ in the Music Hall, which occupies the upper five floors of the 1875 Troy Savings Bank building—a magnificent structure built in the Italian Renaissance style. The hall has outstanding acoustics: George Szell said “ . . . it is the finest auditorium in the United States;” Harold Schonberg referred to it as “one of the acoustical marvels of the world.” The organ is in need of a thorough restoration, but was made playable by a large crew of volunteer workers who came from all over America, spending months cleaning and repairing it for this convention. The organ had not been playable in nearly half a century. Along with the 1864 Hook organ in Mechanics Hall in Worcester, Massachusetts, it stands as the only major 19th-century concert hall with an original period organ. But unlike the Worcester organ, the Troy organ, except for a new blower, is intact and unchanged. The bank acquired the organ in 1889. It had been in a New York City mansion whose owner declared bankruptcy. A wonderful Italianate case was designed for it, and a few stops were added. The keydesk is situated on the left side of the case, which stands proudly on a raised platform at the back of the stage.
The concert featured Dana Robinson, who teaches organ at the University of Illinois, along with the Franciscan Chamber Orchestra conducted by Ronald L. Feldman. Temperature and humidity were high. Windows were open (no air conditioning), so there was some breeze. The conductor told us that the organ was tuned at a much higher pitch than the orchestra could reach. So we had more than a bit of a celeste or schwebung effect going on all night. I was told that because of the heat the organ’s pitch was probably between A-456 and A-460 during the concert! The orchestra could not dare go above A-445. However, once we were forewarned, we could just settle back and enjoy the instrument for what it is—a very beautiful organ! Decisions will need to be made about whether or not to repitch. That will be a tough call, because, in terms of blend, it really sounds terrific with an orchestra, but the tuning problems are not to be taken lightly.
Robinson and the orchestra opened with a lovely quiet piece by Charles Édouard Lefèbvre, Meditation, op. 68, a beautiful, first-rate work I had never heard before. It was a sweet introduction to the hall and to the gorgeous soft sounds of the organ. We were all left somewhat lightheaded and limp by the purity of the acoustic, the beauty of the organ and the fine playing by all concerned. Many of us had tears in our eyes knowing how much that moment must have meant to all the people in the hall who had donated months of love and labor to finally make this sublime music possible. It was one of those unforgettable, only-at-OHS moments.
Robinson then played Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in A Minor, BWV 543, a piece played by Samuel P. Warren at the organ’s inaugural program of November 5, 1890. It worked quite well on the Odell as Robinson gradually unveiled the instrument’s grace and power, adding more and more organ as he went—thrilling us at each step along the way. We next heard Sigfried Karg-Elert’s transcription of Wagner’s Pilgrims’ Chorus/, followed by Scherzo (from the Serenade), op. 35, no. 3 by Salomon Jadassohn, another piece from the 1890 inaugural concert. This was fun because it used the Odell’s cheery Solo Bells, described in the 2006 Organ Atlas as “flat glockenspiel bars struck by hard felt piano-style hammers through an escapement action.” We then enjoyed more of the soft sounds of the organ with the next two pieces: Rêverie du Soir (from Suite Algérienne, op. 60) by Saint-Saëns in a transcription by Guilmant, and Adoration, op. 44, by Guilmant—more lovely, gracious sounds awaiting a complete restoration. We have so much to learn from this amazing organ. The first half ended with another inaugural recital piece:Marche Pontificale from Widor’s Symphonie I, op. 13, no. 1, a terrific opportunity to hear the justifiably famous reeds of this organ—a rich, full-throated bunch.
The second half of the program featured Sinfonia Sacra, op. 81, by Widor for organ and orchestra—one of his five orchestral symphonies, three of which call for organ with orchestra. This is a mature and meticulously crafted work that uses the chorale Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland as its main theme. Highly contrapuntal, with deeply felt spirituality, it was a perfect choice for the evening. The orchestra was splendid, and Feldman led all concerned with command and grace. I was quite taken with the oboist, whose lovely tone in that remarkable acoustic seemed to be right in front of me in my balcony seat. The strings remained on stage the entire evening, not daring to step into another temperature lest they lose what tuning they had so carefully prepared. By this point in the evening the organ’s reeds were showing the effect of the heat, but we all understood and did not mind. Dana Robinson is a very fine organist. His playing brought out the best in the organ, and blended very well with the orchestra, whose players were great sports to put up with the heat and tuning issues. This organ is a singular musical treasure. Much thought and much money will be required to bring it back fully with a complete restoration. Hats off to all the men and women whose dedicated work allowed us the privilege of hearing what it can be. Hats off, also, to the officials at Troy Savings Bank, who recognize and support this effort.
Finally, hats off to the Organ Historical Society, which created a convention worthy of its golden anniversary, worthy of the magnificent venues and instruments it showcased, and worthy of the outstanding performers and technicians who brought them to life for us. The relaxed and gracious air they maintained for the entire week made us feel truly welcomed, and that we had indeed come home.

Cover feature

Glück Pipe Organs,
New York, New York

St. John’s of Lattingtown Episcopal Church,
Locust Valley, New York

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An historic idyll

The hamlet of Lattingtown, a sub-enclave of Locust Valley on New York’s Long Island, is named for the locust trees that forest the terminal moraines left by receding glaciers. The land was purchased from the Algonquin-speaking tribe of the Lenape nation in 1667, and during the late nineteenth century, the region became known for its quiet serenity while enjoying proximity to New York City, where many of the area residents also kept city homes and offices for their business interests.

By the 1920s, society architects such as Delano and Aldrich; Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue; McKim, Mead, and White; Cass Gilbert; and Carrère and Hastings designed resplendent residences for privacy-seeking industrialists and financiers in the Glen Cove region, whose names may still be unfamiliar to most. The imposing estate houses were (and are) known by name rather than by street address, including attorney William Dameron Guthrie’s vast property, “Meudon,” named for Château de Meudon in the Parisian suburb where Marcel Dupré kept a house fitted up with a Mutin-Cavaillé-Coll organ.

In the bucolic Locust Valley–Glen Cove region, about a dozen houses in the “neighborhood” were furnished with pipe organs by the Aeolian Company, including the II/27 in Louis Comfort Tiffany’s “Laurelton Hall,” the IV/63 in Nicholas F. Brady’s “Inisfada,” and the colossal IV/107 in Frank W. Woolworth’s “Winfield Hall.” Yet it was the wife of sulfur baron Henry Devereux Whiton who is listed as the client for the II/13 Ernest M. Skinner organ of 1919 for their house “up the road” from St. John’s. It was this little organ, with roll-playing mechanism, which appears to have influenced the church’s choice of Skinner to build his Opus 447 when the church was reconfigured for its reopening in 1924. The church organ was a smaller affair of eleven ranks, built in Skinner’s Westfield shop. 

Neither of the small Skinner organs remains intact. Frieda Frasch Whiton divorced Henry in 1921, married Count David Augustus Constantini the following year, and upon the count’s death in 1937, married Baron Carl Gottlieb von Seidlitz, to whom she remained married until her death in 1951. The fate of the house organ appears lost to history.

 

The commission

Ten years ago, Eric Milnes, director of music, approached me about building a new organ for St. John’s, which I assumed would be a mechanical-action organ in historic style and temperament, as Mr. Milnes has earned an internationally celebrated reputation as a conductor and historical keyboard artist specializing in the historically informed performance of Baroque keyboard, instrumental, and choral music with period instruments. Yet to my delight, he envisioned a powerful, multifaceted, colorful adjunct to the Episcopal liturgy that could authentically interpret the concert repertoire. The use of electropneumatic action opened the door to a world of tonal possibilities in which the two of us could scratch our academic itches free from the strangulation of purist dogma. The challenge was not to acquiesce to bland “eclecticism,” but to devise an enchanting chameleon without spawning a generic creature devoid of character and personality.

 

The musical formula

The Latin multum in parvo, or “much in little,” often is used to assess the useful content-to-thickness ratio of short, highly informative books, whether technical or historical. It was co-opted by the speculative and operative arms of organbuilding to describe service-playing instruments of small scope and grand effect, most associated with English builders of the past 150 years, although the French have been parallel adepts. The criteria for this appellation remain nebulous, and the label has been adhered to organs of between 18 and 40 ranks, two or three manuals, French, English, or American, with mechanical or assisted action. 

In designing this 20-rank instrument for St. John’s, I chose to focus upon what the substantive literature demands of the organ. Thousands of American instruments have harbored lovely stops, but could never honor the wishes of the composers who wrote organ music. Since concert literature was written by church organists for the instruments they played in church, I always choose to work backwards from the score to create instruments with the required voices at the right pitches, properly grouped and usefully juxtaposed. Desirable elements in an organ of this limited size are an anchoring principal chorus, warmly and elegantly voiced with a clear, silvery mixture of sensible composition; a collection of flutes of diverse structure and material; a tierce combination for solo work; a pair of vibrant strings of authentically cutting, exceptional character; the three primary reed colors (Trumpet, Oboe, and Clarinet, the last of which must play in dialogue with the cornet); and a pedal division producing a very clean pitch line that can be heard moving clearly beneath and through the manual textures. No wasted space, no wasted metal.

By good fortune, the Skinner Salicional and Voix Céleste, as well as the Pedal 16 Bourdon, survived the onslaught of the Orgelbewegung, so some heritage pipework, renamed, lives on in the organ. The new metal pipes are built of a spotted alloy of 50% tin (including the hefty resonators of the Swell 16 Basset Horn). New timber pipes are poplar with walnut caps. Because this is a two-manual instrument, some solo stops are duplexed between the manuals, and some extension work is included. Of note are the variably scaled 16 Pedal extension of the Skinner string and the 24-pipe downward extension of the Great 2 Gemshorn as the Pedal 8 Spitzflöte and 4 Choral Bass. Although it is my policy to avoid unification of any manual rank at adjacent pitches, opting for a two-octave separation, the Chimney Flute appears twice in the Great department, charming at the unison, beguiling at the octave. The short-but-useful-compass 8 Herald Trumpet is voiced on the same pressure as the rest of the organ. Its distinction comes from its scaling, shallot style, and voicing, its tone warmer and rounder than its name implies.

 

Expression: upstairs, downstairs

The Great and some of the Pedal fluework are unenclosed above the impost, and the remainder of the organ’s resources are under expression, including the Herald Trumpet and four of the five 16 stops: the Violone, a downward extrapolation with a broadening scale of the 8 Viole de Gambe, with Haskell re-entrant tubes; the Bourdon, extended from the 8 Stopt Diapason; the Bombarde, an extension of the Trumpet; and the Basset Horn. This is accommodated by a two-story expression enclosure, with upper and lower banks of shutter blades. The knob engraved “Lower Shutters Off” disables and closes the shutters at the choir-loft level while permitting the entirety of the enclosed organ to speak through the controllable upper set behind the Great, using the nave’s ceiling as a sounding board. The Great 16 Double Diapason is also enclosed, yet has no pipes of its own, being derived from the Swell 4 Principal from C25 to G56, and the bass taken from the 16 Bourdon/8 Stopt Diapason unit. The addition to the ensemble is one of nobility and gravity without muddiness. The Pedal 16 Subbass provides significant punch, never shared by, or extended from, its manual brethren.

 

The organ case

The remarkable oak casework was carved by William and Alexander Clow of Edinburgh to the designs of Sir Robert Stodart Lorimer, and was the gift of Mr. and Mrs. John Pierpont Morgan. The Clow brothers had completed the carved figures in the Chapel of the Knights of the Order of the Thistle at St. Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh, in 1911 and were a perfect team to work on a small summer church of this stature. The organ case was part of a much larger decorative program by Sir Robert and financed by Morgan; the entirety of St. John’s is pavé with exuberant carving in this style. 

The case was altered to accommodate the Skinner instrument, and again in the 1970s. In the course of decades, carved panels were discarded, crockets cut down, and a brash horizontal trumpet stop installed. Carvings were desiccated and cracked, and the case had settled after structural elements were removed during the last campaign of alterations. Our mission was to structurally stabilize and restore the case to the spirit of the Skinner era, with new components respecting the aesthetic sensibility of Morgan’s gift. There could be no stylistic infelicities.

For the first time since the church was built, the organ chamber is thermally insulated, and the façade bears speaking pipes of the Great 8 Open Diapason. The original façade was composed of dumb pipes without winded toeboards, so the new façade pipes are given breath through the back of the foot via a tube of pipe metal.

 

The console

The elaborately inlaid and carved keydesk was inspired by the South German rococo work of Joseph Gabler from the second quarter of the 18th century. The morphology is his, but the console is dressed in Tudor clothing to match the exceptional work of the Clow brothers. Linenfold panels surround the entire console, including the back, and the astonishingly detailed corbels that support the key bed are just as intricately carved on their inside surfaces as they are where visible. As with all of our consoles, contrasting species of wood are used for everything from “skunktailing” the key cheeks to differentiating toe studs by function. Keyboard compasses are 56/30, accommodating the majority of the repertoire, anthem accompaniments, and robust hymnody. All measurements and relationships comply with AGO standards, and the organ is tuned in equal temperament.

The organ was dedicated and blessed during the morning service on September 7, and the inaugural recital performed by Eric Milnes on September 28.

The family of artisans at Glück Pipe Organs is grateful to have been invited to design and build this jewel in a jewel box. We appreciate the trust of the parish and their patience during the decade of study, design, construction, and finishing. Our longstanding accomplices in engineering and craftsmanship—OSI, A. R. Schopp’s Sons, Peterson Electro-Musical Products, and Harris Precision Products—continue to work with the dedicated members of the Glück team: General Manager Albert Jensen-Moulton, Joseph DiSalle, Dominic Inferrera, Peter Jensen-Moulton, Daniel Perina, and Robert Rast.

—Sebastian M. Glück

President and Artistic & Tonal Director

 

For more information about Glück pipe organs, video presentations, compact discs, workshops, and lectures, please visit gluckpipeorgans.com. 

Photo credit: All photos by Albert Jensen-Moulton

 

Regarding Sebastian Glück’s Opus 18

Upon my return from conducting Bach at the Tage für Alte Musik early music festival in Regensburg, Germany, I made the decision about a new organ for St. John’s, where I have been director of music and organist for 34 years. My career outside of the church has resided mainly in the period-instrument realm, conducting productions of Monteverdi through Mozart, and performing on historical 17th- and 18th-century keyboards and modern replicas. It was perhaps a paradoxical realization, when imagining a dream instrument for my church, that I longed for the more eclectic instruments of my youth, when I was a student of Gerre Hancock, John Weaver, and Vernon de Tar. What would make that dream a reality would be an electropneumatic instrument through which I could luxuriate in the French and German Romantic legacies, the great post-Victorian Anglican tradition, and the magnificent repertoire that has followed.

Sebastian Glück’s tonal and architectural insights and Albert Jensen-Moulton’s technical capabilities combined to fully divine my desire to return to those musical roots, and to conceive a plan that would ultimately satisfy completely. Their ability to express poetically, as well as in succinct and accessible technical terms the mysteries of concept, design, construction, and installation made the leap from imagination to implementation feel attainable. They equipped me well with the descriptive tools to guide a searching congregation through the process with assurance and anticipatory exhilaration. Their excitement about a freshly conceived instrument, their commitment to historical fealty and tonal integrity, and their respect for the mission of music in worship make for a wonderfully responsive and interactive collaboration with the church musician and the worshipers. We at St. John’s felt shepherded and fully participatory at all stages of the process as our musical dream became the longed-for voice of praise in our parish.

St. John’s chancel is a marvel of intricately embellished woodcarving in a heritage edifice preserving the extravagant preferences enjoyed by the privileged of the Gilded Age. The organ case in particular is a splendor to behold, and required the most loving care in its conservation and adaptation to a new instrument. Sebastian Glück’s distinction in the field of architectural restoration was of no small interest to the stewards of St. John’s legacy. His workshop’s treatment of the organ case, and his design of a complementary, luxurious console, have brought us transcendent joy. Albert Jensen-Moulton’s exquisite lighting plan has revealed to us the grandeur of the reimagined organ case, and we believe that the organ had not been fully illuminated since the Skinner organ was installed almost 100 years ago. Every craftsman member of the firm brought uncommon care to protect and restore the beauty for all to appreciate, present and future.

Having just celebrated the dedication and blessing of the new organ at St. John’s, the glorious sounds (first heard at this occasion) have filled us with inspiration and delight. We perceive the individual character of each exquisitely voiced rank, the kaleidoscope of a multitude of ensembles, blended, rich, warm, full, and thrilling in the unique acoustic of the sanctuary. A twenty-rank organ, conceived, built, and voiced by the caring (and compulsive!) hands of master builders, has been richly appointed to express the enormous range of a broad and diverse repertoire. Our church has received the gifts of exhilaration, inspiration, wonder, and mystery in support of praise and prayer.

Our deepest gratitude is expressed to Sebastian, Albert, and all the artisans of Glück Pipe Organs.

—Eric Milnes
Director of Music & Organist

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