by R. E. Coleberd
Introduction
The Kimball Company of Chicago was one of the foremost pipe organ builders in America in the first three decades of the twentieth century. Instruments of all sizes in churches, colleges, theaters, homes and municipal auditoriums across the country made the Kimball organ well-known to churchgoers and the music world of that era. The name lives on in epic instruments in St. John's Episcopal Church, Denver, and the Minneapolis Civic Auditorium, others lesser-known, and in the recollections of older generations. Ironically, very little has been written about the company and its instruments, apart from David Junchen's perceptive summary of the firm and its theater organ work.1 A systematic study of the tonal philosophy and practices of the firm, as well as design features and construction details of their instruments, is long overdue. No comprehensive history of the pipe organ and its builders in America in the twentieth century can be complete without a major study of Kimball.
George T. Michel, a forgotten figure in the pantheon of notable American tonal directors and voicers, was the heart and soul of the Kimball pipe organ. His superb voicing talents, which embraced the full spectrum from reeds to strings to a Diapason chorus, were complemented by the skills and experience of other factory personnel including superintendent Oscar J. Hagstrom, voicer Joseph J. Carruthers, pipemaker Frank A. Meyer, and the astute front-office businessmen Wallace Kimball, Walter Hardy, and the much-traveled Robert P. Elliot. Yet as Van Allen Bradley remarks, correctly, in his company history Music for the Millions: "It was Michel more than any other man who gave the Kimball pipe organ of the 20th Century its great reputation."2
Junchen was unsparing in his praise of Michel: "His reeds were constructed with a jeweler's precision. They had distinctive tone colors, stood rock solidly in tune and were perhaps more uniform note per note than any ever built. Michel's strings set the standard by which all others were judged. Their richness, timbre and incredible promptness of speech, even in the 32' octave, have never been surpassed."3
This article takes a close look at three instruments in two small liberal arts colleges in western Missouri--Park College in Parkville and Missouri Valley College in Marshall--as examples of Kimball's work in the 1930s, near the close of its glorious era in organbuilding. The 1930s were the crucial decade before WWII when changing tastes and preferences swept the pipe organ market. The King of Instruments began to break away from the romantic and orchestral paradigm of the 1920s and earlier and moved toward "old world" antecedents and the classic ensemble. How did Kimball, progressive throughout its history, articulate and implement these changes? The stoplists under discussion shed light on Kimball's approach to organbuilding in that watershed era. The recital programs dedicating these instruments are representative of organ recital fare during that period and in contrast to recent times.
The 1930s demand closer scrutiny. The pioneering work of Walter Holtkamp and G. Donald Harrison is well documented. What about other builders and their instruments? The majority were family-owned firms where change came slowly and was often viewed as a threat. Thus much of the industry fell behind in the emerging trends. These builders were reluctant to depart from stoplists that had worked so successfully a decade earlier. They moved gingerly into mixtures and mutations, while holding onto favorite stops of the previous era--solo reeds, for example. Likewise, there was a pronounced lag in voicing philosophy and technique. The distinctive character and blending quality of independent mutation ranks, which are tuned to pure‚--not tempered--intervals, was scarcely appreciated by voicers accustomed to wide-scale diapasons and other unison stops. What mutations existed were frequently extensions of foundation stops. Mixtures of the 1920s were largely confined to the narrow scale string-sounding Dolce Cornets.
The following analysis is made possible by the vivid recollections of one elder statesman of the organbuilding fraternity, the brief remarks of another who has passed on, and the insights of several contemporary observers well-acquainted with Kimball instruments and the 1930s era.
Charles McManis, living and working in semi-retirement in Woodbury, Connecticut, helped install the 1938 Kimball at Park College, an inspiring early step in his long and distinguished career as an independent builder in Kansas City, Kansas. Charles has close family ties to Park College. His grandfather was one of the original seventeen students enrolled when classes began on May 12, 1875, in an old stone hotel downtown. His parents were both graduates of the school.4
Another prominent builder in the postwar era who observed Kimball and their work was Franklin Mitchell (1917-1998), tonal director of the Reuter Company from 1951 to 1993. As a sophomore at Missouri Valley College in 1935, sitting in the back of the chapel, Mitchell observed George Michel finish the new three-manual organ. This experience and the ensuing summer employment at the Kimball factory in Chicago, at the invitation of Michel, inspired Mitchell to become an organbuilder and significantly influenced his work. As Jack Sievert, formerly Mitchell's colleague at Reuter and now with the Schantz Company points out, certain aspects of Mitchell's early work at Reuter bore the unmistakable stamp of George Michel and Kimball.5 Mitchell's failing health and death on March 31, 1998 precluded additional detailed comments which would have added importantly to this analysis.
Park College
Located in northwest Missouri, in the town of Parkville on the Missouri River nine miles upstream from Kansas City, Park College was founded in 1875, the realization of a long-cherished dream of George S. Park whose name it bears. A Vermont native and veteran of the Texas War of Independence, Park was a successful land speculator and devoted churchman, whose name graced the village he founded in 1844. For two decades, Park pleaded with the Presbyterian Church to establish a college in what was then considered the frontier. His dream was made possible by Dr. John McAfee, a professor at Highland College in Kansas who came as the school's first president, providing the experience and leadership required to establish it. McAfee's vision for Park College was a work-study curriculum affording poor students the opportunity to obtain a college education and was symbolized in the new school's motto "Fides et Labor" (faith and labor).6
The Graham Tyler Memorial Chapel is one of the first buildings one sees when approaching the campus and forms an appropriate introduction to a historically church-related institution of higher learning. Standing majestically in front of a terraced green hillside, this modified Gothic edifice, with a cruciform floor plan, features an English hammer-beam ceiling in the nave and, above the altar in the chancel, an exquisitely detailed wood carving of the Last Supper by Alois Lang (see photos).7 Seating 700, the building was designed by Kansas City architects Greenbaum, Hardy & Schumacher, who were awarded a bronze medal by the Kansas City chapter of the American Institute of Architects for the design of the best institutional building in the area in 1931.8
The new chapel was made possible by an $80,000 bequest of Mary G. Tyler (total cost $135,000) in memory of her father, Graham Tyler, a Philadelphia merchant. It followed the "Old Stone Church" erected in 1852, and its successor McCormick Chapel, given by Mrs. Cyrus Hall McCormick of Chicago in memory of her husband, the farm machinery magnate and inventor of the McCormick reaper. These chapels housed only reed organs. Miss Tyler recommended the building be patterned after the Russell Sage Memorial Chapel in East Northfield, Massachusetts on the campus of the Northfield Mount Hermon School.9
In his quest for a suitable pipe organ for the new chapel, the president of Park, Dr. F. W. Hawley, wrote to his friend from student days at McCormick Seminary, Dr. Paul W. McClintock, then director of research in the Department of Building Fund Campaigns at the Presbyterian church headquarters in Philadelphia. Dr. Hawley requested advice and recommendations and McClintock was happy to oblige. Their correspondence offers a rare glimpse of the role of a consultant in an organ project, a role whose numbers are legion in the history of the organ business in America, and sheds light on the brutal, white-hot competition for work in the dark days of the Great Depression.10
McClintock began by strongly recommending that Hawley engage William H. Barnes as consultant for the project, which Hawley did. "You will find Barnes wonderfully helpful. He has a thorough knowledge of the organ, perhaps a better knowledge than any other living American and I know from my contacts with him that his advice is absolutely unbiased and can be thoroughly depended upon."11 In the meantime, Hawley wrote McClintock that he was "quite strongly inclined toward the Reuter Organ" because of the short distance (50 miles) from Parkville to Lawrence, Kansas. He mentioned that the founders of Reuter had trained at Casavant.12 McClintock quickly dismissed Hawley's concern over proximity to a nearby factory as a criterion for choosing a builder. He pointed out that builders had agents coast-to-coast and even in Laurel, Mississippi (where he had lived), a serviceman was never more than six hours away.13
Hawley asked whether McClintock was familiar with the Robert Morton Company of Van Nuys, California, a firm he had never heard of but one of the many firms sending in proposals once word got out that Park was buying an organ. The local representative was offering a $13,000 instrument, built for a theater in Oklahoma City but refused upon delivery, for $3,500. "I do not want to buy a cheap organ but if we can buy a good organ that will meet our needs at a very low cost we want to take advantage of all the saving we can," Hawley wrote. The representative also proposed a $15,000 new organ for $10,000 as an "introductory offer."14
McClintock continued by offering his opinion on builders whom he divided into two classes. In the first class he named: Austin, Casavant, Estey, Hook & Hastings, Kimball and Skinner. Their work can be "thoroughly depended upon," he said, adding that Skinner excels in reeds and Hook & Hastings in diapasons. In the second class he included: Hall, Kilgen, Midmer-Losh, Moller and Pilcher, builders whose work is "very good" but does not embrace the "same careful attention as to construction, mechanism, voicing and tonal balance." He faulted Reuter for lacking tonal balance and excessive octave coupling which he called duplexing. He wrote off Bennett whose instruments he had found unsatisfactory.15
President Hawley circulated the specification drawn up by Barnes, together with a cover letter, to twelve builders. Bids were received from Estey, Kilgen, Midmer-Losh, Moller, Pilcher, Reuter and Welte-Tripp.16 The Reuter sales manager, William C. Verney, was eager to obtain the contract and solicited support from friends whom he thought would be influential with Hawley. One was a prominent Kansas City lawyer, Thad B. Landon, who wrote Hawley: "I just want you to know that I had come in very close touch with these people . . . on some matters in the past few years and feel they are very good people with whom to work."17 Another was A. O. Thompson, well-known Kansas City lumber yard operator and trustee of the college, who while vacationing in Los Angeles sent a telegram to Hawley in care of Barnes: "Would appreciate your favoring Reuter organ provided price and quality are equal to other makers."18 In January, 1931, Hawley traveled to Chicago, to meet with Barnes and listen to several instruments. Based upon his own preference for the Kimball sound as well as Barnes' recommendation, he signed a contract with Kimball for a $15,000 organ. The terms were $5,000 upon delivery (and acceptance) and three annual installments of $3,333 each plus six percent interest.19 Kimball was represented in the negotiations by Herbert Hyde, well-known Chicago organist, composer and music impresario who joined Kimball in the Fall of 1930 after four years as western representative for Skinner.20
The Kimball pipe organ was given in memory of Mrs. Annette Young Herr of Mifflinsburg, Pennsylvania by her children. A twenty-three rank, three-manual instrument with four-rank echo division prepared for (see stoplist), it was designed by William Harrison Barnes, remembered today for his multi-edition and widely-circulated book, The Contemporary American Organ. Barnes presided at the console during commencement week, June 6-8, 1931. He played for the baccalaureate service and the chapel dedication program on Saturday, the organ dedication recital on Sunday evening, and commencement Monday morning. 21
The Barnes dedicatory recital (see program) featured traditional organ fare and the work of contemporary composers Joseph Bonnet, Marco Enrico Bossi, Joseph Clokey, Giuseppe Ferrata and Bernard Rogers.22 Appearing frequently in recital programs during this period, these composers are seldom heard in performances today. The Mendelssohn selection was from Elijah. Clokey's "Dripping Spring" was a character piece, so-called because the title describes the work. The Schubert number was a transcription.
A full-page biographical sketch of Barnes was featured in the Commencement Program. It began with his BA degree from Harvard and his organ study with Wallace Goodrich, dean of the New England Conservatory of Music, and with Clarence Dickinson in New York. His several church organist positions in the greater Chicago area were enumerated as were his offices in professional associations. He was also an associate editor of The American Organist. In recognition of his services to the college and his prominence in the organ world, Barnes was awarded an honorary doctorate (Mus.D) by Park College at this commencement.23
The 1931 Kimball organ specification (see stoplist) bore a strong resemblance to the previous era, and was in marked contrast to the two later Kimballs in this article. The Great manual contained a unit Diapason at 16', 8' and 4', a scheme which results in scaling discontinuity and octave overlap. Arguably, this sort of unification never works in building a true Diapason chorus. The Grave Mixture, a tepid stop comprising a Twelfth and Fifteenth with no breaks, was no Mixture at all. The wide-scale Clarabella was borrowed from the Pedal.
The Swell division was built around a unit Bourdon of 97 pipes. Also conspicuous in this tonal palette was a tapered flute and Celeste, played as one stop, and a Waldhorn, a robust reed voice which played at both 16' and 8' pitches. The Choir manual contained four independent ranks with the balance borrowed from the Great. The Celeste was matched with the Dulciana, not the Gamba, standard practice for that period. The nine-stop Pedal division embraced only two unified independent ranks with others, chiefly 16' voices, borrowed from the manual divisions. Again, this was typical of this period. The prepared for Echo organ stoplist was nearly identical to those of other builders in this era.
The organist and choirmaster at Park from 1921 to 1953 was Dr. Charles L. Griffith, 1887-1969 (see photo). A graduate of William Penn College in Iowa, where he taught music for 17 years before coming to Park, Griffith earned an M.A. degree from Grinnell College, also in Iowa, and a Ph.D. in music from the University of Iowa. He was awarded honorary degrees by Park and William Penn. After 21 years at Park, Griffith retired and returned to William Penn, as chairman of the Fine Arts Department. Griffith Hall, the Fine Arts Building at William Penn, is named in his honor.24
On the evening of December 25, 1937, scarcely six years after its completion, the beautiful Graham Tyler Chapel caught fire and burned to the ground. The blaze, believed to have started in the basement, spread rapidly and soon the roof fell in.25 The Kimball organ was destroyed as were objects d'art in the chancel. Construction of an identical replacement edifice began immediately. The Lang carving replaced a painting of The Lord's Supper above the altar in the chancel. A new and larger Kimball organ, with casework and display pipes to be duplicates of the first instrument, was ordered. Kimball was represented in the negotiations by N.W. Hillstrom who was quick to praise the new stoplist proposed by Barnes. "It is a very fine specification and would indeed make a glorious organ for the Chapel," he wrote, calling attention to the changes in each division including a "cohesive and vibrantly rich Diapason chorus" on the Great. He was particularly effusive about the 32' Sub Bourdon on the Pedal. "It is a charming stop against the softest of manual combinations and one that in my opinion should be included in every organ of note."26
The rebuilt chapel and the new three-manual, thirty-six rank Kimball organ (the five-rank Antiphonal division was prepared for) were dedicated during Fine Arts Week, October 23-30, 1938 in a program series. The inaugural recital Monday evening was again played by William H. Barnes, now Dr. Barnes, who also presented a lecture entitled "The Organ" Tuesday morning. His 1938 recital was more standard fare (see program), concentrating largely on works closely identified with the organ but also including Hugh McAmis' "Dreams," a work frequently played during that era.27
The recitalist Tuesday evening (see program) was the legendary Edna Scotten Billings, for decades the grande dame of Kansas City organists. Mrs. Billings chose a demanding program, including the very difficult "Variations de Concert" by Joseph Bonnet. Wednesday evening's program featured several instrumentalists, along with college organist Charles Griffith and his wife Blanche Noble Griffith, soprano. The series closed Thursday evening with an organ recital (see program) by Joseph A. Burns, a well-known local keyboard artist. He selected three compositions by Enrico Bossi, and "Le Vol du Bourdon" which is known today as "The Flight of the Bumble Bee."28
The 1938 Kimball (see stoplist) differs radically from the 1931 specification, reflecting the maturing classical outlook of Barnes and Michel. The Great division features a unit Gemshorn, which works very well in pitch, color and blending quality, and an authentic principal chorus, carefully voiced and capped with a Mixture IV made of tin. The Hohl Flote, a dark, broad scale voice which fills out the ensemble, is a wooden rank with arched upper lips and is full length in the 8' octave. It contrasts sharply with the Rohrflote on the Swell. The Great Trumpet, reflecting the orchestral paradigm, is Tromba sounding, confined and fundamental, designed to dominate the chorus on full organ. The Great Mixture begins on the 12th, the lower pitch typical for the period when organists were accustomed to using the super-coupler on full organ. Mixture composition and scaling of principal ranks was based upon this assumption. Each pipe of the mixture is winded on a separate valve.
The foundation for the Swell is the unit Rohrflute with a compass of 16' to 2', by now a trademark of George Michel. The Swell Trumpet, in contrast to the Tromba voiced Great Trumpet, is a brighter, more harmonically developed, open sound. The Salicional has a slight edge, and the Flauto Dolce, reminiscent of the Skinner voice of this name, is not as assertive as even a Dulciana but loud enough to be heard. The Corno d'Amour, a capped trumpet nearly identical to a Flugelhorn, serves in place of the customary Oboe. The Swell design also featured the Contra Fagotto as the 16' reed voice in place of the Waldhorn in the 1931 stoplist.
The Choir manual, boasting exquisite strings, Viola and Dulciana, and a notably fine clarinet, is voiced as a mild principal ensemble, a tad soft in an otherwise carefully balanced instrument. The 8' Concert Flute is made of wood harmonic pipes, and the 4' Lieblich Flote is a capped metal rank of singular beauty. The Pedal division, as in 1931, counts only two ranks with unification, plus many borrows from manual ranks. The five lowest pipes of the 32' Sub Bourdon, GGGG to BBBB, are enormous in scale, much larger than the following pipes in the 16' octave. The first seven notes in the 32' octave are resultants. The five-rank Antiphonal organ, in contrast to the projected 1931 stoplist (never installed), was added the following year and contained a Diapason and and Octave. The Park College Stylus, apparently referring to these stops commented: "Two new stops in connection with the echo organ will combine the features of both the echo organ and the antiphonal organ."29
Seated at the console demonstrating the instrument to the writer, Canon John Schaefer, organist and choirmaster of Grace and Holy Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in downtown Kansas City who is staff organist at Park, remarks that this Kimball organ has "real character" and an enduring quality that has survived the fads and fashions of the postwar era to remain a most attractive instrument. Carefully planned and executed, it is a tribute to the artistry of George Michel. Schaefer remarks that if there is a weakness in this instrument it is in the mutations, derived from the Dulciana in the Choir and Flute in the Swell, which "don't do much."30 In keeping with the period, the entire instrument was under expression when installed although subsequently the shades of the Great and Pedal divisions were removed.
The primary function of the Graham Tyler Chapel today, no longer used for scheduled chapel services by the college, is as one of the most popular wedding venues in the metropolitan area. Park College is now an independent school with no denominational affiliation. The epic Kimball organ, a noteworthy instrument by a neglected builder in a bygone era, was renovated in 1978 by Charles McManis who praised it in a letter to the college president as a noteworthy example of the "Clarified Ensemble" in the contemporary epoch of American organbuilding.31 When funds permit, it is scheduled for a full restoration by the Quimby Pipe Organ Company.
Missouri Valley College
Founded in 1888 by Cumberland Presbyterians, Missouri Valley College is located in Marshall, Missouri, a town seventy miles east of Kansas City, settled in 1839 and named for Chief Justice John Marshall of the U.S. Supreme Court. Marshall is the county seat of Saline County, so named because of numerous salt springs in the area. Stewart Chapel, built in 1906 (see photo), was given by prominent St. Louis lawyer Alphonso C. Stewart, L.L.D., a trustee and lifelong benefactor of the school, in honor of his father, General A. P. Stewart, Confederate States of America.32 The chapel was remodeled in 1935, a gift of Mrs. Olive Depp Richey, widow of an early trustee of the college. The new Kimball organ was designated the James Edward Richey Memorial Organ.33
The organist and keyboard professor at Missouri Valley was Claude Leslie Fichthorn, 1885-1972 (see photo). A native of Reading, Pennsylvania, where he studied piano, organ and voice in his youth, Fichthorn served local churches as organist and choirmaster while yet a teenager. Then, even without a college degree, he taught at Ursinus College in Pennsylvania before coming to Missouri Valley, in 1912, to teach piano. The following year he studied voice in Paris with Louis Dubigny, then returned to Missouri Valley where he completed a B.A. degree in 1916. In 1931, Fichthorn obtained an M.A. from Columbia University. He also held the A.A.G.O. certification. From 1920 to 1935, he was organist and choirmaster of the Westport Presbyterian Church in Kansas City and afterward, for twenty years, held the same position at the Methodist Church in Marshall.34
As the resident impresario of Marshall, Fichthorn, now dean of the school of music at Missouri Valley, was a man of broad musical interests and boundless energy. He orchestrated what must have been one of the most extensive musical programs for a town of 8500 people to be found anywhere. In addition to directing the keyboard, choral and instrumental music offerings of the college and serving as organist and choirmaster at the Methodist Church organ on Sunday morning, he organized and directed the Marshall Symphony, an ambitious project for a rural community but one not entirely unknown in the state.35 Fichthorn was awarded an honorary Mus.D. from Missouri Valley in 1948, in grateful recognition of his forty years of devoted service to the school. And in 1962, in reply to a citation for his half century of service to the school he said: "I have had fun and enjoyed my work, and that is why it has been so wonderful."36
Dean Fichthorn played the opening recital on the twenty-six rank three-manual Kimball organ on Thursday evening, December 5, 1935 (see program), preceding rededication of the chapel and dedication of the organ on Sunday afternoon. The Marshall Democrat-News described the forthcoming recital as designed to exhibit the tonal resources of the new organ. Bach's D-Minor Toccata and Fugue was said to be his work most often heard on radio since it was judged as more dramatic than the composer's other works which were deemed more classical. The choice of Widor's Toccata, selected specifically to exhibit the tonal colors of the organ, reflected the belief that as the premier organ composer of the late romantic period, he, unlike other composers, perceived the instrument's possibilities as an interpretive medium.37 Barbara Owen comments that his program was "quite ambitious" in that playing the complete Widor Symphony No. 2 was unusual, adding that organists and musicians in general weren't favorably disposed toward Stravinsky and the Firebird Suite in 1935. However, since Fichthorn was also an orchestra conductor, he most likely had a good feeling for orchestral works.38
In his program notes, Fichthorn asserted that Bach's fugues were the epitome of organ composition and the D-minor Toccata and Fugue was the most popular. The eight symphonies of Widor were said to be "unequaled in breadth of concept and richness of imagination" and the second symphony "more lyrical" than the others. The chimes of a church in Canada were the inspiration for Russell's "The Bells of 'St. Anne de Beaupre." Fichthorn described his composition "In the Forest" as: "An afternoon in the forest, heard are the peaceful brook, the call of birds, the threatening storm and a return to peaceful meditation." In that time as well as today, it was not unusual for organists to play their own works in a recital. Delius' "On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring" was portrayed as an impressionistic study by the recently deceased and the "most original" composer Great Britain has produced. Stravinsky's Firebird Suite was hailed as this composer's most popular work for orchestra.39
The choice of a three-manual design for an organ of just twenty-six ranks (see stoplist) was, no doubt, deemed appropriate for the teaching and performance demands of a college. With a budget limit of these resources, the voices were distributed over the manuals in a very interesting way. Professor Mary Ellen Sutton, organ teacher at Missouri Valley, 1968-73, described the unification and borrowing as "very skillful."40 The specifications for the instrument were written by Fichthorn and revised by William H. Barnes, with voicing and tonal finishing by George T. Michel. Program notes called attention to the thirty combination pistons and toe studs on the console incorporating the new Kimball Remote Control System. Also, a new non-rigid sound-absorbing material in the console made it as silent as possible. The entire instrument was under expression in two chambers.41
On the Great division, the Gemshorn lent itself well to unification, augmented the principal chorus, and added color and pitch. The 4' Flute, borrowed from the Swell unit Rohrflute, blended well with the 8' Harmonic Flute, while the Dulciana provided a soft stop on the division. The Diapasons I and II were a throwback to a previous era, indicating that the designers had not totally abandoned that paradigm. The Mixture began on the 15th, because there was no independent 2' stop on the division.
The Swell division, with the unit Rohrflute from 16' to 2' pitches, so typical of Michel, was supplemented by strings, string principals and a full reed chorus plus the ubiquitous Vox Humana, another vestige of previous times. Barbara Owen observes that on this Kimball, the Choir was nearly as large as the Swell, which was unusual for a period when the Swell was customarily the largest division of the organ. She notes that the absence of an Oboe among the reeds was also unusual. The 16' Waldhorn, frequently used by Skinner, would impart a "growl" at this pitch but was comparatively lacking in blending and solo quality and thus would disappear entirely from stoplists in the postwar era.42
The Choir began with an 8' Diapason borrowed from the Second Diapason on the Great. Therefore, it was most likely voiced as a string principal, as the independent voice on this division would customarily have been. The Melodia was unified to 4' and 2' and, in effect, would most likely have been a Wald Flute at 4' since the scales for the Melodia and Wald Flute were often the same. The reeds on the Choir, French Horn, Cor Anglais and Clarinet, were solo voices from the symphonic era.
Recalling the instrument from the perspective of the postwar era and his practices as tonal director of the Reuter Company, Franklin Mitchell said the diapasons would be considered a tad "hooty" today, while the trumpet was big in scale and would pass today as a tuba. The Clarinet was very "conventional" and sonorous. The Salicional string was thin and keen. The Waldhorn was a mild 16' reed with not much character. Mitchell commented that George Michel later veered toward diapason type strings, such as a small Geigen, which were not nearly as authentic as an orthodox string voice.43 Sadly, this notable instrument was lost when the chapel burned on February 28, 1973.44
Summary
The 1930s, marking the close of one epoch and the beginning of another, were a major turning point in the history of the pipe organ in America. The Kimball Company was an industry icon before WWII and a builder deserving of recognition today. The three instruments discussed above were milestones in the history of Kimball and representative of the progress of this landmark era in terms of several criteria. These include the emergence of an authentic principal chorus capped with a mixture, the place of chorus reeds in an ensemble and the role of mutations--although failure to embrace them as independent voices. Most important, they reflect Michel and Kimball's vision and implementation of the fundamental concepts of pitch, color, contrast and blend in the design and voicing of the inimitable King of Instruments. n
R. E. Coleberd writes frequently on the history and economics of pipe organ building.
For research input and critical comments on earlier drafts of this paper the author gratefully acknowledges : Tom Atkin, Wilson Barry, E.A. Boadway, Christopher Bono, Carolyn Elwess, Laura Gayle Green, Alan Laufman, Charles McManis, Albert Neutel, Barbara Owen, Michael Quimby, Pam Reeder, Lois Regestein, John Schaefer, Katharine Fichthorn Schanz, Jack Sievert, and Mary Ellen Sutton.
Bibliographical material on Park College is found in Fishburn Archives, McAfee Memorial Library, and on Missouri Valley College in Murrell Memorial Library. The author expresses his appreciation to Carolyn McHenry Elwess of Park and Pam Reeder of Missouri Valley for their assistance.
Notes
1. Junchen, David L., Encyclopedia of the American Theater Organ, Pasadena, California: Showcase Publications, Vol. 1, 1985, pp. 206-209.
2. Bradley, Van Allen, Music for the Millions: The Kimball Piano and Organ Story, Chicago, Illinois: Henry Regnery Company, 1957, p. 191.
3. Junchen, op cit, p. 209.
4. Charles McManis, letter to the author, October 8, 1998.
5. Jack Sievert, letter to the author, September 30, 1998.
6. A Chronicle of Memories: Park College--1875-1990, Copyright by the Alumni Association of Park College, Parkville, Missouri, 1990, pp. 17-21. Also C. M. Elwess, "Park College: Past, Present and Future," Alumni Directory, 1995, p. V.
7.
Alois Lang (1871-1955), was a native of Oberammerg
PARK COLLEGE
PARKVILLE, MISSOURI
DEDICATION
ANNETTE MATILDA HERR ORGAN
PROGRAM
June 7, 1931
William Harrison Barnes
1. (a) Caprice Heroique Bonnet
(b) Reverie Bonnet
(c) Andante (Grand Piece Symphonique) Franck
2. (a) Scripture and Prayer Pres. Frederick W. Hawley
(b) He, Watching Over Israel Mendelssohn
3. (a) The Legend of the Mountain Karg-Elert
(b) Scherzo Rogers
(c) Dripping Spring Joseph Clokey
4. Remarks concerning the Tonal Structure of the Organ Barnes
5. (a) Nocturne Farrata
(b) Beside the Sea Schubert
(c) Toccata (Gothic Suite) Boellmann
Benediction
PARK COLLEGE
PARKVILLE, MISSOURI
DEDICATORY RECITAL
William H. Barnes, Mus.D. (Park)
Monday evening, October 24, 1938
at eight o'clock
Grand Choeur Dialogue Gigout
Sketch in D Flat Schumann
St. Anne's Fugue J.S. Bach
Chorale Prelude "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" J.S. Bach
Prelude and Fugue in B Flat J.S. Bach
Chorale Prelude "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming" Johannes Brahms
Ronde Francais Boellmann
The Mirrored Moon Karg-Elert
Pastorale Cesar Franck
Chorale in E Major Cesar Franck
Dreams McAmis
Theme And Variations Widor
Graham Tyler Memorial Chapel, Park College, Parkville, Missouri
W.W. Kimball, 1931
Great Organ (enclosed)
16' Open Diapason (unit) 85 pipes
8' First Diapason 61 pipes
8' Second Diapason (from 16' Diap) 61 notes
8' Clarabella (ext Pedal Bourdon) 17 pipes
8' Concert Flute 61 pipes
4' Octave (from 16' Diap) 61 notes
4' Flute Harmonique 61 pipes
II Grave Mixture 122 pipes
8' Trumpet 61 pipes
Chimes, 20 tubes
Swell Organ
16' Bourdon (unit) 97 pipes
8' Diapason 73 pipes
8' Chimney Flute (from Bourdon) 73 notes
8' Salicional 73 pipes
8' Vox Celeste 73 pipes
8' Spitz Flute Celeste 134 pipes
4' Octave 73 pipes
4' Flute (from Bourdon) 73 notes
22/3' Nazard (from Bourdon) 73 notes
2' Piccolo (from Bourdon) 73 notes
16' Wald Horn 85 pipes
8' Horn (from Wald Horn)
4' Clarion (from Wald Horn)
Harp (prepared for) 49 bars
Choir Organ
8' Diapason (from Gt Second Diap) 61 notes
8' Concert Flute (from Great) 61 notes
8' Gamba 73 pipes
8' Dulciana 73 pipes
8' Unda Maris 61 pipes
4' Harmonique Flute (from Great) 61 notes
4' Dulcet (Dulciana) 61 notes
8' Clarinet 73 pipes
8' Harp (from Swell)
Echo Organ (prepared for)
8' Gedeckt 61 pipes
8' Viol Aetheria 61 pipes
8' Vox Angelica 61 pipes
4' Flute (ext) 12 pipes
8' Vox Humana 61 pipes
Chimes
Pedal Organ
32' Resultant 32 notes
16' Diapason 44 pipes
16' Second Diapason (from Great) 32 notes
16' Bourdon 44 pipes
16' Second Bourdon (from Swell) 32 notes
8' Octave (from Diapason) 32 notes
8' Flute (from Bourdon) 32 notes
8' Flauto Dolce (from Swell Bour- don) 32 notes
16' Wald Horn (from Swell) 32 notes
Source: The Diapason, March, 1931, page 2.
Graham Tyler Memorial Chapel, Park College, Parkville, Missouri
W.W. Kimball, 1938
Great Organ
16' Contra Gemshorn (ext.) 12 pipes
8' First Diapason 61 pipes
8' Second Diapason 61 pipes
8' Hohl Flote 61 pipes
8' Gemshorn 61 pipes
4' Octave 61 pipes
4' Gemshorn (ext.) 12 pipes
4' Flute Harmonique 61 pipes
IV Fourniture 244 pipes
8' Trumpet 61 pipes
Chimes (Deagan "D" Kimball spe- cial, piano hammer action) 25 tubular bells
Tremolo
Swell Organ
16' Lieblich Gedeckt (ext.) 12 pipes
8' Geigen Diapason 73 pipes
8' Rohrflote 73 pipes
8' Salicional 73 pipes
8' Voix Celeste 73 pipes
8' Flauto Dolce 73 pipes
8' Flute Celeste (T.C.) 61 pipes
4' Octave Geigen 73 pipes
4' Flute d'Amour (ext.) 12 pipes
22/3' Nazard (ext.) 61 notes
2' Flautino (ext.) 61 notes
13/5' Tierce (prepared for)
IV Plein Jeu 244 pipes
16' Contra Fagotto 73 pipes
8' Trumpet 73 pipes
8' Corno d'Amour 73 pipes
8' Vox Humana 61 pipes
4' Clarion 73 pipes
8' Harp (prepared for)
4' Celesta (prepared for)
Tremolo
Choir Organ
16' Contra Viola (ext.) 12 pipes
8' Viola 73 pipes
8' Viola Celeste (T.C.) 61 pipes
8' Concert Flute 73 pipes
8' Dulciana 73 pipes
8' Unda Maris (T.C.) 61 pipes
4' Lieblich Flote 73 pipes
4' Viola (ext.) 12 pipes
4' Dulcet (ext.) 12 pipes
22/3' Dolce Twelfth (Dulciana) 61 notes
2' Dolce Fifteenth (Dulciana) 61 notes
8' Clarinet 73 pipes
Chimes (Great)
8' Harp (prepared for)
4' Celesta (prepared for)
Tremolo
Antiphonal Organ
Manual
8' Diapason 61 pipes
8' Melodia 61 pipes
8' Viiole d'Amour 61 pipes
8' Vox Angelica 49 pipes
4' Octave 61 pipes
Tremolo
Pedal Organ (Installed 1939)
32' Sub Bourdon GGGG-BBBB* 5 pipes
16' Open Diapason 44 pipes
16' Bourdon 56 pipes
16' Contra Viola (Choir) 32 notes
16' Lieblich Gedeckt (Swell) 32 notes
8' Octave (ext. Open Diapason) 32 notes
8' Flute (ext. Bourdon) 32 notes
8' Gemshorn (Great) 32 notes
8' Stillgedeckt (Swell) 32 notes
4' Flute (ext. Bourdon) 32 notes
16' Contra Fagotto (Swell) 32 notes
Chimes (Great), 8'
* First 7 notes Resultant
Pedal Antiphonal
16' Lieblich Bourdon (ext. Melodia) 12 pipes
Source: The Diapason, September 1, 1936, pp. 1-2.
PARK COLLEGE
PARKVILLE, MISSOURI
EDNA SCOTTEN BILLINGS
Organist
Tuesday evening, October 25, 1938
at eight o'clock
The Program
I
First Concerto Bach
Allegro
Grave
Presto
Choral Prelude, "My Inmost Heart Doth Yearn" Bach
Fugue in G Minor Bach
II
Piece Heroique Franck
Saluto Angelico from "Cathedral Windows" Karg-Elert
Romance Bonnet
Lamento Bonnet
Variations De Concert Bonnet
PARK COLLEGE
PARKVILLE, MISSOURI
ORGAN RECITAL
Joseph A. Burns, A.B., M.Mus., F.A.G.O.
Thursday evening, October 27, 1938
at eight o'clock
The Program
I
Fantasie And Fugue in G Minor Bach
Ave Maria Bossi
Siciliana, Stile Antico Bossi
Scherzo in G Minor Bossi
II
Clair De Lune Karg-Elert
Chorale Inprovisation, "Jerusalem, Thou City Built On High" Karg-Elert
Le Voldu Bourdon Rimsky-Korsakoff
Andante Cantabile Widor
Toccata in F Widor
Stewart Chapel, Missouri Valley College, Marshall, Missouri
W.W. Kimball, 1935
Great Organ
16' Contra Gemshorn (ext.) 12 pipes
8' Diapason I 73 pipes
8' Diapason II 73 pipes
8' Harmonic Flute 73 pipes
8' Dulciana (Choir) 61 notes
4' Octave 73 pipes
3' Flute (Swell) 61 notes
III Mixture (12, 15, 19) 183 pipes
8' Trumpet 73 pipes
Chimes
Harp
Celesta
Tremolo
Swell Organ
16' Lieblich Gedeckt (ext.) 12 pipes
8' Geigen Principal 73 pipes
6' Rohrflote 73 pipes
8' Flute Dolce 73 pipes
8' Flute Celeste 73 pipes
8' Salicional 73 pipes
8' Vox Celeste 73 pipes
4' Octave Geigen 73 pipes
4' Flute d'Amour (ext.) 12 pipes
22/3' Nazard (ext.) 61 notes
2 Flageolet (ext.) 61 notes
16' Waldhorn 73 pipes
8' Trompette 73 pipes
8' Vox Humana 61 pipes
4' Clarion 73 pipes
Harp
Choir Organ
8' Diapason (Great II) 61 notes
8' Melodia 73 pipes
8' Dulciana 73 pipes
8' Unda Maris 73 pipes
4' Flute (ext. Melodia) 12 pipes
4' Dulcet (ext. Dul.) 12 pipes
22/3' Dolce Twelfth (ext.) 61 notes
2' Piccolo (ext. Melodia) 61 notes
2' Dolce Fifteenth (ext.) 61 notes
13/5' Dolce Tierce (ext.) 4 pipes
8' French Horn 73 pipes
8' Cor Anglais 73 pipes
8' Clarinet 73 pipes
Harp
Celesta
Tremolo
Pedal Organ
32' Acoustic Bass 32 notes
16' Open Diapason 32 pipes
16' Contra Gemshorn (Gt.) 32 notes
16' Bourdon 32 pipes
16' Lieblich Gedeckt (Sw.) 16 pipes
8' Octave (ext. O.D.) 12 pipes
8' Gemshorn (Gt.) 32 notes
8' Flute Ouverte 32 notes
8' Stillgedeckt 32 notes
4' Super Octave 12 pipes
16' Trombone (ext. Gt.) 12 pipes
8 Trumpet (Great) 32 notes
Chimes
Source: The Diapason, January, 1936, pp. 1-2.
STEWART COLLEGE
MISSOURI VALLEY COLLEGE
MARSHALLL, MISSOURI
Dedicatory Recital
James Edwin Richey Memorial Organ
Thursday evening, December 5, 1935
Dean Claude Leslie Fichthorn, recitalist
Toccata and Fugue in D Minor Bach
Symphony Number 2 Widor
Praeludium Circulaire
Pastorale
Andante
Salve Regina
Adagio
Finale
Marche Champetre Boex
Largo, New World Symphony Dvorak
The Forest Fichthorn
On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring Delius
Firebird Suite Stravinsky
Berceuse
Finale
