Nunc Dimittis

Jan-Piet Knijff is organist-in-residence, Aaron Copland School of Music, Queens College, CUNY; adjunct professor of music, Fairfield University; director of music, St.Michael's Lutheran Church, New Canaan, Connecticut; and concert organistin residence, St. Paul's Church National Historic Site, Mount Vernon, New York.

Corliss R. Arnold of Venice, Florida, died September 19, 2003, at the age of 77. He held the doctorate in sacred music from Union Theological Seminary in New York City and was Emeritus Professor of Music at Michigan State University where he taught for thirty-two years. He served as organist and director of music at the Peoples Church, East Lansing, for thirty-three years. Dr. Arnold was a Fulbright Scholar to France, studied at the Summer Organ Academy at Haarlem in the Netherlands, and held three certificates from the American Guild of Organists: the Associateship, Fellowship and Choirmaster. He was the author of the first major survey of organ literature in English: Organ Literature: A Comprehensive Survey, Scarecrow Press, Metuchen, New Jersey. The book is currently in its third edition. Dr. Arnold and his co-editor had almost completed the 4th edition, which will be completed and published this year.

Arnold received the B.Mus., Summa cum laude, from Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas, and the M.Mus. from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Michigan. He had also been a church musician at First Presbyterian Church and First Methodist Church, both in Conway, Arkansas; First Methodist Church, El Dorado, Arkansas; Reformed Church of Closter, New Jersey; First Methodist Church and Templar B'nai Abraham Zion, both of Oak Park, Illinois. Corliss Arnold is survived by his wife of 42 years, Betty Arnold, their three children and five grandchildren.

Natalie Ferguson, copy editor for The Diapason, died on December 10, 2003, after a long battle with cancer. She was 69. Her work at Scranton Gillette Communications began as a typesetter and grew to include copy editing for many of the company's publications, production editor and copy editor for The Diapason, and editor of AV Guide. Born in Indianapolis, Indiana on October 31, 1934, she attended Shortridge High School, where she wrote for and edited the school newspaper and was a member of the Fiction Club. She studied piano and organ growing up and played for many groups in which she was active including church, Girl Scouts, D.A.R. and Job's Daughters. She attended Milwaukee-Downer College (now part of Lawrence University) and graduated with a degree in Occupational Therapy. She worked as an OT until her two daughters were born. She moved to the Chicago area in 1962 and was active at church and in local community theater groups. Prior to coming to Scranton-Gillette in 1985, Ms. Ferguson worked for many years at Bartlett Manufacturing in Elk Grove, Illinois. One of her joys was teaching piano, and at one point taught at the John Schaum School in Milwaukee, and taught for the past 20 years at Schaumburg Music. She was a member of Our Saviour's United Methodist Church, Schaumburg, Illinois, where her activities included the Evangelism Committee, singing in the choir, directing the chime choir, accompanying the children's choir and, proofreading bulletins and newletters. She is survived by daughters Linda Deneher and Susan Ferdon, grandchildren Jenna, Kate, and Jimmy Ferdon, and long-time devoted friend, Allen Johnson.

Dirk Andries Flentrop died on November 30, 2003 in Santpoort near Haarlem, the Netherlands. Born in Zaandam, the Netherlands on May 1, 1910, Flentrop was undoubtedly one of the most influential organ builders of the twentieth century worldwide. After an apprenticeship with the Danish organ building firm Frobenius, he entered the business of his father, H.W. Flentrop, and took over the firm in 1940. He was an early advocate of mechanical action and of the Rückpositiv, and after World War II built a whole series of new organs in a concept which was later to be labeled "neo-baroque," a term he himself disliked immensely. The contact with E. Power Biggs and with many Fulbright scholars in Europe led to an enormous production in America; in the 1960s, almost half of the firm's annual turnover came from America.

The best-known examples of Flentrop's art in America are perhaps the organs in Busch Hall at Harvard University (1959), St. Mark's Cathedral, Seattle (1965), and Duke University (1976). Flentrop's restoration activities include the famous Schnitger organs in Alkmaar and Zwolle--even though the Zwolle restoration has often been criticized--as well as organs in Portugal and Mexico City. Flentrop retired in 1976, selling the business to his employees. Almost thirty years later, Flentrop Orgelbouw--celebrating its 100th anniversary this year--is still a sought-after firm for both restorations (the Alkmaar Schnitger was again restored by Flentrop Orgelbouw in 1987) and new organs. The organ for Holy Name Cathedral, Chicago (1989) was the firm's last major project in America. Flentrop held honorary doctorates from Oberlin College and Duke University.

--Jan-Piet Knijff

Donald Basil Austin (1933-2004) died September 17 of complications from emphysema. He was 71. Mr. Austin was long affiliated with Austin Organs, Inc., the firm originally founded as Austin Organ Company by his great uncles, John T. Austin and Basil G. Austin. Donald Austin's father, Frederic Basil Austin, became president of the firm in 1937 upon its reorganization as Austin Organs, Inc.

As a boy, Donald Austin grew up surrounded by pipe organs, in a factory created by his family and filled with the mechanical wizardry of his forebears. On his days off, he often accompanied his father to the shop, and in 1950 he began working there in his spare time. After service in the Korean War, Mr. Austin began full-time employment, simultaneously pursuing an undergraduate degree in business administration at the University of Connecticut.

Mr. Austin was one of the few members of the factory staff to apprentice in the traditional sense: apart from the pipe shop, he worked in every department, even alongside the ladies in the third-floor action department (affectionately referred to as the 'hen house'). Family connections spelled no favoritism; Donald was begun at minimum wage of sixty-five cents an hour. In keeping with a long-standing family tradition, Mr. Austin did not study voicing, but chose to assist in the management of the company and maintain the firm guidance and conservative spirit that had characterized the Austin Company from the outset.

In the work environment, Mr. Austin was a reserved man who avoided publicity and preferred one-on-one contact. With friends and staff, however, his conservative exterior became a platform for 80-grit humor. Once started, "Don" or "DBA" (as most of the staff called him) could be immensely lively and affable. With a cigarette between his third and fourth fingers, he would stride straight past the No Smoking sign and into the factory for his rounds. A born prankster, Mr. Austin gloried in the fax machine the way other cultures embraced antibiotics; whimsy, wit and droll assessments of other builders' work would routinely unfurl into incoming trays across the land. Mr. Austin's humor was matched by penmanship of near illegibility, but there was something in his curly scrawl that conjured up the hearty chuckle of the man himself.

Over the years, projects brought him into contact with many luminaries. He was particularly fond of Dr. Robert Baker, who acted as consultant on numerous prominent Austin installations from the mid-1950s to 1990. He also worked with Clarence Watters, Fred Swann, Lawrence Phelps, Nelson Barden, Douglass Hunt and Carlo Curley, among others. He relished some of the firm's more unusual projects: the 1990 restoration of the 1930 Austin in Hartford's Bushnell Memorial Hall, a personal favorite of his great uncle Basil G. Austin; the console rebuild of the famous Girard College Aeolian-Skinner, the core organ provided for a concert hall in Shiroishi, Japan.

When F.B. Austin retired in 1973, Donald Austin assumed the office of President, and in 1990 he became Chairman of the Board. In 1994, after forty-four years with the firm, he announced his semi-retirement, leaving daily management to his daughter, Kimberlee, who had trained in the factory much as her father had. Mr. Austin remained active in policy decisions and general guidance. He retired as President in 1999, continuing as a member of the Board and consultant. He was a past President of the American Pipe Organ Builders Association, and held membership in the International Society of Organ Builders and the American Institute of Organ Builders.

Outside the factory, Mr. Austin was heavily involved in the Bloomfield Center Fire Department and Fire District, joining in 1951 and ascending through the ranks from Private and Captain to Treasurer and ultimately Commissioner. He served on the Board of Directors of the Hartford Chamber of Commerce and was President of the Traffic Club Division, as well as being a 32nd Degree Mason and a member of Hiram Lodge 98, AF & AM. He served as Senior Warden of Old St. Andrew's Church in Bloomfield, and proudly donated a Trumpet stop to the Austin Chorophone there. As an active member of the Central New England Railroad group, he made many friends, several of whom lent friendship and support in his later years.

In addition to his wife of fifty years, Marilyn (Heeber) Austin of Bloomfield, survivors include two daughters, Sheryl Morales, of Fanwood, NJ, and Kimberlee Austin of Windsor Locks, CT; three grandchildren, George Austin, and Stacey and Rachel Morales; and several in-laws, nieces and nephews. Funeral services were held Tuesday, September 21 at Old St. Andrew's Church in Bloomfield, with burial in the Old St. Andrew's Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Our Companions Animal Shelter, P.O. Box 673, Bloomfield, CT 06002, or the Old St. Andrew's Endowment for Organ Maintenance, 59 Tariffville Road, Bloomfield, CT 06002.

--Jonathan Ambrosino

Janet Hall died on April 30 in Pueblo, Colorado. Born on October 25, 1923, she had served as a church musician for almost 50 years. She received a bachelor's degree from Smith College and a master's from Union Theological Seminary, where she studied with Vernon de Tar. After serving as organist and director of Christian education at St. Thaddeus Church, Aiken, South Carolina, from 1946-49, she moved to Williamsburg, Virginia, to take up the post of assistant organist and director of Christian education at Bruton Parish Church. From 1957 to 1988 she served as organist and choirmaster at Ascension Episcopal Church, Pueblo, Colorado, and was the founder of the St. George Men and Boys' Choir and the St. Cecilia Choir. From 1963 to 1972 she was assistant professor of music at the University of Southern Colorado. The niece of English composer Herbert Sumsion, Miss Hall was a prolific composer of choir anthems and recorder and handbell music. Her plainsong setting of the Kyrie eleison is published in The Hymnal 1982.

Kent McDonald died on May 18 in Phoenix, Arizona. Born on July 25, 1925, in Phoenix, he served in the U.S. Army in World War II, studied piano privately in New York City, and then earned bachelor's and master's degrees from the Eastman School of Music. In 1950 he was appointed organist and choir director at St. James Episcopal Church, Birmingham, Michigan, where he served for over 40 years. During that time he taught piano and organ privately and was an adjunct instructor at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. He twice served as Dean of the Detroit AGO chapter and also as Michigan State Chairman. He was program chairman for the AGO national convention in Detroit in 1958 and directed choirs at two Episcopal Church triennial conventions. After his retirement in 1991, he and his wife spent half of each year in Arizona and half in Oscoda, Michigan. During summers in Michigan, he served as organist at Christ Church, East Tawas.

Vernon de Tar died on October 7 in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, at the age of 94. He was organist and choirmaster at the Episcopal Church of the Ascension in Greenwich Village for 42 years, and had taught at Union Theological Seminary, Yale University, and the Juilliard School. Born in Detroit, Michigan, he studied piano and organ at Syracuse University, graduating in 1927, and continued studies with Franklin Cannon, David McK. Williams and Fernando Germani. He was appointed organist and choirmaster at Calvary Episcopal Church in New York in 1932 and moved to the Church of the Ascension in 1939. There he oversaw the installation of a Holtkamp organ, established a notable sacred music program and a concert series. Dr. de Tar taught at the Juilliard School from 1947 to 1982, the School of Sacred Music at Union Theological Seminary 1945-72, and at the Institute of Sacred Music at Yale University 1975-78. He was a member of the American Guild of Organists, the Association of Anglican Musicians, and the Hymn Society of America. After his retirement from the Church of the Ascension in 1981, he served as a substitute organist at several churches in Pennsylvania and continued to teach privately.

Michael R. Israel died on September 14 following a lengthy illness. Born on October 23, 1962, in North Carolina, he began his musical studies at the University of Cincinnati-Conservatory of Music and earned a degree in organ performance at the University of Louisville. He served as organist and director of music at churches in Cincinnati and in the Kentuckiana area, including Jefferstown Christian Church, Christ Evangelical United Church of Christ, St. John United Presbyterian Church, and Anchorage Presbyterian Church. He also played oboe and English horn, as well as singing baritone in various choral groups. Mr. Israel joined the staff of Miller Pipe Organ Company, Louisville, Kentucky, in 1988, first on a part-time basis while a college student, and later full-time as a technician and eventually service department manager. In that capacity, he had charge of scheduling quarterly visits throughout a ten state area as well as being a tuning team leader. He was a member of the American Institute of Organbuilders, the American Guild of Organists, and the Organ Historical Society. In 1993, he was selected as an E. Power Biggs Fellow by the OHS for the national convention in Louisville and Southern Indiana. He also performed as a recitalist at the convention, playing an 1879 organ by Koehnken & Grimm.

Robert Rayfield died on October 18 in Bloomington, Indiana, at the age of 79. He was professor emeritus of music at Indiana University, an international concert organist, and a church musician. Born April 15, 1920 in Selma, Alabama, he studied at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago, where he won the Conservatory Commencement Contest, the Van Dusen Organ Club Scholarship, and the Society of American Musicians Contest. He was later awarded a Fulbright Scholarship for study in Paris, France with Rolande Falcinelli and Jean Langlais. While in Europe, he traveled extensively, playing recitals and studying organ design. After returning from Europe he earned the Doctor of Music degree from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. He was a P51 pilot in the U.S. Air Force and received the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal. He concertized extensively and had made several recordings. Before his appointment to Indiana University in 1963, he served as Chairman of the organ department at Moody Bible Institute and organist of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Chicago. He retired from Indiana in 1990. He was known especially for his performances of the music of Leo Sowerby and Jean Langlais, and had written articles for The Diapason, The American Organist, and Clavier. Dr. Rayfield was a member of the American Guild of Organists and the Association of Anglican Musicians, and continued as organist of Trinity Episcopal Church, Bloomington, at the time of his death. Survivors include his wife, Nancy Platt Rayfield, two sons, one sister, and one grandson. A Requiem Eucharist was celebrated on October 22 at Trinity Episcopal Church.

Thomas Lassfolk Finch, 77, of Canton, New York, died of pancreatic cancer December 18, 2003. Born November 26, 1926, in Madison, Wisconsin, he graduated from Wisconsin High School in 1945. Attending the University of Wisconsin, he received a bachelor’s degree in 1947, a master’s degree in 1949, and a PhD in physics in 1954. He taught physics at Union College, Schenectady, New York, from 1955-1957, and then joined the faculty at St. Lawrence University, Canton, New York, where he taught until his retirement in 1989. He was interested in musical acoustics and did research on pipe organ acoustics with Arthur Benade at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, and with Wilson Nolle at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas, publishing some of the results in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. Dr. Finch became interested in the pipe organ in the 1940s, studying organ performance concurrently with his study of physics. He became a member of the American Guild of Organists in 1950, remaining a member of the St. Lawrence Valley chapter until his death. From 1990 he was a dual member of the Boston chapter, doing volunteer service at the Boston AGO Library. Dr. Finch served as organist of the Unitarian-Universalist Church in Canton, New York, from 1963 to 1989. He pursued a life-long interest in historic pipe organs, serving nine years as vice-president of the Organ Historical Society. He was presented with the Society’s Distinguished Service Award in 1990, and attended 45 of the Society’s annual conventions. In 1970 he organized one of the conventions in the North Country, with Canton as the base. He also served as a committee member for the 1980 convention in Ithaca, New York, and for the 2000 convention in Boston. In recent years he and his wife took part in OHS European tours to visit organs, including France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands, and most recently Sweden. He was also very interested in antique cars, and for many years was a member of the St. Lawrence chapter of the Antique Automobile Association of America. He married Frances Chilson on June 7, 1980, in the Unitarian-Universalist Church in Canton with the Rev. Max Coots officiating. Donations may be made to the Unitarian-Universalist Church, Canton, NY 13617, or to the Organ Historical Society Endowment Fund, P.O. Box 26811, Richmond, VA 23261.

Virginia R. Hebel died on January 1 in Mountain View, California. She had lived in Cupertino for 27 years, and was a dedicated area musician and choral accompanist at Los Altos High School for 20 years. Born on June 24, 1930, in Greencastle, Indiana, where her father was a professor at De Pauw University, Mrs. Hebel majored in music at De Pauw. At De Pauw she also married her college sweetheart, Chuck Hebel, her husband of nearly 51 years. A life-long church organist, Mrs. Hebel played at many local churches after moving to the Bay Area in 1976, when her husband came to Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center. In 1983, she began a long association with the choral programs of Los Altos High School, accompanying rehearsals and performances of thousands of students. Mrs. Hebel fought a long and often difficult battle against lung cancer, during which time she maintained a demanding schedule at Los Altos High School while substituting as organist at numerous churches, and serving for two years as organist at First United Methodist Church of Palo Alto. She is survived by her husband Charles Hebel, three children and seven grandchildren.

Lloyd Pfautsch died October 3, 2003, at the age of 82. Longtime professor of sacred music and director of choral activities at Southern Methodist University, he was also a widely published and performed composer. Born in 1921 in Washington, Missouri, Pfautsch received his bachelor’s degree in 1943 from Elmhurst College in Illinois and held degrees in divinity and sacred music from Union Theological Seminary. He was ordained a minister in the Evangelical and Reformed Church, but pursued a career in music. A bass-baritone, he sang with the Robert Shaw Chorale and the NBC radio chorus, and sang the title role in Mendelssohn’s Elijah throughout the country. He taught at Illinois Wesleyan University 1948-58 and then at Southern Methodist University 1958-92. At SMU he established the school’s Master of Sacred Music program offered jointly by the Perkins School of Theology and Meadows School of Music. He conducted the Meadows Chorale, Mustang Chorale and Choral Union, and for three years was associate dean of the Meadows School and chairman of the music division. Pfautsch also founded the Dallas Civic Chorus, which he directed for 25 years. He wrote three books on choral conducting, including English Diction for the Singer. Among the many honors he received during his career are honorary doctorates from Elmhurst College, Illinois Wesleyan University, and West Virginia Wesleyan University. He was selected the Meadows Distinguished Professor in 1984 and was named professor emeritus in 1992. In addition to his wife Edith, Mr. Pfautsch is survived by a daughter and three sons. A memorial service was held on October 7, 2003 at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Dallas.

Charles Henderson, editor emeritus of The American Organist, died peacefully in his sleep at his daughter's home in Bronx, New York, on June 24. A native of West Chester, Pennsylvania, Mr. Henderson graduated cum laude from Bucknell University. He later studied at the Juilliard School of Music, the Fontainbleau School in France, and at Syracuse University, where he earned his master's degree under Arthur Poister. His teachers also included Nadia Boulanger and Ernest White. From 1939 to 1952, except for four years in the Army during World War II, Henderson was organist and choir director at the First Presbyterian Church and a member of the faculty at Wilkes College, both in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He also conducted the 125-voice Wyoming Valley Oratorio Society and the 75-voice Singers' Guild of Scranton. While serving as minister of music at the Church of the Covenant in Erie, Pennsylvania, 1952-55, he conducted the Erie Philharmonic Chorus and the Bach Choir of Erie. In 1955, he was appointed organist and choirmaster of St. George's Church on Stuyvesant Square, New York City, where he served for 18 years. While at St. George's, he was also responsible for the planning and installation of the 1958 Möller organ, designed by Ernest White, and he served on the organ faculty of the Union Theological Seminary School of Sacred Music. A member of the AGO since 1939, Henderson served as both dean and treasurer of the New York City chapter. In 1973 he was appointed editor of the guild journal, then called Music/The AGO and RCCO Magazine. He retired in May 1982 and was named editor emeritus in 1992. He also served as organist at the First Presbyterian Church in Milford, New Jersey, from 1976-1983. Charles Henderson was preceded in death by his wife Jane, who died on February 21, 2000.

Victor G. Hildner died on August 15 in Oak Park, Illinois, at the age of 84. He began his career as an organist in his father's church in St. Clair, Michigan, and by age 12 was directing the parish choir. He received bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Michigan and served as director of music at Trinity Lutheran Church in St. Joseph, Michigan, 1941-44. In 1944, he joined the faculty of Concordia Teachers College, now Concordia University, in River Forest, Illinois, where he taught until 1983. Hildner was also music director of the Oak Park Concert Chorale for 20 years, the Oak Park/River Forest Symphony Chorus for 26 years, and at Jefferson Park Lutheran Church for 29 years. In 1960 he founded and directed the Chicago Baroque Ensemble, a consort devoted to music written before 1750. His wife of 52 years, Agnes Hildner, died six years ago.

Paul Pettinga, longtime professor of music at the University of Illinois, died one year ago, on October 28, 1999, in Urbana, Illinois, at the age of 85. He was born on April 15, 1914, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. After attending Grand Rapids Junior College, he studied at Oberlin College from 1933-38, receiving the BMus in 1936 and the MMus in 1939. He served as assistant organist at St. Mark's Procathedral, Grand Rapids, from 1930-33; organist and choirmaster at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, Elyria, OH, 1935-38; and organist and choirmaster at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, Detroit, 1938-39. He was instructor in organ at the University of Illinois from 1939-46, and organist and choir director at the First Presbyerian Church, Urbana, 1939-43, and was appointed organist and choirmaster at University Place Christian Church, Champaign, 1945. He took a military leave from the university from 1943-45 to serve with the Eighth Air Force. Following that, he served as minister of music at First Presbyterian Church, Houston, 1946-7. He then returned to the University of Illinois, where he worked until his retirement at a professor and associate director of the School of Music. Mr. Pettinga also worked as a guidance counselor and therapist with the Student Counselling Service at UI for seven years. He was chairman of the Division of Piano and Organ and then chairman of the Division of Organ. He served as organist at the First Methodist Church, Champaign, 1947-49, and was organist and choir director at University Place Christian Church, Champaign, 1949-1992. He performed as many as 35 recitals a year and presented a four-year-long series of weekly programs for WILL radio. After retirement from the university, Mr. Pettinga and his wife tuned pipe organs in Illinois and Indiana. Surviving are three daughters, seven grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

William Whitehead died on July 6, following hospitalization for a stroke.