Project 2000: The Diapason Index enters Y2K

Part 1 was published in the January, 2000 issue of The
Diapason.

As early as 1917 the grim effects of war became all too
apparent with the confiscation of organ pipes for war industries in Europe. A
few terse announcements bespeak the horror of having pipes ripped out of ancient
instruments for the tin they contained. By 1918, pipe organ construction was
curtailed in the U.S. by a war industries board. In the absence of production,
plans for war memorial organs dominated stoplists. An editorial appeared in
1919 which was entitled "Organ Boom Has Begun." In 1927 Mathias Peter
Möller presented an organ as a war memorial to the Thanksgiving Lutheran
Church in Copenhagen, Denmark, the country of his birth.

War measures returned in 1942 when the Office of Production
Management in Washington, DC forbade construction of organs and ordered the
conversion of the industry to defense work. These restrictions continued
through 1946. Once again, generosity prevailed when the Canadian College
of  Organists announced that it
would raise $50,000 for the British Organ Restoration Fund to restore organs in
England which were destroyed in the Second World War.

Post-war topics tended to polarize into romantic and classic
camps, a trend that still continues unabated. In 1945, Dr. Wilfred Payne penned
an article, "Choosing a Design for a Post-War Organ." The author
attempted to show how to avoid confusion in deciding between romantic and
classic specifications.(45:Aug. Record 1932, year 1945.)

Perhaps these dialogues and disputes reached their zenith with
the "Great Sludge Debate of 1976." The intervening years were full of
articles on the pro and con side, including those by William Barnes, Isolde
Ahlgrimm, Henry Willis, Rudolph Von Beckerath, Joseph Whitehead, Lawrence
Phelps, George Lee Hamrick, and Ernest White. Not the least of these
contributions came from the pen of Ernest M. Skinner. In the January issue of
1961, it was noted that

Mr. Skinner was a distinguished figure at innumerable AGO
conventions. Always articulate and often argumentative he was widely known as a
personality as well as the outstanding builder of his generation. A frequent
writer of "letters to the editor" in this publication, his article on
his career  which he wrote on his
85th birthday is reprinted.

The reappearance of American tracker organs in 1960 began a
decade-long series of "Two Manual Organ" issues of The Diapason. All
manner of organ architecture received a thorough going over, not the least of
which was Ernest White's exposition on "The One Rank Mixture." Far
from tongue-in-cheek, this article was a very successful and forthright
discussion of the concept of 
breaking mixtures in contrast to compound stops.

The middle years of the long 90-year publication of The
Diapason highlight the transition of American and European organ building and
architecture toward what was perceived as classic ideals of the period. They
also chronicle what might be considered the industrial period of American organ
building and the mileau in which domestic organs were built, ranging from the
opulence of Aeolian Organ clientele to the mid-town churches that ordered
enormous pipe organs from Austin, Möller, Aeolian-Skinner and Casavant, to
name a few.

Part III of this series will take a look at the appearance
of artisan organ builders and the changing organ playing aesthetic as it
appeared in The Diapason Index from the 1970s to the present day. In the
meantime, the reader can investigate these 15,000 entries first hand at the
Osiris Archive, home of The Diapason Index, at the following address on The
Internet:

www.wu-wien.ac.at/earlym-l/organs/diapason.search.html

Searches on one keyword will take you through the index for
any primary topic. The best way to refine the search is to download the results
of the first keyword search and use any word processor to search on secondary
keywords. This provides the ability to scan on the Internet for general themes
and zero in on specific entries at a later time.

It seems like eons have passed since personal computers appeared in our lives--but it has only been a little over a decade since I bought my first grey box with a green phosphor screen--a 1984 Kaypro. It was built like a truck, was a great word processor, made no fan noise, and the cursor did not blink. Unfortunately, this super typewriter was considered obsolete in three years, and I replaced it with a "PC" with a fan so loud I thought it was going to take off. Nowadays, when I acquire a computer, I kill the blinking cursor and fuss with the fan to make it as quiet as the old Kaypro. So much for "keeping up!"

Today, the Internet challenges us as much as those first computers did. Kenneth Matthews writes to Piporg-L from San Francisco:

All right. If someone will explain to me, I promise to pay attention this time. I can't figure out (or remember) where Osiris actually is . . .

--Kenneth (spinning my wheels in cyberspace) Matthews

Ken's problem is not unique on the Internet. There are thousands of offerings, but you have to know where to find them. The Osiris Archive is no exception. Ken is trying to keep up, too.

There is so much activity on the OrganNet (Piporg-L) that most "cyber-organists" are panting to keep pace. Piporg-L started with 40 subscribers and has since passed the 600 mark. I long resisted Windows software, thinking I could avoid clicking on icons in favor of the ten commandments of DOS. Finally, I gave in so I could "surf the net" when Piporg-L joined the World Wide Web with their own "web page." This "hypertext" presentation of Piporg-L includes a link to the Osiris Archive as well.

What does all this mean?   Well, it means that you can load "Mosaic" or "Netscape," set your sights on http://albany.edu/~piporg-l or http://osiris.wu-wien.ac.at/ftp/pub/earlym-l/organs

and a page will appear on your computer screen to guide you through the OrganNet (Piporg-L) or The Osiris Archive.

From these "web pages" you can investigate a variety of organ topics from the Organs of Glasgow, to over six hundred specifications in the Osiris Archive. This is a big jump from just a few years ago, when this whole business was just getting started.

Here in a nutshell, are a few corners of cyberspace that organists can enjoy:

Piporg-L: Pipe organs and related topics

http://albany.edu/~piporg-l

The Piporg-L web page will introduce you the contents of the list, starting with a quick guide to searching the archives, biography files, the Osiris Archive, and recordings of organ music in the CD-Connection catalog.

Osiris Archive

http://osiris.wu-wien.ac.at/ftp/pub/earlym-l/organs/

The Osiris Archive web page describes how to search for over 600 organ specifications in the Osiris database. It lists help files that answer the most frequently asked questions about the archive--how to search for files, upload and downloadspecifications and how to volunteer to type new specifications for the archive. Last but not least, it provides a link to The Diapason Index --some 14,000 entries from the annual reviews that are published each year.

The Osiris Archive is growing daily with submissions from all over the world. The archive is located at the Vienna University of Economics and is part of the Earlym-L archives (a sister list to Piporg-L).  As hoped, it contains not only organ specifications, but playing impressions, recording discography and builders' notes. This material is kept in a free form database and is listed by organ builder, site, city, country and date of construction.

The Diapason Index

http://osiris.wu-wien.ac.at/ftp/pub/earlym-l/organs/diapason.index

The Diapason Index may now be searched online from the Osiris Archive web page, or may be downloaded into your own word processor. These files are "comma delimited text files" and may be imported into your favorite database program, such as Dbase or FoxPro.  Downloading the file takes a bit of time --usually about 20 minutes if you have a fast modem.

Organ CDs

http://albany.edu/~piporg-l/organcds.@cd-conn

This spring, Ben Chi, co-owner of Piporg-L, posted an announcement that he had downloaded the organ catalog of The CD Connection, a well known catalog order firm. He culled out some 1,500 organ CDs and saved them on Piporg-L. To download this CD list by email, send this message to

[email protected]:

get organcds.@cd-conn

Be prepared for a moderate length download. This is a 27 page text file. Once you have loaded this file into your word processor, you may search for title, composer and artist, using your own word processor's "search" command. Prices of the organ CDs in this catalog are reported to be very competitive.

Part 1: Human interest prevails in the first 33 years of the publication of The Diapason - 1909 to 1942

“Project 2000” was chosen as the name for the compilation of The Diapason Index—an electronic database of articles, general information and historical trivia found in the pages of The Diapason from 1909 to the present. This information was gleaned from index cards and yearly annotations from the magazine’s inception in 1909. When the project was initiated, it was expected to take five years to complete, hence the goal of “Project 2000.” However, the enthusiasm of volunteers who gathered the data was so great that it was all done in only two years. All that remained was to keep the database current until Y2K.

When one looks over this voluminous data which comprises some 15,000 records, the reader is struck by the nature of “newsworthy” events, particularly in the early years in the publication of The Diapason. A trip down memory lane proves to be extremely colorful and full of human interest. The nature of organ recitals and concertizing was profoundly different from our present day.

The art of organ building, while supposedly “decadent” by current standards, was extremely vibrant if one looks at the size and enthusiasm of audiences. For example, in 1912, the Estey organ company of Brattleboro, Vermont, sold an organ to the Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany. In 1928, Earnest Skinner hired special trains to take New York and Philadelphia organists to the dedication of his new organ at Princeton University. The organists who dedicated that organ had huge followings. They were Lynnwood Farnam, Chandler Gold-thwaite, Charles Courboin, Rollo Maitland and Ralph Downes.

Even the dark side of human events had no lack of interest. Here are some events that are outrageous even by present standards.

February, 1912: Four parishioners attacked Philadelphia organist Rudolph Loskat in the loft of St. Matthew’s Slavic Catholic Church when his rector refused to replace him with an organist of their choice. They threatened to throw him over the gallery rail and turned violently on the rector when he tried to intervene. Mr. Loskat exited quickly.

June, 1913: Militant British suffragettes set fire to the organs in several churches, presumably to draw attention to their cause of  “votes for women.” The organ of St. Anne’s Church at Lastborne was burned May 15 and that at the parish church of Penn, Buckinghamshire on May 14.

Some reported “crimes” were trivial, such as an event in July of 1914 when organist Edward Kreiser was “freed in municipal court in Kansas City from the charge of speeding when he proved he had driven his car 35 miles an hour in order to reach Independence Boulevard Christian Church on time to play for a wedding service.”

Other events were disturbing, desperate and dark. Or curious. Or funny.

June, 1938: A.B. Davis defrauded organ men in various parts of the country. He was a clever swindler whose activities had received publicity in the columns of The Diapason. He was trapped in the Chicago office of M.P. Möller, Inc., and later sentenced to jail for six months. He had served eight prison terms.

February, 1913: Former organist Thomas Griglak, of St. Michael the Archangel Church, Chicago, sued the church’s pastor for $20,000 for slander for calling him “a liar, swindler and drunkard” from the pulpit after demanding his resignation.

May, 1913: Retiring organist Ernest Jores sued a steward of the Grand Avenue Methodist Church of Kansas City, Missouri for $20,000 charging slander. Meanwhile the Ladies Aid Society adopted a motion to withhold the payment of money into the general fund until Mr. Jores’ dismissal was reconsidered.

Indeed, they were the Ladies “Aid”!

Some organists were incredibly selfless, as in the case of Fred Maurer, who was reported in October of 1913 to have played the organ in Zion Lutheran Church of Wilton, Iowa for 50 years, without pay. In honor of this anniversary, he was given a purse of fifty one dollars, one for each year and one for good measure!

Meanwhile some other organists got into terrible trouble.

April, 1942: Organist Courtney Rogers was executed in Los Angeles for the murder of his father and mother. He also confessed to the murder of his grandmother in 1935.

Employers, of course, were up to their usual shenanigans, measured by the social mores of the day.

March, 1914: An editorial quoted and excoriated a news story about an organist playing “ragtime” on the organ in the public auditorium at Topeka, Kansas.

October, 1914: W. H. Donley, a Seattle organist, was given the alternative of abandoning his playing in the Colonial Theater or resigning from his post at the First Methodist Church; he chose to continue at the theater where he was a featured recitalist and did not accompany the movies.

Traveling recitalists set new standards across the country. In 1911, Edwin Arthur Kraft made an extensive tour with a group of 70 programs which included some 700 pieces (September, 1911). By 1920, Charles Courboin was traveling the country by airplane. This was not surprising, since he was also known for his love of fast cars.

If their professional positions turned sour, organists did not take well to sitting on the “back bench.” In 1914, the famous organist-composer Harry Rowe Shelly sued the secretary of the music committee of new York’s Calvary Baptist Church when its merger with Fifth Avenue Baptist cost him his job. On the other side of the coin, there are many tales of  unflappability, such as one in 1913 when Lynnwood Farnam played without missing a beat when a windstorm blew down a church tower and shattered windows.

Crowds of thousands were described at the recitals of the star organists. Exhibitions featured enormous pipe organs. In the absence of civic orchestras, it was organ recitalists who introduced the populace to the symphonic repertoire. This brought fame and fortune and if one may read between the lines, the human side of organ playing was never more prominent.

As the century progressed, articles and events in The Diapason highlighted the evolution of the organ as a musical instrument with scholarly insight and in-depth study. The “Two Manual” issues were classics, and fascinating subjects were researched with articles such as Frank Owen’s series on Boy Choirs and English Cathedrals. Organ builders’ announcements took interesting twists and turns, and wartime shortages had a pronounced effect on organ building. A description of these articles and events will be the subject of Part II of this series on The Diapason Index. However, one can only marvel at the depth of the human condition of organists and their mentors in the first thirty years of the publication of The Diapason.            n

It's Time To Tell the Story

Introduction

My presentation, "The Economics of Pipe Organ Building: It's Time to Tell The Story," is the viewpoint of an economist, not a builder or a musician. It reflects my fervent conviction that organbuilders must be aware of the economic parameters which shape their business. I also strongly believe that builders must communicate the unique dimensions of their age-old craft to their constituents and clientele. This, in my judgment, will contribute to the support so essential for their well-being in the challenging years ahead. My goal was to present some facts and figures for the builders to think about, to discuss with their colleagues, and perhaps to use in presentations to prospective clients. As one builder has remarked: "Organbuilding is an anachronism in the American economy."1

Assumptions

We begin with certain assumptions which are critical to the discussion. First, we call attention to the fact that no two builders are alike. Each builder has his own vision of his enterprise, his product and his market. We also recognize that APOBA is a far more diverse group today that it was thirty years ago when it was comprised primarily of comparatively large firms building non-mechanical instruments.

Second, as an economist, I define organbuilding as an industry. By industry we mean a group of firms and suppliers engaged in building the instrument and its components on an ongoing basis. Organbuilding is categorized by the US Department of Commerce in the Standard Industrial Classification seven digit code 3931-211. In building a one-of-a-kind product, organbuilding differs radically from the traditional view of industry as comprised of a handful of relatively large firms manufacturing automobiles, appliances, pharmaceuticals and computers. Therefore, because of the unique highly individual and artistic nature of organbuilding as an age-old craft, some builders, perhaps particularly small shops, view organbuilding as no more an industry than sculpting, portrait painting, or even piano concertizing.

Third, organbuilding is a business. The firm is subject to business realities and must conduct its affairs in accordance with them. These include balance sheet and income statement guidelines and property and contract requirements. Unfortunately, some builders, perhaps those with what one prominent executive described as a "cavalier" attitude, sometimes don't pay careful attention to these realities. We also assert that organbuilding is subject to broad economic forces which include wage rates in local labor markets and overall market determined prices for materials and components. In addition, organbuilding is critically influenced by the general economic climate of depression and inflation as history so forcefully demonstrates.

Fourth, in economic parlance, the structure of the industry is a quixotic example of two types of competition. Organbuilding is and always has been a highly competitive industry. When measured by the number of firms and ease of entry it is similar to textbook examples of pure and perfect competition. In a survey I made for a paper years ago entitled "The Place of the Small Builder in the American Organ Industry," one builder, Fritz Noack, reported that his capital cost for entering the trade was $200.00.2 Theoretically, any builder can build the same stoplist, pipe scales and casework. In practice, however, sharp differences exist between builders and instruments. Therefore, in the nature of the product, a specification good in which no two instruments are alike, organbuilding is more like a product differentiated oligopoly. Competition reflects many factors: price, windchest action, level of workmanship, prior installations, reputation, endorsements and status seeking by the organist and the buyer.

Fifth, the concept of market segments is useful. Churches, educational institutions, theaters, private dwellings, lodge halls, and funeral homes have been identifiable markets for pipe organs over the years. Each of these markets has its own demand determinants. Membership and giving would be key determinants for the church market. For concert halls and art museums, major private gifts would be all important. The builder has no direct influence on these demand determinants which critically shape the outlook for his business.

Sixth, we acknowledge that some builders don't recognize themselves as part of an industry insofar as there are interests and concerns common to all participants. Macroeconomic demand determinants don't interest them. Nor is the idea of competition, in a broad sense, viewed as particularly relevant to their enterprise. Their clientele wants their instrument, not just an organ. In an analogy, people don't go to a piano recital, they go to hear Andre Watts. This builder's clientele is perhaps most often a individual, not a committee, and quite likely a prominent academic who will make the choice of builder. Most important, funding is taken for granted. It is presumed that the buyer is authorized to pay whatever price is required to obtain the chosen instrument.

This phenomenon reflects the close symbiotic relationship between the instrument, the performer, and his employer. The instrument is what accords status to the organist's church or school and himself, and is the way he obtains recognition among his peers. It is his ego alter. This has always been true and always will be. It was, no doubt, the case with the Hooks, certainly so with Roosevelt, Skinner, Aeolian Skinner and Holtkamp. The role of brand preference among competitively sensitive and socially conscious pipe organ buyers was supremely illustrated with WurliTzer in the theater market and Aeolian in the mansions of the wealthy. Those familiar with my articles in The Diapason know that I have developed and continue to reiterate the theme of invidious comparison and competitive emulation (Thorstein Veblen) as a very real phenomenon in the organ marketplace.

Economics

The salient factor in organbuilding and the one that distinguishes it as an industry from all others is the labor intensive nature of the product. This overriding factor largely explains the postwar history of the industry and will determine its future. We would argue that 80 percent of the value added in building a pipe organ is labor. Value added by manufacture is the difference between the cost of of inputs--raw materials, semifinished components and labor (including fringe benefits)--and the sale price. Industries with sixty percent or more value added by labor are considered labor intensive. Among them are products of the so-called "needle trades"--for example, robes and dressing gowns, 64 percent labor and curtains and draperies, 68 percent labor. For leather gloves and mittens the value added by labor is 84 percent. Aircraft and shipbuilding are other obvious examples of very high labor input.3

In contrast, capital intensive and technologically advanced industries, enjoy low labor costs even with high wages and benefits. Examples of low labor cost are: Primary Copper, 18 percent; Electronic Computers, 27 percent; and Household Appliances, 25 percent.4 The implication of high productivity, high wage industries for organbuilding is that they determine the wage structure of the national as well as the local economy. In a full-employment economy such as ours, organbuilders face enormous pressures to pay competitive wages or face high turnover with the resulting disruptions, delays and cost overruns. The high cost of organbuilding mirrors the labor input and wage rate; when wages go up, costs go up in lock step. The wage pressures of a full employment economy are a direct threat to cost containment in organbuilding.

The availability of low-wage labor explains why the Möller Company in Hagerstown, Maryland was able to operate for decades as America's largest builder. With 350-400 factory workers, Möller shipped at least one complete instrument every working day in the 1920s and again in the 1950s. Hagerstown, out on a shelf in western Maryland, was bypassed by prosperity and suffered for years from relatively high unemployment. Möller, therefore, could obtain all the workers it required at comparatively low wages. Conversely, no organbuilder could have operated in Detroit or Pittsburgh, because they could never have paid the union wages of auto workers and steel workers and remained competitive. 

Organbuilding is similar to the performing arts in the preponderance of labor cost to total cost and the absence of productivity increases. A widely-acclaimed study, Performing Arts: The Economic Dilemma, disclosed that the share of salaries of artistic personnel to total expenditures was 64% for major U.S. orchestras and 72% for the London Symphony Orchestra.5 The principal conclusion of this authoritative work, commissioned by the Twentieth Century Fund and written by Professors Baumol and Bowen of Princeton University, was that the arts operate within the framework of a complex economy. This coupled with the inability to achieve a sustained increase in productivity makes even higher costs an inevitable characteristic of live performance. So it is with organbuilding.

The predominant role of labor input in organbuilding is illustrated in Table 1 where we compare the number of man-hours necessary to fabricate representative components of a pipe organ with those required to manufacture an automobile. For pipe organs, four key components: an 8' Diapason, 61 pipes, voiced, an 8' Trumpet, 61 pipes voiced, a 16' Bourdon, 32 pipes, voiced, and a pitman action windchest of five stops are portrayed. The contrast is indeed striking.

Rising Cost

The second dominant characteristic of organbuilding is the persistent rise in cost over time. This is illustrated for the key components over the last twenty years in Table 2. More important, when we compare the rise in cost of organ components to the producer price index for the whole economy, the increase is greater for organbuilding as shown in Table 3. This argues that in the event inflation reappears in the US economy, the cost of organbuilding will increase at a higher rate than reflected in the producer price indexes.

What are the implications of rising costs for organbuilding? Fifty years ago, in 1948, you could buy a three-rank Möller Artiste for $2975. Today, you could scarcely buy one set of pipes below 4' pitch for this amount of money. Using the church market as a point of reference, will there be a pipe organ industry ten years from now, or twenty years down the road? To answer this question we hark back to our major premise that when church giving is rising in proportion (or greater) to the increase in income generated by a growing economy, the market scarcely blinks at rising pipe organ costs. This relationship underscores the ongoing fact that it isn't the price of an organ that is the primary determinant of demand, but income, i.e., having the funds to buy them.

In 1900 the price of a Hinners tracker organ was about $125 per stop. Recall that with a force of 90 workmen in Pekin, Illinois, Hinners was building three instruments a week. Remember also that per capita real income in agriculture between the Panics of 1897 and 1907 was the highest in history. Farmers paid less for what they bought and got more for what they sold. With their short-term living standard satisfied, they pumped rivers of cash and pledges into the churches who bought Hinners, Barckhoff, Felgemaker and Estey organs. These were four builders who, with standard specifications, capitalized on this huge rural market, what we have called the commodity segment of the market. By the end of the Hinners era, ostensibly the tracker era, this firm counted over three thousand instruments in more than 40 states and in several foreign countries.6

The Electronic Organ

The critical confluence of cost and revenue in the demand for pipe organs is illustrated in the recent history of the electronic organ. Another major premise in this discussion is that the electronic church organ is a substitute for the pipe organ. To verify this hypothesis we obtained the annual sales of the Allen Organ Company for the last twenty years and plotted them against the cost of our key pipe organ components as shown in Figure 1. The results are astounding! An almost perfect fit, a statistician's dream; you could scarcely ask for a closer correlation. The demand for the electronic church organ as a function of the price of a pipe organ illustrates the economist's concept of cross-elasticity of demand. The higher the price of a pipe organ the greater the demand for the electronic substitute. Furthermore, based upon these correlations, we could write a regression equation that says if this relationship holds, for every dollar increase in the price of a pipe organ there will be a certain increase in the demand for the electronic church instrument.

Church Giving

If we accept the premise that the electronic church instrument is a substitute for the pipe organ, we perhaps can argue that the real culprit is the failure of church giving to keep pace with pipe organ costs in recent decades unlike earlier periods. Statistics compiled by empty tomb inc. for 27 Protestant denominations for the period 1968-95 and published in "The State of Church Giving," reveal that church giving has "fallen" dramatically.7 To be sure, in a growing economy per capita personal disposable income has increased as have contributions for congregational finances. However, the percentage of income contributed has declined steadily and the increase in dollar giving is nowhere near the year to year increase in income. Whether measured by the percent of income given in 1968 or the yearly income increase, the amount given for congregational finances would have been $2.5 billion more in 1995 if these percentages had held. Two and a half billion dollars would buy a lot of pipe organs. If we view church giving within the household budget as a concept of market share, we see that the collection plate has taken a back seat to other expenditures: sporting goods, toys, pizza, and travel, among others. John and Sylvia Ronsvalle of empty tomb point out that in 1992, church giving was only 23 percent of total leisure spending. They attribute this to the pervasive hedonistic consumer-driven culture of our time.8

The implications for the church market from the giving levels we have just illustrated would appear to be ominous. If we assume costs will rise and we couple this with the diminishing rate of church giving, we will then reach a point at which, theoretically, the price per stop for a pipe organ will cause the demand to drop off sharply, if not virtually disappear. What is this point? We don't know, but we could be getting close to it. Can we say there is no demand at $30,000 per stop; perhaps not even at $25,000 or $20,000?

Not all builders believe the figures for church giving are relevant to the demand for pipe organs or that projected increases in price per stop will spell the end of the industry. They view the King of Instruments not as a utilitarian device to accompany church services but as an art form akin to a fine painting. Thus a "high end" market will continue to exist because sophisticated, discriminating--and wealthy--individuals will always select the instrument of the ages, in the same spirit in which they build their art collections--without regard to cost. These builders hold that the industry, now numbering many small shops in addition to the few larger builders, has adjusted and stabilized to this level of output, as evidenced by the demise of Möller, a builder for the commodity market which has now been almost totally preempted by the electronic instrument. A good illustration of this new paradigm is the firm of Taylor and Boody in Staunton, Virginia who by choice build only thirty to thirty-five stops per year.9

Pipe Organ Imports

Imported instruments have been a significant part of the American pipe organ scene since WWII. Large instruments by Rieger, Flentrop and Von Beckerath plus smaller ones from a host of other European builders were the cornerstone of the tracker revival in this country. They were often viewed as a status symbol by the organist profession who proclaimed "if it's foreign it's finer." The principal source of offshore instruments today is our northern neighbor Canada. The sensitive issue of Canadian imports, based primarily on the insurmountable cost advantage afforded the Canadian builder by the exchange rate, is not a new one. In February, 1931, Major Fred Oliver, veteran of the Canadian Expeditionary Force in WWI and husband of Marie Casavant, acknowledged before the US Tariff Commission that Canadian-built organs were less expensive than American instruments. He argued that clients bought them because they liked them better than the domestic product. Could they have liked them better because they were less expensive?

For many years organ imports, including those from Canada, were not a problem. American builders were busy with healthy backlogs and the Canadian share of the market was unobtrusive and not growing. Nonetheless the threat was lurking and today, in the author's judgment, it is a major one. Based upon the dollar value and the number of instruments imported from Canada in the past two decades, I, as an economist, view the Canadian competition as a significant threat to the American organ industry. I also feel strongly that the US buyer should be apprised of the implications of a decision to buy a Canadian-built organ.

Foreign trade statistics published by the Bureau of the Census, US Department of Commerce show that in the 1980s Canadian builders exported an average of 43 instruments per year to the US, their primary market, valued at $3.8 million per year and representing two-thirds of total imports. For the eight year period 1990-97, Canadian imports averaged 19 instruments per year valued at $4.2 million per year. In the most recent years the numbers are: 1995, 21 instruments, value $5.2 million, 76 percent of total imports; 1996, 24 instruments, $4.5 million value, 75 percent of all imports; and 1997, 22 instruments, $5.1 million total value representing 70 percent of total foreign-built organs. Table 4 portrays the value of Canadian imports in US dollars, as declared at the point of entry, for the years 1975-97 and the percent of dollar imports accounted for by Canada and Netherlands-Germany. The dollar figure is a better indicator of the import threat than the number of instruments for the same reason that the number of voiced stops is more representative that the number of instruments in that it more accurately reflects industry activity. One instrument of 100 stops is in terms of output larger than eight instruments of ten stops each. These figures understate the impact of Canadian imports which significantly influence the price structure of the organ market, making it difficult for domestic builders to compete, especially for the larger and more prestigious contracts.   

The Canadian import threat exists, primarily perhaps, for the larger firms in non-mechanical action and in situations where a price sensitive committee, as opposed to an individual, often makes the decision. Conversely, some builders, chiefly smaller firms with a guild versus business mentality, do not view Canadian competition as a threat. To them price advantage is not a pivotal factor in choice of builder in situations where the instrument and the builder are highly individualized in the unique and incomparable nature of their work.

The problem results from coupling the 80 percent labor cost of organbuilding with the Canadian dollar which has hovered around 70 cents in recent years and fell to 63.7 cents in August, 1998. If we assume that a representative wage in organbuilding in the US today is $12.00 per hour, for an American builder to compete with the 70 cent Canadian dollar his workers would have to take a pay cut to $8.40 per hour. When committees elect to purchase a Canadian-built organ this is precisely what they are asking the hapless American workers to do. Perhaps committees should ask themselves whether they would be willing to work for $12 an hour, let alone $8.40?  Furthermore, it is unethical and patently unfair for a committee to accept an offer from an American builder to spend hundreds of dollars flying them across the country to see installations, only to lose the contract to a Canadian builder solely on the basis of price.

Keep in mind also that the Canadian market is hermetically sealed against the American builder. Except for one project by Schoenstein, it has been impossible for an American builder to get work in Canada. This is attributed to the cultural protection issue. Canadians are paranoid about the "invasion" of their culture by American media and have taken steps to block American magazine sales and satellite TV programming in direct violation of the rules of the World Trade Organization. One government official hysterically compared stores selling satellite dishes to dope pushers.10 Perhaps if the Canadians are so touchy about their culture we should return the favor and talk about protecting our rich culture in pipe organ building; the legacy of Hilbourne Roosevelt, Ernest Skinner, Donald Harrison and Walter Holtkamp!

The author is not alone in his analysis of the present and future impact of Canadian competition on the outlook for American organbuilding. Erik Olbeter, project director of the prestigious Economic Strategy Institute in Washington, D. C. agrees that US firms cannot indefinitely absorb the exchange rate differential in the labor cost basis of organbuilding. He adds that since no US builders have been able to sell into the Canadian market, this is a powerful argument in support of the domestic firm.11

There are, of course, two sides to every question. Canadian builders enjoy a positive image, a distinguished history and can point to many fine instruments in this country. Therefore, if the client elects to recognize these factors in choosing a builder and to disregard the implications for American builders, that is their business. But at least they ought to be aware of what they are doing!

Predictions

In conclusion, let me turn to my crystal ball, cloudy though it is, and make some observations and predictions about pipe organ building in America in the coming years. Remember that economists can't resist the temptation to forecast; it's a congenital defect in the profession. You are free to disagree with me and I acknowledge that many of you will elect to do so.

First, pipe organs will always be built, and organbuilding activity, in its many forms, will continue indefinitely. The level of output and the composition of the industry is impossible to predict and I wouldn't hazard a guess. Long-established major builders have previous instruments to rebuild, update and relocate. Small tracker shops may build one instrument a year. Builders of all sizes may move into service work to maintain cash flow while awaiting an order for a new instrument or a rebuilding project. If the industry is defined by total employment this will include suppliers and service firms.

Second, it is clear to me as an economist that a reversal of the persistent decline in church giving is critical to the outlook for the industry. As the King of Instruments, the pipe organ must be recognized as a symbol of the broader dimensions of culture throughout the ages, bridging nations and generations, an essential component of religious symbolism vital to the experience of corporate worship, and the object of sacrificial devotion by churchgoers who stand in opposition to the hedonistic consumer-driven culture of our time. Forbes Magazine, highlighting the resurgence of popularity of mechanical watches over quartz watches pointed out: "An unscientific survey of several dozen watch experts produced one common thread: mechanical watches have soul, have workmanship, have intrinsic value that cannot be found in quartz timepieces. It is this fact, and not a Luddite, reactionary longing for the old days, that makes these watches so popular."12 So it is with the pipe organ. Like a diamond, the high cost of a pipe organ is what makes it so distinctive and so valuable.

Third, the perception of an organ today in the eyes of many churchgoers exacerbates the cost problem. The instrument has to be large and, therefore, expensive. A pipe organ must exert a commanding presence in the sanctuary as reflected in the console of a nonmechanical organ, one with three or more manuals and lots of drawknobs, and in the totality of a mechanical instrument. Above all, the sound must project power, majesty and grandeur, as evidenced by the popularity of the 32' pedal reed today.

Fourth, each builder faces a management challenge of how large an operation his market will sustain and the make-or-buy decision with every project. On an emotional level the builder must continually ask himself whether he is a businessman or an artist and how to balance these all too often conflicting interests. Above all, he must resist the temptation to cut prices to stay in business. This is the road to ruin. As they say in the ocean shipping business, those who live by the rate cut die by the rate cut.  Organbuilding must live in the real world of cost and revenue; there are no "sugar daddies" out there willing to put money into a failed pipe organ business because of the romance of it.

Fifth, supplemental electronic components are here to stay, primarily because they are the only way to keep costs down. The danger, and perhaps it is a real one, particularly for small instruments, is that the electronic organ comes to define the pipe organ whereas it must be the other way around. 

Sixth, the Canadian dollar will remain weak for many reasons. Canadian organ imports will perhaps grow and command a greater share of the market for new instruments. In the author's judgment, the current import levels already pose a serious threat to the future of the American industry.

Seventh, the greatest threat to organbuilding in the US, or anywhere, is inflation. I have already suggested that with current levels of church giving there is no market at $30,000 per stop. If our economy were to experience three to five years of double-digit inflation, organbuilding on a sustained basis would largely disappear. Church contributions would continue to erode as our aging populace struggled to make ends meet, the demand for social services by churches would rise, and the electronic organ would preempt the church market. Milton Friedman, the widely-quoted economist and celebrated Noble laureate told Forbes Magazine in December, 1997 that he expects a period of much higher inflation sometime in the next ten to twelve years. Let's hope Friedman is wrong.13

Notes

                        1.                  Telephone interview with George Taylor, March 15, 1998.

                        2.                  Coleberd, Robert E. Jr., "The Place of the Small Builder in the American Organ Industry," The Diapason,Vol. 57, No. 12, November, 1966, p. 45.

                        3.                  1995 annual survey of manufactures, US Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics, Bureau of the Census, Table 2, Statistics for Industry Groups and Industries: 1995 and 1994, pp. 1-10--1-27.

                        4.                  Ibid.

                        5.                  Baumol, William J. and William G. Bowen, Performing Arts--The Economic Dilemma, Copyright 1966, The Twentieth Century Fund, Inc., First M.I.T. Press Paperback Edition, August, 1968, Second Printing, December, 1977, p. 145.

                        6.                  Coleberd, Robert E. Jr., "Yesterday's Tracker--The Hinners Organ Story," The American Organist, Vol. 43, No. 9, September, 1960, pp. 11-14.

                        7.                  Ronsvalle, John L. and Sylvia Ronsvalle,The State of Church Giving through 1995, Champaign, Illinois, empty tomb inc., December, 1997, passim.

                        8.                  Table 18: "Combined Per Capita Purchase of Selected Items Compared to Composite Per Member Church Giving in Constant 1987 Dollars" in John L. Ronsvalle and Sylvia Ronsvalle, The State of Church Giving through 1994, p. 61.

                        9.                  Taylor, op. cit.

                        10.              Olbeter, Erik R. "Canada's Cultural Hangup," Journal of Commerce, April 3, 1997, p. 6-A. See Also "Cultural Struggle" The Journal of Commerce, July 2, 1997, p. 8-A. Craig Turner, "Canadian Culture? Whatever It Is, They Want To Preserve It," Los Angeles Times, March 30, 1997, Section D, p. 1, 12. Joseph Weber, "Does Canadian Culture Need This Much Protection?," Business Week, June 8, 1998, p. 37.

                        11.              Telephone interview with Erik Olbeter, Economic Strategy Institute, Washington, D.C., June 6, 1997.

                        12.              Powell, Dennis E., "A Glance At Some Of The Timepieces That Made History," Forbes FYI, November, 1997, p. 152.

                        13.              "Milton Friedman at 85," Forbes, December 29, 1997, pp. 52-55.

Fifty-two registrants from 21 states gathered in sun-soaked Lincoln, Nebraska for the 21st annual University of Nebraska-Lincoln Organ Conference held September 17-19, 1998. The title of the conference was "Perspectives on Recent and Future American Organbuilding," with five organbuilders invited to give lectures: Gene Bedient, John Brombaugh, Steven Dieck of C.B. Fisk, Manuel Rosales, and George Taylor. Gene Bedient immediately answered a question which had been on my mind by saying that all organbuilding is historically informed to some degree, suggesting that a better term would be "historically inspired." In the case of the five builders represented at the UNL conference, being historically inspired indicates producing instruments which emulate specific features of European organbuilding of past centuries. The list of historic attributes these builders employ includes mechanical action, low wind pressure, wedge bellows, stop nomenclature, flat pedal boards, mechanisms such as ventils, shove couplers, split keys and short octaves, 56 or 58 note keyboards, elements of case design, and of course, scaling and voicing appropriate to replicating historic sounds. These builders have comprehensive knowledge about historical styles developed through extensive study of instruments built by Schnitger, Silbermann, Clicquot, and Cavaillé Coll, among others, and working under the tutelage of builders such as von Beckerath, Flentrop, Noack and Fisk.

Each builder was given a two-hour time slot to reflect on his work and to address the following questions:

How have your organs been influenced by historic organs? By today's practices?

What is the future of historically informed organbuilding?

Can you envision your firm being influenced by the American Classic style of organbuilding?

How have your perspectives on organbuilding and your instruments changed over the years?

What organbuilding problems or questions currently interest you?

What new directions might your firm take in the future?

What do you consider to be your most important contributions to American organbuilding?

 In the mahogany-paneled conference room of the Wick Alumni Center, armed with slides and specifications, each builder spoke about his background, how he got established in organbuilding, and shared information about his most important projects.

Builders' Lectures

Gene Bedient took the audience on a tour of his opus list, narrating his slide presentation with descriptions of the historic influences and techniques used in building each instrument. Bedient's early work is concentrated on the 18th-century French and North German styles, perhaps culminating in the organ built for St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, an approximation of the French classic style, complete with marche pied pedal board. Opus 22, a two-manual organ for the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Charleston, South Carolina completed in 1987, brought a transition to the 19th-century French style. Organs for St. Rita Catholic Church, Dallas, Texas (1992), and Idlewild Presbyterian Church, Memphis, Tennessee (1989), were also built along French 19th-century lines, including ventils, orage, and octaves graves couplers. Opus 52 and Opus 53, completed in 1996 and 1997 respectively, incorporated American Classic ideas, combining North German elements in the Great and Pedal with French ideas in the Swell, in one case retaining a contrebasse in the pedal on 5≤ of wind and providing a concave-radiating pedal board. At that time, work was in progress on a Spanish-style instrument for the Cathedral of St. Vincent de Paul in Omaha.

Bedient concluded his lecture by outlining his contributions to the field of organbuilding: educating American organists about French instruments by building historically-inspired instruments, interesting children in the pipe organ, promoting the viability of small instruments, educating people about the cost of a pipe organ, and efficiency and production control. He summarized his view of the American Classic organ as including standard 61-note keyboards, a concave-radiating pedal board, combination action, and equal temperament, with a main goal of the style being accessibility.

John Brombaugh took a conversational approach in his lecture, relating his early fascination with Hammond organs and love for the sound of old organs which developed from listening to recordings made by E. Power Biggs. He has been strongly influenced by North German organs, having spent time working in Hamburg, and receiving training from Noack, Fisk, and von Beckerath. Brombaugh is particularly fascinated with old Dutch instruments, most notably those in Gronigen, which he toured with Harald Vogel.

Reminding the audience that the organ is primarily a musical instrument, one of the oldest types of instruments in existence, Brombaugh asserted that ancient organs were very musical, and music was written for them because of their sounds, rather than the present practice of building organs to accommodate repertoire. He sees great value in studying organs older than those of the North German and French Classic styles. He also added that he believes all major cultural centers need mean-tone organs in order to hear early music in the temperament for which it was written. Brombaugh sees historic instruments as the basis and foundation for his work, and uses them as a guide to help him develop his own style. He believes organs built today according to historical styles will not be exact copies, but will bear the mark of the individual builder, in his case a strong North German accent. This belief influenced his choice of the Italian style for the organ he built for Duke University chapel since he felt he could build an Italian-style instrument most authentically, providing a good contrast to the Flentrop and Skinner organs already in the chapel. 

Brombaugh entertained questions from the audience, one of which spurred a discussion about acoustics in American churches and whether or not they provide a hospitable environment for European/historic organ sounds. He responded by saying American organbuilding has developed and evolved despite acoustical limitations, and organbuilders having developed ways of dealing with those conditions, adding that one has to be realistic about what he's building. He suggested the best way to approach bad acoustics is to keep in mind the functions the organ needs to fulfill, especially in relation to congregational singing.

Anticipation was in the air as Steve Dieck approached the podium, tacitly acknowledging the Fisk company's lofty stature in the organ-building world and expectation that the lecture would be first-rate. We were not disappointed. Dieck laid the groundwork for his remarks by suggesting that Fisk's work has always been influenced by historic instruments.  He construes such instruments as tools to help us become informed about a particular style. He believes the American approach is to take elements from the past and combine them into something new, aspiring to create instruments that can "do it all." Citing the work of G. Donald Harrison, Holtkamp, and Schlicker, Dieck proposed that his firm and others are continuing the American Classic style, a remark which elicited a noticeable shuffling among the other builders present. Dieck said that working with clients guides eclecticism through discussions about their needs and wants, adding that organbuilders are always learning. Following his studies at DePauw University, Dieck apprenticed with Charles Fisk. He had originally investigated studying in Germany with von Beckerath, but von Beckerath advised him to work with Fisk.

Pointing out the noteworthy features of each project, Dieck focussed his remarks on the innovations and eclectic qualities of the following Fisk instruments, in addition to citing historic influences: Wellesley College, Mount Holyoke College, the University of Michigan, Memorial Church at Stanford University, Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University, House of Hope Presbyterian Church, Meyerson Symphony Center, and Rice University. Interspersed among his slides of facades and keyboards were many photos of the internal details of the instruments. A highlight of the slide presentation was pictures taken during the assembly of the Meyerson organ, including the 32' pipes being hoisted into place. As we viewed those slides, Dieck mentioned that one of the Fisk company's most important contributions has been success in the concert hall market.

Manuel Rosales began his organbuilding career by working at the Schlicker company, later establishing his own company at the prompting of Charles Fisk. He prefers not to focus on just one style, and has yet to build an organ than can "play it all." He believes it's important to build different types of organs, keeping in mind the needs of the client, especially when the client is a church. Although his earlier projects had been more eclectic, Rosales' Opus 14 for Mission San José in Fremont, California was inspired by the organs of Mexico and Spain, tuned in quarter-comma mean tone, which makes early music come alive. The organ for First Presbyterian Church, Oakland is the largest instrument Rosales has built and was inspired by Fisk's House of Hope organ, with an emphasis on early French and French romantic sounds. Here again, the topic of acoustics surfaced. Given a sanctuary with a dry acoustic, as in the case of First Presbyterian Oakland, Rosales said that to give the impression of a better acoustical environment, he gave the organ more strength to surround the listener with sound. Rosales also shared his thoughts about the organ at Rice University, a collaboration with Fisk, noting that it was his dream organ to build since it is very gratifying to build an instrument for a client whose wishes closely match his own ideas.

Of particular interest were Rosales' plans for an organ for the new Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, a performing arts center for the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. Rosales has proposed an instrument which he describes as French/German/eclectic/ traditional/modern, designed to functional well with an orchestra, respect the music of the past, and stir up controversial ideas for the future. The Llamarada division will feature a battery of southern Californian/Spanish reeds, including a horizontal "Trompeta de Los Angeles." Following the architect's concept for the structure, which is based on curves and a scrupulous avoidance of straight lines, Rosales has explored the possibility of building curved wood pipes which will still be tonally functional.

George Taylor, a native of Virginia, has had a life-long friendship with John Boody, and in his early organ-building days worked with John Brombaugh as well. He spent three and a half years working under von Beckerath in Hamburg, an experience he says taught him the discipline he needed to be a successful organbuilder. Taylor has always been interested in all types of music and has a special fondness for hymn singing.  He was initially interested in more eclectic instruments and studied many American Classic stoplists, but soon became disillusioned with the style. The organs tended to "look great on paper," but he generally found the sounds disappointing and began to search for something musically more rewarding.

His early organbuilding days were characterized by experimentation. Recalling his exploration of the use of short keyboards and bone keys, Taylor recounted a memorable episode in which he ventured to the slaughterhouse to acquire the needed bone. Early projects reflected his experimental bent, and he cited organs built for a church in Vincennes, Indiana, for which he developed what he affectionately calls a "Hoosier flute," and a church in Charlottesville, Virginia which has shutters on the back of the Brustwerk.

Taylor spoke about his landmark instruments for St. Thomas Church in New York City and Holy Cross Chapel in Worcester, Massachusetts, both of whose cases were modeled on those of early Dutch instruments. He was much more animated, however, when he began to talk about a recent project--the restoration of a two-manual Tannenberg organ located at the Museum of Southern Decorative Arts in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Taylor treated the audience to a slide-show, giving us a glimpse into the painstaking work required to decipher the disparate components of the fragile treasure and bring its beautiful sounds to life again.

When the topic of acoustics surfaced once more, Taylor strongly recommended that builders always urge churches to improve their acoustics, even if they are already fairly good.  He believes acoustics are 80 percent of the success of any organ. He feels the biggest challenge for contemporary organbuilding in the United States is the wide variety of settings builders must work in. European builders in the past had much more consistency of venue.

Lunchtime Tours

On Friday, the conference schedule included an extended break in the middle of the day for lunch and visits to organs in Lincoln churches, provided one wasn't bothered by extensive walking in the sun and 90-degree heat. For a community of its size, the list of significant instruments in Lincoln is impressive. Participants could choose from the following array: 1969 4-manual Aeolian-Skinner at First Presbyterian, 1998 4-manual Schoenstein (then under construction) at First-Plymouth Congregational, 1991 3-manual Van Daalen at First Lutheran, an 1875 2-manual Kilgen at First Christian Science, 1984 3-manual Rieger, a 1976 3-manual Casavant at Westminster Presbyterian, and four 2-manual Bedient instruments, among others.

Christie Recital

On Friday evening conference participants were joined by a local audience for a recital played by James David Christie on the Hoesch Memorial Organ at Cornerstone Chapel. The instrument is Gene Bedient's Opus 8, a 20-stop, 2-manual tracker organ of 17th-century design. Not surprisingly, Christie's program featured 16th, 17th, and 18th-century music, including works by Buxtehude, Sweelinck, Scheidemann, Scheidt, Johann Bernard Bach, and Christie's own transcription of a Vivaldi concerto. His playing was rhythmically vibrant: spirited and buoyant in the quick tempos, sensitively nuanced on the slow pieces. The most striking element of his playing was the ornamentation. All too often, ornamentation is appended to early literature and the effect is like that of a stylish but ill-fitting suit which merely draws attention to itself. Christie's ornaments were a natural outgrowth of the music, fully integrated into the texture and rhythm. Located in the gallery of the intimate chapel, the Bedient organ has a commanding presence in the room, but is not piercing or overpowering. The sound has warmth and depth as well as an elegant clarity, enhanced by the organ's elevated position and the high ceiling and peaked roof of the chapel, whose acoustics hinted at ambience.

Panel Discussion

Each year, the conference closes with a panel discussion, allowing participants to interact with the lecturers and performers and formulate conclusions about conference topics. George Ritchie opened this year's discussion by suggesting that 20th-century organbuilding has swung back and forth between the eclecticism of the American Classic style and the purity of historic styles. He asked each of the builders to identify where along that continuum they are most comfortable; they offered a spectrum of responses.

Dieck said that historic builders continually developed their styles, and he feels that American builders should do likewise, continuing to grow as they interact with clients. Rosales said an organ such as the one at House of Hope goes too far, trying to do too many things. Instruments can be built to do one thing really well and other things reasonably well, though every organ should be suitable for playing Bach. Bedient believes the eclectic organ is a product of the need for organs to do many things since the role of the organ is different now than at any other time in history. He strives to build instruments which will be as useful as possible, serving the needs of his clients, although he admitted that hearing literature on the "right" instruments is preferable. Taylor wants to build instruments designed to accompany hymn singing and have a thrilling sound. He questioned whether certain historical sounds are right for American churches, adding that organs for our time need to be built the way we think they should sound. In small instruments, he noted that consistency is very important, but in larger instruments, eclectic questions surface. Small historical instruments have far more flexibility than one might imagine, however, he was quick to add. As he had stated in his lecture, Brombaugh believes that above all the organ must be a musical instrument and expressed dismay at recent developments which have gotten away from that. He sees the need for many different types of instruments, each of which can handle a specific literature.

When the floor was opened for questions from the audience, a participant commented that bringing the best of the past forward is good, but the use of short keyboards and flat pedal boards is a tragedy. Several others chimed in, expressing frustration with flat pedal boards, short-compass keyboards, and non-adjustable benches, viewing them as impediments. The builders were asked why they build short compass keyboards and flat pedal boards. Steve Dieck responded by saying that whatever we build, we're imitating European models, creating instruments like those for which the music was created. He noted that the concave pedal board is actually English. He prefers a flat pedal board because it's more sensitive with tracker action, adding that he sees a new American standard of building flat pedal boards developing. John Brombaugh gave the example of a project for which he provided two pedal boards--one flat, one concave--reporting that the flat pedal board is the one which is used regularly. His rationale for short compass keyboards is putting your energy where the notes are played most since the uppermost notes of the keyboard are used only one percent of the time. All of the builders acknowledged the need for the organist to be comfortable, however.

Another participant raised the subject of digital sounds and the use of MIDI. In response, Rosales queried, "Why have samples when you can have the real thing? Electronic sounds, even for 32' stops, are ghastly." Brombaugh agreed, adding his assertion that if an instrument incorporates electronic sounds then it's not truly a pipe organ. His colleagues nodded their assent.

Wanting to delve further into the American Classic issue, I asked the builders if they agreed with a statement Steve Dieck had made in his lecture proposing that their work is continuing the American Classic style. Bedient answered by saying the American Classic style has come to represent thin, uninteresting sounds, a departure from its early, much more colorful manifestations. Dieck reaffirmed the point he had made in his lecture, but also suggested that perhaps historic influences are handled differently now than they have been in the past. Taylor said it depends what you mean by the American Classic style: Does it refer to a console style? What are the style's characteristics in the minds of organists? Rosales thinks G. Donald Harrison was a great innovator and believes that had he lived longer, Harrison might have been building tracker organs. Tracker action is not tied to a particular sound in Rosales' mind.

One particularly astute participant commented that perhaps organbuilding at the end of the 20th century will ultimately define the American Classic style, rather than what has come before. I was left with the impression that there is much more to be explored on the subject, and made work of speaking with each of the builders one-on-one, in order to illuminate the intertwined paths of the so-called "historically inspired" and "American Classic" styles of organbuilding further. My findings will be presented in a future article.

The conference was excellent throughout. The subject matter was thoughtfully conceived and clearly outlined in the brochure promoting the event, and in fact, is what initially piqued my interest in attending. In just 48 hours, I received a fascinating glimpse into the world of organbuilding and a valuable opportunity to get a personal impression of the builders who are fundamentally shaping the pipe organ scene in this country. The program was ambitious, but the events were sensibly scheduled, allowing adequate time for breaks, meals, a stroll around town, and a peak into the UNL bookstore filled with Cornhusker regalia. The registration fee was an inexpensive $40 ($20 for students) and lodging prices were reasonable. I hadn't previously visited Nebraska and confess to having had stereotypes in my mind, but I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived. The vast flatness of the plains, congestion-free airport, and unpretentious affability of the citizens were refreshing. George Ritchie and his colleagues are providing a great service by offering this high quality educational opportunity each year.

When an organ builder creates an instrument for his alma mater, the stage is set for a career achievement and the conception of a work of art. Such was the case when Charles Fisk built his masterpiece at Stanford University. In the same spirit, Paul Fritts created the magnificent opus that was the centerpiece of an International Symposium entitled "The Organ in the New Millennium" at Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Washington.

This symposium was jointly sponsored by the Westfield Center and Loft Recordings of Seattle, Washington. It attracted organists and organ enthusiasts from all over the world. Scheduled events included four daily concerts, most of which were held at Lagerquist Hall in the new Mary Baker Russell music center at Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Washington.

"The Organ in the New Millennium" embraced multiple efforts to approach a fairly difficult subject. The participants had at their disposal an organ of the highest excellence, but no crystal ball. However, they proceeded to present their views of the transition between millennia in a series of panel discussions which served as a framework for the symposium.

Brainstorming

As one might suspect, predictions for the future were plentiful and to some extent, easy come, easy go. Despite the more predictable questions and answers, only a few panelists and participants had the courage to say they didn't know what the future might hold, and even fewer had the fortitude to admit that they couldn't be sure what the organs of the 21st century might be like. All seemed to agree that the artistic expression of the organ builder's art was here to stay and that quality far outweighed quantity as a worthy goal. Roberta Gary of the University of Cincinnati exemplified the spirit of the conference when she recalled a "5 star experience" as she discovered the John Brombaugh organ at Ashland Avenue Baptist Church in Toledo, Ohio. Martin Pasi described the first time he experienced the revival in American organ building at the Fairchild Chapel in Oberlin, Ohio. It was plain to see that a well deserved "lifetime achievement award" was in the making for John Brombaugh.

How often the wisdom of elders comes out in storytelling. John Brombaugh related, in somewhat hilarious detail, learning to sing as a child. With characteristic nonchalance, he claimed that he "never quite made it to soloist," because he "couldn't make his voice wiggle." However, he learned that the art of singing is the art of music, that the organ is a musical instrument, first and foremost, and that the organ must sing if it is to be musical. All agreed that "making pipes sing was much more important than making them hum." Hopefully, the reader will note that this was not a dry discussion of "historically informed" musicology, but a spirited outpouring of what the organ meant to these major players and builders of our time, mirth notwithstanding.

Music making

During the four-day course of the event, some seven recitals and fifty-four compositions were played on the three-manual, 54-stop Fritts organ. (See the June issue, pp. 1 and 19 for description and specification.) The presentation of this instrument, along with important organs of John Brombaugh in Tacoma, and Martin Pasi in Lynnwood, Washington, provided proof positive that outstanding organ building is alive and well in Washington State. Quentin Faulkner of the University of Nebraska at Lincoln commented that, "the Pacific Northwest builders are in the process of creating a new organ type that will not merely incorporate, but will fuse the previous organ styles that feed into it, and thus will transcend all of them." He stated that "There is of course an element of risk in such an undertaking, but also an immense amount of excitement and adventure . . . in leading the organ into a new age!"

What will the organ of this new age be like? This concentration of recitals gave the symposium participants a preview of the new directions a historically derived organ might take. In this case, the sum of the concert series seemed to be greater than each part. Far from being worn down, this listener attained new heights of perception with each recital and most fortunately the last concert was as fresh as the first. The scope of musical styles was panoramic. There was an almost symphonic element to the progression of concerts as it continued over this four-day period. David Dahl's opening recital served as an overture to the week's events with an exposition of the organ's considerable capabilities. Professor Dahl's 30-year career at Pacific Lutheran University is obviously capped by the installation of this magnificent organ. His opening recital gave him the opportunity to breathe life into the week's events with a highly varied program that included "A diverse suite" of some 13 composers, spanning time periods from 1583 (Frescobaldi) to the present (Cindy McTee and the late William Albright). It is interesting to note that Dahl has served as advisor for more than 30 pipe organ projects in the last 40 years and on the eve of his retirement was able to bring about the installation this superb instrument in his own university.

Hatsumi Miura, organist of Yokohama Mirato Mirai Hall in Japan, presented a program of 20th-century music which developed the theme of "new directions" and demonstrated the broad capabilities of this organ. She began symbolically enough, with A Prophecy for Organ, by Daniel Pinkham and ended with the cheerful Salamanca of Guy Bovet.

Margaret Irwin-Brandon, organist of the Unitarian Universalist Society in Springfield, Massachusetts, broadened the palette with fantasias and baroque transcriptions that introduced the listener to the lyric qualities of the instrument. She seemed to play the organ like a violin, rather than a Steinway and encouraged the audience to listen with their whole attention. To heighten their awareness of the sound of the organ, she invited listeners to move about the hall at will, throughout the concert program--a fairly brave thing to do, when you consider the sight of somber "ghost walkers," slowly treading from nook to cranny of the room. Her final presentation of Arvo Pärt's Annum per Annum was thwarted by the failure of one of the power supplies in the organ. This necessitated some quick thinking on her part to save the piece. It turned out that the rapid-fire computerized pyrotechnics of the "sequencer" overwhelmed a 5 cent fuse. Such is the irony of high technology when applied to an ancient form.

An organ for all seasons--a new organ type?

After these diverse presentations of organ literature, Peter Sykes, organist of First Congregational Church in Cambridge, Massachusetts, gave a bravura performance of the Poulenc Concerto in G Minor and Maurice Duruflé's Requiem. This vocal repertoire brought additional awareness of the musical qualities of the organ. Rather than competing with the orchestra and choir, it seemed to expand tonal sonorities. Of particular note was the effectiveness of the Kellner temperament in providing a foundation for orchestra and choir. The pure chords underlying the choral passages of the Requiem hushed the audience and heightened the sanctity and depth of the music. Throughout this performance the listener was introduced to a kind of feminine nobility that few organs possess. Beyond power, this organ has profundity and lyricism.

Craig Cramer, of Notre Dame University, presented Bach's partitas, trios and chorales and revealed more of the intimate qualities of the organ and the hall. Again, the listener could not ignore the fact that the organ wanted to be played like a violin, rather than a mega-piano. And ever mindful of the possibility of finding the best seat in the house, this lowly scribe positioned himself behind a chair that is permanently reserved for the donor of the hall, Mary Baker Russell. An amazing discovery was a sharp slap echo that could heard there and nowhere else. Could it be that she has the worst seat in the house?

By the sixth recital, one would think that every stop in the organ would have been heard once, twice or even thrice. Nevertheless, William Porter of the New England Conservatory scored a direct hit with his improvisation on O dass ich tausend Zungen hätte (Oh, that I Had a Thousand Tongues). Yes, he played the thousand tongues of the rich reed choruses of the organ which, in this writer's opinion, take their place amongst the best reeds in any organ, anywhere. There simply are not enough superlatives to describe the perfection embraced in these reeds. John Brombaugh once remarked that the best reeds contain both fire and ice--that the blaze of sound has to include some measure of restraint or reserve as well as bravado. Paul Fritts has achieved this quality in his reeds.

The stage was set for the last movement in this symphony of concerts. Martin Rost is organist of the 1659 Stellwagen organ in St. Mary's Church, Stralsund, Germany, which provided  the inspiration for this organ. The Stellwagen and Fritts organs share the same lofty structure and noble authority--the Stalsund casework is enhanced with enormously imposing even magisterial statues, while the Fritts carvings display busty gargoyles, introverted sculptures and a few insects and other artifacts of the Pacific Northwest. Rost proferred a freshly revised concert featuring the music of Scheidemann, Ritter, Köhler, Brahms and Mendelssohn. He hushed the audience with the softest stops on the organ and rendered the Brahms Chorales with magic as well as spirituality. He closed the symposium concerts with the Mendelssohn Sonata in C minor, giving an air of restraint and modesty, like a Mozartean cadence. The crowd went wild with a standing ovation.

An overview

One must make the inevitable comparison with the Westfield Center sponsored "Historical Organ in America" at Tempe, Arizona in 1992. (See reports in The Diapason, June, 1992, pp. 10-12, by Herbert L. Huestis, and July, 1992, pp. 12-13, by Rudolf Zuiderveld.) What were the similarities and differences between these two gatherings? The Arizona conference featured the documented work of a dozen organ builders and opened up the lines of technical communications in an entirely new way. Trade secrets gave way to genuine "help lines" from one organ builder to another. This meeting was collegial and convivial in the same way as the Arizona conference, but lacked the documentation that was presented by the same group of organ builders seven years ago. Despite presentations made by such luminaries as Christopher Kent of the University of Reading, England and Hans Davidsson of the University of Göteborg in Sweden, there seemed to be more opinion than hard data.

However, the sheer number of concerts provided the opportunity for the organ literature to speak for itself as it related to this splendid Paul Fritts organ. An incredible variety of organ music was played during this session. It seemed that the organists who presented recitals took great care with the literature they brought to the organ. Few if any compromises were made, and almost all the music that was played worked well on the organ. (One cannot help but note the exception of César Franck.)

It seemed like a good opportunity to look at just how wide a range of music could be played on an organ that was built on a historical "platform," but was obviously an instrument of tremendous flexibility. In the space of four days, seven recitals were presented with a total of 54 selections drawn from 400 years of organ literature. It is interesting to note that of all the music performed, thirty percent was from the 17th century, another 30 percent from the 18th century, 7 percent from the 19th century and an astounding 26 percent from the 20th century. Two of the seven concerts featured music that was exclusively contemporary. This organ speaks to our own time with the same authority as the age of J.S. Bach. This is no small accomplishment and demands a very broad flexibility in both voicing and tonal development. Another aspect of interest was the unique ability of this organ to accompany choir and orchestra. The tonal palette of the organ was every bit as varied as any orchestral color and the Kellner temperament provided a resonance that is unknown in most orchestra halls.

This symposium provided absolute proof that historically inspired organs can attain tremendous flexibility for the performance of the repertoire. The Fritts organ was not at all restrictive, as an analysis of the recital content will show. It is capable of playing a very big slice of organ literature, very well.

"Off-campus" concerts

Three events occurred off campus, in "must see" venues that provided some of the most inspiring music and worship experiences of the symposium. Mark Brombaugh of the United Church on the Green, New Haven, Connecticut, presented a recital on the milestone organ built by his brother John at Christ Church in Tacoma, Washington. David Dahl has spent his long career at Christ Church along with his post at Pacific Lutheran University. To a very great extent, the sublime achievement of Paul Fritts at PLU can be directly linked to the inspiration provided by John Brombaugh's milestone organ at Christ Church. It is an understatement to say that they are cut of the same cloth. Mark's recital was dedicated to his father Burlin Brombaugh, who was present at the symposium. The central feature of this recital was a commissioned work on his father's favorite Spanish Hymn in honor of his 90th birthday.

A joint recital by Melvin Butler and Roger Sherman, both of St. Mark's Cathedral in Seattle, provided the opportunity to hear Messiaen and Franck, among other composers, in the newly renovated cathedral space. The 1965 Flentrop organ illustrates the long lasting values acclaimed at the symposium. In his opening remarks, Roger Sherman recounted the time that the cathedral vestry was presented with two proposals for a new organ by Dirk Flentrop. The organ builder had suggested a modest organ as an alternative to the lofty instrument that now stands in the cathedral. The dean's reasoning for selecting the magnificent organ that has provided a musical legacy to the city for the last 30 years: they didn't have the money for either one!

A final event was the participation of the symposium group in worship at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lynnwood, Washington. This solid, working class church is the home of a new organ recently built by Martin Pasi of Roy, Washington. Rodney Gehrke, organist of St. Mark's Lutheran Church in San Francisco, presided at the organ for the service and was assisted by a vocal quartet from Pacific Lutheran University. The symposium participants were enthusiastic to be sure and were matched by parishioners note for note and word for word as they fervently sang the hymns and service music. One could not help but observe that "richening up" the music worked so much better than "dumbing it down!" The performance of all this music suggested that the impact of this symposium was not so much its forecast for the future, but the presentation of what was possible in the organ music of the 21st century. The panel discussions were infused with humor as well as platitudes and serious presentations and readings of papers. Perhaps the greatest impact was provided by the "who," as well as the "what," and "why." The closing of the international circle of organ builders was amply demonstrated in the remarks of two European organ builders present, John Mander of London and Kristian Wegscheider of Dresden. It was clear that they felt the Americans, in their revival of the historic organ, had taken knowledge gained from the European masters to new heights and that here at Pacific Lutheran University "a circle of learning" was completed when they took this information back to the continent.

All that aside, the raconteurs carried the day when it came to preparing for the new millennium. The subject of "Cincinnati" had come up in John Brombaugh's remarks, and Roberta Gary quoted that city's most revered citizen, Samuel Clemens, who said that if the end of the world came in his lifetime, he wanted to be in Cincinnati, because everything happened ten years later there. Could it be, that like the celebrated Mark Twain, organ builders will always seek values that last longer than the fashion of the day? If this meeting is any indication, the future of the organ is in good hands in the 21st century.